Avery
There was no sign of Brenton. Not for a long time. Not even as the first signs of a bump appeared on Avery’s stomach. Summer was upon them and the days grew hot. Hotter than Avery or Cory were accustomed to. Avery found himself spending more and more time down in the basement in an attempt to escape the muggy air. Cory held onto his tough alpha pride for a week longer before he joined him.
Jarrett brought down a pitcher of ice water at Avery’s request. “Isn’t that a bit uncomfortable?”
“Not really.” Avery was sprawled out on the hard, concrete floor, attempting to expel as much heat as possible. His brother sat next to him in wolf form with his tongue hanging out. He let out a low whine.
“Babies, both of you,” Jarrett said, setting the water down. Avery immediately made a grab for it and took a long drink. His skin felt unpleasant and sticky. He wanted nothing more than to find a nice patch of snow and sleep through this horrible season.
“I take it winters up north were a bit cooler?”
Cory snorted. Avery pushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes. “Some areas never even stop snowing. How do you stand it here?”
“Milo was the same way,” Jarrett laughed. “You’ll get used to it.”
Shifting back to his human form, Cory took the half empty jug and drained the rest. “Are you sure we’re not allowed to use the big freezer?”
In the basement of the pub, there was a rather large deep freezer used for storing leftover fruits and vegetables. Meat was never a problem. Whatever wasn’t eaten right away was smoked and preserved. Freddie had caught the brothers hiding in it at the start of the heatwave and had kicked them both out immediately.
“He said it sets a bad precedent,” Jarrett said. “If you want to use it, then everybody will. You’re just gonna have to sweat it out like the rest of us.”
Back in wolf form, Cory whined and dropped his head to the floor with a thump. Avery sighed and lay back down, leeching whatever cold he could get. As soon as they had a reprieve from this heat, he was going to dig a cave as far underground as he could.
Jarrett sat down beside him and placed a hand on his belly. “Got any ideas for names yet?”
Avery grinned at the thought. He could hardly believe that he was going to be a parent. So much had happened since he’d first joined the pack. He’d thought for a long time that he wasn’t going to last here. He hadn’t understood these people. He didn’t know how to read or cook. He really didn’t think that any of it was going to work out; he hadn’t even realized at the time just how painfully awkward he’d been. And he’d certainly made a spectacle of himself following Jarrett around like a clueless puppy. Not that he regretted his less than conventional methods. After all, they’d worked in the end.
Milo was teaching him how to read now. He liked Milo a lot. The omega was kind of like him. Had stumbled into the pack confused and alone, and now he was raising a family of his own. Reading was hard, though, and Avery didn’t really think it was for him, but he wouldn’t tell Milo that. Not when his friend looked so happy every time he managed to recognize a new word.
Placing his hand over Jarrett’s, Avery stared up at the dark ceiling thoughtfully. Names were funny things. He still couldn’t remember the names of every pack member, and they all sounded like a foreign language.
“How about Twig?” he said, “or maybe Forest.” He wasn’t sure that those sounded like proper names, but he’d always liked the way the words sounded.
He was happy when Jarrett nodded. “Not sure about Twig, but Forrest is a good name. It’s spelled a bit differently though. With two 'r's instead of one.”
Even though that meant nothing to Avery, he was just happy that he came up with something. Feeling more confident, he continued. “River is nice too, if we have a girl.”
“River would be nice.”
Avery wondered if it was possible to feel any happier than this.
Kain reported that all the packs within a day’s run were on alert. “I think they’re getting annoyed with all this drama,” he said.
“Things have been more…exciting for the last couple years,” JJ agreed. “Send them each a crate of supplies as a thank you.”
“Will do.”
Avery couldn’t help but overhear the conversation as he sat at the kitchen table. He wondered how Brenton would attack. Would he bring the wrath of his pack down on them? Or would he sneak in quietly, in the dark of the night? Avery hoped for the latter. The man was delusional if he thought he could make it past the pack’s guards. Avery wondered what was taking him so long.
Was he waiting for the pups to arrive? After all, what need would he have for a pregnant omega? If his goal was to hand Avery over to someone else, then another alpha’s pups would be quite the inconvenience. Or maybe he would just hand them over to another alpha to be…Avery couldn’t bear to even finish the thought. He had never given much thought to becoming a parent. In fact, the thought had never even crossed his mind before he arrived here. And now he found he wanted it more than anything.
He could tell Jarrett and Cory were becoming more and more tense with each day of silence. He didn’t know what to do. How to fix this. His stomach grew bigger every day. Pretty soon, Dinah would be able to tell them how many pups to expect.
Standing up, he finished his tea and slipped through the living room. “I’m going for a walk,” he said.
Jarrett nodded. “Don’t be out too late.”
The streets were practically empty. Most people were either in their homes or at Freddie’s now. The sky was a mix of yellows and reds. Under the twilight, Avery found himself able to relax a bit as he headed for the greenhouses. He didn’t plan on staying out too late. He just needed a bit of silence and fresh air to get himself together.
The greenhouses were empty. Everything was bathed in gold. He sat up on one of the benches, his mind blissfully quiet. Absentmindedly, his fingers played with a dried tomato leaf, shredding it into mulch. During his pregnancy, Jarrett had put a ban on hunting, so Avery had found himself spending time in the greenhouses with the other omegas. He found he liked it a lot more than he would have thought. It wasn’t as fun as foraging, though. Once this whole issue with his so-called father was over with, he planned on going on a nice long venture through the forest for herbs.
Rubbing a hand over his belly, Avery thought about his pups with excitement. He imagined all the things he’d get to teach them. He wanted to teach them to hunt every animal, identify every plant, cook every kind of food. Olivia would teach them how to read and write at her small schoolhouse. She’d teach them about the pack and the world. They’d grow up in a real home, surrounded by friends and family. They’d never know the fear Cory had carried, or the loneliness that had threatened to swallow Avery up.
It would be just three more months. Avery could hardly stand the wait.
As the light grew dimmer, the sound of crickets and frogs could be heard. Avery wasn’t sure how long he’d sat here, enjoying just being alone with his thoughts. He knew if he stayed any longer, Jarrett would no doubt give him a scolding when he got home, or even worse, come tearing through the village looking for him. In fact, Avery was rather impressed that Jarrett had let him leave without a fuss at all. Even though the village was safe as could be, with numerous patrols, Jarrett couldn’t help but worry about him.
Stretching his arms, Avery slid off the table. He’d prefer to make it home before it was dark anyway. As he made his way out of the greenhouse, a shiver ran through him and he stopped. The hairs on his neck prickled. He scented the air, frowning. Nothing unusual. Just the lingering scents of the pack from earlier. But the feeling of wrongness only strengthened. It took him a moment, but he finally recognized the feeling of being watched.
He needed to get home. Right now. Quickly, he slipped out of the glass door. His skin prickled as he prepared to shift. He never got the chance.
Quick as lightning, phantom hands shot out from behind, an arm snaking around his waist, a palm clamping hard over his mouth. He let out a muffled growl, ready to bite down on the offending hand, but something sharp against his belly stilled him.
“I’d prefer not to make this messy,” a familiar voice whispered in his ear, but I will if you push me. Now settle down or I’ll carve those pups out of you right here.”
With his children under threat, Avery couldn’t not obey. He forced himself to relax against Brenton’s hold. The knife against his stomach made it impossible to shift without gutting himself. His brows furrowed. Up close, he could smell the alpha, but it was faint, hidden under the thick scent of pine. From the palm against his lips, he felt an oily texture and tasted bitterness. He growled again as he figured out how the alpha had slipped into the village unnoticed.
Avery could only guess the method, but Brenton had procured some sort of pine oil that had successfully hidden him. Brenton suddenly jerked him around the side of the greenhouse. As Avery watched Gerald on top of the wall, he felt the first seed of panic.
“Not a sound,” Brenton growled.
Lightheaded, he allowed himself to be manhandled away, through the other side of the greenhouse, and toward the high wall. Brenton tugged him behind a tree, and there, Avery saw how he’d managed to get inside as his eyes fell on a freshly dug hole. The bastard had burrowed under like a rabbit!
The hand left his face, but was quickly replaced with a wad of cloth stuffed into his mouth, stretching his cheeks and nearly choking him. His hands were yanked behind his back and his wrists were tied tightly together. His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. With an unintelligiable protest, he jerked away from his father’s hands and dug his heels into the dirt.
Jarrett! Now would be a really good time to come looking for me!
Brenton jerked him harshly. “Get moving.” Mercilessly, he shoved Avery down into the small tunnel. Avery stumbled to his knees, but Brenton grabbed him by the back of the neck and pushed him along. Dirt got into Avery’s eyes and he coughed as dust entered his nose. Dazed, he blinked as they reemerged from the other side. He yelped as he was suddenly thrown over Brenton’s shoulders. He wanted to shift, but with his hands tied at such an angle, he would probably end up breaking his arms.
“Gotta admit,” Brenton said, “I thought it was going to be a lot harder than this.”
Avery’s eyes narrowed at that. With the threat of the knife gone, he knew he wasn’t going to get another chance. As quickly as he could, he worked his teeth and tongue enough to finally spit the rag out. He heard Brenton curse slightly as he lifted his head toward the village and let out the loudest howl he could. Screechy and thin and high enough to shatter glass.
Brenton snarled and for a second, Avery feared that the alpha would kill him right then and there, but Brenton must have known that the pack would soon be hot on their trail. Avery grunted as he was suddenly carried swiftly through the forest, head and belly bouncing uncomfortably. He could only twist his back slightly so that the pups weren’t squished between them. Some of the fear faded, just a bit. There was no way no one had heard his scream for help. They’d be on their way. Unless Brenton came up with something very clever and very quickly…
“You’re a dead man,” Avery said in a burst of boldness. “You know that, right?”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” was all Brenton said. He dropped Avery to the ground harshly. By the time Avery had shaken off the daze from hitting his head, Brenton had cut the ropes around his wrists and retied his hands in front of him. Before Avery could blink, Brenton had looped his arms around his neck and suddenly he was sitting atop a huge, pissed off wolf. He yelped and barely had time to clamp his legs down tightly before they were shooting off through the forest.
As the trees flew past, Avery held on for dear life. At the speed they were going, he couldn’t move his arms enough to get them over Brenton’s head. And even if he could, he wouldn’t dare jump, not with the risk of landing on his stomach. It was already all he could do to keep from sliding sideways. He didn’t think Brenton would have any problem with letting him drag on the ground.
Jarrett! Cory! Hurry!