Chapter Thirteen
The light in Beau’s eyes never dimmed and each time Griffin came to talk to him, he seemed more like a man and less like a beast.
Ronan came with him again, and although there was some tension between the two, he pronounced the other alpha ‘a few shades less crazy’.
That was when Griffin decided to take Beau to visit the house. It wasn’t that they couldn’t keep Beau in the cottage, but that Griffin didn’t want to. Whatever Beau’s struggles, he didn’t believe prolonged isolation would help them. That, and he wanted Beau to be a part of their pack, not separate, not alone.
“Why can’t I stay here?”
Beau seemed unimpressed by the idea. Griffin suspected it was more to do with Ronan and the other three shifters waiting outside. He wanted to show Beau the house, but he wasn’t willing to be reckless about it.
“Aren’t you the least bit curious? If it’s Ronan and the others you’re worried about, they’re just going to walk us there and back again. They’re here as a precaution, that’s all.”
Beau agreed to come, though reluctantly.
Ronan came inside and helped remove the chain, leaving the manacle around Beau’s ankle. Another precaution.
The walk was nice, the sun shining through the trees. Beau was quiet and tense. Griffin felt the tension too, but he knew the people walking with them and trusted them to handle things if it went wrong.
They’d warned the house, so the garden and back entrance were clear. In fact, there was no one in the back of the house, and they had a clear run up to Griffin’s wing. He opened the door, ushered Beau inside, and shared a look with Ronan. No one but him and Beau went past that door unless there was a problem.
“We’ll be right outside,” Ronan promised.
Griffin gave him a smile and shut the door.
Beau was standing just inside, hunched over yet still an imposing figure.
“These are my rooms,” he explained to the alpha.
“Why am I here?”
“I thought it would be easier to deal with the new surroundings if there weren’t a lot of new faces to go along with it.” Griffin paused. “Also, I thought you might like a bath.”
The sponge baths Beau had been taking hadn’t really got to grips with the layers of dirt on him. Griffin could still see some smudges of dried blood here and there.
He led the way to the bathroom, Beau padding along behind him. He took a slow pace, giving the alpha time to look around, to get accustomed to his new environment. He’d left most of the doors open so Beau could see into the rooms. Maybe if the alpha could see it was just a normal house, with bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, he’d feel more comfortable. Griffin knew the kind of places Beau would have heard of, the places where they sent fighters who’d burned out or passed their prime. He suspected that was always at the back of the alpha’s mind. If they hadn’t brought him here to fight then what other terrible fate had they planned for him?
“The bathroom is just in here,” he said, stepping through first. Beau appeared in the doorway but made no move to step inside.
“If you want, you can have a look around while I run your bath?” Griffin offered. Maybe a taste of freedom was just what Beau needed.
He turned and busied himself running the water. When he looked back over his shoulder, Beau was gone. The alpha didn’t reappear and once the water was ready, Griffin went to look for him.
He found him in his study, the room with the best view and the most comfortable carpet. Beau was standing at the window, staring out.
“That’s Briar Wood,” Griffin said, crossing the room to join him. “There are walls surrounding the woods and the house is right in the center. There are two roads leading here but you can’t see either of them from here, just the woods and the mountains in the distance.”
Beau turned away abruptly, looking to Griffin expectantly.
“Your bath’s ready,” he told him, walking back to the door. “Come on, we don’t want the water getting cold.”
He headed back to the bathroom, hearing Beau trailing behind him.
When he got there, he positioned himself by the sink and waited for the alpha to come inside. He’d opened the window, letting air and light inside, hoping the sounds of the outside world would help keep Beau calm.
The alpha took two steps toward the bath and started undressing, pulling his shirt off over his head and undoing the ridiculous closings on his pants.
Griffin could see the tension in the alpha’s shoulders.
“If you’d prefer a basin and a sponge, we could do that, but I thought you might like to feel clean for once.”
Beau shrugged and stepped up to the bath.
“Hold on,” Griffin said, “one more thing.”
The alpha paused as he closed in, dropping to his knees next to Beau and unlocking the manacle around his ankle. Despite the padding, the skin underneath it was red and sore.
“There. You can get in now.”
Beau was staring from his ankle to the manacle in Griffin’s hand with a look of disbelief.
“You can’t…” the alpha tried to say. “I should be chained, always.”
He actually reached for the metal ring, as if to put it back on.
“No,” Griffin said simply, taking a step back, out of reach. “I get that this is what you’re used to, but it isn’t normal. It isn’t right. Go on, get in.”
He retreated right the way back to the sink, setting the manacle down on the side. Beau watched him in confusion before doing as he was told and stepping into the bath. He lowered himself into the water with care, as if anticipating an unpleasant sensation.
“Hot or cold?” Griffin asked.
Beau lifted his head expectantly.
“Your baths. Were they usually too hot or too cold?”
That got a small smile from the alpha. “Both, depending on whoever was on duty. Sometimes they just hosed you down. If they were really pissed at you, they threw a few buckets of ice in there.”
“Does this bath feel okay? Not too cold or hot?”
Beau laid back, his shoulders resting against the tub.
“It feels… nice.”
Griffin smiled back at him. “I’m glad.”
His eyes were drawn again to Beau’s ankle, his foot propped up against the end of the tub.
“How long since you’ve been free of those chains?”
Beau’s expression grew dark for a moment before a look of resignation took its place.
“Since a few months before my first official fight, when I was fifteen. At the start, it was to create the impression that I was too dangerous to be loose, that I needed to be controlled. Eventually, I think even my trainers, hell, even I, started to believe it.”
Griffin let his eyes close, turning away. From Beau’s file, he knew exactly how long he’d been chained for. Ten long years.
“I’m sorry, Beau.”
“Why? It was nothing to do with you.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t feel sadness for what you’ve gone through, for what they did to you. If I could rewind time somehow, get you out of there…”
“It was my life,” Beau insisted. “I didn’t know there was anything else out there. Nothing good, anyway, from what little they told us. I wouldn’t have come willingly.”
“What did they tell you?”
“They said that runaways were picked up as strays. Sometimes they’d be harvested for spare parts or killed for sport by bored alphas. They said there were shifters who liked to dominate and break spirited fighters like us.” He looked away, a shudder running through him. “And sometimes they were just picked up by illegal fighting rings and made to fight day and night until they dropped. They said we’d be torn apart by dogs or coyotes or whatever animals they had to hand to pit against a shifter.”
Griffin winced, trying to decide how to respond. The problem was, none of those things were entirely untrue. He’d heard of almost all of them happening, though not with any frequency.
“I’ve heard those stories too. And some of them have probably happened to a few very unfortunate shifters. But the reason they told you all those things was to make you scared, to make staying seem much safer and better. Why else wouldn’t they have told you about all the runaways who’d found refuge in packs like ours? Who were living out their lives in safety and happiness?”
Beau lifted his head, meeting Griffin’s eyes. “So… I’m not here for spare parts?”
There was a slight smile on the alpha’s face but beneath it, Griffin could see fear lurking.
“You are not here to be harmed in any way,” he assured him.
“So, you don’t want to dominate me? To break me?”
Griffin, having heard much worse things, didn’t blink.
“Like Humpty Dumpty, I’ve very invested in putting you back together, not tearing you apart. And, as for domination, I like the person in my bed to be able to give as much as they get.”
Beau leaned over the edge of the bath, watching him closely. “They taught us that omegas liked to submit. But everything about you is the opposite of what they told us, so I thought maybe that would be the opposite too.”
With a shake of his head, Griffin reached for a sponge and went to kneel at the side of the bath.
“Nothing and no one in life is ever that simple,” he explained quietly. “But please, believe me, I do not want you hurt, by me or anyone else.”
Dipping the sponge into the water, he held it up, watching rivulets travel down his arm.
“Why don’t I wash your back for you?” That was one area the alpha hadn’t been able to reach.
Beau nodded and bent forward. A moment later, he gave a long groan of relief as Griffin scrubbed along the length of his back.
“That feels good,” the alpha murmured. “It’s been itching like crazy.”
Griffin went a step further, washing both of Beau’s arms, paying special attention to his wrists. He could still see a faint difference in the skin where the manacles had been. He did the same to Beau’s legs, lingering on his ankles, especially where they’d had his one remaining chain attached.
“How about that hair of yours?” he said finally. A minute later, he had both hands entangled in Beau’s hair, fingers scratching gently across the alpha’s scalp. Beau was vocal in his relief and enjoyment, and Griffin took his time, making sure every inch had been thoroughly washed.
Beau rinsed himself under the shower, the suds washing away down the drain. He twisted around to face Griffin as he ran his hands through his hair, sending a cascade of suds down across his body. Griffin’s eyes followed them, lingering on Beau’s groin. He knew they sometimes altered the alpha fighters, for decorative or other reasons. Supposedly, it curbed wild behavior. He was relieved to see Beau appeared untouched, and only slightly surprised to see he was a little aroused.
The alpha stroked a hand down along himself, and Griffin jolted back to awareness, realizing he’d been staring.
“How about I give you some privacy?” he offered, knowing that between the cameras and his visits, Beau hadn’t had any of that since his arrival.
“I’ll be in my study. The room with the view,” he added when Beau seemed puzzled.
Stepping out of the bathroom, he left the door open but retreated quickly to his study. A distant moan told him Beau was making good use of his privacy. It was largely Griffin’s fault; the close proximity, the touching. It was no surprise Beau’s body reacted to the scent and touch of an omega. Someone less principled might have taken advantage. Someone more compassionate might have helped him out. Griffin took the most neutral path he could, though he felt anything but neutral as another moan carried through the walls. He took a deep breath that let it out slowly, trying to ignore his own body’s excitement. He had to be the one in control here.