Chapter Five
Max could tell something was wrong from the look on Claude’s face. He heard the cook call the beta to the playroom, telling him that Eliot was about to change form for the first time. Max stayed close, very interested in hearing the outcome. When Claude stormed back out not a minute later, his face like thunder, the alpha knew it hadn’t gone to plan. Trailing the beta surreptitiously, he watched him climb the stairs and disappear up into Julian’s office. Max jogged up the stairs after him, pausing at the top and listening as the shouting started.
The problem became all too clear. Far from the coveted alpha the couple had been hoping for, or even a beta, Eliot had presented as an omega. And feline. A double blow for the beta’s already fragile ego. He could hear the high levels of emotion in Claude’s voice but what he was most keen to hear was his mate’s response. Julian could shut this whole thing down if he wanted to. He was alpha enough. Instead, Max’s worst-case scenario became reality.
“I’ll call Antoine and Virgil, tell them they have a deal. Michael will be gone by tomorrow.”
“And Eliot?”
The alpha’s voice turned hard. “He might be an omega but he’s still my son, Claude. Our son. You’ll learn to love him. I’m sure it’ll be easier with Michael out of the way.”
Max knew he should head back downstairs before he was caught but he needed to know the plan was set in stone. If there was any chance they were going to waver, or the buyers had somehow changed their mind—
“Virgil? It’s Julian Ingles. We’ve thought over your offer and decided to accept. The omega is yours, for the agreed price.”
There was a pause. Max couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.
“Of course,” Julian said, his tone oddly neutral. “We look forward to seeing you tomorrow to complete the deal.”
“It’s done?” Claude asked as soon as it became clear the phone call had ended.
“They’ll be here for him in the morning. Not a word of this to anyone. I don’t want any hysterics.”
Like the cries of an omega being forcibly separated from his children?
Max slipped back downstairs and toward the back of the house. Stopping at the door to the playroom, he found Michael on the floor with the two kids, both of them in shifter form. The omega glanced up at him, tears trailing down his cheeks. Max stared back, not knowing what to do or what to say. There was no time. No time for Griffin to come up with a plan. No time to gain Michael’s trust while he found a way to get them all out of there.
He ducked away as soon as Michael’s piercing gaze left his. The omega had no idea what was coming.
Max sent word to Griffin, keeping it short and to the point.
They’re selling him. I’m breaking him out tonight.
It would have to be a literal breakout, relying on the element of surprise and brute strength to get them both past the guards. He knew Michael would never come willingly, for one very important reason: they couldn’t bring the kids with them. Max might just be able to get Michael out of there but not with a baby and a toddler in tow. And the pack would have every shifter in the state on alert the second they got on the road. They’d never make it to safety. The only person he could save was Michael and that was what he had to focus on.
Claude and Julian did a good job of pretending everything was fine that evening. The alpha even held Eliot, and there was fascination, not disgust, in his eyes. Oh, he’d have preferred an alpha son alright but he wasn’t truly disappointed. Maybe he was thinking of the kind of business deal he could make in eighteen years’ time leveraging his omega son’s mating. Or maybe there was a certain amount of status for having an omega child that you didn’t have to sell for scraps. Eliot would never end up in a brothel or a breeder house. Ryan would never end up enduring a short, brutal life in a fighting ring. Julian’s sons would have protection, a comfortable life, and maybe even some love if their beta father could see past his own jealousy.
After dinner, Julian came to talk to Max.
“I have some associates coming by tomorrow morning. Security outside will be tightened in preparation for their arrival. Once they’re here, I’ll need you to bring Michael up to my office. Be ready to restrain him if he panics or kicks off. No matter what, the kids stay in the playroom. Am I clear?”
“Crystal clear,” Max agreed, realizing they planned to make him do the dirty work of separating Michael from his kids. They were banking on the omega not guessing what was going on until they already had him upstairs. But Max suspected the omega was too clever for that. He’d probably have it figured out the second Max came to bring him up. But if he didn’t…
Max was glad he wouldn’t have to watch that, the realization in Michael’s eyes when he saw the men who’d purchased him, when he learned he’d been sold, betrayed by the people he’d sacrificed so much for. Now that would never happen. It was Max who’d be tearing him away, Max who’d be taking him from his kids. He was under no illusion it would be easy.
There’d be no sleep for him that night. But he had to keep to his routine, act like nothing had changed. So he patrolled the house as normal, checked in with the night guard, then retired to bed. He didn’t sleep, just lay there, staring at the ceiling while he waited for the time to tick by. The night guard took a break around three a.m. He liked to grab a cigarette with the guard on patrol at the wall. It wouldn’t give them more than a few extra seconds but that was all Max needed: long enough to get across the yard and open the gate. Once he had the gate ajar, he could get Michael out.
He’d have to fight. There was no getting away from it what with two guards inside the wall and three on the outside. He was counting on the element of surprise, that, and shifting to his animal form. His bear should have the guards hesitating at the very least if not outright retreating. It wasn’t the elegant plan, heavy with subterfuge, that Griffin had intended. More of a… smash and grab. Admittedly, that was more Max’s style. Grab the omega and run. Simple. And effective? Time would tell.
The omega jerked awake when Max put a hand across his mouth. He could feel the frantic beat of Michael’s heart and how his breathing sped up to match it. Giving the omega no time to dwell on it, he got him on his feet and marched him out toward the exit. Sleepy and confused, Michael walked with him almost to the back door before he came to enough to protest. And when he realized where Max was taking him or rather, who Max was taking him from, he panicked, running full tilt for the nursery.
Cursing himself for letting the omega slip from his grasp, Max sped up and caught him before he’d even made it out of the kitchen. He carried him back toward the door, Michael struggling all the way. He fought him every step until Max played the only card he had, dropping Michael’s brothers’ names into the conversation. Griffin had asked him not to mention them unless he had to, not until he had the omega clear away from his prison. The risk of them being overheard or Michael being just stockholmed enough to warn his captors about who was trying to rescue him was deemed too high. But it was a risk he had to take. There was no way he’d get the omega out of there with Michael putting up such a fight.
Hearing his brothers’ names sent Michael into a sort of shock. He stopped fighting at least and moved when Max did as they dashed toward the gate. Max managed to force the gate open enough to get them out but they were set upon before he could shove Michael out through the gap. He fought the first guard off easily, shifting when he heard more footsteps running toward them. It wouldn’t be long before reinforcements arrived from the rest of the pack. His bear easily tossed the second guard away, his body careening into the wall before slumping to the ground. But the next guard to arrive shifted as he ran, and Max found himself face-to-face with a huge boar. They faced off, circling one another, before Max heard Michael cry out and saw another guard dragging him back toward the house.
Max ran for them, knocking the guard away. The distraction cost him, the boar seizing his chance. He felt a sharp pain across his head and roared, pulling away before kicking out at the boar. The shifter grunted as the full force of Max’s hind leg slammed him against the gate. In the distance, he heard more shouting. Reinforcements were almost there. Max threw another kick at the boar, hearing a satisfactory crunch beneath his paw. The last guard, still in human form, backed away when he advanced. Max shifted back to human form, grabbed Michael, and dragged them both toward his waiting car.
Ignoring the pain and pressure in the side of his head, he shoved the omega into the passenger seat, vaulting over the car and climbing in behind the wheel. He got the car in gear and peeled away, the tires screeching on the ground beneath them. His vision kept threatening to fade but he forced himself to stay conscious. He had to get Michael somewhere safe.