Chapter Six
Alrick
My first realization when I came to on the floor of the small room was that I wasn’t alone. The small body that was lying back to back with me whimpered when I said his name, and a feeling of relief washed over me. While there was no doubt that I had failed in my assignment to protect Sebastian, he was still alive and we hadn’t been separated. The second realization was that whoever our assailants had been, they were amateurs. No professional kidnapper would bind their victim’s hands and feet in front of them. Another wave of relief.
It only took a few minutes for me to recover sufficiently to shift enough to allow my claws to poke through. Another couple of minutes to work my bound hands into a position where I could catch the fibrous rope and then it fell to the ground.
Turning to where Sebastian lay shuddering on the cold floor, I slashed through his bindings a little too enthusiastically, the tip of my claw catching his soft flesh and scratching it. I helped him up, holding him against my body to keep him on his feet, and concerned about the level of drugs still in his system, tried to scent him as unobtrusively as possible.
It was nearly normal, sweet and spicy, with only a slight chemical tinge to suggest that his body was still trying to filter the drugs. I caught myself as I leaned down to draw in a larger sample, forcing back the part of me that would rather simply latch onto his flesh, claiming the sweet Omega and leaving my brand on his neck for everyone to see.
Instead, I forced my attention back to the problem at hand and, remembering the way that he had fallen on the path in front of me, I spun Sebastian around and dropped to my knees, grinning as I startled a squeak out of him. Sure enough, there on his hip was a small bruise about the size of a pencil eraser surrounding a tiny puncture, probably from a hypodermic dart. I gently slid my fingers over the area, feeling for abnormalities beneath the skin but not finding any. Whoever had removed the projectile had gotten it out intact, minimizing the risk of infection. Bonus. Before I stood to check myself for injuries, I surrendered to the desire to brush one tiny kiss over the injured area, lying to myself that he wouldn’t feel it.
I sat Sebastian on the rickety cot in the corner of our large cell, encouraging him to tell me the story of the first time he’d been kidnapped as I turned to investigate our surroundings. Beyond the cot and portable bucket toilet, the space was empty.
“So, by the time I woke up, I didn’t even have a toothbrush!” Sebastian finished the story of how his bag of belongings had been lost in the first attack. “It wouldn’t have bothered me as much if my books hadn’t been in it.”
“Books?” I picked up on the carefully hidden sadness in his voice. “What books?”
“Oh, I had a few,” Sebastian said with a shrug. “The one I was the saddest to lose was White Fang.” He laughed a little. “I know, stupid.”
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. “Not sure why you’d say that. It’s a great story.”
I turned back to the thick steel door in front of me. It had a small square opening at shoulder level covered with sturdy bars. As I was staring through the hole, trying to make out anything beyond our prison, when faint voices came from somewhere beyond the door.
“Not sure why we got ta deal with them damn curs, anyhow,” a surly voice echoed down the hall. “Not untying that big beast, I’ll tell ye that fer damn sure!”
“Boss jest said ta check on’em,” another man responded, the voice drawing closer. “Didn’t say nuthin’ ‘bout untying’em. Jest wants to be sure the drugs didn’t kill’em. Long as they’re okay, we don’t have to mess with’em ‘til the buyer picks’em up.”
“What the fuck does he even want with’em?” The first voice groused.
“Boss said somethin’ ‘bout needing a stud for some wolf bitches at a zoo,” the second man’s shrug was evident in his voice. “Pretty sure there’s easier ways to get one, but what do we care s’long as the cash comes through?”
From the expression on Sebastian’s face, I could tell he heard them as well. It only took a second for the implication of their conversation to give me an idea. It didn’t sound as though our captors knew we were shifters; that might very well give us the edge we needed. Before I’d said a word, Sebastian took a deep breath and eased into a nearly silent shift. Even though I knew time was of the essence, I couldn’t stop myself from staring as the beautiful, lithe man stretched and reformed into the breathtaking black wolf. He laid down in the same position he had awoken in. I nodded my approval before wrapping the rope loosely around his four paws, giving the impression that he was still bound.
Tying myself up stood to be more complicated, so I wrapped the rope loosely around my wrists and ankles before I shifted, hoping it would stay in place. My transformation had barely finished when the door creaked open, and two ill-kempt men stepped cautiously inside. They paused just inside the door, and the one closest to us huffed in irritation.
“Fucking things ought to have woken up by now.” He strode over and kicked Sebastian hard in the ribs. “C’mon you, stupid mutt!”
The snarl that ripped through me came without warning. I kicked free of the rope and leaped to my feet, sprinting past them to place myself between our captors and the door. Landing stiff legged, I squared myself and prepared to be rushed as they both turned to face me. Instead, the smaller man reached into his pocket and removed a small handgun.
“Mick! What the hell are you doing?” The other man exclaimed, but his partner ignored him.
“Bad doggie,” Mick cackled, the weapon giving him confidence as he leveled it at me with an evil grin.
A sudden streak of black took us all by surprise when Sebastian launched himself toward the aggressor, ferocious snarls emanating from his snapping jaws and echoing through the small space. Startled, Mick spun around, squeezing off one shot before Sebastian reached him. Omegas may be smaller than Alphas, but I've always known that that doesn't make them weak, and Sebastian? Well, the pained scream and the crunching of bones snapping when his strong jaws closing over the man’s wrist made it clear that Sebastian was no weakling.
The second man stared, his gaze pinballing between where his screeching friend was kneeling on the ground, fighting to free his from Sebastian’s teeth, and where I stood blocking the only exit. He made up his mind and turned, taking a step toward my Omega. The light glinting off the blade he pulled free from his pocket made that decision his last.
I was standing over his inert body, my jaws stained red, when Sebastian suddenly slumped down, his eyes rolling back as he released his grip on our other attacker. Mick looked up at me and opened his mouth, but it was too late. I tossed his carcass over to rest with his partner’s and lowered myself to Sebastian’s side, seeing the glisten of wet fur on his shoulder for the first time. Fuck. The bullet had hit him and he hadn't even whimpered. Instead, he’d stood his ground until he lost enough blood that he passed out.
Cursing the beautiful black fur that had hidden his injury so effectively, I shifted and gathered him into my arms, pulling the heavy door closed behind me as I searched for a place to help my Omega. Laying Sebastian on a bed in the first room that I came to, I quickly and silently searched the rest of the house. We were alone. A cursory examination revealed no telephone, no computer, no means of communicating with the outside world. A quick look out the window showed a thick forest and no nearby neighbors.
Swallowing my frustrated groan, I set a pan of water on the stove to boil as I searched the kitchen. Collecting supplies that I could use to remove the bullet, I tried to ignore the voice in the back of my head reminding me that if they'd known what they were hunting, if the bullet had been silver tipped, it was unlikely that I’d be able to save Sebastian.
Knives of several sizes, a turkey baster, an absurdly small pair of silicone tipped tongs that I was hoping would work as forceps – I dropped them all in the boiling water and began searching for bandages. Settling for an unopened jar of organic honey and a stack of clean dishtowels that I found in a drawer, I wrapped the sanitized items in a clean towel and headed for the bedroom where I’d left the injured wolf, all the while praying to the Goddess Eir to guide my hand.
Forty minutes later, the bullet was lying on the bedside table, the wound had been cleaned, packed with honey, and bandaged, but Sebastian still hadn’t woken up. I closed the door to the room we were occupying and slid the heavy bureau over to block it. Then, I crawled into the bed next to the Omega, drawing his small form against my chest and allowing the Alpha pheromones that I so rarely used to wash over him, deepening his sleep and encouraging his body to heal.
For two days Sebastian lay on the bed, silent and still, offering no clue as to when he might wake. Even though he was slender, the Omega could survive many more days without food, but I knew that the immediate danger was dehydration. To that end, my new obsession became spending hours using the turkey baster that I'd resanitized after irrigating his wound to dribble fresh water into his mouth, stroking his throat until he reflexively swallowed before starting again.
As each hour passed without improvement, I had to continuously remind myself that as long as his pulse remained steady, he was improving. I ventured out into the forest twice a day, once each morning to hunt before wrapping my body around Sebastian to sleep, and once each evening to explore our surroundings in an as yet vain attempt to determine where in Hades we were. I couldn't be sure how far we had been transported before we woke, and without even the vaguest idea of our location, I was hesitant to trust in the relative security of the forest enough to leave Sebastian alone for more than an hour at a time.
As Sebastian lay unmoving on the third evening, I ventured out to dig a grave for the two kidnappers. As I covered their bodies, the faint sound of music caught my ear. I kicked the final layer of dirt over their resting place and then, with a single fretful glance back toward the house where Sebastian lay unconscious, I eased deep into the forest to investigate the source. Uncertain what I was facing, I hugged the twilight darkness. From my spot deep in the shadows, I saw a small village that was alive with the sounds of a festival. The scent of roasted meats permeated the air and the humans – many who were dressed as wolves - danced and sang in the moonlight. I was weighing the pros and cons of revealing myself and asking for help when a dog and goat were led to the high stage in the center of the dancers, their lives ended with the sudden flash of a blade as the dancers attempted to catch the free-flowing blood in their hands.
Horrified at the seemingly wanton killing, I drew further back into the shadows, confident that the sudden appearance of a large wolf would be met with anything but a warm welcome. I picked my way back to the cabin where I coaxed my sleeping charge into swallowing a bit of broth that I'd boiled down from the carcass of the small mule deer I'd taken the day before. Then, I curled around him to wait out another day. When I woke, Sebastian's warm human flesh was pressed against my body and startling blue eyes were watching me.