Rohan

The taste of blood still clung to his mouth and there was nothing to rinse it with. Every battered bruise on Rohan’s body stung as he lifted his head. How long had he been unconscious for? He remembered being shot with the poisoned dart and then questioned—no, more like tortured. He’d refused to tell Klaw anything about the rogue army. Not because he wanted to protect the other rogues, but because he knew Klaw would kill him as soon as there was no more information to get from him. He couldn’t let that happen. Not when he still had to save his omega and unborn child.

Another wave of pain crashed through him when he remembered Briar’s face when he’d found out the truth. Curse the moon, this was why Rohan hadn’t planned to tell him until they were safe in the mountains. How was Briar supposed to trust him now? Rohan only hoped that their love was enough to help Briar see that Rohan would never hurt him. He touched his hand to the necklace Briar had given him, only to find his neck was bare.

A deep, sad loss seeped into his bones. He thought of how hard his sweet little omega had worked to craft the beautiful gift. He’d planned to treasure it forever, but now he’d allowed it to become lost.

Rohan lay his head on the cold, wet ground. Why had he ever thought he could be a good alpha to Briar? All he’d done was allow his omega to fall into one dangerous situation after another. And worse, he’d betrayed his trust, destroyed the fragile faith Briar had placed in him.

Rohan’s wished he’d never become involved with the rogue army. At first, it had been easy to respect their mission. The small band of exiles wanted to tear down the packs they’d been cast out from. Rohan had always hated the violent pack culture, and it wasn’t hard for the exiles to convince him to join their cause. As more and more rogues joined the movement, and their numbers grew into the dozens, their plan to dismantle pack culture entered the realm of possibility.

But the alphas soon realized that fighting would be impossible without omegas. As much as alphas liked to pride themselves on their abilities in battle, it was omegas that supported their efforts by preparing food and providing healing for wounded alphas. Not to mention, being around omega pheromones helped an alpha to fight much harder than he could otherwise.

But had Rohan really ever believed that the omegas brought back to the army would have good lives? How far had he stumbled from his moral code that he would steal an omega from everything he knew to live amongst a horde of alphas?

He’d become so deeply entrenched within the ideology of the rogue army that he’d actually believed it was a better place for omegas than in the pack. But was it? What if he’d never fallen in love with Briar? What if he’d given his omega to the rogue army like he’d been supposed to? Briar would live a life of servitude to the army. Even if he were treated better than he was here, he wouldn’t be free to make his own choices, or to experience the love he deserved.

Rohan felt sick at the thought.

His omega deserved so much better than that. All omegas did. And alphas too—they deserved to know that there was more to life than pressuring and bullying omegas. The moment Rohan laid eyes on Briar, this all became clear to him. Loving his omega had made him a better alpha than he could have ever been on his own.

He wouldn’t—couldn’t—let that feeling slip away. Somehow, he’d have to regain Briar’s trust.

But first he had to save his life.

If he could get out of the storage hut, he could probably find Briar. He had to figure out a way to get that collar off him. And then there was the question of whether Briar would ever trust him again. Rohan prayed that he would. Their child’s life depended on it. Surely Briar would see that.

Unless Briar decided he didn’t want to have the child of a traitorous monster.

No, no, no, Rohan had to escape. He had to convince Briar that he was worthy of loving once more.

Rohan began scratching at the dirt by the wall, feeling satisfaction at each ache that burnt through his body. He deserved to feel that pain for how he’d hurt his omega. And if it took the rest of his life to repay Briar for his treachery, then he would be Briar’s grateful servant until the day he died. His life had ceased being his own the day he met Briar. Every breath belonged to his mate and their beautiful child.

A scent filled the air, making Rohan stop what he was doing immediately. His heart throbbed in his chest. It was Briar. He was close. Rohan began to pace, swallowing a whine as he felt painfully trapped with his omega just on the other side of the tiny hut. Then he heard his voice.

“Rohan?” Briar hissed from the other side of the wall. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes!” Rohan leapt to the spot where he could hear Briar’s voice, digging urgently to try to get under the wall.

“Stop,” Briar urged. “We’re going to escape two moons from now when the bulk of the alphas are out attacking the Flatlands pack.”

“You mean you would trust me again?” Rohan’s heart leapt in his chest, but fell when he heard silence on Briar’s side of the wall. He pawed the dirt, desperately wanting to be next to his omega. The inches of dried mud seemed like such a small barrier compared to the distance Rohan’s betrayal had caused between them.

Finally, Briar said quietly, “I won’t let our pup come to harm. If that means I have to trust you again...”

He didn’t finish, but it was a start, a chance, Rohan could show him how devoted he was to their family.

“I love you,” he murmured against the cold wall.

The silence on the other side broke Rohan’s heart. What had he done?

Before he could say anything else, a gruff voice broke him off.

“What are you doing, you little rat?”

A whimper seared in Rohan’s ears as he heard his omega being dragged away from him. He scratched frantically at the dirt, barking and growling, a maddening rage taking over him. No one put their hands on his omega.

Calm down, a rational voice inside him said. Your family needs you to save your strength. You may need to fight.

He lay down with his head between his paws, struggling to quiet the blood lust boiling inside of him. Briar would be fine. His brave little omega was so clever. Rohan would have to trust in Briar’s plan and have faith that his omega could protect himself until then.