Chapter Twenty-Three
By the end of his first fight, Beau was bloody and struggling to keep a hold on himself. He hadn’t shifted, and neither had his opponent, but it had been a close thing. They escorted him back to his room, four guards with shock sticks giving him a wide berth. He hoped they’d found Griffin, but before he could even ask Mark, the beta was shaking his head.
They waited for the guards to move out of earshot before they spoke.
“He’s not down here watching the fight, and he’s not on the first floor. Ronan and Noah can’t get access to the floors above. They were hoping to sneak Noah up there with another guest, but someone made Ronan and Noah as mates and no one will touch him.”
“Do they think Griffin’s up there?”
“His scent is on the first floor. And someone saw him heading upstairs with an alpha.”
Beau growled under his breath. Griffin was his.
“Hey,” Mark said. “I need you to keep it together, okay?”
He nodded, trying to think of a solution. “I think I have a way upstairs.”
Mark sat forward. “What? How?”
“When I was here before, when I won, they gifted me an omega for the night. He was an omega belonging to the house, he brought me upstairs to a bedroom.”
“So, if you win, they might do the same this time?”
“Yes.”
“Can you win?”
The frank question gave him pause. His first fight had been harder than any fight in years because he’d been so afraid to let go.
“I can.”
“But…”
“I might lose myself in the process.”
Mark got to his feet. “You don’t have to do this, Beau. We’ll find another way to free Griffin.”
Beau shook his head. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine he could hear Griffin’s heartbeat. To have the omega so close but be unable to get to him, was maddening.
“No. I want Griffin safe. It’s worth the risk.”
Nodding slowly, Mark pulled out his phone. “I’ll let Ronan know.”
Griffin stepped into the alpha’s room and let out an audible gasp, faking astonishment as he stared around the spacious room.
“Like what you see?”
He nodded. “You have wonderful taste.”
Nathan grinned, looking Griffin up and down.
“That I do.”
He went to a table in the corner, where a camera sat.
“Get undressed. I want to take some photos.”
Griffin swallowed his instinctive reaction, turning slowly to face the alpha.
“Are you a photographer?”
“You could call it a hobby of mine,” the alpha said with a lascivious grin.
Griffin dropped his gaze to the floor, playing coy and doing his best to delay.
“Not shy are you.”
“No, sir,” he replied, looking up at Nathan from under his eyelashes. “But maybe a drink first or some dancing?”
There was a hard glint in the alpha’s eyes.
“I don’t want to dance, I want to take your photo. Strip, now.”
Griffin didn’t let the alpha cow him. He lifted his head, gave a slow smile, and made a show of taking off his shirt.
“Yes, alpha. Anything you want.”
He tried to ignore the way his stomach turned with every click of the camera. As soon as he had Nathan incapacitated, as soon as he had what he wanted, he’d be taking those pictures with him. They’d never see the light of day.
Nathan didn’t seem to appreciate his striptease all that much. He put down the camera and closed the gap between them, taking Griffin by the arms.
“You’re a little stiff,” he said. “How about a drink to loosen you up?”
“Thank you, sir,” he said. He pretended to fold his clothes as Nathan got the drinks ready but really, he was watching the alpha. As expected, Nathan slipped something into his drink, a white powder very like the one Griffin had hidden in his hand.
He decided he needed the alpha distracted so he made a beeline for his camera.
“These things always look so complicated,” he said. “What does this button do?”
A hand encircled his wrist a moment later, yanking him away. “Don’t touch that!”
While Nathan’s back was turned making sure his precious camera was in one piece, Griffin switched their drinks, adding his own powder to Nathan’s. Then he stepped away from the table.
“I’m sorry, sir. Did I damage it? I didn’t mean to.”
“No, it’s fine,” Nathan said brusquely. “Just don’t do that again.”
He walked back to the table, picking up their drinks. He handed one to Griffin. “Bottoms up.” And swallowed his own in one go.
Griffin did the same, knowing his was just the alcohol while Nathan was now dealing with a hefty dose of drugs. It would take some time to have an effect, all Griffin needed to do was delay the proceedings.
“Get on the bed,” Nathan said.
Griffin moved slowly toward the four-poster bed, hoping to drag things out until the alpha went out like a light. But Nathan had other ideas, grabbing his arm, and shoving him onto the bed. He struggled, trying to sit up, but Nathan pinned him down.
“I like it when you fight,” he said, his breath hot in Griffin’s ear.
Forcing himself to calm down, Griffin teased back. “What if I get the better of you?”
Nathan laughed. “Then you can tie me down, not the other way around.”
Too late, Griffin realized what that meant, a cuff encircling his wrist before it snapped closed. When he struggled again, Nathan bodily pinned him down as he wrestled Griffin’s other wrist into the cuff he’d pulled out from behind the headboard. Griffin’s strength was no match for the alpha’s.
Nathan climbed off the bed, looking down at Griffin. He was on his back, his wrists secured either side of the headboard.
“Aren’t you just the sexiest? I’ll take a few shots with you like this before I bind your ankles. And then we’ll have some real fun.”
The alpha turned his back, and Griffin quickly checked the cuffs, seeing if they were ones he could free himself from. They didn’t budge, and he realized he was in real trouble. Nathan stumbled a little as he crossed the room to his camera.
“That was some strong wine,” he called across the room, his words slurred. Picking up his camera, he made his way back to the bed, holding it up and snapping a few pictures.
“Stupid thing’s not in focus,” he growled, staring through the lens again. Then he lowered the camera and looked at Griffin.
“Wait. What… what the fuck did you do?” The alpha took two steps toward him, walking into the end of the bed, and pitched forward, landing on the mattress next to Griffin’s feet, unconscious.
“Fuck,” Griffin said, realizing how much more trouble he was in now. It would take a few hours for the drugs to wear off, and then Nathan was going to be pissed.