Chapter Ten
Hearing Michael yell his name woke something within Max. After his confrontation with the coyote, he felt more clearheaded than he had in days. He was starting to become aware of the gaps in his memory. It wasn’t just that things were hazy but that he was missing time. A lot of it, if his reflection was anything to go by.
So, when Michael insisted they had to leave, he’d already come to the same conclusion. He’d left this place once before, with someone he was just starting to trust, who’d brought him somewhere safe. It was the only place he knew to go. He’d bring Michael there and maybe they’d find some answers.
They ate the last of their food before Max coaxed the omega into shifting back into his cat form. They’d travel faster on four legs than two.
The omega followed him as Max led a winding path through the forest. They crossed the river a handful of times, Max hoping to confuse anyone who might try to track them. Michael stuck close, his movements a little uncertain. He wasn’t used to his animal form, that much was clear. Max guessed his heightened senses might be a little overwhelming at first.
In late evening, he hunted them some food, and they found a stream to drink from before continuing on. Evening turned to night and though he could see the omega tiring, he pressed on. It would be best if they traveled through the night and slept during the day. But by the early morning, hours before dawn, Michael was trailing further and further behind. Max turned to watch him, noting he was limping on one of his back paws.
Stopping, he retraced his steps to the omega, shifting back to human form. Michael stared at him balefully then shifted himself.
“I’m okay,” he insisted. “I can keep going.”
“We need rest,” Max countered. “This is as good a spot as any.”
They were still in the forest, the ground thick with trees and bushes. They had good shelter and wouldn’t be easily spotted from a distance.
Relief crossed Michael’s face, and he sat down on the floor, bending his knees, his hands massaging his bare feet.
“Are you hurt?”
When he didn’t get an answer, he knelt down next to the omega, checking each foot for himself. Some of the still-healing cuts on the omega’s feet were looking red and irritated.
“The skin is closed,” he concluded. “You’ve just been on your feet too long. I’m sorry, I pushed you too hard.”
Michael shook his head, drawing his legs in under himself. “No, we needed to get away before someone came looking.”
“Rest will help. Try to get some sleep.”
He moved to sit against the trunk of a tree while Michael settled on the forest floor, curling up on his side, his back to Max.
The omega shivered in the cool night air, shuffling around on the ground as if struggling to get comfortable.
“Can’t risk a fire,” Max told him. “We’d be visible for miles.”
“I know.”
“You should shift to keep warm.”
“I can’t, too tired,” Michael said, sitting up and hugging himself tightly.
“Come over here,” Max told him. “Body heat will help.”
The omega stayed where he was, his eyes on his hands. A gust of wind had him shivering, and he got up, padding across to where Max was sitting. Michael sank to the ground next to him, his knee just pressing against Max’s leg.
“You’re talking more now.”
“Yeah,” Max agreed, “things are making more sense than they were. I remember stuff that I didn’t before.”
“You mean like Andrew and Griffin?”
Max reached out and cupped the omega’s cheek.
“I’m sorry, Michael. I don’t know who they are.”
The omega’s face fell.
“Before,” Max continued, “everything was a hazy blur. But now some things are clearer. I know there are gaps in my memory. Like you and your brothers.”
“So you didn’t lie? To get me to come with you?”
Did that sound like him? Was he a liar?
“I… don’t think that’s the kind of person I am.”
The omega gave him a small smile. “I think, if you were, I’d have tried to run away by now.”
“You are running away.”
“Yeah, but with you, not from you. When you took off my collar, I…”
Max remembered. He’d been so scared, and Max had been acting on instinct which had only frightened him more.
“You thought I was going to bite you.”
“But you didn’t.” The omega canted his head to the side. “Do you really know where we’re going?”
It was a fair question.
“I remember leaving the cabin before. With someone I was learning to trust. I’m taking us to where he brought me.”
“So you have been here before?”
Max’s memories were growing clearer by the hour. “I lived here, alone, for years. Until someone found me.”
He remembered chasing him off, more than once, but the alpha kept coming back, patient and determined.
“Why were you here? Why were you all alone?”
Those memories were hazier, and he felt a reluctance to tug at them. “Something… happened, and I ran from it.”
Too vague to be a real answer but it was all he had.
“And you’re sure it’s safe, the place you’re taking us?”
“I remember… enough… to believe it is. There’s someone there who can help us.” He remembered the shifter’s face but the name eluded him.
“Another alpha?”
“Yes.”
Michael shivered again, whether it was the cold or the idea of two alphas instead of one, he wasn’t sure.
“Come here,” Max insisted. “You need to rest, and you won’t sleep if you’re too cold.”
The omega let Max guide him closer until he was pressed against him.
“Is your name really Max?” the omega piped up, clearly not sleepy.
“It’s the only name I remember.”
“Why are you helping me? I mean, you don’t remember me. You could have just chased me away.” Michael twisted in his embrace until they were face-to-face. “But you didn’t.”
Max wrapped his arms around the omega.
“You were hurt and scared. Chasing you away was the last thing on my mind.”
Michael leaned closer. “You took care of me instead. Hunted food for me, cleaned my wounds, kept me warm. Like you’re keeping me warm right now.”
And the omega pressed a kiss to Max’s lips. The alpha hadn’t been expecting it but he returned it, eagerly.
Michael pulled back abruptly, his eyes wide with shock that quickly turned to panic.
“I didn’t… I’m sorry… I—”
“Easy,” Max soothed. “It’s okay.”
He touched Michael’s cheek, and the omega flinched back, all nervous energy shot through with fear.
“Shh,” he murmured to him. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
He could see the omega was on edge, struggling to reconcile his actions with his feelings.
“I’m sorry,” the omega mumbled, ducking his head.
“Sorry for what?” he wondered.
I don’t know what I’m doing,” Michael admitted, still hiding his face from Max’s gaze.
“It’s okay,” Max told him, trying to be careful how he worded his response. “I think we’re both a little lost here. We’ve been close like this for days, and I’m pretty sure we’re compatible.”
“You feel it too?” Michael lifted his head, just meeting Max’s gaze.
“I feel it. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to… pin you down and have my way with you.”
This time, when he touched the omega’s cheek, the reaction was relief rather than fear.
“Maybe I’m going to have my way with you,” the omega threw back.
“You did just kiss me,” Max agreed. “Should I be worried?”
He was relieved the omega was joking instead of cowering though it was clear they were both confused about how things were between them.
“I guess that depends. Did you like it?”
“You took me by surprise, but yeah, I liked it a lot.”
“And you don’t have someone waiting somewhere?”
It was a good question. None of his memories held any indication that he belonged to someone else. He felt… not just alone but lonely.
“No, I think there’s just me. How about you? Have you an alpha waiting in the wings?”
Michael canted his head to the side. “You really don’t remember me, do you? Where you found me? What I am?” He dropped his gaze. “You wouldn’t want to know me if you did.”
Max nudged his chin until the omega looked up again. He didn’t want to say too much, to scare the omega off. It was clear he felt protective of Michael but intertwined with that was a possessiveness, the strength of which took him by surprise.
“Try me,” he challenged.
Michael stumbled through the explanation, painting a nightmarish picture that was all too clear in Max’s mind. The breeder house, being sold to the family he was an unwilling surrogate for, pregnant three times, with two children he could be separated from at any moment. Who he had been separated from, by Max himself.
“See,” Michael said when he’d run out of words. “I’m no better than a whore. No alpha would ever love me.”
Max felt anger on the omega’s behalf. This wasn’t something he’d done, something he’d chosen. It was something that had been done to him. Choices taken from his hands, things forced upon him. And yet he felt shamed by it.
“I can’t imagine everything that you’ve been through,” he said softly. “But you are not to blame and anyone who would judge you for it should take a long, hard look at themselves.”
If circumstances had been different, Max would have made his feelings clear with a kiss. As soon as he thought it, he realized it was the last thing the omega would expect and the thing he needed most.
Cupping the omega’s face in his palms, he smiled softly. “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”
Wide-eyed, Michael nodded against his hands. The kiss was slower than the first time, Max giving Michael every chance to pull away or turn his head. But the omega closed his eyes and sighed into the embrace, his lips soft against Max’s. Max teased Michael’s bottom lip with his tongue and the omega parted his lips with a whimper of need. Michael wasn’t just scared of touch, of affection, he was starved for it. He nudged Michael’s tongue with his own, a low moan escaping him at the taste of the omega. He deepened the kiss, drawing it out until they were forced to pull apart, gulping in air as Michael shuddered against him.
Tugging the omega to rest against him, he spoke softly in his ear.
“Was that okay?”
Concerned when he got no reply, he tilted his head to see Michael’s face. The omega’s pupils were blown, his cheeks flushed, his lips a deep red. The scent of arousal between them was heady.
“Do I take that as a yes?” he teased gently, trying to get some sort of reply from the shocked omega.
“I… Yes… That.” The omega swallowed hard and closed his eyes. “That was…” He opened them again, staring into Max’s gaze. “Thank you.”
Gratified, he settled Michael back against his chest. “Now sleep. I’ve got your back.”
And maybe, one day, he’d have the omega’s heart.
Max didn’t sleep much that night, too on edge, his instincts telling him something was wrong. He woke Michael around midday the next day, guiding the omega to the nearest river to wash and drink his fill. While he was busy, Max circled around the area they’d camped in, checking for anything out of place.
In the distance, a bird flew up into the sky, calling in alarm. His shifter ears pricked up, and he could just about make out someone or something moving through the undergrowth in the far distance. His instincts were right, there was someone on their trail.