Chapter Three
Max could see the curious glances Michael kept throwing his way when no one else was looking. The omega was careful, at least. All that evening, he gave a good impression of being freshly beaten; moving gingerly, wincing, and keeping his head down. Max noticed Claude watching him with a satisfied smirk on his face. The beta even had the audacity to nod at Max when he caught his eye. A job well done. Or not done at all, in this case.
He knew he was taking a risk. If anyone realized Michael’s back wasn’t littered with welts, it would all have been for nothing and the whole job would fall apart. Thankfully, Michael’s stellar acting seemed to have left no doubt in anyone’s mind. Which made Max wonder how often he’d suffered the same punishment.
When Julian arrived home that evening, Michael was just lifting the baby up to take him to bed. The alpha caught the wince and looked from the omega to Claude but he said nothing. So he knew it was happening but was happy with the status quo. It fit with the dynamic Max had seen so far, where everyone in the household tiptoed around the beta, even the alpha.
It was late that night when he grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen. He had about an hour before he could clock off and get some sleep. The guard who stood watch overnight did so from outside the house. Max slept inside, so he’d be on hand if needed.
Filling the glass of water from the tap, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. In the reflection of the kitchen window, he caught sight of Michael hovering by the door. Listening, he couldn’t hear anyone else nearby. Sarah, the cook, had left for the night, Claude was upstairs, and Julian was in his office on the second floor, on the phone.
“Need something?” he asked, turning slowly and leaning back against the sink. The omega was wary, and that wariness made sense the more he learned about the omega’s life in the house.
“Why?” Michael asked softly.
Max raised an eyebrow, waiting for more.
The omega’s hand clutched his shirt as he whispered, “My back.”
Max lifted the glass to his lips and took a long swallow. He lowered it and met Michael’s gaze head-on.
“Why not?”
The omega tilted his head to the side, considering. In the distance, the baby wailed. One blink and the omega was gone, his footsteps hurrying away down the corridor.
Step two. Contact made.
In the space of a week, Max had two more encounters with Michael. The second time, he’d even got a small smile from the omega. It wasn’t much but it was something.
He’d made contact with Griffin, passing on the message that Michael had been found and that contact had been made. Step three was getting Michael out of there, and it wasn’t going to be easy. He needed to build some trust with the omega or Michael wouldn’t be going anywhere with him. And then there were the kids. Max suspected Michael wouldn’t go anywhere they weren’t. He put all that in his second message to Griffin, hoping the omega had some ideas. While he waited for a response, he followed his initial plan, searching out any weaknesses in the house’s security that he could take advantage of when the time came.
Security was most vulnerable during times where the routine was disrupted. Deliveries, visitors, clients. Claude had friends over two or three afternoons a week. Julian saw clients infrequently in his office. At those times, the household was distracted, the external security was disrupted, but he hadn’t yet seen a gap in the security big enough to get them out.
As he walked down the corridor that morning, footsteps approached from the opposite direction. They were too heavy to be Michael or even Claude. He wasn’t surprised when Julian came into view.
“Good, there you are.”
“Sir.”
“I have associates coming to the house at three p.m. this afternoon for a meeting. I’ll be taking them upstairs to my office. I’d like you to position yourself in the corridor outside for the duration of the meeting.”
“Are you expecting trouble, Alpha?”
Julian glanced away. “No. But I know these men, and I want to portray a particular image. They respect strength and wealth. I want them under no illusion that I have both.”
“Understood, sir.”
The alpha walked away, leaving Max to his thoughts. Interesting. He wondered who, exactly, was coming to visit, and why.
His questions were answered that afternoon as he stood outside Julian’s office. The alpha arrived at the top of the stairs and, to Max’s surprise, Claude was by his side. So far, Max had got the impression the alpha didn’t involve his mate in business matters. The men who followed after them were both alphas. They were dressed stylishly and full of compliments for the house and the decor. Claude was positively glowing under the praise and, with two alphas in close proximity, Julian was acting like the typical possessive mate, an arm around Claude at all times. The men spared Max barely a glance as they stepped inside Julian’s office, the door shutting firmly.
The sound muffled as soon as the room was sealed. Enough to let Max know there was some soundproofing there. If he’d been downstairs, he’d have had no chance of overhearing. But right outside the door? The soundproofing was no match for his alpha hearing.
He kept half an ear on the conversation as he patrolled the corridor. There was an exchange of pleasantries, a discussion of mutual acquaintances and then, finally, they got down to business. What was said next made Max’s blood run cold. The men were there for a very particular reason. They wanted to buy Michael.
He froze, his thoughts racing. He knew who these guys were. They had to be Antoine and Virgil, the men Griffin sometimes referred to as his parents. Big shots in the shifter world, with a lot of dirt on a lot of powerful people. They wanted Griffin and, by association, Briar Wood, under their thumb. And they were willing to go to any lengths to achieve that. Including tracking Griffin’s brothers down to use as leverage against him.
Julian was clearly surprised at the offer but recovered quickly, asking all the pertinent questions, including why, exactly, the alphas wanted this omega in particular. Their answer was oddly honest though they misrepresented things to suit their aims. They told Julian and Claude the omega was a relative of a treasured staff member and, for sentimental reasons, they wanted to reunite the family. Then they named a sum of money that, even to Max’s untrained ear, sounded high. Max listened as the couple asked a few more questions before Julian told the alphas they’d need some time to consider their offer.
Julian left the office and walked the men out while Claude stayed inside. The alpha returned a few minutes later, jogging up the stairs and disappearing back inside. He said nothing to Max who took it as tacit permission to stay and eavesdrop.
“I think we should take the offer.”
That was Claude, the beta firm in his answer.
“Eliot hasn’t presented yet. We may need Michael’s services again very soon.”
Max winced at that. Michael was a living, breathing person, not a baby-making machine.
“No,” Claude corrected. “We might need the services of a compatible omega again soon. And maybe we won’t. But there’s nothing to say that omega has to be Michael. They’re offering enough money that we could purchase a new omega, one who hasn’t already been through a handful of pregnancies. One who might have a better success rate than Michael.”
“We have two beautiful sons, Claude. I wouldn’t call that a failure.”
“Two sons from three pregnancies. One an alpha and, as much as I wish he was, I don’t feel Eliot is going to present as one too.”
There was a pause.
“I don’t either,” Julian agreed. “There’s just something… different about him compared to Ryan. But he might surprise us.”
“Or he might not. Either way, would starting fresh with a new omega really be such a bad idea? I fear Michael might be getting too attached. I told you he had Ryan calling him Daddy, didn’t I?”
“You also said you dealt with that. Replacing Michael isn’t just about money. It means finding another compatible omega to buy, training him in, not to mention getting him pregnant.” Julian didn’t sound enthusiastic about it. An alpha disinterested in omegas? Rare, but possible.
“Maybe we won’t need to do any of that. Maybe Eliot will be an alpha. All we’d have to do then is hire a nanny. And we’d have made our money back on our purchase, too.”
Claude was really pressing to get rid of Michael. In contrast, Julian seemed uncertain.
“I’d like to wait until Eliot presents before we make any decisions. You said he was close last week.”
“I think he is. Michael says he keeps making those faces Ryan used to make before he changed.”
“Then let’s see where we stand once that happens. If he’s an alpha, we can sell Michael on. Otherwise, we look at our options.”
There was a pause, footsteps moving across the room.
“If that’s what you want,” Claude told the alpha. “I just want you to be happy.”
Max took the sounds of kissing as his cue to move out of hearing range. He didn’t leave the corridor, having yet to be dismissed, but he went to stand by the stairs. The window gave him a view of the side garden, where he could see Michael chasing around after Ryan. The omega had no idea how close he was to being sold off again. If that happened, if a decision was made, Max would be under even more pressure to act before it was too late.