Chapter Thirty
Of all the places or situations Max had expected to find himself in, it wasn’t at an auction that sold people with his heavily pregnant omega mate. His job, as Griffin had explained it, was to keep Michael calm and keep him safe. Easier said than done.
The omega was desperate to see his boys, practically shaking with the anxiety of it all. They were sitting near the aisle, in a room that was gradually filling with people. Beau was sitting right behind them, saving a seat for Griffin. Quinn was toward the back of the room, keeping out of sight, and Mark was standing along the side, deep in conversation with another patron.
There were two very familiar alphas sitting on the other side of the room who seemed to be paying him and Michael a lot of attention. He didn’t need Griffin to tell him who they were but he did wonder if Virgil and Antoine recognized him from his time as Julian Ingles’ guard.
They’d been given a booklet as they walked into the room, with each lot listed. Max had taken it before Michael could and flicked quickly through it. To his relief, there were no pictures, just physical statistics and brief paragraphs. The boys were listed one after the other, toward the middle of the booklet. They were, by far, the youngest Michael could see listed. The whole thing made him sick, and he tossed the booklet back to Beau, shaking his head when Michael asked to see it.
“There’s nothing in there you don’t already know. We’re here to get your boys back. Focus on that.”
Just before the auction started, Griffin arrived, sinking into his seat next to Beau. The attention on them from the alphas opposite doubled. They looked smug, like they knew what they were about and knew that Briar Pack was out of their depth.
Griffin leaned forward, resting a hand on Michael’s shoulder.
“I know this is tough,” he told them. “But I need you to stick it out. I promise you, it’ll be worth it in the end.”
The auction began, but Max noticed there was a lot of consternation around the room, people distracted from the stage by the booklet and talking to each other. Having never been to an auction, he wasn’t sure if that was normal.
Michael got more upset as each person was brought out on stage. They were almost exclusively alphas or omegas, a variety of different ages though many were teens. It was hard to watch, hard to stomach that this was what their society had become.
“I’m not sure I can do this,” Michael whispered to him as the lot before theirs came up. It was an omega, in his early twenties, who looked much older than his years and resigned to his fate.
“You can,” he whispered back. “Trust Griffin and do this for your boys.”
There were tears trailing down Michael’s face but the omega made no move to wipe them away. Max pulled a tissue from his pocket but felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to see Griffin shake his head once.
“Let him cry,” the omega said in an undertone. “Let whatever happens next, happen.”
Michael started sobbing, drawing the attention of those around them, a mixture of confusion and curiosity. He heard a loud whisper from one side of the room. “They’re his kids, poor thing. The next lot.”
Max didn’t recognize the voice but wondered who was passing that information around.
Within seconds, the room was buzzing with rumor, many eyes on them as Michael tried and failed to calm himself.
“And now,” the auctioneer said, “we have lots eight and nine. These are brothers. Children of the late Julian Ingles, alpha of Knight’s pack, and born through omega breeding stock.”
Michael choked out another sob at that.
“We’ll start with the eldest. Four years old. An Alpha. A—”
Another man appeared on stage, hurrying in the auctioneer’s direction before whispering frantically in his ear. The auctioneer said something back, sharp and annoyed, before returning to the microphone.
“Apologies, there has been a change to the listing. Lots eight and nine have been purchased in a private sale. We’ll move onto lot ten…”
Michael let out a cry, “No. No, please,” as a buzz of conversation broke out across the room.
Griffin leaned forward again, whispering in Max’s ear. “Get him out of here. By the back door.”
Max had Michael on his feet a moment later, the omega fighting him every step. Beau moved to help him, the two of them guiding the omega outside.
Griffin followed them out, stepping around them to hold Michael’s face between his hands.
“Listen to me,” he told the distraught omega. “I told you I had a plan, yes? I promised I’d get them back for you?”
Michael nodded, his eyes pleading.
“Take a deep breath,” Griffin instructed. “Wipe your eyes, calm yourself, and follow me.”
Max was amazed at his omega’s strength as Michael did as his brother asked, pulling himself together with monumental effort.
“We needed the spectacle,” Beau murmured. “To keep those alphas from guessing our real plan.”
Max didn’t know what to expect when they rounded the corner of the building to where their vehicles were parked. He was amazed to find Drew, Ronan, Noah, Tristan, Quinn, and a bunch of shifters he didn’t recognize all gathered there. But that wasn’t what caught his attention or Michael’s. Holding Drew’s hand was little Ryan. And in Noah’s arms, Eliot.
Michael pulled out of his embrace and ran to them, falling to his knees next to Ryan. The little boy jumped into his arms with a cry of happiness.
“Mikey!”
Eliot squirmed in Noah’s grip until the omega set him in Michael’s waiting arms.
“I’ve missed you, so, so much,” Michael was telling them, pressing kisses to any patch of skin he could reach. Ryan was bouncing up and down, and Eliot was clinging tightly to Michael, his face hidden, clearly struggling with it all.
Max joined them, crouching down next to them and resting a hand on Michael’s back.
The omega’s relief and joy were palpable, even through his tears.
More voices reached them, and he looked up to see that about half the auction house seemed to have followed them out, including Antoine and Virgil. The shifters around them moved toward the crowd. Max assumed it was to move them back, but instead they started talking to them. What were they saying?
He looked to Griffin, who was watching with satisfaction even though there were tears on his cheeks.
“They’re anti-slavery activists. They’re trying to bring an end to the buying and selling of shifters. Hard to ignore the effects of it when you see them firsthand.”
“So all that, in the auction house…”
“A show to keep Antoine and Virgil distracted. They couldn’t have any suspicion that we were trying to undermine the auction process. I’m sorry I put you both through that.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Michael said. Max was surprised to hear his voice, he hadn’t thought the omega was even listening.
“You did what had to be done. You got my boys back. Thank you.”
Michael tugged on Max’s hand. “Ryan, you remember Max, right?”
The little alpha looked up at him with no trace of shyness. “Hi, Max.”
“Hey, little man. Look at you, you’ve grown. You’ll be taller than me in no time.”
Ryan puffed up his chest in pride at that.
“And Max, you remember Eliot, don’t you?”
The omega was still hiding his face against Michael’s neck, clearly overwhelmed by it all.
Max stroked a hand down his back.
“Hi, Eliot. Time to take you home, huh?”
It was Michael who answered, tears still in his eyes as he held Max’s gaze.
“Yes, please. Let’s go home.”
Max helped the omega to his feet and took Ryan’s hand, the four of them walking together to the waiting car. The crowd was still watching, a sea of faces, a multitude of expressions. But there was compassion there, confusion. If they’d touched even one heart that day, made even one person change their minds, then maybe that was worth something.
Max tried to take Eliot while Michael climbed into the car but the little omega just whimpered and clung tighter. Instead, he helped his mate into the seat while Michael adjusted Eliot to sit more securely against him. Leading Ryan by the hand, Max rounded the car and they got in the other side. He helped the little alpha climb in first then got in after him. Ryan crawled onto his lap a moment later.
“Don’t you want to sit in your own seat?” he asked him.
Ryan shook his head, grasping Max’s pants’ leg with one hand and looking up hopefully at him.
“Happy where you are, huh?”
The little alpha nodded and leaned back against him.
“Where are we going?” he wanted to know.
Michael reached a hand over, cupping Ryan’s cheek.
“We’re going to your new home. A place called Briar Wood. You’ll like it there.”
“Is Papa there?”
Michael’s face fell but he managed to school his expression into a small smile. “No, sweetheart, he’s not. But Max and I will be there. And there are other little boys and girls to play with.”
That seemed to satisfy Ryan, and he settled into Max’s lap, Max throwing an arm around him as Drew and Griffin got into the front. Both kids got a little quiet with their arrival, cautious, scared. Max knew it would take time for them to come to terms with what had happened. In the space of a few days, they’d lost their father, their home, their family, and been handed from stranger to stranger.
“It’s okay,” Michael was saying. “That’s Uncle Finn and Uncle Drew. They’re my brothers like you and Eliot are brothers.”
That seemed to mollify Ryan but Eliot was still hiding his face. It took Max a minute to realize he had fallen asleep against Michael.
“Ready to go home?” Griffin asked.
Max looked to Michael. The omega reached for his hand, drawing it over to rest against his bump.
They smiled at each other, at the kids in their arms. Their family, together at last.
“We’re ready.”