Chapter Twenty-Nine
They spent the rest of the day and night without anyone checking on either him or Nahuel. No food, no water, and exposed to the elements. The sun beat on their heads again and Peder attempted to lick his dry lips, but his tongue had gone to leather.
Nahuel slept on his side, his back to him. He’d stopped talking once the sun had set yesterday and hadn’t woken since.
Peder reached through the bars and rested his hand on Nahuel’s side again.
His chest rose and fell.
Peder breathed a sigh of relief. “Hey!” he shouted to anyone above. Sometimes, the guards’ voices drifted down but from such a distance, he couldn’t make out their words. “We need water!” His throat hurt and his voice came out hoarse, almost unrecognizable.
Dry dirt trickled from above and landed in his eyes. He rubbed his vision clear and peered at Timothy’s harsh face.
“Need? Do you have the audacity to make demands of me, runaway?” His scowl ran deep. “Because of both of you, I’ve had to sell all my stock of slaves at a discount to pay off my betting debts. Pull the fuckers up.” Timothy vanished from his sight.
Peder’s heartbeat echoed in his chest. He couldn’t care less what Timothy had to pay or how he wanted to take it out on his hide. The end was close and he wouldn’t have to worry about pain or thirst anymore.
His gaze moved to the unmoving shifter. What about Nahuel though?
The lid to their cage squealed open and clanked to the ground. With long poles, the vampire guards poked at him until he stood then grabbed him by the shoulders to drag him out. He lay on his side, watching as they poked at Nahuel. “He hasn’t moved all morning.”
“We’ll get him to move. Get the spear.”
“No.” Peder crawled between their legs to the lip of the hole, dodging their fists and he tumbled headfirst next to Nahuel. He propped his arm under Nahuel’s shoulders. “Come on, hunter. Time to wake before the vampires poke you full of holes.” He lifted him to his feet, praying Nahuel’s knees wouldn’t give out.
Nahuel’s head rolled back and his eyes fluttered open. “Wha…?”
Peder held up one of the hunter’s arms. “If you give him some water, he’ll come around.” He’d seen this before when his old alpha would forget to release one of his packmates from the chains. Sometimes just a little water was enough to revive them.
The vampires lifted Nahuel out and tossed him to the ground. They repeated the process with Peder.
He lay next to the hunter. “It’ll be all right. Stay strong.”
Timothy strode behind Nahuel, his gaze piercing Peder’s, as he swung his leg and kicked the semi-awake hunter in the back.
Nahuel cried out, his eyes flashing wide open as if lost in a nightmare. He clutched at Peder with weak fingers.
Jerking to his feet, Peder crouched over his friend and snarled at the cat shifter. “Leave him alone.” His trigger thought came instinctively and he shifted to feral. Though he was faster and stronger in this form, his legs still trembled from being cramped in the small cage for so long without water.
Timothy stood his ground. “Collar him.”
The guards tackled him off Nahuel and dragged him to the ground in a mass of swinging limbs until he heard the metallic click of the collar locking. Then all rolled off him.
Peder raced toward Timothy without another thought of his collar. With a neck-snapping yank, he was jerked off his feet. He shook his head and searched for what had hit him. A thick chain linked him to a pole. Leashed like a mad dog.
Timothy stood just out of range of his claws and grinned. “You, I need to keep pretty. I’ll make you some lord’s lapdog, just you see.” He pointed at the guards behind him. “Tie the other one to the whipping pole.”
“No.” Peder strained to touch Nahuel but they pulled him out of his reach. This was his punishment, not the weakened hunter’s.
The guards dragged Nahuel to the pole and tied his hands over his head. He swung unable to support his weight. Raising his head, Nahuel met Peder’s gaze and mouthed, “It’s okay.”
No, it wasn’t. Nahuel deserved a better life. He would have had one if those slave trappers hadn’t come along.
He would have had Kele as a mate…
Timothy chose his whip from the table of tools and returned with a cat-o’-nine-tails with small barbed hooks. This wasn’t a means of punishment. He meant to break both of them.
Nahuel spun in a slow circle, toes dragging in the dirt, when the first hit struck his chest. He flung his head back and he howled.
Peder lay on his stomach, the chain taut as he strained to get loose. Blood streamed along Nahuel’s skin. Precious fluid he needed. Peder couldn’t bear it. Snarling, he snapped his teeth on nothing. The sounds rolling from his chest were closer to a rabid animal’s. Inside his head, he retreated from Nahuel’s weak pleas as the feral side of him took over.
Pemma dumped a pile of clothes on their bed. “We need disguises.” She went through one garment at a time, tossing bigger pieces at Kele and keeping the smaller ones for herself. Holding up a pair of pants, she grimaced. “I’ve never worn a pair. Do you think I could pass for a boy?”
“Never.” Not with those curves. The dark would cover their escape. Kele didn’t understand why they needed to change their clothes. “I think we’d move quieter in our feral forms.”
The young omega hesitated in her sorting. “I think someone would spot us quicker. No one shifts to feral form in the city.” She held up a threadbare dress. “But the guards won’t care about a few poor omega females leaving the grounds.”
“No one shifts in the city?” Kele guessed that made some sense. Packs remained in civil form within the dens, but that was because the dens were safe. This city seemed anything but.
Pemma nodded. “I’ve only had to shift a handful of times in my life. Is it different in the wild?”
“Yes, it is.” How could she explain the dangers of the forest to a female who had lived within vampire walls all her life? Kele shook her head and changed into the first dress Pemma tossed her.
She then handed her a wide scarf. “Wear this over your hair.”
Kele didn’t argue. The faster she could get Pemma ready, the faster she could leave these grounds and find Peder. Tying the fabric over her head, she faced the omega. “Better? Can we go now?”
“Stay close. We’ll exit out the servants’ door.” Pemma clasped her hands together. “I know it’s against your nature, but don’t make eye contact with anyone we pass.”
She nodded. Acting meek didn’t come easily, but Kele could manage anything if it meant her freedom.
Following Pemma out of the house proved easy. Most of the halls were empty except for an occasional servant who didn’t want to be seen any more than they did. Once outside, she needed to slow her steps to match Pemma’s. Her feral side strained to run from this place of confusing rules and etiquette.
As if sensing her struggle, Pemma slipped her smooth-skinned hand into her calloused one and squeezed. “Easy, hunter. We’re out for a stroll, taking some cool night air. This isn’t a race.”
Kele took a deep, slow breath and rolled her shoulders. “I can’t help but feel like Ewald will jump out of the bushes, pointing a sword, and cry aha.” The weight of concern still weighed heavy upon Kele’s shoulders even with the stretches. “Pemma?”
“Hmm?”
“Why don’t you come with me?” The small omega would blossom in her pack. Kele could think of a dozen hunters who would crawl over thorns naked and in civil form to get her attention. She’d be mated and in a secure relationship within weeks. She could be in feral form whenever she left the den and learn to run with the pack. She could teach Pemma to howl at the moon and fish with her bare hands.
“And leave my pack?” she whispered as if scandalized. “You can’t possibly mean that.”
Kele did. “I don’t like the way Ewald treats you. No one in my pack would allow you to be used as an object. We love our omegas.”
Her smile turned sad. “I’m well loved by my pack. We all have our roles to play, Kele. Mine is just a little harder, but important.” Pemma must have seen her confusion because she paused to face her. “There has always been someone from my pack in bed with Ewald’s family. It’s how we keep apprised of what is happening and influence decisions. Ewald chose me and as long as he seeks me out, that is the role I must play.”
“So you don’t love him?”
Pemma tugged her hand so they could continue to the property’s front gates. “Not as a mate, but I do like him. He’s usually kind and a very generous lover. He’s also handsome for a vampire. As long as Ewald is determined to take my pack west, I must keep him close and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“Helping me and Peder was dangerous. Ewald is so angry with you for bedding Timothy. I fear for you.” Kele’s throat tightened so much she could barely get those last words out.
“I suspected he knew.” She shrugged. “I will make it up to him. He seemed almost ready to forgive me at lunch—or was that the knock in the head you gave him?”
Kele snorted. “Goddess, that felt so good.”
“I’m sure he deserved it, but I’m glad you didn’t maim him. My pack is very fond of Ewald and so am I.” She pointed ahead at the closed gate then pulled out a key. Once Pemma unlocked it she pulled the gate door open far enough for Kele to slip through. “Take care and I hope you rescue your Peder.”
Kele’s chest ached all of a sudden. He was hers. Forever and ever—she’d never let him go and she wouldn’t leave this city without him. “Thank you. If you ever change your mind, you seek out the Payami pack of the Iroq tribe. I will take you in, no matter how many challenges I have to fight for that right.”
Pemma kissed Kele’s cheek before closing the gate. The lock clicked and she was gone.
Kele raced away from Lord Weis’s manor down the street until she spotted a carriage hidden in the shadows.
Benic sat at the reins. “For the amount of money I’ve been paying to rent carriages it seemed more feasible to buy this one.” He held out his hand to help her aboard. With a snap of his wrists, he got the horse trotting toward the city.
“Have you discovered where Peder is being kept?”
He nodded. “Ahote found the slave compound.”
“Good, head there first.”
Raising an eyebrow, he gave her a puzzled look. “Are you so eager to be returned to Ewald?”
“No.”
He pointed to the brand on her flesh. “That proclaims you a slave forever and Ewald holds your bill of sale. I bring you to that slave compound without that slip then they’re within their rights to take you back and charge me with theft. I’d like to keep my head, thank you very much.”
“I’m not leaving this city without Peder or Nahuel.”
“Ah, the Yaundeeshaw hunter. Do you plan to still go through with the mating?”
She shook her head. “That idea died with my parents.”
“If you bring him home, the pack is within their rights to demand it. Your refusal could bring pack bloodshed.”
She sighed. “Get to your point, Benic.” Vampires should just speak plainly.
“Leave him here. Then when you return, you can choose your own mate.”
“What if I picked Peder?” She watched him out of the corner of her eye and didn’t miss the tightening of his jaw. Setting her hand on his chin, she made him face her. “I don’t trust you. Not after what you did to Susan. It will never be you.”
He jerked his chin from her grip. “I suspected as much. You don’t have to make it worse by mating an omega. By all the gods of this idiotic world, why would you think your pack would accept such a mating?”
She rubbed the exhaustion from her eyes to hide her pain. Kele hadn’t given it much thought. For the last few days, she’d been focused on escape—not what happened afterward. “I’ll deal with my pack when the time comes.”
“Then you’re a fool.”
She turned her back on him unable to listen to him. His words poisoned her heart. What would her pack do if she brought Peder home with her? An Apisi omega within her den would not be given a warm welcome. But she really couldn’t call him omega anymore. When she envisioned Peder now, she saw a strong hunter. Her pack was weakened now that her parents were dead. Had they even chosen a new alpha couple with her and Ahote absent? With her father dead, Ahote could have been next in line. If she couldn’t be alpha, then she could at least have accepted his dominance as her new alpha. She wasn’t sure about anyone else. What a disaster.
They pulled behind a two-story building and Benic showed her to his room. Upon opening the door, she was lifted into spine-cracking hug.
Ahote held her tight, blocking the entrance. Not even her toes touched the ground.
She grew light-headed. “Let me breathe.”
He loosened his hold but carried her. Once inside the room, he set her on the edge of the bed. Kneeling at her feet, he inspected her face and limbs with his nose. He paused at the brand. “I will kill them.” He snarled at Benic.
The vampire remained in the doorway as if knowing to give Ahote space when his feral side seemed so close to the surface. “Are we packed?”
Ahote nodded and returned his attention to her. “Did they…?”
She shook her head. “Peder kept me safe.”
“The Apisi omega protected you?” If Ahote had been in feral form, his ears would have been straight up.
She slapped him across the face. The sting in her palm felt fantastic. “Why did you stop my letters from reaching him? You were the one who suggested we write to each other.”
He rubbed his cheek. “Your father found out.”
All her angry words vanished as if made of smoke. She could only stare at the travel-worn hunter in front of her.
“He followed me to the Temple, wanting to know why I left the den so often. I told him the letters were from me.”
She clapped her hands over her mouth. “You tried to lie?”
Ahote pointed to Benic. “They can manage it sometimes. Inali caught me off guard. How was I supposed to admit his daughter pined after an Apisi, and an omega one at that?” He shook his head. “He almost banished me from the pack once he read them for himself and discovered the truth. I think that’s when he approached the Yaundeeshaw about a mating.”
She hung her head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought it better that you were angry at Peder and not your father. It was a situation you had no control over.” He set his head on her lap. “I’m not sure if it matters now, but I do approve of Peder. He’s very resourceful. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have been able to rescue you from…” His eyes traveled to Benic.
“Me!” The vampire tossed his hands in the air. “Fine let’s get it all out in the open. I did something idiotic. What male hasn’t for love? In my culture, females are guarded night and day. I haven’t seen one of my kind since I left my mother. Taking you from a pack that treated you poorly seemed like a grand idea at the time. I see it for the mistake it was.”
She shook her head. “I’ll never understand vampires, least of all you.”
Benic drained a wine glass that had been sitting half-full on a small table. He grimaced at the taste but still finished it.
“Timothy still has Peder.” She glared at Benic. “I’m not leaving this city without him.”
“We’ll come back,” Benic countered. “For right now, we need to get you to pack land. Ahote and I will return for Peder.”
Ahote shook his head. “Sorin will eat your liver if you leave his omega behind. The choice is yours, vampire. I’m happy either way.” Ahote lifted her in his arms as if ready to carry her all the way back to the forest.
“My legs aren’t broken. Put me down.”
He held her tighter. “Stay still. Let the hunter in me settle down first. I’ve been worried sick ever since I discovered the bodies on Temple grounds.” He buried his face in her hair and inhaled. “Little pest, I should have guarded you that day.”
She struck him on the chest and swallowed her tears. Ahote was the closest thing she had to a sibling. “Then you’d be dead too.” She leaned into his embrace. “You shouldn’t have left the pack. Who knows what they’re up to?”
“Sorin laid down tribe law on both Payami and Yaundeeshaw packs. Ten days to mourn then challenges can start for new alphas.”
“That should be enough time to return and take part.”
He nodded.
“Will you fight?” She had to know.
“I will do whatever our pack requires.”
She struggled out of his arms. “First we free Peder and Nahuel. We don’t leave tribe members behind to slavers. Ever.” She struck the wine bottle out of Benic’s hand as he refilled his glass. “I will tear down this city if I have to.”
He glared at the broken bottle. “Fine, fine. I’ll retrieve your pet.” He drank his glass empty again and set it on the small side table. “Ahote, give me directions to this slaver’s keep.” Benic dressed with his well-used chain mail and strapped on his weapons.
“You can’t go by yourself.” She crossed her arms.
Benic gave her a weary smile. “My dear, I’ve been fighting slavers since before your grandparents were pups. You’ll just get in my way.” He eyed Ahote. “Can you keep her here or do I need to knock her unconscious?”
Ahote wrapped his arms around her. “I got her.”
“If I’m not back by morning, then run.”