Omar turned to grab a box of nails to use on the prefab setup they were working on, but when he did, he froze — because his eyes settled on a familiar figure.

  What had been his name?

  Nathaniel.

  The beta bounty hunter had warned Jason that the price on his head had gone up, which still seemed ridiculous. Why would he have warned the omega?

  More importantly, why the fuck was he here?

  Thankfully, Mark’s attention had been caught by the approaching beta as well. He didn’t notice Omar’s stumble, though Florian certainly did. The older alpha shot a glare at him, and Omar cringed. The last thing he needed was to make enemies, and if he got them all shocked, that would sure as fuck happen.

  The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and Omar knew he was being watched. He fought to ignore it, to keep working, but it was hard to focus on nails when there was a fucking bounty hunter there.

  “Omar,” Mark barked out.

  Omar jumped, dropping the box of nails.

  “Pick those the fuck up,” Mark snapped, “then get your ass over here.”

  Another sidelong look from Florian, but Omar fumbled to shove the nails back into the box. Thankfully, not too many had spilled, and he was able to close the box and set it to the side before turning back to Mark.

  He approached warily, briefly scanning Nathaniel as he tried to figure out what the fuck was going on.

  “Mr. Richter wants to talk to you,” Mark said, casting Omar a sour look. “Hurry the fuck up. You have work to do.”

  Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed slightly. “He’ll be a few minutes,” he said evenly, taking a step to the side and gesturing for Omar to follow him. “We need privacy.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck he’s gotten himself into, but—”

  Nathaniel leveled a stare upon Mark that finally shut the beta up. “Come on,” Nathaniel told Omar. Shockingly, he turned his back on Omar, which so few betas did here. He led him out of the way, beneath a tree near the edge of the property. “Omar Rahal?”

  “Nathaniel,” he said as evenly as he could manage.

  The beta nodded. “I remember you. You ran with Jason.”

  “And you warned him the bounty on his head had gone up,” Omar replied. “I don’t know where he is.” Even if he did, he wouldn’t tell Nathaniel. “You had your chance to try to get him.” Not that it would’ve worked, but the attempt could’ve been made.

  “I’m not looking for him,” Nathaniel said, crossing his arms against his chest. “I wanted to talk to you about Van.”

  Omar’s heart plunged into his stomach, and he stumbled back a step.

  Nathaniel nodded, as though something had just been confirmed to him. “He’s why you came to Salvus,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Omar didn’t answer him. How the fuck did Nathaniel know this? How did he know any of this?

  “He’s why you’re… here,” Nathaniel said with a vague gesture over the lumber yard. “You walked right into Salvus for him.”

  “Are you going to just keep stating the obvious?” Omar asked, surprise making his voice sharp.

  Nathaniel didn’t look impressed. “I’m trying to figure you out. See if you’re as stupid as your intake forms make you seem.”

  Omar glared at the beta, lifting his chin in defiance. “I’m not stupid.”

  “You walked… into Salvus…” Nathaniel said, stressing the words. “You, an alpha. After running with an omega wanted by the government, you had to know what would happen to you.”

  “I didn’t think people here were this insane,” Omar hissed. It was almost a relief to talk about why he was there, to get to snap at someone who didn’t hold the remote to his collar in his hand.

  Nathaniel paused, looking… torn. “It’s not insanity to want to keep our omegas safe,” he said, his voice softer.

  “By enslaving alphas?” Omar asked, staring him down. “All I did was walk up to the gate. I didn’t threaten anyone. I didn’t do anything. All I wanted to do was find my fucking mate.”

  There was no sense in hiding it, not anymore. The guy already thought he was stupid, and—

  Nathaniel paled. “Your…”

  “My mate,” Omar snarled, taking a step closer. “Van is my fucking mate, and you people are keeping him from me. You’re saying it’s for his protection, but he can damn well protect himself. He’s a good omega, a strong omega, and he—”

  “He is,” Nathaniel said, swallowing hard.

  Omar paused, blinking at him. “You know Van,” he said slowly as the realization hit him.

  Nathaniel jerked his head in a nod. “Van doesn’t have anything nice to say about mates,” he said, refusing to meet Omar’s eyes. “He’s never mentioned having one.”

  Omar’s laugh was bitter, harsh. “Why the fuck would he tell you?”

  Nathaniel still wouldn’t look at him.

  Omar’s breath caught, and he stared at the beta. “You know him,” he repeated. “Like… really know him.”

  Jealousy roiled in his gut, and his hands clenched into fists. He started to take a step forward, but Nathaniel finally locked eyes with him. He didn’t look like he was feeling any better than Omar was.

  “He never mentioned you,” Nathaniel said softly. “I’ve been… He’s been…”

  Omar’s entire world was crumbling down. Van had shacked up with some beta bounty hunter?

  And he’d never mentioned Omar at all?

  That was the worst of it. After all Omar had sacrificed for Van, the omega hadn’t even told his lover Omar existed. He wasn’t surprised Van hadn’t told him just who they were to one another, but to not mention him at all…

  “Yeah, well,” Omar said, trying not to choke on the words. “Surprise. He has a mate, and I’m it.” He paused, then added, “But it’s not like I’m a threat to your happy fucking family.” He tilted his head in the direction of the rest of the yard, where he just knew Mark was staring at him and waiting for him to fuck up. “I’m collared like the wild animal I am. He doesn’t even know I’m here.” He stared hard at Nathaniel, but his certainty faltered. “Does he?”

  How would he? How would Nathaniel know to look for him? Fuck, how did he know all this to begin with? None of it made any sense.

  “Someone sent a message to Van,” Nathaniel said evenly, finally looking back at him. “Telling him you were here.”

  Omar inhaled sharply. “So he—”

  “He doesn’t know you’re here yet,” Nathaniel interrupted him. “I wanted to see…” He trailed off. “I don’t know. I thought he was lying.”

  “So you tracked me down and confronted me because you thought this mystery person was lying,” Omar said flatly. “That makes no sense. None of this makes any sense.”

  “I know,” Nathaniel said, scrubbing a hand across his face. He was silent for a moment, but before Omar could speak again, he went on, “Why did you come here, Omar?”

  “I already told you. To find Van.”

  “And what were you going to do when you found him?” Nathaniel pressed.

  “Make sure he’s okay,” Omar said, impatience leaking into his voice. “Help him if he needs help.” He cast a sour look in Mark’s direction. “Get him out if he needs out.”

  Nathaniel flinched. “Do you think he needs help?”

  “I have no fucking idea,” Omar snapped. “But if you treat omegas half as well as you do alphas, then yeah, I think he needs help. Too bad I’m stuck here in a fucking collar and I can’t do shit for him.”

  Nathaniel went silent again, and his hands slowly returned to his sides. He looked like he was straining to speak, to find the right words, but coming up blank on what to say. “Okay,” he said at last.

  “Okay?” Omar asked, incredulous. “Just… okay? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “If you really know Van… if you’re really his mate…” Nathaniel offered a wry half-smile. “Then you know making decisions for him really pisses him off.”

  That was an understatement.

  Omar couldn’t stop the tiny smile from quirking onto the corners of his lips, which made Nathaniel’s own smile fade.

  “You are, aren’t you,” Nathaniel said more than asked. He nodded to himself, but there was such heartbreak on his expression that Omar almost felt bad for the beta.

  Almost.

  He’d seen something in Crossroads that had made him wary of the man, and he wasn’t going to ignore his gut feeling that something was wrong. And if Nathaniel was involved with Van somehow…

  “How is he?” Omar asked, his voice edged as possessive jealousy raced through him. “Really, how is he?” He met Nathaniel’s eyes, as though daring him to lie.

  Nathaniel hesitated long enough for Omar to start to get agitated.

  “You’d better not be fucking with him,” Omar snarled, taking a step closer to the beta.

  The confidence Nathaniel had showed in the bar was all but gone, but the beta stared him down. “He’s fine.”

  Fine. Not good, not great, but fine.

  Omar’s jaw tightened. “He’d better be more than fine.”

  Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. “He was so fine with you that he ran off here,” he said icily, and that was more familiar. “He’s better here than he was back in Pine.” He spat the word as though it tasted bad. “Where your alpha rapist friend threatened him when he was in heat.”

  “Yeah? Then you should know I fucking rescued him, too. Or did Van not tell you that part?” Omar asked, a bad taste in his mouth. “Has he even talked about me at all?”

  The look on Nathaniel’s face spoke volumes, and that… hurt. Omar had resigned himself to a hellish existence in Salvus to try to rescue Van, and he’d been miserable without his mate.

  “Oh.”

  Nathaniel cleared his throat. “He doesn’t talk about much before Salvus,” he said grudgingly. “I don’t think he even meant to tell me what he has.”

  Of course. Van was too proud to let something like that slip. It wasn’t like he was going to tell some stranger what he and Omar had been to one another either. Had Van even missed Omar? Had he thought about him at all?

  “Coming here was fucking stupid,” Omar muttered, staring down at the ground as the wind went out of his sails. “I should’ve known better.”

  He really, really should have. He should’ve found a way to make sure Van actually wanted him around before he’d risked everything to try to rescue him. He’d known there was a chance Van wouldn’t actually want to be rescued, but after all he’d learned, that just hadn’t seemed likely at all.

  “I’ll talk to him,” Nathaniel said.

  “Why didn’t you just talk to him to begin with?” Omar asked, his voice sharp. “For fuck’s sake, he’s going to be pissed anyway when he finds out you came here without telling him.”

  Nathaniel grimaced, but he didn’t argue. “I had to see if it was true. I had to see if you were really… his.”

  “He doesn’t want me to be,” Omar said flatly.

  “But you’re…” Nathaniel shook his head. “I know he’s said things about mates not being that great, but I didn’t think he’d actually run from someone…” He trailed off, avoiding Omar’s gaze again. “I’ll talk to him,” he repeated.

  “Yeah? What’s that going to do?” Omar retorted. “He probably won’t even give a shit that I’m here, from the sound of it.”

  Nathaniel closed his eyes for a moment. “He hasn’t been… happy. About how alphas are treated.” He opened his eyes, searching Omar’s. “And he doesn’t know the whole of it.”

  That shocked Omar more than anything else. “Would’ve thought he’d like alphas being leashed.”

  Nathaniel shook his head. “He’s not. He’s not happy about the way a lot of people are treated.” His eyes were troubled. “He’s not happy with Salvus,” he went on slowly, softly. He looked down at the ground.

  Omar’s heart lurched. “So he’s not happy,” he concluded. “Fuck! I really fucked up helping him get here.”

  Nathaniel’s head jerked back up. “You? You’re the friend who brought him here?” He ran a hand through his strawberry-blond hair, not hiding his shock — if he was even trying. “You brought your mate here? You left him here, all by himself?”

  Omar didn’t like the accusation in those words, and he stared the beta down. “He wanted to come. He thought it would make him happy. Why wouldn’t I do what he felt was best for him? I’m not that type of person.”

  “Because you’re his mate!” Nathaniel burst out, his voice loud enough to make Omar scowl. “You’re supposed to… care for him, protect him. Not abandon him!”

  “I didn’t think I was fucking abandoning him,” Omar hissed. “I thought he’d have a better life here. I didn’t realize there were a bunch of fucking nutjobs in charge. As soon as I found out, I came to get him out. I just didn’t expect…” He waved a hand over the yard. “This.”

  Nathaniel took a deep breath. “So you want what’s best for him.”

  “I think that’s what I just said,” Omar snapped.

  “What’s best for him is to stay here,” Nathaniel said, though he didn’t offer an explanation. “But you…” He shook his head. “You don’t deserve to be here. You don’t belong here.”

  “No fucking shit,” Omar muttered.

  “I’ll help you,” the beta said, unexpectedly. “If Van wants me to, I’ll help you.”

  It was Omar’s turn to stare at the other man in utter disbelief. But there was that caveat, the one he wasn’t sure about. Would Van actually want him to be helped? What could this Nathaniel actually do? Just how important was he?

  “Yeah,” Omar scoffed after a moment. “I’ll believe that when it happens.”

  Nathaniel offered him a tight smile. “It’s up to Van now. But if he doesn’t want you helped… You’re staying here. If I help you, it’ll only be because you’re his mate. It’s brave of you to have followed him when you thought he needed help.” The smile turned grim. “But if you’re here thinking you can steal him back whether he wants to go or—”

  “Oh, fuck you,” Omar snapped. “I’m not some stalker. I brought him here, for fuck’s sake. Why do you think I’d just—”

  “Because you’re an alpha!” Nathaniel interrupted him. “I don’t trust you.”

  “Yeah, well, I never thought I would hate an entire gender before, but I’m learning to hate betas too. No wonder you have to keep us locked down so hard. You can’t even treat us like people. Eventually, you’re going to lose your hold… and it’s not going to be pretty.”

  Nathaniel tensed. “Don’t get any ideas.”

  “Ideas?” Omar scoffed. “I don’t want any part of it. I just want to get the fuck out.”

  Nathaniel studied his expression for a moment then slowly nodded. “All right.” He took a deep breath, glanced over at Mark, then looked back at Omar. “You should get back to work.”

  Omar snorted. “Yeah. Right. Sure.”

  He wasn’t ever going to see Nathaniel again. There was no way in hell the guy would actually help him, especially if he was involved with Van.

  No. Nathaniel would want to keep him and Van as far apart as he possibly could.

  He didn’t wait for Nathaniel to reply before striding back to Mark and the rest of the alphas. He’d rather work than deal with some asshole beta with an ulterior motive to talk to him.

  6

  Van

  Usually when Nathaniel worked the day shift, he was home long before Van.

  Today, though, the beta was nowhere to be seen.

  In truth, Van was a little too relieved to get a little bit of time to himself. He looked yearningly at the couch, but Nathaniel almost always had food on the table by the time Van got home. It seemed only fair that he return the favor, even though he didn’t have the skills the beta did.

  Instead of settling down, he went to the kitchen, rummaging through the pantry. He wasn’t sure how Nathaniel turned its contents into fantastic meals every day, but he didn’t have that skill.

  Instead, he went for the fettuccine noodles and some jarred alfredo sauce, pulled out some chicken, and decided chicken alfredo would be just fine. He could handle that much, even if he didn’t particularly want to.

  The house was quiet while he put water on to boil, dumped the sauce into a pot to heat up on the stove, and diced some of the chicken he’d grabbed. The mundane task oddly settled his mind. Focusing on one thing was easier than letting his thoughts drift and twist…

  Nathaniel opened the door, but for once, he didn’t greet Van with a smile and word of greeting. He looked exhausted, drained in a way Van had never seen him before. “Thanks for cooking,” he finally said after a long moment of silence. “Do I have time to take a shower before dinner?”

  Van glanced at the clock and shrugged. “Just waiting on the noodles. Probably better to wait if you want hot food.”

  “Okay.” Nathaniel fell quiet again.

  It was unnerving. Nathaniel was always cheerful and talkative — annoyingly so. Van wasn’t sure what had happened that day, but it hadn’t been anything good, obviously.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, finally dumping the pot of boiling pasta into the strainer. He glanced at Nathaniel before setting the pot back on the stove. “And don’t even tell me nothing.”

  Nathaniel offered him a small, sheepish smile, like he’d planned to do exactly that. “I just… had an unexpected meeting today. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it yet, but…” Anxiety briefly touched upon Nathaniel’s usually relaxed expression. “I have something to give you.”

  He reached into his pocket, pulling out a folded up envelope.

  “Are you breaking up with me by letter?” Van half-joked, torn between utter terror at the idea of being alone with a fucking baby on the way and complete relief that he could try to go home.

  Nathaniel started, staring at him with wide eyes and vehemently shaking his head. “No! No, of course not. Someone was looking for you, and he left this letter with me to deliver to you.” He held out the envelope.

 

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