Omega Hunted by Linsey Moon

14

Stretching her arms wide,Savannah smiled to herself. This bed was a dream. She’d never slept so good.

Sunlight poured in through the windows and her head finally came on board, and reminded her of where she was. Her bed was never this comfortable. No. She was alone in a cabin with two alphas who had made it perfectly clear they wanted to claim her, and she’d fallen asleep like a fool.

She sat straight up and looked around in a panic. Her hands flew to the skin on both sides of her neck, checking for fresh bite wounds. Like she wouldn’t have woken to the feeling of being bitten and claimed. Still, her heart didn’t stop trying to claw its way free from her chest until she’d ran her fingers over every inch of her skin along each side of her neck and shoulder and found no signs of claiming marks.

It was surprisingly quiet in the cabin. The one thing she’d learned about her two companions was they weren’t great at being quiet. Too busy trying to one-up the other, but she supposed that came with their nature as unmated alphas.

Kasim was still on the couch where she’d left him. The towel wrapped bag of ice that had to be nothing more than lukewarm water at this point still on his injured foot. His chest rose and fell in an even beat while he slept. She only allowed herself a moment to take him in like this.

His disheveled curls hanging over his eyebrows, and his dark lashes highlighting his cheekbones. There was no denying how attractive he was, even asleep and injured. Even now, she could smell his enticing scent like his subconscious was trying to lure her in. She looked away from him before she let it.

Nick’s head was leaning at an uncomfortable angle where he sat in the chair by the couch. He was sleeping too. His brown hair mussed like he’d been anxiously running his hands through it. Savannah wondered if he’d struggled to keep his word and stay away from her. She knew he didn’t want to accept the truce, but he had and she had to give him some credit for choosing to sleep in that chair where he was clearly uncomfortable.

There was a clear argument to make that there was room for him in the bed with her. It was a large bed and she was small, but that would have been a temptation even she wasn’t sure she would have resisted. Apparently Nick decided not to tempt fate either.

The clock on the stove in the kitchen said it was noon which meant the daylight was already half gone. She needed sleep so she was glad she took the time to get the rest her body needed. Without it she wouldn’t survive the first few minutes of the second night of the insane omega hunt. Still, she hated that she’d wasted hours sleeping. Hours that she could have used to find a way to put distance between herself and those who wished to claim her.

As gently and quietly as possible, she moved the blankets to the side and climbed out of the bed, careful not to make any noise. She didn’t know how deeply Kasim and Nick sleep, but she didn’t want to test it. Truce or not, at the end of the day they both wanted to claim her and that’s not something she planned to allow to happen.

There wouldn’t be another opportunity for her to enter one of these cabins safely, or obtain food and supplies while on the run from any of the alphas still looking to claim her or the first omega they could manage to catch. She would need to carry some supplies with her to make a run for it.

She pulled a pillowcase off the pillow she slept on, then made her way to the kitchen and grabbed canned food and anything that wouldn’t perish out in the elements. There were some bottled waters in a low cabinet near the fridge, so she tossed some of those in too.

Once the pillow case was full, she made her escape, thankful the door hadn’t been hung on squeaky hinges. Still, she took her time down the steps, making sure not to make a sound. The moment her feet were on the ground, she dug her heels into the grass and dirt and started running. She darted straight for the thick tree line, hoping to get lost before Kasim or Nick would wake and notice her missing.

With only a foot left between her and the heavy brush and trees that would hide her from view and help mask her scent she smiled to herself. Her escape was imminent.

The trees to her right began moving, and the sound of crunching leaves beneath someone’s feet made her draw herself to a stop. She held her breath like that might help her now—like she would somehow become invisible.

“It’s funny,” Nick’s voice filled the space right before he stepped into her view and her heart sank and she dropped the pillowcase full of supplies behind her, hoping he didn’t notice. “I recall you making the Prince and myself promise to stick to this little truce that you came up with so we could help get him back and treated. So imagine how surprised I was to wake up and look out the cabin window to find you running away while we slept.

“The Prince is going to be so heartbroken especially after he spent the morning while you slept threatening to rip that injured foot of his clean off to stab me with it if he needed to just to make sure I didn’t get any ideas about breaking the truce.”

Savannah’s heart snagged in her throat but she has to find some way to respond. If she admitted to breaking the truce then there would be nothing to stop him from taking her and claiming her.

She spouted out the first thing that came to mind, “I’m just trying to get some wood for the fire.”

Nick plucked a straw from a tree nearby and ran his eyes over her. “Well, if that’s really what you’re out here for. I’m awake now, so I’ll help you.”

Savannah racked her brain trying to think of a reason for them to separate, but she could come up with anything. “I’m capable of getting firewood on my own. I’ve done it since I was a girl. But if you want to come, I won’t stop you.”

Nick waved a hand in front of himself motioning towards the tree line in front of them. “Lead the way, omega.”

Savannah can’t stop the eye roll while she steps out in front of him into the trees. She might be an omega, but she was so much more than that. All of them were. “You don’t really believe this barbaric hunt is a better way of pairing omegas and alphas?” She glanced his way and he stepped up beside her. “Please tell me you said that just to sound good at the party.”

He studied her for a moment. “I’ll admit it’s a little barbaric, especially that it’s being called a hunt. Sadly the alternative is much worse. This is the only chance omegas have at possibly getting away or having an opportunity to choose an alpha themselves.”

Savannah busted out laughing maniacally. “You’re joking right?”

She looked at him. His face was stoic. His dark eyes displayed no sign he saw any humor or misguided alpha prejudice in what he’d just said.

“I don’t think claiming an omega is a joke,” Nick said. “No matter the path. Still, given the options our society and government offer, this is the best path I’ve found and the only path that gives any modicum of control to the omegas.”

“Sure, we have all sorts of choice in the matter,” Savannah scoffed. “Most of us are drugged and brought here under false pretenses. Then we are forced into ridiculous ball gowns that should be used for undergarments, and heels tall enough to be stilts. Then we get dropped outside in woods we don’t know without any warning of what’s about to happen or any supplies.

“We have to figure it out for ourselves, and hope by some miracle we are faster than alphas or that the alpha who catches and claims us is decent. Yeah, we’ve got a lot of choice in the matter. I’m so glad I was brought here instead of given actual freedom to live my life and choose an alpha when and if I wanted to on my own terms.”

Savannah clamped her fists and jaw and prepared herself for another retort. Another argument from Nick on behalf of the ridiculous hunting of omegas. Perhaps something about how the government just didn’t allow that to be an option. It wouldn’t matter to him that the government interfering and forcing rules onto omegas about how they must live their lives was at the center of the problem as a whole.

After a couple minutes when he hadn’t responded she turned to look at him and found him staring at the ground. His brows were pinched together and he wasn’t looking at her. Was he relenting?

Savannah paused her steps and Nick looked up at her and ran a hand through his hair. It made her think of how messy it had looked when she saw him after waking up in the cabin, like he’d done that several times while she’d been sleeping. Was it something he did when he was uncomfortable or embarrassed?

“Why don’t you tell me about you?”

Caught off guard, she blinked at his question.

“What do you mean?”

“I want to know more about you,” he said. “Not just that you’re an omega. Despite being unmated, I have met a few omegas in my life and been taught about them, and you don’t fit into any of the boxes that most omegas do. So I want to know more about you … about Savannah Allen.”

Savannah was shocked to silence. She never expected anyone here to ask about her. Then again, all she expected out of this whole situation was a lot of bad. Getting taken from your home and drugged doesn’t set you up for high expectations.

Still, it made her take pause. Even at home there wasn’t much consideration for who she was or what she wanted. Not because her parents didn’t care, but because they cared so much they were willing to risk everything to keep her safe. Even her happiness. In their eyes keeping her safe away from the government and a forced alpha pairing was more important than anything.

What irony that she wound up here, with an alpha who paid to capture and claim an omega, has his eyes set on her all while he thinks she’s in the best scenario for an omega who wants the opportunity to choose. Yet, he also wants to know about her. Like there could be more to her than her being an omega.

“There isn’t much to know,” she said, starting to walk again.

Nick laughed. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I lived a simple life with my family until a couple days ago when the DOA raided our home and kidnapped me and brought me here.”

“What’s your favorite book?”

Savannah couldn’t help but grin at him. “Can someone who truly loves to read have only one favorite?”

“You tell me?”

“Well, if you’re wondering about the classics, I’m a sucker for ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’. I’m also a big fan of ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allan Poe. Honestly, anything of his is worthy of a place on my top favorite stories lists.”

“Poe? Really?” Nick grinned.

“What?”

“His stories are always a bit dark.”

“Without darkness, what joy is there in the light?”

Nick paused and stared at her. She felt a wave of heat wrapping around her and swore his alluring scent seemed to be growing stronger, but she had to be imaging that. Omegas perfumed; not alphas. He took a step in her direction and a voice in the back of her mind told her she should step back, but no matter how many times that voice repeated itself she couldn’t force her body to comply.

Once he was right in front of her, he brought a hand up to her face and brushed his knuckles over the side of her cheek. She should have pulled away but instead found herself leaning into his touch.

“You’re different, you know that,” he said, his voice sounding a bit gruff.

“I could say the same about you. I doubt many of the other alphas would be following the daylight rules right now or agreeing to a truce and sticking to it.”

His nostrils flared like he was huffing my scent and drawing it in deep. “I won’t lie. It’s not easy.”

His neck and jaw looked strained. Even the muscles along his forearms were flexed tight like he was fighting hard to hold himself back.

“I appreciate you doing it anyway,” she said.

He gave her a stiff nod.

Wanting to get the subject off his waining restraint, she asked, “What about you?I was in hiding my whole life so reading was how I escaped and learned about things I thought I’d never have a chance to experience. What do you do to escape or have fun?”

“I work a lot so when I get time off I like to get away from everything. So I’ll go on hikes or take my boat out. Sometimes I fish, but most of the time I just ride out on the water and enjoy the peace—the sound of the waves and the breeze. The occasional seagull flying overhead, or even a whale-sighting when I’m lucky.”

“That sounds amazing,” she said, and she meant it. She’d spent a lot of time hiding in the woods in her home, but that wasn’t the same as taking a hike just to enjoy nature and the peace it could bring when your soul felt restless.

Nick motioned to the woods ahead of them. “I’ve seen how well you get around in these woods. Even not dressed for it, and in shoes most people can barely walk in on a flat surface. I’d say it’s a fair wager you’ve done your own share of hiking too.”

She shook her head. “Not hiking the way you describe it. I’ve spent a lot of time navigating the woods, so I know how to get around trees and uneven paths. Those heels were a death trap so I ditched them. I’ve spent a vast majority of my outdoor life barefoot anyway. But I’ve never been hiking as a way to find peace in the solace of nature like you described.

“That’s something I think I’d like to do one day. Just enjoy nature, instead of relying on it as a way to stay hidden. I know my way around the woods because I’ve grown up deep within them, and moved around a few times to stay hidden from the world. A lot of good it did us. I didn’t enjoy nature the way you do; the way I should have.

“The older I got the more I grew to resent the woods that surrounded us. They felt like a part of the cage I was trapped in, just because I had the misfortune of being born an omega. I realize how silly that sounds, but I wanted to go out into the world. Meet people who weren’t related to me. I wanted to live.” She dropped her eyes and sighed sadly. “I guess I finally got my wish.”

“Hey,” Nick said. He paused and she looked up and met his eyes. “You shouldn’t have had to hide. You should have a choice. I know that’s not worth a lot coming from me, especially given where we’re at, but I do mean that.”

“Thanks,” she said.

She considered asking him if that meant he’d changed his mind about pursuing her to claim her once their truce’s terms were complete, but the sound of someone shrieking had her shutting her mouth and turning her back against him so she could look in the direction of the sound.

Nick’s hands moved, grabbing her hips and pulling her close against him. “Shh.”

He pointed to his ear then in the direction of the shrieking. Savannah stayed still, allowing him to hold her protectively against his front while they listened for more screams. When they came again she could tell they were just a little further away. They also belonged to another female omega.

“Sounds like not all of the alphas got the memo about not chasing down omegas during day,” Savannah said curtly.

“Dammit,” Nick said. “Stay here.”

“No. We have to help whoever it is. You said this is an omega’s only chance to choose or escape. I’m coming with you.”

“Fine. Stay behind me.”