Omega Hunted by Linsey Moon
21
When they managedto get close to the house they could hear music from the outskirts of the perimeter. The place was lit up like every light inside must be on and given its massive size, Savannah was sure alien lifeforms could see it from outer space. She didn’t need to see inside to know a party was in full swing.
Of course there would be a party happening when her life and the lives of the other omegas who had not been claimed yet were being jeopardized because of the actions of a few rogue alphas. Not that any of the omegas had any sense of power of their own lives in this place, but at least most of the alphas seemed to know how to behave with an omega. Not the three her and Yuu were there to report.
Yuu put an arm around her hip when they neared the entrance and she tried to push his hand away, but he gripped her tighter. “This party is for alphas who have caught and claimed their omega. If we’re getting in it needs to look like I’ve captured you.”
“So what, do I need to fawn over you so it looks like we’ve bonded through the claim?” Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, but it was a legitimate question. If they had to act out a charade to get in and speak to The Lady then Savannah would suck up her pride and act like she’d been won over by Yuu for a couple minutes to get in the door.
Yuu’s grip on her tightened and she heard him growl low and deep in his throat. “As much as I’d love that I’m not allowed to claim you for myself, and it’s hard enough not to do so without you rubbing on me acting like you want it. Besides, it is known that I’m here to bring back an omega for my boss so it’s expected that I will capture but not claim the omega I bring back.”
“How will that work realistically?” Savannah said. “I mean, if you don’t claim the omega you intend to take to your boss, how will you get them to cooperate so you can take them back?”
Yuu looked down at her. “That will be up to you. As I’ve said, my boss will only accept the best which means I have no choice but to take you back for him. Once our truce is completed, I will be making good on my promise to capture you. What that looks like for you is up to you. It can be as easy as us walking together right now, or I can tie you up and duct tape your mouth to silence you until my boss claims you. The choice will be yours.”
“To be clear,” she said, “you’re going to have to tie me up. I will never go willingly.”
Yuu laughed. “I suspected as much. Now be quiet before someone hears and realizes you aren’t already in my capture.”
Savannah’s nerves were like live wires when they got to the main entrance and met the guards who stood like towering mountains over the entryway. They had to be two of the largest men she’d ever seen, but she was surprised to find from their scents that they were not alphas, but betas. Betas were most commonly tasked with protecting omegas within their packs so it wasn’t unusual to see them as the guards, but it was unusual to see betas who were bigger and more muscular than every alpha in attendance. She briefly wondered if The Lady was into steroids too.
Neither of them spared a second glance at Yuu and her, they just opened the door and nodded to Yuu when he walked her through and into the mansion. Once they pulled the door shut behind them, Savannah stepped away from Yuu and took a deep freeing breath.
“Oh come on,” Yuu said, “you know it felt good in my arms.”
“Yeah,” she rolled her eyes, “like having a quilt make of cacti wrapped around me.”
He shook his head. “Even if it’s not me taking you to my boss, one of the alphas here will claim you. You might want to start thinking about the positive side of that.”
“I’d rather just do what we came to do,” she said.
“Let’s do it then,” Yuu said, motioning ahead of him.
They made their way towards the ballroom where the party had been held the night all this started. The music and sounds of voices coming from that direction told Savannah it was the most likely place to find The Lady and her guests. It didn’t disappoint.
Alphas and omegas were dancing, and some were in compromising positions where Savannah was sure they were about to have sex in front of everyone. There weren’t as many people present as the party the first night. From the couplings and the fresh bite marks on the necks of every omega in the room, she could tell these were all the alphas and omegas who had already mated as a result of the hunt. Which meant the party would continue to grow in size when more omegas were claimed.
Savannah’s heart sank when she spotted Dawn, one of the omegas she had saved that day, hanging on the arm of an alpha Savannah didn’t know. She had a bright smile on her face and was staring up at him like he hung the moon while he spoke to another alpha who didn’t have an omega with him. She gave the room another look and realized there were three or four alphas present without omegas at their sides. Had they given up or were their omegas simply out of the room?
She hadn’t paid attention the first night when they were all in the ballroom, together, but she wondered if there were enough omegas supplied for every alpha present to claim one. It might not be much of a hunt if there were, but at the same time why would they risk paying what she was sure was a substantial sum of money if they weren’t guaranteed an omega?
“Do some of the alphas give up without catching an omega?” she whispered to Yuu.
“Yes. Although, it makes no sense to give up early. The ones in here must just be lazy.”
She looked around again and noticed a couple of the lone alphas had spotted her and started to walk her way. Without hesitating, she leaned into Yuu and wrapped her arms around his waist. He chuckled, but put his arm around her back and held her closer.
“There are benefits to being claimed,” he said. “Especially when the alternative is still being hunted.”
“Hush,” she said. “Do you see The Lady?”
Yuu pointed to the center of the ballroom where a group of alphas and omegas were gathered, talking animatedly. At the center was The Lady, with her own omega at her side while the alphas shared stories of catching their newly mated omegas.
She practically drug Yuu to the center of the room and squeezed between the other alphas and omegas surrounding The Lady until they were standing right in front of her. She barely glanced at them other than to look down on them before turning and striking up another conversation with someone else.
Savannah let go of Yuu and moved, placing herself in front of The Lady and trying to block her view and get her attention.
“Excuse me, Lady,” she said, “there is something important you need to know.”
The Lady looked down at her with a cocked brow. “I doubt it, but go on so I can get back to my guests.”
“Roman, Lucas, and Shen are cheating. They are waiting for daylight when the hunt is supposed to be paused to go after omegas. To make it worse, they aren’t just claiming an omega for their mate. They are capturing as many as they can and tying them up and torturing them. With the help of Nick Faulkner I helped release three they had taken earlier today before dark, but I’m afraid that I’ve only incensed them to grow more bold.”
The Lady waved a dismissive hand in front of her. “It’s a hunt—a game. Every game has people who cheat. It is the nature of these things. It makes no difference to the outcome. Every alpha has the same chance to claim an omega and leave with a mate. Now leave me. I have guests to entertain.”
“What about Nick?” Savannah said. “He has been missing ever since he helped me save those omegas. I’m afraid those guys might have done something bad to him. I know you don’t care about the omegas, but he’s one of the alphas who paid to be here. Surely you care about him.”
“Confrontation between alphas is normal,” The Lady said, then she looked down at her watch. “Besides, his GPS tracker shows he’s still moving through the hunting area just fine.”
“Please,” Savannah said. “They could have taken his tracker to make it look like he’s moving. They have one too, so they’d know where to look. I really think something’s wrong.”
Yuu stepped up beside her. “I think she’s right,” he said. “If Nick was fine he would have been hunting her. He’s made it clear she’s the only omega he’s interested in.”
The Lady looked at Yuu like he was an insect she wanted to squish. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about some overzealous alphas. I bet your boss would love a call from me telling him about how you couldn’t close the deal because you were afraid of a few animated alphas so you let an omega talk you into hiding out at my house.”
“You aren’t getting it,” Savannah argued. “They are dangerous. They aren’t looking to properly claim an omega. They want to hurt as many as they can get their hands on, and they will hurt anyone who gets in their way. And it’s clear they don’t respect you. If they did they wouldn’t so blatantly violate your rules and show no shame when they got caught by another alpha and omega.”
The Lady glared at her with such disgust it felt like she was burning a hole through her.
“I think you should listen to her,” Yuu said. “I caught them trying to torture her too.”
The Lady turned her scowl on Yuu. “And I think she’s growing too hormonal because you are galavanting around with her like the two of you are here to be a couple of detectives when what she clearly needs is an alpha willing to claim her. Are you going to do that? Claim her? If not, I think we’ve got a few alphas more than ready and willing to get the job done to put her hormones and her in check. Do not test me, Yuu.”
Savannah saw red. She was not some thing this woman could force into servitude and tell some alpha to take care of her. She wasn’t hormonal, she was pissed off. She drew her arm back, ready to punch The Lady right in her trash talking mouth.
Yuu grabbed her elbow and pulled her into him, then wrapped his arms around her and help her tight while she tried to struggle free. The Lady’s thinly-lipped mouth turned upward in a smirk and Savannah only wanted to hit her even more, but Yuu was not going to allow that to happen.
“I’m fine,” she snapped at him. “You can let me go.”
He hesitated for a minute.
“I’m not going to try anything,” she said.
He finally let her go and she turned her back on him and the Lady and stomped out of the ball room. She knew Yuu was following because she could smell his sweet scent following behind her. She didn’t stop until she was outside the mansion, and then she turned and faced him and slammed her fists into his chest.
“Why didn’t you stand up to her and have my back? You saw what those jerks were doing! You know what they will do to any omegas they claim. You could have gotten through to her!”
Yuu grabbed her shoulders and looked in her eyes. “If we had attacked or offended The Lady, both of us would have been removed from the party by security. Believe me, that wouldn’t have ended well for either of us. I would have been sent home in failure, and you would have been placed in an even more dire situation than the one you believe you’re in now. I know you think this is the worst case scenario for you as an omega, but there are far worse things that could be happening to you than being hunted and claimed by a wealthy and powerful alpha.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” she grumbled.
“Because it’s true.”
“Why do you care what she does to you? It’s not like you get to claim me or any of the omegas here for yourself.”
Yuu dropped his arms and gave her a sad smile. “It is a poor alpha who would put his ego or his desires before the duty to his family and to those who are depending on him. I gave my word that I would bring the best omega here back for my boss, and that I would not allow my senses to rule me and claim her for myself. I must keep my word. Otherwise, I am not the kind of alpha deserving of an omega mate anyway.”
Savannah couldn’t help but be shocked by his honesty, but even more shocked that it makes her see him in a new light. She felt a new respect for him in that moment, but that also made her wonder about The Lady and the obvious disdain she had shown him. She had not seen her show any of the other alphas that kind of disrespect. Not even Nick or Kasim when she caught the three of them in a compromising position in her office at the first party.
“Why doesn’t The Lady show you the same respect as the other alphas?”
“You noticed that?”
“It was blatant.”
“She doesn’t respect me because I’m not her client. I’m not the rich powerful alpha who paid to be a part of her hunt. That would be my boss. If he were here, he’d get the same treatment as the others. She sees me as someone who is no better than a servant, sent to fetch something for my master.”
Savannah felt even more anger towards The Lady growing within her. It didn’t make any sense, but hearing Yuu talk about how she saw him made her want to storm back inside and set her straight. Yuu might be there to take her, or some alpha, to his boss to claim, but at least he had some sense of a moral compass. When he gave his word he kept it. She wasn’t blind to the fact he was drawn to her. It was nature for alphas to be drawn to omegas, and the only way for him to determine she was the best was because he saw her that way.
Still, he wasn’t going to try to claim her for himself even though he could have because he had given his word to his boss not to take an omega for himself. He also had not tried to take her back to his boss, but had kept his word to her to help her get back to the main house to report the horrid things she’d seen done when no hunting should have been happening. A lot of good it had done, but that wasn’t his fault.
Rain started falling down, like the weather had read her mood and wanted to match it. She froze when she felt Yuu’s arms over her, and her eyes met his when he settled his jacket over her head to shelter her from the rain.
It hit her then. Their deal had been completed and he was free to carry out his mission of capturing her for his alpha boss, but instead he was sheltering her from the oncoming storm.
“Why haven’t you tried to take me yet?”
Yuu’s brows lifted. “In a hurry to meet your mate?”
She looked at him pointedly. “Hardly, but you held up your end of the deal. You helped me get here and even tried to help me convince the Lady that those jerks needed to be stopped. I kind of thought you’d grab me up as soon as I finished my conversation with her.”
He just stared into her eyes for a moment that felt like something a lot bigger. Finally, he said, “I agreed not to capture you until the heaters were dealt with. Since The Lady made it clear she has no plans to take care of them herself, I don’t see how the terms of our deal have been fulfilled.”
Savannah wanted to hug him, but thunder cracked signaling the storm drawing closer and Yuu looked to the darkened sky. “I think we need to find somewhere to get out of this rain.”
“I know just the place,” she said.