Omega Hunted by Linsey Moon

25

Yuu and Kasimdrank more than Nick and Savannah combined and it wasn’t long before the two of them were passed out. Yuu in a chair and Kasim on the bed with his hurt foot propped up on some pillows. Savannah suspected it was still hurting him a lot more than he’d let on, and the fight and everything had been too much for him. He’d never admit that of course, but he downed the bourbon like it was a pain reliever.

She sat with Nick on the couch. Even though she was exhausted, she couldn’t find sleep. She suspected Nick was staying awake to keep an eye out for those jerk alphas returning. He’d probably never admit to what he’d really been through at their hands, but she was sure it was bad enough he didn’t want to live through it again.

“How’d you find me?” he asked.

“Oh, let me show you.” She leaned forward and untucked the tablet from the back of her pants where she’d hid it when she knocked on the cabin door. “I sort of stole this from The Lady’s office after she refused to do anything about those jerks or help me find you.”

Nick stared at her with an intensity that made it hard to breathe, and then he took her face in his hands and he was kissing her. She put her hands against his chest planning to push him away, but her body had a mind of its own and instead pulled him in closer.

Kissing him should feel wrong, but it didn’t. Just like with Kasim, it felt right. Like deep down she knew him and her instincts wanted him to do a lot more than just kiss him. By the time he pulled back both of their chests were heaving, and all she could hear was the sound of her heart racing in her ears. Nick rested his forehead against hers and they both sat like that for several minutes until their breathing slowed.

“I’m a DOA agent,” Nick said.

Savannah pulled back, her eyes flashing opened. “What?”

Nick met her gaze and she knew he was telling the truth. “I’m here looking for evidence against The Lady. The DOA has known about this hunt for years, but we’ve never been able to get any hard evidence to prove what’s going on or put a stop to it. So here I am.”

The Lady’s phone conversation replayed in Savannah’s mind and she grabbed Nick’s hand. “Oh God, Nick. The Lady knows. Her conversation on the phone didn’t make sense before. Yuu and I couldn’t figure out why she would help Lucas and his friends hurt you when you were a paying client, but she has to know who you really are. That means you’re not safe. She’ll realize he didn’t kill you, and she’ll try another way. She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman to give up.”

“I suspected she figured it out,” he said. “I think it was when she caught us in her office.” Savannah blushed remembering the position she’d been in between Nick and Kasim when The Lady had caught them. “You might not have known it was off limits, but those of us who paid to be here were given a tour, including where to avoid. She probably had a camera I missed that caught me looking around before you wandered in. I thought I’d found them all, but technology has gotten so sneaky these days, anything can be a camera.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked. “I’m sure she’s going to find out soon that those guys didn’t take you out the way she was hoping they would.”

“My initial plan was to stay here and play this whole thing out. Leave when time was up to avoid suspicion. Nobody leaves these hunts early, not when there are still omegas available to claim. But I think you’re right. The Lady clearly knows who I really am, or at least suspects I’m not who I said I was to get invited here. I’m going to send for an emergency extraction.”

“You should call them now,” she said, pushing the tablet towards him. “You can use this.”

He laughed. “I don’t need that to call them.” He pulled a phone from his pocket and punched something into the screen. “They’ll be here soon.” He reached for her again and pushed her hair behind her ear, tracing his thumb back and forth over her cheekbone. “You could come with me.”

Her eyebrows drew together and she stared back at him lost on his meaning. “What?”

“Your goal since you were brought to this place has been to escape,” he said. “I can smuggle you out with me.”

“I’m not letting you claim me,” she said, sitting up straighter.

He laughed. “I didn’t suspect you’d changed your mind on that front since you’ve got Kasim and Yuu here committed to yet another truce not to take you for themselves.”

“So you’ll just help me escape this place?” she asked. “No strings?”

“I wouldn’t say that. You’d be coming back with me to the DOA, which means you’d be back under the government’s laws and rule.”

“But I’d escape from here!” She was having trouble sitting still she was getting so excited at the prospect of escaping. Up until then it had been a farfetched idea in her head. One she knew she’d most likely fail in achieving, but this was a real possibility.

Nick scooted closer to her and put an arm around her shoulder, then he pointed to Yuu and then Kasim. “I know we’ve talked about how you feel about this hunt The Lady has set up here, and as a DOA agent it’s my job to take her down and make sure these are stopped in the future. But that isn’t going to happen immediately. Either of these two alphas would be able to give you an extraordinary life filled with comfort and luxury.”

He paused and turned to face her, but she looked down at her lap. She didn’t want him to try to talk her into letting one of them claim her, even if the omega within her was aching for that very thing. Nick wasn’t having it, and he put a hand under her chin and tilted her head up and waited until her eyes met his.

“I know this isn’t ideal, Savannah, but either of them is better than what the DOA will offer you. The government’s idea of choice for omegas isn’t any better than what you’re offered here. Truthfully, it’s probably worse because whatever alpha they set you up with won’t be nearly as high class as these guys, and you won’t have a choice. They will tell you that you do, but trust me, you don’t. They won’t set you up with a mate right away, it might even be years, but eventually they will say it is your duty to mate and produce offspring.”

A tear snaked down Savannah’s face, and Nick wiped it away. “This is so unfair. It’s not like I asked to be born an omega. I’d give anything to be a beta or alpha so that I could have control over my own life. These aren’t choices. I was so angry at my dad for hiding me away from the world, now I know he really was protecting me because he knew once the world knew about me, I wouldn’t exist as an individual anymore.”

Nick smoothed his hand up and down her back and she leaned into him, letting his warmth and his comforting scent embrace her. “It’s not right, but it’s the cards you have in front of you right now. It will take most of the day for the extraction team to get here, and the sun’s coming up. Get some rest and take this time to think over your decision. I’ll be ready whatever you decide.”

She nodded against his shoulder, and closed her eyes. It was an impossible decision to make. If she listened to her omega instincts then it would be simple, she’d let Kasim claim her and become his princess. But she wasn’t ready to do that. Wasn’t ready for her whole existence to be about being an omega and a mate to an alpha. She just wanted to be Savannah, at least for a while longer. Why was that so hard for the world to allow?