Omega Hunted by Linsey Moon
29
“Listen,”Nick said, looking at the mass of approaching dots on the tablet screen. “I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but we need to move now. My team is going to be at the extraction point soon and they won’t wait if we’re not there. They can’t risk getting caught. Plus,” he flipped the table around so the rest of them could see how close the small army of dots had gotten. “We’re out of time.”
“I’ll go first,” Kasim said. “Let me get a head start to lead them in the opposite direction.”
Nick nodded his agreement. Kasim pulled Savannah in and gave her a quick kiss, then he started in the opposite direction they would be going. Savannah put her hand to her chest trying to stop the ache she felt forming there while she watched him walk away. She just hoped it wouldn’t be the last time she ever saw him.
“Okay,” Nick said. “We need to go. If they catch up to him and realize he’s helped us evade them, even though he’ll be safe, they will still come looking again. We can’t wait around.”
They took off in the opposite direction, trudging through the snow, with more still falling. “We’re leaving footprints,” Savannah said, fear gripping her with the realization the know had created the perfect way for the gaurds to track them after they realized they’d been going the wrong way following their trackers with Kasim.
“I’ve got it covered,” Yuu said from behind her and Nick.
He’d insisted on walking behind them so he could keep an eye out. The guards weren’t the only potential dangers they might come across in the woods. Savannah looked back at Yuu and he was hauling a large branch behind him. It had several branches stemming off it, and when they drug across the snow they disturbed the settled snow and their footprints within it.
Yuu smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”
She smiled back before turning to face the direction she was walking again. She believed him. He’d had her back more than once since the moment they met. He could have taken her then, or anytime since. All of them had numerous chances when they were alone with her and could have claimed her, or in Yuu’s case taken her for his employer. Yet they had stood by her each time. Done things to help her that landed them in danger. She really hoped she would see them again.
A few feet ahead a tall fence came into view. It had to be over fifteen feet tall and judging by the flashing red lights that lined the top every few feet, Savannah guessed it might be electrified. At minimum, she imagined there were cameras lining the fence. If The Lady’s guards hadn’t figured out which direction to look for Nick and her yet, they would soon.
Nick stopped and looked at his watch. “Shit.” He looked up at the sky.
“What’s wrong?” Savannah asked.
“My team should be here by now. They should have beat us here by five minutes.”
“You said they wouldn’t wait if we weren’t here,” Yuu said. “Maybe they came and left already.”
“No.” Nick shook his head looking around. He pointed to smaller trees and bushes in the area around them. “If they’d been here these trees and bushes would show signs. They’d be bent and flattened out from the power of the propellers on the chopper. They haven’t shown yet.”
“I hate to compound bad news with worse news,” Yuu said, looking at the tablet. “It looks like Kasim got caught.”
“No,” Savannah gasped.
“It’s okay,” Nick said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “They won’t hurt him.”
“No,” Yuu said. “But they know he isn’t with you two, so they are looking for you again. And they are headed this way. Looks like a group of guards are running up the fence line too.”
“Dammit.” Nick shoved his hands through his hair. “How close are they?”
Yuu tapped on the tablet screen a couple times. “It looks like the first group of them will be coming through the tree line just north of us in the next few minutes.”
Savannah felt panic surging within her. It couldn’t have been for nothing. She couldn’t have walked away from Kasim, possibly gotten him in some trouble for nothing. Even if The Lady wouldn’t do anything to him, Savannah imagined his father, the King, wouldn’t be pleased he hadn’t claimed an omega considering everything Kasim had told her about his father’s plan for him.
“Should we run?” she asked, looking at Nick.
Nick pulled his radio from his pocket and radioed his team. “This is Sergeant Flemming. Where the hell’s my extraction team?”
“We’re ten minutes out sir. The storm is causing some issues with the chopper so it’s slowed our arrival. Stay put. We’ll be there soon.”
Nick’s lip pulled back and he sneered, barking into the radio. “Armed guards are about to overtake me, so I’m going to need you to find a way to hurry up.”
“They’re not going to make it in time,” Yuu said. “I’ll turn back and buy you some time. These guys all know who I work for. If they’re smart, they won’t make a move on me. But I can at least distract them a little longer, and hopefully your chopper will get here before they finish dealing with me and start heading your way.”
Savannah’s heart raced, getting caught in her throat. She grabbed his arm in a panic, determined to keep him with her. “You don’t have to do that,” she said. His words from earlier about The Lady not respecting him because he wasn’t her true client played in her head. “You’re not her client. You told me she doesn’t respect you. They already got Kasim. I can’t stand for them to get you too. I think he’ll wind up being okay, but you, I saw how she looked at you. I can’t let you risk yourself for me.”
Yuu wrapped a hand around her neck and pulled her to him, crushing his mouth to hers, stealing her breath and stopping her argument in its tracks. She was panting when he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.
“I promise I’ll chase you again one day, baby. And when I do, I’ll catch you for me, not anyone else.”
Before she could process the enormity of what he’d just said, Yuu turned and took off into the tree line. The snow and brush hiding him from her view. She watched after him, staring at the empty space where he’d just been and pressed her fingers to her lips while warm tears slowly fell down her face.
She smelled his scent enveloping her before she felt Nick’s arm going around her waist. He pulled her tight against him, and she leaned into his warmth and strength, letting him soothe her.
“Come on.” He wiped the tears from her face. “If we huddle near the fence it will block some of the wind. I think it’s our best chance of staying out of view if any guards come this way, too.”
Far too soon, Savannah caught the scent of betas she didn’t know on the wind. “The guards,” she said.
“They’re almost here,” Nick said. “Let’s move further up the fence. My team is almost here too.”
They ran along the fence, Nick dragging branches behind them to try to hide their trail. When they stopped he radioed the slight change in their location to his team. A few minutes later Savannah nearly crawled out of her skin when she heard something battering the fence.
“Get back.” Nick grabbed her, and pulled her away just in time. Bricks fell and two men in DOA uniforms stepped through a small opening they had just rammed in the fence.
“Let’s go,” one of them yelled.
Nick grabbed Savannah’s hand and helped her through the opening in the fence. When they reached the other side, there were several SUVs like the one that had taken her parents away waiting on the other side.
“Where’s the chopper?” Nick asked one of the agents.
“Weather wouldn’t let us get it this close. We had to land and drive to you. Sorry for the delay.”
Nick nodded. “I’m just glad you got here when you did. We’ve got to go. Her guards were nearly on top of us.”
Someone opened the back door of an SUV and Nick put a hand to her lower back and ushered her inside, climbing in beside her. Then they took off, heading away from the forest and the mansion. Heading away from Yuu and Kasim and possibly her only chance to be happy. Her future would be dictated by the government. She looked up at Nick. She wanted to lean into him and take comfort from him, but he wasn’t just Nick anymore. He was the DOA, so she sat still and stared ahead, waiting to see what her future might hold.