Chapter 98 by Cara Anderson

Ch. 98 A Surprise

Clay’s POV

“Fuck, I miss my little wolf!” I told Cary when we hung up the phone.

She and Colton had just called to tell us all about what Mallory found in her father’s office and their conversation with the old Beta’s widow. My heart ached for her as she talked about how her parents had died. I wanted so badly to cheer her up and Cary did too.

Cary’s idea of cheering her up, however, always leaned in a much less chaste direction. Under his guidance, we all ended up taking part in a rather dirty video sex session. Just thinking about it had me rocking a hard-on again.

Cary may have given rise, no pun intended, to the idea, but my need to be in charge when it came to all things sexual quickly took over. If I couldn’t touch her, I could still take control of her pleasure. Thankfully, Colton was willing to play along, following my lead and doing everything to her luscious body I ordered him to.

Watching him edge her with his tongue over and over again until she begged me to let her come, then seeing her finally fall apart on my command, it was erotic as hell! Mallory in the throes of pleasure was fucking beautiful and the sounds she made when she came were music to my ears. I came so hard, it felt like my balls deflated.

“Fuck! I miss her too!” Cary agreed., shaking me out of my thoughts. “We need to get the fuck back there and take her home.”

“I’m just as anxious as you are to do that too but we’ll be letting her down if we go home empty-handed. We have to see this through, no matter how hard it is to be away from her.” I reminded him.

“I trust Colton to keep her safe. And Nathan too for that matter. But she’s better protected when we’re all with her. Being divided like this makes me anxious.” He complained.

“I get it.” I told him. “But I really think Miles is banking on the Council convicting us. I doubt he’ll try anything until after the final hearing.”

“That’s a pretty fucking huge gamble to take with our mate.” He spit back, annoyed with me.

“Let’s hope we find what we’re looking for at our next stop then.” I needed to say an extra prayer tonight that my wish would come true.

The next morning we were on the road before the sun came up. It was a long drive to one of Quade’s more remote locations and we could only hope that made it a more likely place to stash people he didn’t want to be found. So far, the other properties we’d checked were small, with only a skeleton crew of staff who were obviously clueless. It’s not like Quade was in the habit of sharing his devious master plan with his servants.

When we finally arrived on the border of the property line, according to the map Charlie had procured for us, things immediately looked more promising. We hid the car a few miles away and walked in on foot but it was quickly evident that wolves patrolled the border of the area. Fortunately for us, we were pros at sneaking past border patrol.

Cary and I stuck to the treeline until a fairly large house in the middle of a clearing came into view. A burly man whose assignment was clearly to guard the door stood like a ridiculously muscular sentinel. Luckily, Cary and I were not exactly small and there were two of us.

“Good morning!” I waved jauntily to the guard as I walked straight up to him, serving as a distraction.

“What the-” His words were cut off when Cary clocked him in the temple, dropping him in one shot.

I pulled the zip ties out of my back pocket and made quick work of tying him up. Cary tried the door handle which happened to be unlocked. I supposed there was no need for something as redundant as a locked door when you had a six-foot five bouncer guarding it.

Slipping inside stealthily, I waited while Cary scoped out the main floor. The house appeared to be an open concept floor plan with the front door opening onto an expansive space. It seemed to be empty at first glance, but then voices echoed from the second floor. Female voices.

“Please Moon Goddess, let that be the women from Quade’s compound or at least be able to tell us where to find them.” I muttered a prayer under my breath.

Unlike Quade’s underground complex, this house had a single staircase along one wall. Cary and I edged along that wall as we ascended the stairs. The voices grew louder as we neared an open doorway and the sounds of a television program could be heard. We stood outside the door for a few seconds, trying to ascertain who was in the room.

“Good morning, ladies.” Cary strolled through the door once we were reasonably sure they were alone.

Both women startled and huddled closer together upon our entrance. I immediately recognized one of the women from the place Mallory was held captive. Fucking finally.

“Who else is here with you?” I demanded and they both flinched.

Good. They better be fucking scared of me! I hadn’t come this far not to get what I was after and they were going to cooperate if I had to torture the information out of them.

“Uh, um, j-just the m-man guarding the d-door.” The younger of the two stuttered out, shaking with fright.

“He won’t be interrupting our little chat.” Cary smirked.

“The men who Quade hired to kidnap our mate, where are they?” I barked.

“D-dead.” The older woman answered me that time.

“Fuck!” I cursed. I’d known it was a possibility but I’d still held out hope we could find them. “Are you expecting anyone else to show up here soon?”

“Only A-Alpha. Men bring in supplies but they were just here this morning so they aren’t due back until next week.” The younger girl seemed to find her voice, batting her eyelashes at me.

I ignored her. As long as she kept talking, I would use her attraction to my advantage. But Cary wasn’t having it, snarling at her until she looked away.

“You’ll be waiting awhile for your Alpha to show up.” Cary sneered. “He’s dead.”

“What?” The older woman gasped, sharing a look with her fellow Omega.

Then suddenly, they both burst into tears. The younger one with the red hair slumped to the floor and sobbed. But the older one suddenly looked at Cary as if she’d just caught on to his game.

“You’re not lying, are you? That’s not funny if you’re lying. Please tell me you’re not!” She begged.

“Of course I’m not lying!” Cary growled at her. “The woman he tortured for weeks, his mate, she stabbed him to death.”

The women fell into each other’s arms and cried even harder than before. I was starting to lose my patience with their dramatic display. The fucker deserved no one’s tears. But then the older one said something that shed a whole new light on the situation.

“He’s gone. He’s really gone. You don’t have to be scared anymore. He can never hurt you again.” she brushed the younger woman’s hair back, petting her soothingly.

“That’s enough! On your feet. We’re leaving!” Cary ordered, having no compassion for the women who’d refused to help our mate when she was at her most vulnerable.

The two Omegas scrambled to their feet. I bound their hands in front of their bodies, eking out an apology as I did so.

“Sorry but we aren’t taking any chances.” I muttered. “Show you can be cooperative and we might take them off when we get where we’re going.”

Both nodded and walked between Cary and I willingly as we made our way back to the car. We were eager to get the hell out of there before company showed up. No matter how unlikely the women thought it might be.

“Colt? Where’s Mal?” Cary asked when Colton answered her phone.

He’d called her as soon as we got back on the road to let her know we’d be there soon. He had the phone to his ear but I could hear the conversation easily enough.

“Sleeping. It’s been a rough few days for her.” He answered. “Wait. She just woke up. I’ll put you on speaker.”

“Hey, darling!” Cary cooed into the phone. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“A surprise? What kind of surprise?” Mallory used her rough, sleepy voice. The one that always made my cock stand at attention. I could just picture her rumpled hair and lazy smile.

“Clay and I are coming back to you.” He told her excitedly. “And we’re bringing a couple of Omegas we found at the last property. I recognize at least one of them from the day we found you.”

“What are their names?” I heard her ask.

Cary asked for their names then relayed them to her.

“Regina and Evelyn.” He said.

His answer was followed by a choking sound then obvious tears.

“Hey, baby! Don’t cry! We’ll be there soon. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms.” He spoke soothingly to her.

They talked for a few minutes longer but I was too busy trying not to crush the steering wheel in my clenched fists to listen anymore. I could not fucking stand to hear her cry and just knowing the sound of their names caused her tears made me want to ring the women’s necks. Fortunately for them, they were of more help to us alive.

Colton wasn’t sure it was safe to bring the women to the Hazelwood packhouse so he directed us instead to take them to Irene’s, the old woman they’d met with earlier. We weren’t sure the Omegas would cooperate yet but if we could convince them to testify, we’d have to keep them alive until the hearing. Nathan felt fairly certain none of the remaining pack members were loyal to Quade but we couldn’t be sure. The fewer people who knew they were there, the better.

Cary had just taken the women inside when Colton arrived with Nathan and Mallory. The car had barely pulled to a stop before she leapt out and flew into my arms. I picked her up, letting her wrap her arms and legs around, then crushed my lips to her.

Our kiss was frenzied, a reclaiming after being separated for too long. I fucked my tongue into her mouth just as I was dying to do to her pussy. My cock was throbbing in my pants and an embarrassing wet spot appeared from all the pre-cum I was leaking.

“Eh-hem.” Nathan cleared his throat, causing Mallory to break our kiss.

I’d developed a grudging respect for the guy but he was pushing his luck by interrupting our reunion. We may not have been apart all that long, but I was so far gone for the beautiful woman in my arms, even a few minutes was too long. I couldn’t wait to get her someplace private and get a proper welcome.

“Oh, sorry!” Mallory apologized sheepishly. “Where’s Cary?”

“He’s inside, little wolf. Let’s go find him.” I tossed Nathan one more indignant glare before carrying Mal inside.

“Hey, darling!” Cary snatched her away from me and buried his face in her neck. “I missed you so fucking much. You’re cuddling with me tonight.”

“What? That’s not fair! I missed her too!” I argued in protest.

She reached out to me and pulled me close to them, leaning over to kiss me softly.

“I want to be close to both of you. We’ll make it a cuddle cluster.” The look of excitement on her face made me weak in the knees.

“First we need to talk to Evelyn and Regina.” Cary got us back on track.

Mallory nodded and stretched out her legs, forcing Cary to set her on her feet. He took her hand and guided her to the room where the Omegas were waiting. A surge of fear, anger and pity hit me as Mallory’s emotions poured into the bond. I stepped into her and held her tight to my side, reminding her I was there for her as she faced the women who may not have outright tortured her, but certainly turned a blind eye to it.

“We have a lot to talk about.” Mallory found the courage to address them. “If you refuse to cooperate, I cannot vouch for your safety.”

It was a bluff. No matter what they’d done, Mallory would never let any harm come to them under our watch. But if we successfully proved our case, what the Council would do to them was an entirely different matter.

The women nodded in understanding, The older woman, Evelyn, maintained a stoic demeanor, but the younger woman was about to shake her way out of her own skin. When Colton addressed them in his thunderous voice, I was genuinely surprised she managed not to faint.

“Tell us what you know about Miles McIntyre.” He demanded.

Evelyn’s face drained of all color and her hands started to tremble. All attempts at bravery were abandoned, She’d clearly heard of the man. I just hoped she knew something useful.

“H-he was w-working with Alpha Quade.” She said. “H-he’s my b- brother.”