The Beta and His Angel (The Belesone Pack #3)

Chapter 1

"There's a serving girl; she'll do it. But no hanky panky," The barman was eager to help, but also wary of anything happening under his roof that could cause trouble.

Leo understood that. His bar had obviously been up and running for years. It wouldn't take much for an angry father or husband to wreck the joint or frighten his customers off.

He leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially. "I wouldn't dream of it. I'm due to meet up with my boyfriend in a few weeks," Leo winked for emphasis and the barman beamed at him. It had been risky. Old fashioned folk in these parts weren't always keen to accept that men could love other men.

"All the better," he nodded politely and left Leo to settle into his new room.

Acceptance was a great thing. It allowed him to feel a little more safe and secure in this foreign land he was so unfamiliar with. But at the same time, he had a feeling that the barman could be a friend, in times of need, as long as he kept up the good behavior and generosity.

***

Leo slept fitfully and he wasn't surprised that his tired brain dragged him into a dream walk. His thoughts were on his true mate, Angel, all the time now. It seemed to make a certain kind of sense that they connect much more regularly, now they were in the same country.

He drifted off to sleep and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the corner of a cage. When he looked around and tried to gather his bearings, he realized that he wasn't Angel, but he wasn't anyone else either.

He was just...there. That was new.

Even Katarina's last dream walk had placed her in a young serving girl's body. She had spied on Angel's captors and communicated with his mate.

By the time Leo discovered that he was inside the cage, rather than outside, he also realized that he wasn't alone. There was a whimpering creature, huddled in the corner of the cage with him. It could only be his mate...his Angel.

He made his way, quietly, across to the hunched figure. He was sucking fingers into his mouth, wincing at the pain his attempts to heal himself inevitably caused.

"Don't do that," he protested gently, startling the figure. It looked up and, in the lack of light, his strong wolf eyes came out to read every feature of the room.

This whimpering soul was big, probably a good head or so taller than him, thin enough to say that he was being starved. He was covered in welts, bruises and cuts that could either be lashes or deliberate knife marks.

Leo decided that talking out loud might frighten the creature into believing it would be blamed for the noise and punished. So he reverted to his inside voice and attempted to reach out to it. Are you...Angel? he asked, hopeful and yet scared of the answer.

Bright emerald eyes raised from the floor and met his. Leo gasped as an electric current went through him. This really was his mate. His Angel. The poor, pitiful thing was reduced from a future Alpha to some terrified creature, cowering in a corner.

Yes. A weak voice replied, as if even mental communication was something he very rarely encountered. He wondered if Angel sounded this weak inside Katarina's head or if his mate had expended a lot of important energy in maintaining a voice of threatening strength, because he believed that she had hurt him. Are you real?

I'm very real. I'm on a dream walk, Leo promised, with a smile and a sense of relief. He began moving closer ever so slowly, giving Angel the chance to back away if he wanted to. Instead, he unfurled himself from around his knees and moved forward curiously. His mate sounded so scared; he wanted to weep for him.

You are a vision? A hallucination? Angel asked.

When Leo looked into his expressive green eyes, he saw tears forming there. No,

Angel looked away, seeming to take a moment to process this information.

Leo let him. It was a big thing. He wasn't sure if anyone, non threatening, had ever been this close to Angel since he had been taken away.

You are my mate. Do you know this? he wondered, a faint smile reaching his lips.

Leo knew it was only faint, but it was a smile. When was the last time Angel had been allowed to smile? Yes. And you are mine, he promised that he wasn't going to turn his back on him or their connection.

Angel looked down at himself and, for a moment, embarrassment flooded his eyes, along with tears.

Leo hated seeing it, but right now there wasn't much he could do. Not until he found out where he was being kept and by whom. He still had to ensure it was safe after his release, so he didn't get his mate back and lose him again to a set of torturers who were angered by his escape.

You deserve a better mate than this, Angel lamented, eyes downcast.

Leo moved closer and sank to his knees in front of his mate. He reached out in an instinct to touch him, but thought better of it. He didn't know what kind of injuries he had suffered; he didn't want to cause him pain.

He objected to anyone telling him what he deserved or needed in his life. He had never accepted it from his parents; he wasn't sure why anyone expected him to suffer it from his mate either.

He knew fine well that Angel was only speaking from self-pity, because he thought himself unworthy. But he had seen what that kind of thinking could do, when a person was convinced they were worth nothing. Katarina had almost ruined her whole life, running from her mate, all because she thought herself unworthy of mating with an Alpha. He wouldn't let Angel make the same mistake.

No. I deserve the mate I was fated to. I deserve you. Out of this hell hole, in my arms, he objected, deciding to screw the thought of causing more pain and deal with that later, if he had to. He reached out and gently caught Angel's chin in his hand. The touch brought eyes full of pain to meet his.

That is just a dream, little mate. I will never be free from this hell, he warned him gently.

Leo didn't like the sound of defeat he heard in his mate. Katarina had seen him not so long ago, perhaps just a few days ago and he had been much more positive. What new hell had he been put through that had dampened his spirits so?

You will. I will make sure you will.

Angel's mental voice made a hoarse sound that almost sounded like laughter. You are here to rescue me? he asked, with one arched eyebrow that was part approval and part amusement.

Leo wasn't sure what to think about it, but he confessed the truth. He gave Angel's jaw line a brief brush with the pad of his thumb. He let out a sigh at the softening look that came into his mates eyes and the way his whole body seemed to relax into the touch.

Yes. And take you home. To be with me, he promised. He wasn't going to let anything or anyone get in his way. He had spent far too long without his mate, for so many reasons; he wouldn't let it continue. The pain of his own grief was one thing. Now that he was so close to Angel, touching him, that feeling only intensified.

I would like that very much. But you forget, I am a prisoner and you are not real, Angel reminded him, with a sad smile. He reached his scarred, bleeding hand up to take hold of Leo's. The contact was intense and there were little sparks of something between their touching fingers.

I'm real enough for tonight, he soothed.

Angel laughed again, mentally. His voice was already stronger and filled with a sadness that wasn't fading. Even through Leo's reassuring words, he was still unable to believe that it was real. That he had a chance to leave and be free.

You plan to seduce me, little mate?