Sage's POV:
It's been five days since Charlie and I were brought here, and I'm near the end of my rope with this concrete building. Thankfully, the guy who is obsessed with Charlie hasn't paid us another visit, but we also haven't had any way to get out of here.
I'm craving for Ashton and dying to feel his arms around me and his lips on my own. Every second is a punch to my gut because I'm craving for him so much. I've never lacked confidence in our relationship, so I know that Ashton feels the same exact way.
He probably feels worse that he couldn't chase them down and protect me, and his Alpha instincts are probably killing him. He's also due for his rut in about a month or so, so I hope I'm with him before then or he might destroy the whole forest to get to me.
Sofia taps my arm while Charlie sleeps, his head in my lap. She's become a friend of mine because she tends to Charlie and she's such a sweet person.
"What is it?" I ask her quietly, glancing at the two skittish Alphas at the front of the room.
She looks at Charlie's sleeping form. "His pups are weak," she murmurs. "Their heartbeats are slower than they should be... he needs to get somewhere warm and he needs a full meal and real medication. We use herbal stuff in our pack, but with the state he's in, he needs strong medicine to take away the pain and to help get him back to a healthy state. He's sick, Sage."
I take in a shuddered breath because she's completely right. I can't keep biding my time.
Charlie has been feeling off and he's getting worse. He's only nineteen and he needs real medical help, whether it be from one of the packs with real medicine or the damn cities.
The cities are largely populated areas that rely on technology and oftentimes wolves there don't live in packs. It's a lot different than how we live here since we're much more connected to our roots. However, the cities aren't as common as big packs and there's only one large city in every state.
I'd travel for days to get to one if it meant saving Charlie and his pups right now.
The door to the Omega room opens and Dayton enters. He has a set of keys in his arms and a group of Alphas following him.
"A client has arrived!" Dayton exclaims. "And he's interested in buying an Omega!"
A growl escapes me before I can stop it, making Charlie wake up. My disoriented pack mate notices the Alphas and scrambles to hide behind me, as I've instructed him to do whenever they come in.
"Don't growl at me, you bitch," Dayton snarls at me. "Get up."
My legs are shaky because I haven't really stood up for the past five days, except for when they take us to the bathroom twice a day. It's worse for Charlie, who is heavily pregnant, so I have to help him up and make sure he doesn't fall with the chains around his ankles.
Dayton unlocks Charlie first since he can tell that I'm the rebellious one who will fuck him up if I'm given the chance. He pushes Charlie toward one of the shyer Alphas who reminds me of my mate. When Dayton unlocks me, he shoves me toward one of the other leaders. He's not a complete idiot in that instinct, but I wish he was so I could find a way out and escape.
The Alpha that has me holds my arms behind my back and squeezes my wrists so tight together that they may bruise.
I'm brought outside the building and realize that we aren't in a pack; the building itself is alone in the forest and there is a mere camp set up by the Alphas, but no pack.
They've hidden us from the world. This is why we haven't been found yet, since I know that there's two packs determined to find us.
The client, as Dayton called him, has arrived in a car with several warriors, all of them in black suits that I've only seen in movies and never worn.
My dad would tell me stories of wealthy Alphas who come from the cities in their fancy vehicles and purchase Omegas. They have their little harems and don't care for a true mate; just sex as they please, and if they take Omegas from the packs who don't get involved with the city, no one is really going to go looking for them.
The client comes over to us and looks at Charlie first, and I see judgement in his harsh eyes. He grabs Charlie's arm and I snarl at him, earning his attention.
"You told me they were trained," the man says, making Dayton scowl at me. "This one is growling."
I hate how he's talking about me like I'm not a person with feelings and just some broken toy they can talk about like I don't hear them or process what they're saying to me.
"Trust me, he will be punished as soon as you leave."
"No, I think I'll take him," the Alpha says, and I scoff with a very obvious eye roll. "It appears as though you can't break in an Omega so I'll have to do it myself."
Dayton looks taken aback. "Oh... well..." He trails off and the other Alpha hands him a wad of cash.
The Alpha grabs my arm and leans down to whisper in my ear so no one else can hear. "Keep your head down and don't do anything stupid." His voice is gentler than it was when he spoke about me just a few seconds ago.
He starts walking away with a firm grip on my arm and I pull away.
"You can't leave without him!" I shriek, pointing at Charlie. "If you leave without him I will make it my personal mission to slaughter you!"
The Alpha slaps me across the face and shoves me to one of his men. "Take him to the damn car. I've already been embarrassed enough already coming to this pathetic part of the country."
The other Alphas drag me away and push me into the car, one sitting on either side of me. To my shock, a few seconds later, the door opens and the leader of the visiting group shoves Charlie in the car beside me and gets into the passenger seat.
"Get us to the damn plane," he orders and the car starts moving.
The ride is held in silence, the only speaking being the Alpha handing us each a bottle of water and telling us to drink. When we get to a large clearing, Charlie and I are surrounded and ushered to a plane, which is something else that I've only seen in movies.
Some packs (not ours) use cars, but never planes. In fact, I've only been in one car in my entire life and it's the one I just rode here in.
"Sit down," the Alpha orders as soon as we're on the plane, but he's mainly talking to Charlie.
A tiny Omega shrieks and runs from a private room on the jet to leap into the Alpha's arms.
"You were gone forever!" he growls, glaring at the Alpha from his arms. "I hate you! Well, no, I don't, but I'm so mad at you! Do you know what it's like to be separated from your Alpha for hours on end?! It sucks and I'm so mad at you!"
"Ah, Noah, relax," the Alpha commands gently, but he doesn't hold any of the anger or seriousness he did when he bought Charlie and I. "You know I'm on a mission, pup."
The Omega- Noah -looks over at Charlie and I. His eyes brighten when he sees Charlie's belly.
"Hey! I'm pregnant, too!" he shrieks excitedly, rushing over to Charlie, but I stand in front of him defensively. "You're in my way."
I don't move. "Yeah, I am."
The Alpha grabs Noah and sits down with him in his lap as the plane starts to rumble and shake. It makes me nervous, but I try hard not to show it. Right now, Charlie needs my strength to feed off of, and I'm going to give it to him.
"We got off on the wrong foot," the Alpha says. "My name is Aspen, and I work as a CEO in one of the cities not too far from here... about an hour by plane. This is my mate, Noah. I apologize for slapping you, but I have a role to play. What are your names?"
I'm completely confused by what is going on right now. A CEO? That's a term I've heard of on television, but I've never met one in real life. I know they're rich and usually assholes, but other than that I don't know anything else.
"I'm Sage, future Alpha of the Western River pack. This is my pack mate, Charlie."
Aspen looks me up and down. "You're an Omega."
"Yes, and?"
"I didn't know that packs allowed Omegas to lead."
I scoff. "Mine does."
"Huh. I supposed they're not as barbaric as I thought. Well, what is the future Alpha of a pack doing captured by one of the groups that is notorious for selling Omegas?" Aspens asks as Noah plays with his mate's hands, not really paying much mind to the conversation.
"An ambush on our way to visit another pack. What's a CEO doing buying Omegas? Are we going to be forced to join a harem?"
Aspen shakes his head. "No. I merely bought you for insight because you seemed the most rebellious and willing to assist me. All of the Omegas I have bought from them have been useless for insight. My goal is to pinpoint the source of those packs, as there's many nationwide like them and to put a stop to Omega trafficking."
"I'd be happy to bring insight if you take us home."
"First we are going to the city to get this pregnant Omega some real medical attention," Aspen says, referring to Charlie. "Your packs can have good doctors, but you don't have the medicine or technology that we do, and he's sick."
I look at Charlie's pale face and notice how dissociated he is right now. "...thank you," I murmur. "What do we owe you for this?"
"I don't want anything from you other than your insight to that pack. My mate was part of the trafficking once and I have the influence to put a stop to it, so that's what I'm going to do. It's just difficult finding a balance between my life in the city and the pack life, since your ways are much more barbaric. Most of your battles would result in prison time in the city."
"Do you know what a prison is?" Noah asks me, his eyes wide as he tries to understand me.
I smile softly at his wide eyed expression. "I know what they are from television..."
"Wow." That's all Noah says before he goes back to focusing on Aspen's hands.
The plane lands and I'm instantly overwhelmed by the scents of this new world.
I smell gasoline and toxins everywhere and there's loud horns honking and people yelling. No one is in their wolf form which is strange to see. I also smell a lot more Betas than Alphas and Omegas, but that isn't a surprise.
It's common knowledge that Betas leave pack life more often than Alphas and Omegas because they have more of a choice to break from tradition. They don't have to follow traditional roles the same way Alphas and Omegas often do because they're kind of the neutral role in our society.
We ride in a car to a tall, concrete building. Once inside, Aspens speaks with someone and Charlie is brought into an all white room and lays down on a bed covered in a weird papery material.
A Beta woman wearing all white enters the room and claims she's checking his vitals before she uses an updated version of the ultrasound machine we have at home. She claims the babies are alive, but they're weakened and she gives Charlie a medication to take before instructing us to give him a full meal and lots of water.
"Now, take us home," I tell Aspen once we leave the building. "I want to go home and once there, I'll tell you what you want to know. It'll be better if you have the support of a pack, anyway. Warriors at the ready."
Aspen raises an eyebrow. "I don't need your pack's help, but I will take you home. On the plane, you will tell me what I want to know."
"No. Not until I am home," I argue. "I don't trust you. Not yet."
Noah seems a bit nervous that I'm arguing with his mate, but Aspen eventually sighs and nods.
"Fine. Let's get you two home."