Chapter Three

The motel had all Farrah’s senses on high alert.

It was dirty, run-down and the sort of place where she expected to see rooms cordoned off with yellow police tape.

What she didn’t expect was to find her teenaged son there.

Stranger than that, though, was the absolute comfort the alphas showed.

Pax spoke to the man behind the front counter in the lobby as if they were best friends, even though the man looked about as trustworthy as a very hungry hyena.

“You worry too much,” Ryder said as they walked toward the room the man had given then a key for.

“Right, because I should be happy my son is in a place like this, with no idea why he is.”

“Places like this ain’t so bad,” Blake said from just beside her.

“And exactly why are you so comfortable?”

“Because we’re always in places like these.” Pax picked up the conversation as he and Blake often did, their back and forth and finishing of one another’s sentences absurdly connected. “You came to us because you knew we could track people, and the sort of people we normally track spend plenty of time in places like this.”

“I hadn’t thought much about what you do.”

“We’re bounty hunters,” Pax said.

“Bail enforcement agents,” Ryder corrected him.

“That sounds boring, like someone going door to door selling shit, or a paper pusher. Bounty hunter? That sounds like someone out in the thick of it.” Pax spoke as though they’d had this argument many times before.

“You’d do well if you were in the thick of it less,” Ryder pointed out, and Farrah could imagine all the times Ryder had had to try to keep Pax in line.

Pax waved him off. “This one time we chased a guy into a motel just like this. Ryder was at the front door, Blake in the car in case the bastard got past us. He slipped out of a back window two floors up, though.” Pax grinned and bumped against Farrah’s other arm. “He wasn’t expecting me there, waiting. Trust me, we can handle one little teenager and a shady motel.”

“Well, remember he isn’t a criminal.”

“All teenagers are criminals,” Blake said. “And, before you argue, you were just as bad.”

“I was not!”

Ryder huffed but didn’t say a word.

“I recall your mother calling my mom when you were thirteen because you didn’t go home,” Pax said.

Farrah cut Pax a hard look. “Because I was with you, because you just had to meet up with that blonde harlot Harriet.”

“Oh, Harriet.” He pulled his full lips into a satisfied smile that tempted Farrah even as the reason for it annoyed her. “She was worth it.”

“Maybe for you. I got grounded for a week.”

“And we snuck you out after a day. Stop pouting,” Blake said before he pulled the key from his pocket and tossed it to Ryder as they approached the door.

The conversation had distracted her from her worries, from having to wonder what she’d say to Knox, from worries about why he’d run.

With the silence, it all hit her again.

She felt like a failure, a mother who couldn’t even keep track of her one child. Memories of all the people who had given her dirty looks over the years hit her, their harsh words sharp.

Every PTA meeting where she’d been the excluded one. Every mom friend she’d made who’d turned their back when she’d admitted she wasn’t married. They all flashed before her.

A pain in her side had her turning to find Pax staring at her, the pinch enough to derail her freak-out. “Come on, you know we did our share of stupid shit at this age. Doesn’t make him a bad kid and doesn’t make you a bad mom.”

Farrah went to open her mouth and say something stupid, such as ‘thank you’, but Blake interrupted. “Nope. We’ll have to see his hair before we decide if you’re a bad mom. If you’ve been giving that kid bowl cuts, I’m gonna have to side with him for running away.” The curl of his full lips and that sparkle of mischief in his emerald eyes made her stomach do that annoying flip thing it did whenever she thought about the alphas.

Stop it! Deal with getting Knox, then forget all about this and them.

Ryder knocked, and shuffling around inside said someone was there. The blind shifted, but no one answered.

Strange.

Ryder held the key up to the window. “Management. You didn’t sign the right form, so I need a signature on the liabilities, you know, in case you trash the room.”

More movement inside, a door shutting, then the lock clicked.

Is someone else in there?

The door opened and Knox stepped out, her baby boy who would always be her baby, even if he was taller and larger than her.

She almost cried, tears stinging her eyes in relief. He was alive and unhurt. The rest? She could deal with it.

Knox swung his gaze to hers. A few emotions crossed it—worry, confusion—before he settled on relief.

Farrah pushed past the alphas to throw her arms around him. He could be mad at her later, could remind her he wasn’t a child anymore, but right then she’d get her damned hug after how worried she’d been.

He owed her that.

“Mom,” he said softly as he embraced her back.

Farrah pulled away, glad she hadn’t broken down.

Except, when she turned around, the looks on the alphas’ faces all said the same thing.

They’d seen him. The thick dark hair. The deep blue eyes.

They knew the young boy standing there was a near-identical copy of Pax.

They knew Knox was their son.

Farrah kept her back to the alphas, though their meaningful glares could have burned holes through her.

Her skin itched where they stared, as if they could force the conversation that needed to happen even if she didn’t want it to.

She knew Knox looked like Pax. He could have been his twin, fifteen years removed of course, and the more he grew, the more obvious it became. She’d just hoped Pax might not notice it.

A foolish hope, really, but what other choice did she have?

“What were you thinking?” Farrah tried to keep her attention on the problem at hand, on the fact that her son had run off without a word and left her worried.

“I can explain,” Knox said in his normal, calm, ‘let’s relax and talk about this’ tone. He’d tried to use it with her as a kid, when he’d been in trouble for trying to jump off the roof with a parachute made from a pillowcase.

It hadn’t worked then and it sure as hell wouldn’t work now.

Farrah crossed her arms and popped out her hip, giving him her best ‘this ought to be good’ stance. “Go on, explain.”

A soft huff of laughter from behind her, which she could easily identify as Blake, said he found the back and forth amusing.

Which was far more annoying than it should have been.

A door opened, reminding Farrah that it had shut seconds before he’d opened the door.

Out walked a girl with blue eyes peeking out of the almost-too-long bangs of her short-bobbed brown hair.

And she was an omega.

The moment Farrah caught a good scent of her, she realized the room smelled like omega, that this girl had been all around the room.

Some omega was there with her baby boy.

Sure, her baby boy was fifteen, almost six feet tall and far larger than the girl, but Farrah suffered a moment of absolute hatred toward the omega who must be behind her son’s actions.

“It’s my fault,” the girl said despite the hard look Knox sent her. “He was just trying to help me.”

“What do you need help with?” Ryder asked, speaking with a lot more composure than Farrah had expected, even from him, given the discoveries.

“Who are you?” Knox’s question, full of suspicion, was paired with him pulling his shoulders back in classic alpha posturing.

Ryder didn’t give in. “Old friends of your mother.” A snort from Pax said he wasn’t letting this go. “She hired us to find you.”

Knox looked at Farrah. “You called them, right? They didn’t come to you?”

The fear in Knox’s voice pushed away everything except her instinct to protect her child. “No, Knox, I went to them. Tell me what’s going on. What are you hiding from?”

Knox’s knees all but gave out as he sat on the bed, with the omega going to sit beside him. They didn’t touch, that awkward distance between people who hadn’t quite overcome the discomfort of getting to know someone. It said they probably weren’t having sex.

Which was something she hadn’t even realized she needed to be worried about yet.

Don’t think about that right now.

“I was supposed to get mated Friday,” the omega said on a hard exhalation.

“How old are you?” Pax asked, as if that news was able to shake loose his confusion over Knox.

“Fifteen.”

“That’s insane,” Farrah said. “You’re way too young.”

Knox set his hand on hers, a gentle squeeze, still just as awkward. “Exactly. Toya doesn’t even know the alpha.”

Toya. So the omega had a name.

“What do your parents have to say about it?”

Toya pulled her hand from Knox and stood. Her bare feet padded against the ground, and Farrah fought her desire to act like a mother and insist she wear shoes on the disgusting floor. “They’re happy about it. He paid a nice mating gift to them, and they think I should be happy about it.”

“The alpha is also forty,” Knox growled out.

And that got Farrah’s head out of her ass about the omega. All the reasons she didn’t care for the girl being with her son didn’t matter as she thought about herself at that age, being married off to an adult.

It was unthinkable.

“There are people who can help,” Ryder said. “Who will make sure her wishes are known.”

“You don’t understand,” Toya said, too much fear and sorrow in her voice for someone so young. “This alpha, Michael Frank, he isn’t going to just take no for an answer.”

“He’ll have to.” Blake said it as though it were the simplest thing in the world. Get used to disappointment.

This time it was Knox who leaned his elbows on his knees and looked right at Farrah, desperation written across his young and stressed features. “The alpha is rich, Mom, and he’s powerful. When her parents refused at first, because they thought they could get more elsewhere, he sent people to their house. They didn’t do anything, it was just to scare them, but the point was clear. Then, when Toya said no, she found her cat’s body on her front porch the next day. There’s no other way. She has to run.”

His face hardened into lines of resolve she almost didn’t recognize. “And I’m not going to let her go alone. Michael already knows about me, anyways. With her gone, he’s going to be looking for me, too.”

“Why didn’t you call me, at least? Tell me you were okay?”

Knox ran his fingers through his hair, looking far older than he was and downright exhausted. “I didn’t want you involved, Mom. Michael is dangerous, and you didn’t need to be dragged into that. I thought it would be easier and safer for you if I just disappeared.”

As much as the words hurt, Farrah heard her own voice reflected. Hadn’t she made that same choice so many times? Kept things on her own shoulders because she didn’t want others involved, because she didn’t need them in the middle or was afraid to just reach out?

Had she saddled him with that same lesson?

“If Michael knows about you, he knows about your mom,” Blake pointed out.

“But if I’m not there, he wouldn’t have a reason to bother her.”

“If he’s as serious as he seems to be about finding Toya, of course he’d go after your mom to get to you. Even if you didn’t contact her, he could figure she’s his best lead. You left her without even letting her know she was in danger.”

Color drained from Knox’s cheeks, as though he hadn’t considered that. With it being just the two of them, Knox was used to taking care of Farrah. Not that she needed it, but he had always felt responsible for filling that role. It meant the idea that he’d endangered her would cut deeper than anything else a person could say, and Blake’s tone left no room for misunderstanding. “I didn’t mean to,” Knox said softly. “I figured once we were out of town, you’d be safe.”

Farrah cut Blake a vicious look meant to shut him up. Knox was a kid, and he didn’t need to be lectured, least of all by them. And yes, she knew she was being unfair, but the idea of anyone else scolding her son managed to get her hackles up and put her on the defensive. “It’s fine, Knox. I’m fine, and I know you were trying to do the right thing. Don’t worry about any of it.”

Ryder put a hand on her arm to cut off any further discussion. “Why don’t we figure something out after we’ve had time to think?”

“I’m not leaving him here.”

“Why don’t the two of them stay with my mom?” Blake offered. “No way anyone who knows you will have any idea about her. Between her and my dads, the kids’ll be plenty safe.”

She’d just gotten her son back. The idea of letting him go anywhere alone made her stomach roll.

Ryder leaned in to whisper into her ear. “They’ll be safer there, and it seems we have some conversations that need to be had, and I doubt you want him around when we have them.”

Farrah drew in a deep breath, not allowing Ryder’s hard look to make her wilt.

“Okay,” she said softly. As much as she didn’t like the idea, it was for the best.

Though it meant she’d have to talk to the three alphas who had haunted her for years, the three who now knew they’d fathered her child, the child she’d never told them about.

* * * *

No one spoke, at least not about anything important.

Not about the one huge elephant in the room.

Pax’s mother, Blake’s stepmom, took one look at Knox and knew. It was written all over her face.

Is it really that obvious?

The more miraculous part was that she didn’t seem to have a cutting look for Farrah. Instead, she’d given her the same sort of hug she had when Farrah had been a kid. Kind. Sweet. A bit too tight.

After ensuring there would be two rooms and no sleep-overs, Farrah and the alphas had headed back to her house.

With the threat of someone watching them, the alphas weren’t about to sleep elsewhere. Farrah had assured them she was safe, but they didn’t seem all that willing to hear it.

She’d guess at least part of the reason was that conversation that needed to happen.

Still, she made it all the way inside her house before anyone risked the topic.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Pax was first, as she’d expected.

While any of them could be the biological father, it was clear who was. Both had the same dark hair, the same piercing blue eyes. If anyone looked at a picture of Pax from that age, they’d think it was Knox.

Farrah went to the kitchen, needing the space. She busied her hands with rinsing plates and loading the dishwasher. “You were busy,” she whispered.

“Too busy to know you’d conceived? Too busy to know I had a kid? Not once in fifteen damn years you could have let me know?” Anger on Pax didn’t fit.

It shook her, but she kept going with her dishes. “You were kids, too. None of us wanted this.”

“This is why you stopped talking to us, isn’t it?” Leave it to Ryder to pick up on the details.

Farrah kept her answers to the point, not wanting to show them any of the heartache she’d had over the choice, over the years alone.

She’d never planned to have this conversation, and she didn’t really want to have it now, either. Even if she owed them an explanation, they didn’t get to see her hurt.

“You were leaving. You had lives.” Farrah dropped a plate especially hard into the dishwasher, wincing at the noise and grateful it didn’t break. “You didn’t want to stay and get forced into raising a kid.”

“Don’t you play that with us,” Blake snapped. “You don’t get the high ground here. We had no idea he even existed, so you can’t pretend you know what we would have done. You can’t blame us for what you think we might have done.”

What they didn’t get was that whatever choice they made, it never would have worked out for her. It would have broken her heart no matter what. Better for it to go the way it did.

“This doesn’t change anything,” she said, her attention on her work as she washed a pan from two days ago, forgotten in the stress of Knox’s disappearance. “I’m not expecting anything from you guys. You can go back to your life when this is over.” Silence thick enough to choke on met her. She fought it as long as she could before she finally gave in and lifted her gaze to three very pissed-off-looking alphas.

Which wasn’t something she’d ever faced.

They’d been annoyed from time to time, usually if they’d caught her doing something they didn’t approve of, but that was it. They’d never been angry, especially not all at the same time.

Which felt like an empty success, really.

Ryder was the first to shake his head as Pax turned and stormed off. Ryder followed suit, leaving only Blake and Farrah.

“Smooth,” Blake said. “There’s that Farrah charm.”

Farrah pressed her lips together into a tight line as she stared at Blake, his familiar face reassuring. Hell, she wanted to walk out of that kitchen and toss her arms around him for a hug, to just feel that warmth, to draw his scent into her lungs and melt against it. She took a step forward before she could stop, the draw of the alpha stronger than all her reasons not to.

Except then she remembered how much it hurt to lose them, and her feet stopped.

Blake’s lips tipped down before he let out a sigh and followed the others.

It was going to be a very long night.