Chapter 79 Treated like Livestock pt 1
Julian
We'd been in place for a solid fifteen minutes. The wait was eating at me. I wanted to deal with the assholes in this pack and be finished with it. What Kayla shared with me over the last few days won't leave my head. The memories circle, tightening, until my teeth ache from holding my jaw steady and pain sparks in my palms as my claws break skin.
Omegas crammed into eight-by-eight rooms, four or six at a time. Beatings for unfinished tasks. Treated as free-use slaves for anyone who wanted to get their dick wet, anywhere in the pack. There was nothing good about this place.
Axel looked over at me. "You okay, man?"
"My skin is crawling just being here. I'm ready to get this done."
"Your mate is from here, right?"
"She is." My jaw ticked. "She was terrified when we met. Still, she stood up for Seren and pushed through it." Remembering that first day still unsettles me. Too many variables were out of our control, and luck carried us through just as much as any preparation did.
"She sounds like an excellent mate for a Beta, then. You're lucky." His voice was wistful. None of the Royal pack's future leadership had found their mates yet, though all of them wanted to.
"You'll find yours soon, Axel. The bond finds you, not the other way around."
He nodded, then his eyes glazed over. When they cleared, he said, "Gideon's in place and breaching. We hold here until they figure out where they need us most."
I nodded and then made sure our team knew the plan through our link. We were spread out in the woods, so I wasn't counting on them hearing Axel, even with our wolf hearing. We watched as groups of warriors ran across the training fields in front of us, heading towards the front gate. Duncan's distraction must be working. The men behind me started getting restless. We knew those fighters were heading to attack our people, and sitting back and waiting simply felt wrong, even if flanking from the sides and behind was a tried-and-true battle maneuver.
It didn't take long before Duncan reached out and gave the order for us to move. Some of us shifted, but I stayed on two legs, as did Axel, so that we could coordinate. We ran up the edge of the training field towards the sound of battle, coming up on a little group of cottages that was close to the northern border. We'd passed them on the way in, but they looked empty. The door of the closest cottage burst open, proving us wrong. A Blood Moon warrior, clothes bloody and ripped, bleeding at his temple, was dragging a woman out by her hair. She stumbled, trying to stand and walk, but the grip he had on her wouldn't allow for more than a bent-over shuffle.
"You'd better keep moving, omega bitch. I'm not staying here to die for this pack, and I'm not leaving without something to show for the time I put in here. But don't think I won't just rip your throat out and take one of the other service bitches here." His tone was dark, voice ragged. He was so focused on what he was doing that he hadn't noticed Axel and me yet. We had tucked in behind some trees when we heard the door open and were steadily creeping up on them.
The battered omega's whimpers reached us, and Axel's fists clenched. He didn't speak, but the way the muscle in his jaw jumped gave away just how angry he was. We made eye contact and used hand signals to plan our attack. I started moving around the back of the cottage so that I could come up on the other side of the couple. Axel kept moving forward from where he was. In our current formation, we could close in on the warrior from behind as he stalked away, dragging his prize. The omega couldn't see us, her eyes facing down because of the fist in her hair.
I linked the other warriors in our group. 'Joe, take fifteen warriors and support our forces at the gate. The rest of you, clear these cabins. I don't want anyone else sneaking up on us or trying to kidnap anyone.'
Acknowledgments came through, and the team split. During all of this, Axel and I were still stalking the pair and had almost reached them. We needed to get the omega away from him without hurting her more, so I sprinted out in front of him while Axel yelled from the side. "Hey, asshole. Where do you think you're going?"
The warrior stopped and sneered. "Get out of my way. I'm leaving this pack. All you have to do is step aside."
"You're not going anywhere, and neither is she. Let her go." Axel stood firm. I used the warrior's preoccupation with Axel to draw on the earth and covered his feet, locking him in place.
"What the fuck? How did—let me go!" He shoved the omega away from him as he tried to yank his legs up. The earth was not budging. Axel reached the woman and helped her get to a safe distance away while I moved forward.
"As he said, you're not going anywhere. You'll face judgment with the rest of your pack." I drew my arm back and landed a solid punch to his face. I felt the cartilage give under my knuckles and was ready to land another hit when Lucian's voice came through my head.
'Julian, I need you on the southeastern side of the pack. Large building in a group of three. We need support here.'