Omega Mine
Chapter 22

Grayson was being dragged.

It was the first thing he noticed as he regained consciousness; stones and debris digging into his back as he was pulled from the remains of the arena. The last thing he recalled was being surrounded by enemies and the building groaning around him before it had crumbled, the floor shaking and the walls tumbling down.

Thank fuck Josie wasn’t with me, he thought groggily. He would have lost his goddamn mind if she’d been injured.

Had Jameson gotten her to safety after they’d fled? Worry gnawed at his gut. If they’d been mated for any true length of time, he would have been able to speak with her in his mind, at least that’s what he remembered from his youth. As it was, all he could sense was that she was alive, and didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger.

That could change in an instant.

The less groggy he became, the more agitated he grew. Being separated from Josie was like stealing the oxygen from his lungs. It felt like he couldn’t breathe, like he couldn’t think properly without knowing she was safe and by his side. He needed to replace her–

“He’s heavy as hell,” the male dragging him grunted, tugging harder on Grayson’s arm.

“Well, what did you expect?” the woman beside him asked, casting a discreet glance around. Were these the Alpha and Beta he’d spotted before the building collapsed? “He’s a foot taller than you.”

“A foot taller, but I’ve got at least fifty pounds of muscle on him. The guy’s practically skin and bones compared to how he should look. He needs at least double the muscle mass. How long do you think he’s been down in the cells?”

“Long enough. I’d heard of ‘the beast’ since before I was imprisoned here a few months back. You haven’t?”

The Beta shook his head. “No. I’m a nomad, and I’d only just come to this area to look for my little sister. I didn’t even last a day hiding in one of the towns on the border before I was turned in by some humans that found me squatting in an empty house.”

“Shit luck,” the Alpha murmured sympathetically.

“Yeah, I tend to have the worst of it–”

Without hesitation, Grayson twisted in the Beta’s hold, his nails biting into the male’s arm as he grabbed him. Yanking him backward, the male grunted as his back collided with Grayson’s chest, breath stilling in his lungs when Grayson collared his throat.

Sending a hate-filled glare to the Alpha female, Grayson spat, “Where the fuck did you think you were taking me?”

Instead of fear he was accustomed to creating in anyone he faced off against, the woman scoffed. “To safety, jackass. Let David go. We don’t have time for this.” Then she looked at her companion. “You’re right. Your luck is the worst.”

David, to his credit, didn’t whimper as Grayson’s claws dug into his throat, breaking the skin. But the woman? She hissed in fury, taking a threatening step forward.

“Another step and I’ll rip out his spine,” Grayson warned.

“I knew helping you was a mistake,” she snapped. “You’ve been imprisoned far too long to ever have a semblance of normalcy, even if you’ve mated.”

“How do you know I’m mated? Just who the fuck are you?”

The Alpha rolled her eyes. “Please, do you think you were quiet while you were seeing your mate through her heat? I don’t know how you had an Omega in your cell, but it was impossible to drown out the sounds of you fucking, even from a cellblock away. Not to mention you were carrying her around the arena like precious cargo right before you started getting your ass handed to you.”

“I’ve never lost a fight,” Grayson bit out through clenched teeth, his grip tightening on the male’s throat. “No one was handing me my ass.”

“Gemma,” David called with a bit of hysteria. “Maybe don’t piss off the Alpha who has a claw pressed to my jugular, alright?”

Gemma’s lips pursed in displeasure. “Let him go, Seven.”

His lip curled into a snarl, fury rolling through him at the name he’d held for far too long. “My name is Grayson.”

Gemma froze, but the Beta in his hold gasped. “Holy shit, the Grayson Augustine? I thought you were dead!”

“Keep your voice down,” Gemma commanded, glancing around once more before she set her sights on Grayson. “If that’s true, and you’re our Alpha Prime, then why the hell are you hurting one of your subjects? All we’ve done is help you. You should let him go, and let us help you get out of here. There’s strength in numbers, and believe it or not, you need us more than we need you.”

Disgruntled by the lack of genuine hostility, and that she made sense, Grayson reluctantly released his grip on David, allowing the Beta to climb unsteadily to his feet. Grayson followed him up, finally taking in his surroundings.

They were clear of the ruined building, lingering on the outskirts of the woods. No one was around that he could see, meaning everyone else had died during the collapse, or they were on the other side of the crumbled structure, looking for survivors.

He was free. The breeze kissed his skin, but he felt a pang hit his heart. He wanted to bask in this moment, to savor it, but he couldn’t.

Where was Josephine?

He inhaled deeply, hoping to drag her scent into his lungs. He caught a faint trace of it on the wind, pivoting to face the heart of the woods where the pull to her was strongest. He didn’t scent any blood, which allowed the tight clamp of unease on his heart to lessen, at least for the moment.

“We need to get out of here,” Gemma said quietly before sending a sidelong glance to Grayson. “I don’t suppose you know of a place to hideout for the time being?”

“If you think that pulling me from the rubble means I’ll take you to my mate, you’re mistaken,” he snapped, some of the agitation that had disappeared since meeting Josephine rising to the forefront. She was still in heat, even if her symptoms had been on and off.

He didn’t want any threats near her if he could help it.

“If it’s because she’s in heat, you don’t need to worry about us,” David told him seriously, reading him easily. “That’s why we weren’t attacking you back there. Gemma is an Alpha female, so she won’t feel the pull to an Omega that can’t impregnate her.”

Grayson stepped into David’s space, bumping the shorter male with his chest. “And what about you?” he breathed darkly, replaceing a sick sense of enjoyment in watching the Beta shrink in size from Grayson’s presence alone.

“Can we cut the pissing contest short?” Gemma asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Staying out here in plain view of whatever guards might still be alive is a mistake. Anyone could see us and shoot us while we stand here like a bunch of damned idiots.”

Grayson stilled, mulling over her words. He wasn’t sure what it was about Gemma, but she didn’t quite grate on his nerves like he’d originally assumed. For an Alpha, she didn’t exude the same, raw dominance that he and others like him typically did. Her dominance was in her confidence, in the way she carried herself, as if she could handle any threat with a cool, level head.

It was unusual. And instead of pissing him off, it was helping him obtain a sense of rationality through his muddled emotions that he hadn’t had only moments before.

“Are you mated?” he asked her. Hadn’t Josie told him that mated Alphas were typically more calm and rational?

Gemma wrinkled her nose. “No comment.” And with that, she turned toward the woods, following the path of Grayson’s gaze.

He and David fell in step behind her, the Beta sending him worried glances every few seconds before he eventually blurted, “Betas don’t feel the same frenzied pull to an Omega, not unless the Omega is our mate…” he trailed off awkwardly. “I-I don’t want your mate.”

Grayson grunted. He should have remembered that, but just like with the hazy memories of his family, some information still felt locked away in his mind, refusing to slip out easily.

Hopefully, in time, he’d have more of his memories restored.

They’d been traveling for a few minutes through the woods when they came across a large, seemingly impenetrable wall. Gemma stopped, allowing Grayson to take the lead as he followed Josie’s scent, shuddering with relief as it began growing stronger.

He was closing in on her, slowly but surely. If he was lucky, in the next few hours he’d have her in his arms.

Josie didn’t know how much further she could travel.

Everything hurt, and she was shaking, her teeth chattering as if she were freezing.

“How m-m-much further?” she asked Jameson, who’d been keeping a steady pace ahead of her for the last hour.

It felt like they’d been running around in circles, completely aimless through the woods. Usually, Josie wouldn’t mind–she loved the outdoors–but trying to move at all as her mating heat worsened… it was brutal.

Jameson turned toward her, his flashlight shining near her feet. “Hinkley was my only option, but since it’s too dangerous, I’m trying to improvise.”

“What does that even mean?” she snapped, sighing a moment later. “Sorry, I’m just–”

“Going through it. I know, and it’s alright,” Jameson added, taking a deep breath. “I’m hoping we can replace an old guard post that was abandoned when the wall went up around the city center several years back.”

“Do you think they tore it down?”

“For your sake, I hope not. If it’s up, it should have blankets and other necessities that will be beneficial while you ride this heat out.”

Just the mention of her heat and riding anything caused desire to rip through her until she lost her breath. Josie bent at the waist, moaning softly as that same desire morphed into an inferno of agony, like someone was taking a blowtorch to her insides.

Son of a bitch–

“If we can’t replace it soon, we’ll have to figure something else out.”

“Like what?”

Jameson ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe digging a small burrow for us to sleep in? If anyone is looking for us in the woods that shouldn’t be, we need to remain out of sight.”

Josie let out another strangled breath, her muscles tensing as her heat worsened. Just when she thought it would only get worse, she relaxed slightly, letting out a small, relieved sound.

“Can you move or do we need to stop for the night?” Jameson inquired, moving the flashlight around them as if looking for a good place to dig.

As much as Josie loved the outdoors, she wasn’t going to sleep cuddled into dirt if she could help it. Loving nature didn’t mean she wanted to wake up with insects all over her.

“I can keep going.”

She hoped.

By the time they stumbled upon the large shack that Jameson had mentioned, Josie didn’t know if she’d make it another few feet before she collapsed into a pitiful ball on the floor. Her legs went out from under her, in both relief and pain, and Jameson had to scoop her into his arms, hurrying her into the dilapidated building before setting her on the wooden floor.

She wasn’t aware of much as the pain spread, only that agonized whimpers kept pouring from her throat. She huddled into a ball, wishing she had anything that could bring her comfort.

But mostly, she wished for Grayson.