Page 13 of Omega's Triplets

Harley rode to Mark’s right and slightly behind, flanking his brother. They spread themselves wide on the highway, taking up the whole westbound side of the road, except when they needed to pass someone. On those occasions, Mark would pull into a lead and the others would fall back, Jamie in the middle and Harley bringing up the rear, until they made it around the other driver and could reestablish their formation.

They stopped just once, around noon, pulling their bikes onto a broad shoulder of the road to eat the sandwiches they’d packed for lunch. They ate standing up, leaning against the seats of their bikes, not talking. Nobody ever felt much like talking during a run. Harley thought it was the closest you could get to accessing your inner animal while still retaining your humanity. But the communication between them was strong, even without words.

Both of his brothers were worried.

And, Harley thought, they were worried about different things.

He wasn’t sure what those things might be. He himself was worried about being on Death Fang turf. The Death Fangs had been known to get violent with people who came to their auctions and wasted their time. He didn’t know if the Hell’s Wolves’ bit would be considered worthwhile or serious—he hadn’t asked Jamie about the money situation yet. Harley was a good fighter, and so were his brothers, but if it came to a brawl, he knew they wouldn’t stand a chance.

They arrived in Portland just after dark. The Death Fangs lived on the outskirts, like the Hell’s Wolves, so as not to attract unwanted attention. Mark, Jamie, and Harley would spend the night in a hotel and head to the auction first thing in the morning.

The hotel was an unusual luxury. Harley had the whole pull-out sofa bed, with its soft mattress and warm blankets, all to himself. He sat on the end of it as his brothers got ready for bed, twisting to relieve the pain in his back from sitting on his bike all day.

Mark came in from the bathroom, shaking water off his hands. “We need to talk,” he said.

“Who, me?” Harley asked.

“Both of you.” He signalled to Jamie, who abandoned the backpack he had been rifling through and came over to sit on his own bed.

“What’s up?” Harley asked.

“We need to talk about the plan for tomorrow,” Mark said. “I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now, and I think we need to change our approach.”

“Had we talked about an approach?”

Jamie spoke up. “We can’t afford to buy an omega,” he said, eyes on Mark. “Not if the going rate is anything like it was last year. We don’t have anywhere near enough money.”

Harley felt a sinking sensation in his gut—it was what they had all been worried about—but Mark only nodded. “I had a feeling that might happen,” he said. “And what money we do have could be put to better use than this, I think.”

“You’re not suggesting we give up on getting an omega?” Harley asked. It had been all they’d been working for, for years now.

“No, I’m not saying that,” Mark said. “But once we have an omega, once she has a litter, we need to think about how we’re going to keep putting food on the table. We need all the money we have. And the kids—they’re growing up. They might be able to get jobs and contribute, but they might also want to start families of their own. If we’re lucky, our pack is going to start growing exponentially pretty soon. We need every dollar we can get our hands on.”

“But what about the auction?” Harley asked.

Mark nodded. “We can’t afford to buy one of these women anyway. I can only see one way forward that will protect our lineage.” He looked from Harley to Jamie and back again. “We’re going to have to take one.”

“You mean kidnap someone?” Harley was aghast. “We can’t do that.”

“It’s no different from what we were already going to do,” Mark said. “The only difference is that we wouldn’t be giving money to the Death Fangs. To the woman, it’s not going to make any difference at all whether we pay. In fact, it’s better for her if we don’t, because we’ll be better able to provide for her and her children.”

Even Jamie, the most practical of the group, looked doubtful. “I don’t know,” he said. “Kidnapping someone and dragging her back to Idaho against her will?”

“We were going to be taking her against her will anyway,” Mark said again.

“I know,” Jamie said. “But this feels different.”

“It’s not a good first impression,” Harley said. “If we bought someone at auction...I mean, these girls are raised by the Death Fangs. They expect to be bought at auction. It’s not a great way to meet someone, but it’s no worse than she would have been expecting for years. But if we take her by force, she’s going to think we’re...violent. Criminals.”

“We are criminals if we kidnap somebody,” Jamie said.

“Are we?” Mark asked. “They kidnapped her in the first place, didn’t they? It’s not as if she actually belongs to them.”

Jamie looked disgusted. “That wasn’t going to stop us from buying someone. Like a piece of property. You can’t just change your view on morality now because it’s convenient. Because it saves usmoney.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Mark said. “I’m sorry if you can’t see that, but that’s what we’re doing.”

“No.”

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