Page 19 of Omega's Triplets

“We’ve got to figure out how to get into the barn,” Mark said. “That’ll be where they’re keeping the girls who aren’t on stage.”

“What girls who aren’t on stage?”

“There’s no way that’s all of them,” Mark said. “Last year, they had about twenty-five.”

“It could be a small year,” Jamie said, but he didn’t sound like he really believed that.

Mark shook his head. “No. The Death Fangs are growing more productive, not less. If anything, this year’s group should be bigger than last.”

“Okay, so they’ve got more girls in the barn,” Harley said. “I’m sure they’re guarding the door, though.”

Mark nodded. “You two wait here, and I’ll go around and scout it out. When I’ve seen how well guarded the entrance is, I’ll come back and we’ll make a plan. Maybe we’ll be able to distract the door guards long enough to get in and back out with one of the girls.”

“They’ll put up a stink when we come in,” Jamie said.

“Doubtful,” Mark answered. “We’re not the ones who’ve been holding them prisoner all their lives. You never know. They might actually be volunteering to come with us.”

Harley thought that was pretty unlikely. These girls might have been raised in captivity, but that captivity was all they knew. They weren’t likely to want to run off with strangers now.Better the devil you know.

He said nothing more, and Mark crept off and around the side of the barn.

Ages seemed to pass. Jamie had fallen back into the moody silence he’d been drifting in and out of all day. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist at the best of times, and when he was upset or angry it became much worse. Harley felt as though he was sitting here alone waiting for Mark’s return. It was anxiety-inducing—one of the Death Fangs might come along and discover them at any moment.

When he heard the sound of a motorcycle’s engine revving up, it shocked him so badly that he actually stumbled forward a little and almost fell. Jamie’s hand shot out automatically and caught him by the shoulder. The two men looked at each other, and Harley saw his own confusion reflected in his brother’s eyes.

Jamie pointed. “It’s coming from over there,” he whispered.

Harley nodded and jerked his head in that direction.

The two of them kept the barn at their backs as they edged back toward the parking lot, toward the sound they’d heard and were still hearing. Harley reached the corner of the barn first and peeked around.

And got the shock of his lifetime.

The bike belonged to a woman.

And not just any woman. If the silks she’d hiked up to her thighs were anything to go by, she was one of the Death Fangs’ omegas.What’s she doing out here?

As he watched, Harley realized that the bike almost certainly did not belong to her. Not only was it pretty unbelievable to think that the Death Fangs would give any of their prisoners bikes of their own, it was also clear that the girl didn’t really know what she was doing. She was staring at the controls as if they were written in code.She’s not going to be able to put it in gear, Harley thought.

And on the heels of that thought, another, much darker one—the Death Fangs are going to come out here and catch her doing this.

What would happen to her then? He had no idea, and he didn’t think he wanted to find out.

Suddenly, with a roar, the motorcycle leapt forward, the girl just barely managing to cling on. She was rolling out of the lot and down the dirt road that led to the highway. And Harley moved without thinking.

“Harley!” he heard Jamie half hiss half yell after him. But his animal self had been roused. He could feel the wolf licking at the corners of his mind, struggling to take over, but he held it down. He couldn’t allow himself to shift here, not where the Death Fangs might notice and come after him. He would just draw more attention to the girl, and her trouble was bad enough as it was.

So, he ran to his own bike, jumped on without slowing down, and kicked it to life. He peeled out of the parking lot and down the dirt road, but the girl had a good lead on him, and she was accelerating as she went, clearly getting more and more comfortable with the process of riding. She didn’t look back. Harley didn’t know whether she was aware of him behind her.

If she gained the highway, she’d be able to lose herself in traffic—

But as the highway came up on them, the girl started to wobble on her bike. Harley’s breath caught in his throat. He’d been riding all his life, and he knew how hard it was to stabilize when you were wobbling that badly. She wasn’t wearing a helmet, and her clothing was about the least protective he’d ever seen...he sped up, even though he didn’t think he had a chance in hell of reaching her before disaster struck.

The bike toppled over, spilling the girl onto the asphalt.

She lay still.

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