Page 21 of Omega Untamed
“I’ll copy the information I need and get rid of it,” I said, getting up and moving forward to take the phone.
“Don’t just get rid of it. Destroy it,” Myre ordered.
“I will, sir.”
I turned to go. Myre’s voice stopped me. “Sebastian.” He never used my nickname.
I swiveled back to face him.
“You did good today.” He nodded at me, his version of pinning an award on a lapel. As if we were children. As if we were all fuck-ups until we finally got something right.
“I won’t forget it,” he added. “If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask. Your clothes, for example. Burn them. You can get more at Poe’s on my tab.”
Poe’s was one of the finest men’s clothing shops in the entire city.
“Thank you, sir.”
“You take the rest of the day off,” he added.
I nodded.
“Send Stone in on your way out.”
It was too easy to think of all this as just business. Too many times I’d forget where I was, who I was, because a lot of Myre’s business was straight-forward. The casino ran strictly to the parameters of the country’s laws. No figure or tax item was ever out of place. As for the illegal drugs and firearms Myre smuggled, well, mostly it all ran smooth as the casino, with trusted men and paid off guys on the inside, both in customs, the police force, the courts and the city council.
But I had supposedly just killed a guy. The casualness of it all ended there. I was very clear in this moment of exactly who I was and what I was doing.
I went to my guest suite, had the quickest shower ever and bagged my clothes. I changed into clean new clothes nearly identical to the ones I was tossing away. My closet was full of long black coats, and suits Myre had bought me over the years. Either he forgot he paid for so much for me, or he wanted me to have a large wardrobe. The gold watch on my wrist was a testament to his trust in me. But I’d earned every fucking bit of it.
I had arrived at a superstore one-stop-shop by eight a.m. It took me less than two hours to shop for everything I required.
I’d made a careful list. I considered various facets of Kee’s needs. I had fantastic peripheral vision, and on the entire ride to the foothills and our walk into the undergrowth, I’d made a mental note of his every injury. I was a good judge of size and I estimated his clothing necessities as well. I couldn’t pick and choose to dress him as I might have liked, if I cared. I didn’t have the time. But I threw in my cart a few packages of underwear and socks. Shoes were a problem. They’d have to wait. He might have a broken toe anyway, so I opted for soft slippers in a large.
The food was another matter. I had stuff at my apartment, so he wouldn’t starve, but when I fetched him, he’d need water. I put a six pack in the cart, along with a couple packs of energy bars. On a whim, I added fruit, chips and chocolate. All quick energy foods. Kee might not be in the mood to eat when I arrived, but once I got him settled at my place, I could make sure he was well-fed and had snacks for when I was gone.
It had been a long time since I’d had an Omega to care for. The instinct rose up in me nearly against my own will, as if I were some animal responding to hormones alone. We all were animals, of course, Alpha and Omega alike, but control had to hold some weight, and I liked to think I wielded it better than most.
The drive took half an hour. The hike into the woods was fast. I practically sprinted through the dense foliage, following my own tracks from earlier in the day. It was hotter now that it was closer to midday. My heart pounded as I crashed through bushes and branches and scattered leaves.
Insects and birds went silent yet again as I made my way to the burial site. I had a fear that someone might’ve checked up on me and found Kee sitting against the tree trunk still alive. My daydream nightmare was that Kee had been caught and killed, and Myre’s man now lay in wait for me to shoot me and dump me into the same shallow grave.
The straps of my supply pack dug into my shoulders. I was in good shape, but I hated hiking. Camping. Anything like that. That sought after activity was not for me.
I had noted landmarks at dawn. They looked different now, the shadows falling in different directions.
Finally, I found the small clearing and saw the loose dirt where I’d put the fake grave—a grave I’d dug in case anyone from Myre’s gang did come back this way and wanted to see for themselves a body had been buried.
I jogged forward, glancing toward the base of the big pine. I blinked twice. My mouth dropped open.
Kee was not there.
Chapter Seven
Kee
I woke from my doze to the sound of branches breaking. Something big was out there, and the noise it made grew louder.
Whatever it was appeared to be coming my way.
