A Love that Lasts Forever Ch. 02

Caleb's only worth to either brother was the magic he was supposed to possess. When they discovered that he was dud, he'd be repudiated. Caleb wouldn't suffer that fate. He'd be better off on his own, pack less. An outcast yes, but still alive. The night before his mating was supposed to take place, Caleb made the decision to run. It was scary and he had no idea where he was going to go or what he was going to do.

He'd never been off pack lands and he really had no clue what it was like in the human world, but he knew he had to at least try to make it on his own. So, that night he'd packed a small bag and when he was sure his family was asleep, he crept out, squeezing himself through his tiny bedroom window, and disappeared into the night. It hadn't been that hard to say goodbye to his pack. What had they ever done for him anyway? Nothing, that's what. He had no friends and even his own family hated him.

He had been a disappointment from the day he was born. Birthing an omega made his mother look weak and undesirable. Caleb was the last pup she'd carried because after he'd been born, his father had refused to share a bed with his mate any longer and instead found his way into the beds of other pack members, mated or not. Caleb may have had other, younger, siblings but he wasn't sure. If his father had sired other pups, he hadn't claimed them as his own and certainly didn't support them. He barely supported the ones he had claimed.

So, no, Caleb didn't feel bad about leaving his pack and his family. The only thing that did cause him a moment of hurt was realizing that once it was discovered that he was gone, no one would care. In fact, his parents would probably celebrate. After all, they couldn't wait to mate him off to Jase and be rid of him, regardless of what Caleb wanted. His own feelings didn't matter because he didn't matter, so why should his family matter to him?

Caleb had been gone about a week before he met Rhys. He'd actually thought for a while that he was in the clear, that his pack had just been happy to wash their hands of him. He never thought they'd actually go looking for him. Maybe the idea of him having magic powers was a bigger incentive to get him back then he'd first thought. They'd even gone so far as hiring a bounty hunter to find their missing omega. Well, the joke was on them. They'd paid for absolutely nothing. There was no magic.

Caleb grinned, thinking about how pissed Seth would be. Then the reality of the situation hit him. Once Seth realized that Caleb wasn't magic, that he had no powers, he would lose all value to Seth and the pack. Seth would kill him for sure. Caleb panicked. He couldn't allow himself to be taken back to Silver Moon. He had to find a way to escape, or...maybe escaping wasn't the right move. The bounty hunter, an alpha, a damn sexy alpha, didn't seem like that bad of guy. Actually, he seemed pretty nice. At least compared to the alpha's the Caleb had grown up around. Maybe the guy could be reasoned with. Maybe he could strike a bargain with him.

A bargain could work. After all, they guy was only doing this for money, right? But, Caleb didn't really have anything to bargain with. Well, nothing except the imaginary magic that he didn't have. But the bounty hunter didn't know that, did he? If he played his hand right, Caleb thought he just might have a chance. If only he knew then what that one simple thought would lead to. Maybe it would have been best if he'd let Rhys turn him over to Silver Moon after all. Everything that had happened since that moment on had been Caleb's fault.

If Rhys was dead, and that was a big if, but if he was, then Caleb was at fault. All that had happened had happened because he'd run away. Wolf God help him. Caleb began to sob harder. Rhys was gone. He didn't want to believe it but he couldn't deny it anymore. If he were alive, Caleb would feel...something. But there was nothing. Just a hollow, empty, nothingness where Rhys energy should be. He'd lost his mate. His pup had lost his father. And Caleb was to blame for it all. He suddenly wished that he could just curl up and die too. And why shouldn't he? What did he even have left to live for anyway?

"My pup." Caleb whispered. He wiped the tears from his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, looking Quinton in the yes. "I want to see my pup." He said sternly.

Quinton narrowed his eyes and huffed. "When hell freezes over." He growled. "That pup belongs to Black River now, and I'll decide what happens to it." With that, he shoved Caleb into Malcolm, nearly knocking them both over. Luckily Malcolm was strong enough to hold Caleb up and they both stared after Quinton in shock.

"Take him back to his room and lock him in." Quinton barked.

"You can't!" Caleb started to argue, his face turning red with rage.

Quinton turned on him suddenly. His fists were clenched into tight balls, so tight that his knuckles were turning white. Caleb caught the faintest scent of blood as Quinton's claws broke through the soft padding of his palms. "I can and will do whatever I feel is necessary!" He yelled. "Consider yourself lucky that you're not locked in a cell instead of that cozy little room you woke up in. That was Malcolm's idea by the way, not mine.

If I'd had my way you'd already be dead! Unfortunately, there are protocols to follow. But make no mistake, Silver Moon, someone is going to pay for my brothers death. If not your alpha, then you. A life for a life, that's the law. So don't worry your pretty little head about that pup. Chances are, you won't live long enough to see him again anyway." Caleb watched, in stunned silence, as Quinton turned and stomped away, slamming the door closed so hard that the paintings on the walls rattled.

Rhys. Caleb whispered as his entire body began to shake. Rhys, We'll be together again soon because, I think, I'm about to die...

***

Quinton stormed into the pack house and walked quickly past a swarm of pack members who had shown up to ask about Rhys and the little omega being held in the clinic. Quinton just wasn't in a mood to deal with any of them, or questions that he had very little answers to. That would change, however, when he'd finally gotten the chance to question the omega.

It seemed ridiculous that he had to wait for a council member to arrive before he could question the kid. Damn protocols. It made sense, even if he didn't want to admit it. They wanted someone present who wasn't close to the victim, someone who would ensure that Quinton didn't just rip the omega's throat out before he could be tried and sentenced.

In the old days none of that would have mattered. The omega would have been thrown to the wolves, so to speak, and the pack would have dealt with him themselves. There would have been no need to get outsiders involved, not when the evidence so clearly pointed to the omega as a conspirator. It was obvious that he'd been working with the Silver Moon betas to infiltrate Black River, though at this juncture, their real goal remained unknown. Were they there to spy and report back to their alpha? If so, what game was the Silver Moon alpha playing?

Quinton wouldn't know the answers to those questions until he'd interrogated his captive. The kid had seemed confused, and frightened, but he was just playing the helpless omega, obviously, trying to manipulate the protective nature of an alpha. It was smart but Quinton wasn't about to fall for it, and he wasn't about to allow Rhys death to go unpunished. Not after he'd seen what those betas had done to him. They couldn't have beaten him in a fair fight, even they knew that. A beta was no match for a fully grown alpha so they'd had to rely on cheating, which was what Silver Moon did best.

Quinton had heard about them from other packs. Their shady, back ally, deals, and cut-throat tactics. The Silver Moon pack had no honor but for them to do what they did, using silver bullets, that was low even for them. Not to mention illegal. Humans used silver bullets, not wolves. Wolves fought with claws, teeth, and strength. They had no use for human weapons. To use them, made them a traitor to their own kind.

Quinton barreled into his office nearly knocking over Sawyer, one of his betas, as he made his way to the desk that sat in the center of the room. Quinton stopped suddenly, staring at the desk and the army-green duffel bag that sat on it. "What's this?" He growled.

Sawyer stiffened but took a step forward. "It was found in the truck." Sawyer told him.

"And why is it here?"

Sawyer swallowed hard. "We...we think it was Rhys."

"And?"

"Well, I thought you might..."

Quinton turned and stared at him, eye-brow raised, as he waited for an answer.

Sawyer let out a shaky breath. "He was your brother, Quin. I just thought you might want to look through it. As alpha and next of kin, what was his is yours now."

Quinton turned back towards the duffel bag and stared at it. Of course, it made sense. All of Rhys belongings would go to Quinton first and what he didn't want would go to the pack, but standing there now, looking down at the bag, it was too...final.

"I can take it down to storage." Sawyer said quickly, moving to grab the bag off the table. "It was stupid of me to bring it here. It's too soon."

Quinton put up a hand to stop him. "It's fine, leave it."

"You're sure?"

Quinton looked at the man and frowned. The message clear. He was alpha and he was not to be questioned.

Sawyer took a step back, falling into place silently behind his alpha. Quinton took another long look at the bag, trying to decide what he wanted to do then, slowly, he reached out and unzipped it. What he found inside was nothing of any real value. Clothes, a cell phone and an old laptop, a roll of cash that probably only totaled a couple hundred bucks, and underneath the clothes a manila folder. Quinton placed the folder on his desk, ignoring it for the moment as he looked through the rest of the contents of the bag.

When he could find nothing else of importance he zipped the bag up again then tossed it on the floor at Sawyers feet. "Take it to the charity box." Quinton commanded.

"It looked like some of the clothes belong to the omega as well." Sawyer pointed out. "Should I..."

"He has no use of them." Quinton growled. "I don't imagine he'll be with us much longer."

"There were some other things in the truck." Sawyer explained. "Some shopping bags with diapers and baby clothes..."

"Those can go to the nursery." Quinton told him. "I expect they were purchased for the newborn."

Sawyer nodded as he picked up the duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. He started for the door then hesitated, turning back to Quinton. "Have you seen it? The pup I mean."

"No, why should I?"

"I just thought, you know, since Rhys is..."

"Finish that sentence and I'll cut out your tongue." Quinton spun around and glared at Sawyer, hard. The deep, resonating, growl escaped before he had the chance to push it back down. Sawyers eyes went wide with fright and he backed up against the door. "Rhys is NOT the father of that pup, you got that?"

Sawyer nodded, emphatically. "Got it." He choked.

"Now get that fucking bag out of my office. It smells like him."

"Sure thing boss." Sawyer opened the door then rushed through it as quickly as he could.

Quinton sighed. He walked around the desk to his chair and plopped down then ran his hands through his dark hair. He sat there, head bowed, trying to regain some composure. Getting this worked up wasn't befitting for an alpha in his position. He needed to stay calm and level headed, but this situation hit far to close to home for his liking. And, it wasn't like he hadn't lost people before. His own mother had died shortly after Rhys had been born and their father, well, he was never the same after that.

Rhys was a teenager when their father had taken his own life and Quinton was left with not only the pack but a younger brother to care for. Maybe that was why it felt so personal. Rhys was his brother, but Quinton had practically raised him. He'd taught him how to fight, and how to survive. Even though Rhys had been an adult when he died, Quinton still felt responsible for him. Maybe if he'd been a better alpha, or a better brother, Rhys would still be alive.

Quinton lifted his head and saw the manila folder on his desk that he'd nearly forgotten about. Rhys last job? He reached out and picked up the folder and flipped it open. Surprise lit up his face as he stared at the first page of the report inside. The file was about the omega he was holding prisoner in the medical clinic. "So, you were a mark." He whispered as he read over the information.

Most of the information wasn't that interesting. Just his name, age, and physical description. There was some information about his pack, but it wasn't anything that Quinton didn't already know. He was Silver Moon. No one of any real importance. Just a run of the mill omega. What he did find interesting though was the fact that it was the Silver Moon alpha, Seth Bowden, who had hired Rhys in the first place.

He scanned the rest of the page looking for anymore details but all he could find was a very limited detailing of what the job actually consisted of. Find the omega and return him to his pack. Rhys had been paid a thousand as a down payment the rest payable when the omega was safely returned. Knowing what he did of Silver Moon, that was a pretty steep price for them to pay just to get back a run away omega. Especially for one that didn't seem to be really all that important.

Caleb Giles. He was eighteen when the contract had been written out which had been over a year ago. His parents weren't anyone special, just low ranking pack members, and Caleb himself didn't appear to be all that special either, so why would they pay a bounty hunter to find him? Quinton looked over the second page of the report. Nothing of note there either. Actually there wasn't a lot to go on. The third page was just some handwritten notes that Rhys himself had made. Mostly the last place the omega had been seen and a schedule of his daily activities.

Rhys had been tracking him for sometime before he'd actually made contact. Maybe he was as clueless about the kids importance as Quinton and decided to watch him for a few days to see what, if anything, was so special about him. Apparently Rhys had caught up with him at a small diner after a week of surveillance and had no problem apprehending him. It was late so he'd rented a motel room and had planned to drive back to Silver Moon in the morning, turn over the kid, and collect his pay. That was the last thing noted on the report.

Obviously something had happened between then and now. Had Silver Moon reneged on their end of the deal and refused to cough up the cash? Had he held onto the omega, intending to hold him for ransom? That would explain why the Silver Moon betas were chasing them. What didn't make sense though was how they ended up on Black River lands, and with a new born pup of all things. There was no way the omega was pregnant when he'd ran from his pack, the pup would be close to a year old if that were the case.

It seemed more and more likely that Rhys was the father, but Quinton just couldn't accept that. It was one thing to hook up with a one night stand. Everyone did it. But to screw around with a mark and on top of that to get him pregnant? Not even Rhys was that irresponsible. But still, it seemed like Rhys was on his way home to Black river lands when he and the omega were run off the road by the Silver Moon betas. Quinton slammed the folder closed and shoved it away. "Rhys..." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Just what the hell were you thinking?"

***

Malcolm opened the door to the small clinic room that Caleb had woken up in and Caleb walked inside without putting up a fight. He was too exhausted to fight anymore, both physically and mentally.

"I really am sorry about all this." Malcolm told him.

Caleb shrugged. "I understand. Orders and all." He walked to the bed and sat down with a loud sigh.

"You know, Quin isn't the heartless monster that he seems. He's a good alpha. Kind, fair, and he cares about every single member of this pack. I think, losing Rhys, was just too much for him."

Caleb looked up, frowning. "I lost him too."

Malcolm nodded. "I know, and I'm sorry for all you've lost. I'll see what I can do about letting you see your infant. I'm not making any promises mind you. Quin can be stubborn, but I think I can appeal to his protective nature. An omega should never be separated from his pup, especially so soon after giving birth. I'm sure if I remind him of that, he'll reconsider allowing it."

"Thank you." Caleb lay back on the bed, closing his eyes. It seemed, maybe he had one person in his corner after all. He could cling on to that small glimmer of hope. He had to. For his pups sake. He had to stay strong. He owed Rhys that much.