Page 8 of His Gentle Omega
I would be ready when they came for me.
Pulling up Edward’s contact information, I added his alpha father to the text. Quickly I typed my message and hit send, tossing the phone behind me. It landed with a soft thud in the wet grass of the cemetery.
The text had been short and to the point. Two words that referenced an old law that was still active on the books. Two words that were my first step to freedom and getting my life back and getting Lucas to safety. Edward might not know what those words meant, but all those fancy lawyers his father employed sure as fuck would.
Alpha Law.
Chapter Four
Shay
“Can I get fries, Daddy?” Lucas asked, sliding onto the plastic covered booth of a little diner I had pulled into. Sinking gratefully in the seat across from him, I rubbed a hand over the right side of my face.
A smiling waitress stopped at our table, placing menus in front of us–a kids one for Lucas with a packet of crayons–and said she would be back with waters for us.
Squinting at the prices with my good eye–my left was still swollen but had opened a mere slit–I nodded at him. The prices were decent, and it was a step above the fast-food drive-thru food we had been surviving on the past week.
But we had finally made it. We were in Sweet Alps, and I would be able to rest soon. Hopefully. The trip had taken far longer than I had planned, and cost more than I had wanted to spend.The truck had a quarter of a tank of gas, and I had enough to cover dinner tonight, but not much else. Thankfully, my appetite had all but disappeared the last couple of days, but Lucas needed to eat.
Glancing out the large windows of the restaurant, the sun was sinking in the sky and night was starting to fall. I wasn’t sure what time it was, so I asked our waitress when she returned with our drinks.
“About eight-thirty,” she smiled, tugging out her order pad. “Are you ready to order?”
“Lucas, do you know what you want?” He was busy coloring the picture on the back of his menu, but he looked up at my inquiry.
“Chicken nuggets and fries?” He questioned, his blue eyes hopeful. The kid had eaten about a zillion chicken nuggets the last week, but I wasn’t going to tell him no. It seemed to be his favorite food at the moment. I called it a small win. Hopefully these nuggets would be a step up from the fast food ones.
“We have awesome milkshakes,” the waitress–Sandy, according to her nametag–gave me a once over. “Great for sore throats.”
Before I could answer, I started coughing. Loud barks that ripped painfully from my throat, causing my bruised ribs to protest. My coughing had only gotten worse during the trip. Grabbing for my water glass, I took a sip, trying not to choke on it. Praying this wasn’t going to be one of the coughing jags where I coughed so hard I nearly puked.
Finally, when it had ended and I was sure every eye in the diner was staring our way, Sandy gave me a sympathetic look. “Maybe some hot tea instead. Dairy isn’t great for coughs like that.”
“Can I have one, Daddy?” Lucas looked so hopeful I couldn’t deny him. Had I maybe been indulging and spoiling him the lastfew days? Absolutely. Probably overcompensating for the shit show his little life had become in an instant, but I didn’t care. Considering the circumstances, he had actually behaved really well. He deserved a treat.
“Sure, buddy,” I wheezed, setting my water glass back down with a trembling hand.
“Anything for you, hun?” Sandy asked, pen poised over her pad.
Shaking my head, I rasped, “No, thank you. Just the tea, please.”
I actually hated tea, but my dad had always sworn by it for a sore throat. Since my coughing made it feel like my throat was shredded, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to drink some. I doubted I would be able to taste much of it anyway, but the heat would feel soothing, and might combat the chill I couldn’t get rid of.
She promised to get our orders in and to be back with our tea and shake. Had Lucas told her what flavor? I’d been too busy coughing my lungs up to hear him.
Trying to take a deep breath, my lungs protested, and I feared my summer cold had turned into something a hell of a lot worse than just a normal cold. Two nights ago, I had finally had to admit defeat and a pressing need for sleep. I’d spent more money than I had wanted on a motel room for the night, but my body had been fighting against me.
My sleep had been restless, interrupted by long coughing jags, but at least I had been in a bed. The trip had been littered with nuisances and costs I hadn’t been prepared to cover. The second day we had been on the road, we’d gotten a flat tire, having picked up a long nail from somewhere on the highway. The damn thing had gone right through the sidewall, and I knew there was no patching it. The spare had gotten us to a discountstore where I’d been able to purchase a new tire. That had taken a huge chunk out of our money.
It had felt like everything in the universe was fighting against us making it to Sweet Alps. We’d made it though, even if it was much later in the day than I had planned. We were here. Now I just needed to find a way to contact Asher. There was no personal number listed for him in my internet searches, just a number to his medical practice here in town.
As it was Friday night, I figured they were closed until Monday morning. I was down to our last thirty bucks, before paying for dinner tonight. There was no way we’d be able to get another motel room until Monday. Not to mention, we were both almost out of clean clothes and would need to hit a laundromat. That was more money I couldn’t afford to spend.
Sweet Alps had a small town feel to it, at least what I had seen driving down the main street. But it was still home to over seventy thousand residents, and I had no idea how to begin to find my brother until his office opened back up.
Sandy brought our drinks, and I sipped the tea, feeling the heat of it warm me. Lucas sucked on his shake, smiling wide around his straw when the chocolate ice cream hit his tongue.
“Not so much or you’ll freeze your brain,” I warned him, which got a giggle out of him. “You won’t be laughing when your brain is frozen.”
