Page 6 of Omega Shattered
The cold hit like an old enemy, but I took a deep breath and marched around the back of the diner to the dumpster. While in the bathroom, I'd heard the dumpster lid clang a few times.
Clambering onto a stack of drink crates, I lifted the lid of the dumpster and peered in. There were half-eaten meals dumped in there, wrapped in plastic bags. Letting the lid rest on my back, I bent over and started to tear at the bags, pulling out half-eaten or abandoned sandwiches that were mostly intact. I ignored anything dripping with sauce or soup.
After the equivalent of an entire sandwich, my belly stopped growling and the overwhelming need to sleep suddenly hit me.
"Not yet," I muttered to myself, stumbling away from the diner. Thick forest surrounded the truck stop. Maybe I couldfigure out some sort of shelter out here. Close enough to hop on another semi if needed, and food from the dumpster, but somewhere hidden away.
The woods were thick, nothing like the little forests I'd gone through before. I had to push my way through the underbrush and weave around trees without a path to follow. After a few minutes, I started to worry that I'd get lost, but when I looked back, my tracks were pretty obvious. It wouldn't be hard to follow them back out of the forest.
When the trees opened into a clearing, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I saw it. A dilapidated shed of some sort at the edge of the clearing, the roof sagging, but the door closed. It was shelter, and it would do just fine for right now.
It took some tugging to get the door open. The wood had swollen with the damp and made it stick, but I was determined to get in and finally the wood gave way with a groan, scraping across the floor and flying back so I nearly tumbled over the threshold. When I recovered, I stepped inside and smiled.
The shed was actually a very old cabin. There was a little potbelly stove in the back corner and a saggy metal bedframe with no mattress against one wall. Two moth-eaten blankets were draped over a rickety looking rocking chair and a tiny table with two chairs sat against the opposite wall.
There were no matches, and I had no idea how to start a fire without them, but it was warmer inside the cabin. Summoning the last of my strength, I went outside and found as many low-hanging pine branches as possible and pulled them free to pile on the bed. After covering the thick layer of pine with one of the holey blankets, I climbed into the makeshift bed and pulled the remaining blanket over myself, topping it off with the blanket I'd brought from the center.
It wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't freezing like before. With a contented smile, I drifted off to sleep.
***
When I woke, it was completely dark and I had to pee again, thanks to drinking a lot of water while I was in the bathroom before. With a groan, I crept out from under the blankets and went to the door, pushing it open and shivering at the cold that rushed in. Forget it, I'd use the bucket in the corner.
Shutting the door swiftly, I used the bucket and shoved a piece of cardboard on top, wrinkling my nose. Back in bed, I drifted back into a fitful sleep almost immediately despite the cold. Light was peeking through the cracks around the door when I woke next.
"Good morning!" I sang out to myself, stretching and shivering. I was cold and hungry, but free. No beta guards would zap me today and I was confident that I was far enough from the center that they wouldn't find me. All I needed to do now was find some real clothes and figure out a way to get some money. As an omega, I would stand out, but suppressants would dull my scent if I could get some.
The problems jangled around in my head, making it ache. I was free, but to stay free, I'd have to be smart. My reality settled heavily on my shoulders and I got up, digging around the cabin to see what was lying in the rusted locker to one side. Under the bed, I found a moth-eaten summer jacket that would do for a coverup. The interior was mostly chewed to bits, but the exterior was decent. I pulled it on over my pajama top and zipped it, pleased to find the zipper still worked.
There were sandals in the locker. Not practical for winter, but they'd do. I put them on over the plastic and fabric on my feet, cinching them tightly so they fit.
I was as ready as I could be. Opening the door, I blinked at the bright light outside, reflecting off the snow, and stepped out. Straight into a broad chest.
Thick arms closed around me, and the scent of smoke and leather surrounded me. It was a safe smell, but the man holding me was anything but.
Chapter 5
Captured
Recovering from the momentary paralysis created by the scent of the alpha, I twisted in his arms, going limp. It worked. He couldn't hold me and I slid right through his hands, dropping to the ground.
"Stop!" he growled and I nearly did. His voice was as deep and smoky as his inviting scent.
I hummed in my mind, a trick I'd learned years ago, and scrambled away from him, toward the trees. Snow was falling in fat, heavy flakes and if I could get far enough away, he wouldn't be able to track me. I was on my feet and running before he could recover from my escape.
"Omega! Stop!" This time there was the edge of a bark in the words.
I covered my hears and kept running, slipping into the woods and immediately slowing as the brush caught at me. It took him seconds to catch up and grab me again, his strong arms pinning mine to my sides.
My breath was ragged with panic and I kicked back, trying to hit his knee. A year of minimal food and the cold made me weak, though and my kicks were mere taps to the massive man holding me.
He huffed out an annoyed breath. "Stop fighting, you little minx. You're not getting away from me. If you think you can somehow hide now, after I tracked you half-way across the country, you're dumber than I thought."
At his words, I froze. He wasn't a random alpha, he was sent by the ORC. The cold suddenly seemed to dig into my chest, icing my heart over. I hadn't escaped at all, not even for a few hours. They'd somehow known where I was the entire time.
"I'm recommending they start tagging their omegas with trackers," the alpha muttered as he easily carried me back to the clearing. He suddenly twisted me around and flipped me up so I was hanging over his shoulder, my face halfway down his back, his arm over the back of my legs. "What the fuck do you have on your feet?" He snorted, shook his head, and started walking.
I was going back. And my heat was nowhere to be found. I knew this was going to be the end for me, I'd be sent to the heat dens as a useless omega, set to serve as a toy for the alphas in rut. The thought made bile rush up my throat and I choked, spitting bitterness out onto the snow behind us.
