Redemption (Rogue Nation MC #1)

7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Mako

Twenty-four hours. 24 fuckin hours of my life down the drain. Epic waste of time and resources, not to mention I had to send Bear, Clip and Spuds to take care of a job that I needed to contain and control for it to go right.

That wasn’t completely true. I trusted those 3 with my life, so why did I have a lump in the pit of my stomach the size of Washington State? Something felt off. Honestly, it had been a bit off since that damn meeting in the cavern. I simply chalked it up to the morality of what we were being hired to do. Shit like that always set off my inner rage. I hoped Bear had come up with a solid starting point for a plan to get through this with no harm to the boy.

Three miles from the clubhouse, I realized I had never turned back on my phone after the cops returned it to me. Something I would remedy as soon as I pulled into the parking lot. I knew from the moment I got picked up that it was all bullshit. ‘ Huh. Maybe Hogg wanted to keep his part of the deal after all. ’ I couldn’t be pinched or even accused of killing his boy if I was sitting in an interview room when he was kidnapped and killed. “Sick Fuck.” I grumbled to myself. As the wind blew through me, I lost the sound. I loved my bike. It was the only time I really felt free. After not being on my girl for a full day, I was enjoying the vibration between my thighs a little too much. Not that I would ever admit that to any of my brothers.

The first thing I noticed as I pulled into the gravel lot was the lack of ladies. I took a quick glance at my watch. It was 8pm. This time of evening, the lot should be packed with the bikes and vehicles of the brothers. The weather was warm and clear without a sign of rain, so there was no reason for anyone to park in the garage out back. That was usually reserved for winter and shitty weather. Have to protect the ladies. The only vehicle in the lot was the ‘shit box’ the club owned, so the hang arounds had a way to get to the store, doctor or just to get out and about. The women weren’t allowed to drive, but the omegas were. They were all free to use it as they pleased. We even covered gas and maintenance.

I got off my bike and reached for my phone. As I powered it up, I hoped everything was OK. No way was I rushing into the club house not knowing why no one was here. Ping after ping sounded. Texts and voice mails scrolled down the screen faster than I could read. I waited till the pings, dings and flashes stopped, signaling that all the data was being delivered. Scrolling back up, I saw that the most recent was a call from Bear with a voice mail. I knew that most of the information in all those texts would be in that one voice mail. Bear was efficient like that. I tapped the VM button and put it to my ear.

“Prez.” Well, that didn’t bode well for what would come next. Bear rarely called me by my title. He either called me Mako or if we were alone, by my given name. He was the only one that was permitted. I had a feeling this was going to be a shit show of epic proportions. “We got some problems. I’ll make this quick. The package was delivered. It’s waiting for you upstairs. Shit. Fuck, man. None of us touched the package. The delivery system banged it up pretty good though and well… Clip, he kinda lost it and may have disabled the delivery device for an undetermined time. Spuds decided we needed to make a run as a club. We’re headed south for a couple of days. We’ll be back on Tuesday afternoon. If you need to get in touch, call one of us at 3. We’ll answer. Later, man.” Fuck fuck fuckity fuck. No need to read the texts or listen to the voice mails. I knew everything I needed to know. There was enough code in that message to tell me damn near everything. I needed to get to my office.

As I passed the car in the lot, I smelled that garden flower smell I caught a whiff of in the cave. Not as strong, but it was there. What the hell was that smell? It’s not like it was unpleasant. It was comforting. Like home. Before my Gramps and dad passed. Gramps liked to garden when he wasn’t doing club business and I loved sitting on the stoop, watching. He always smelled like fresh turned earth and the flowers he was planting as he walked by me at the end of his day. So yeah… home.

A few steps more and I was hit with a sweet smell I knew all too well. An omega was in heat. These men knew to take their suppressants. We only had a couple of omegas staying in the club at the moment, but all of them knew the risk of going into full heat around all the alphas. Who would have been so damn stupid? Most of the brothers could control their baser instincts, but it wasn’t easy and not exactly fair. An unmated omega in heat could drive an alpha into a frenzy. Fight or fuck. Usually both. There were a few of us that could control it, but it wasn’t easy, and alcohol was off limits when it happened. Nothing to inhibit our senses. Well, I was gonna have to have a word with whoever it was as soon as their heat passed and make sure the pills weren’t ‘forgotten’ again. I really hoped it wasn’t someone trying to trap a brother into ‘ole Mandom’ by an uncontrolled claim bite during a frenzy fuck. “I fuckin need this shit like I need another hole in my goddess damned head.” Growling, I flung the door open.

Walking into the bar was like passing through one of those split plastic sheets on a construction site. The air became thicker with omega heat and the smell of home became 10 times stronger. I really needed to find that smell. I wasn’t sure if I needed to get rid of it or wrap myself in it. Either way, I needed to find it. Soon. All 3 omegas and both of the club women were sitting at the bar bent over, whispering to one another. All 5 of their heads were touching. For a brief second, I was thankful for the family we created. Pushing that feeling down, I let out a deep growl. “Which one of you ‘forgot’ your suppressants and why are you sitting in the common area in HEAT?” Doing my best ‘really pissed’ voice.

Leave it to Owen to be the snarky one. That boy had sure come into his own. I was proud of him. “None of US is in heat ‘boss’. We heard you pull up and were wondering how long it would take you to come in. We were just betting on if you would ‘run’ like the rest of the guys or alpha up and come in and figure out what the fuck was going on. I, for one, would really like to know what the fuck is going on.” Yep, pure fuckin’ sass.

“Then who the fuck is in heat, dammit? I can smell it. I can feel it. What do you mean by ‘ran’? Where did the brothers go?” I eased myself into a chair by the door. It was becoming more difficult to concentrate. Fuck… that smell.

Bethie stepped next to Owen. “President Mako, sir. Owen had no reason to speak out of turn like that. We were deciding the best way to tell you, sir. Please don’t be upset with him. As a group, we decided to do what we did. I promise we are taking care of him. We’ll have him out of your room as soon as the guest room airs out, sir.” I couldn’t only hear the tremble in her voice but see it. The poor girl was wringing her fingers so tight her hands were snow white and her knees were shaking.

“Bethie, while there are times, I would have reason to be upset with Owen, this is not one of them. He’s obviously stressed and is having a hard time reigning in his mouth. We all know he gets like this. Don’t worry. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Do you know where the brothers went and why?” I was doing my level best to remain calm. It was harder than usual and that confused the fuck out of me. My damn cock was half hard in my jeans. It was taking all I had in me not to adjust it. The last thing I needed was the women and omegas think I was making an offer.

“Well, sir, Mr. Bear and Mr. Spuds came in earlier. They had a boy with them. He was beaten up real bad, sir. Real bad and he was going into heat. He was unconscious. They left him with me and Owen and said they were going on a run; it was our responsibility to take care of him. We lay him on the table and cleaned up his cuts and bruises. Changed him into one of Owen’s shirts and shorts and moved him to the guest room. We all took turns sitting next to the bed in case he woke up.” She was slowly calming down. Bethie was still a walking ball of nerves, but she was slowly coming to understand she was safe here.

“OK sweetheart, I’m following so far, but if you put him in the guest room, how is he in my room now?” The last thing I needed was an unmated omega in heat in my apartment. With what I was feeling, it might be best if I walked out and stayed in a motel for the next couple of days. Let the 3-day heat pass. I could deal with the residual smell while it was fading a lot better than the full-on smell in my space during.

Owen lay his hand on Bethie’s shoulder and nodded his head. She stepped back and settled on a stool. Well, looks like our little group felt they had a leader. Color me more impressed. “He kinda woke up a few hours ago and before we could get him up, he sorta threw up all over himself and the bed in the guest room. We knew he needed to be cleaned up and so did the bed. I checked all the doors, and yours was the only one that was unlocked. I told Tina and Wills to take him into your shower and clean him up, then lay him in your spare room until we could get the room cleaned up and aired out. As soon as the bedding comes out of the dryer, we’ll move him. We didn’t know where you were since you weren’t with the guys. We didn’t know when you would be back. I decided all on my own. I’ll take whatever punishment you see fit.” Jumpin’ up Jesus on a pogo stick. Owen making executive decisions. I schooled my face as best I could, but I’m sure the pride shone in my eyes. A twinge of pain set in as I realized Owen was almost ready to leave us. He could function on his own and I took a bit of pride for myself in that. “Who is he and why did he get dumped here, Mako? He looks like he went a few rounds with a heavyweight boxer. He can’t even be classed as a lightweight. He's tiny Mako. I don’t think any of the other guys would have done this to him, but…” Now I understood. Owen saw himself in Theodore and wanted to protect him. There was no way I could blame him.

I held my hand to stop him. “All I’m going to say regarding who he is would be ‘club business’. Now, you and I both know that not one man in this club would DARE lay his hands on an omega in anger. I know you have a few reservations about that left in your mind, but I am telling you now… NEVER. As for him being in my room, it’s OK. You did the right thing. All I’m asking is that you clean up the mess in my apartment when he gets moved.” That was all I was going to get from this group. Time to move on to my office and grab a phone.

My way across the bar to my office in the back required me to pass by the stairs. I swear I could see the heat smell rolling down from upstairs and forming a cloud at the bottom. Yeah, I had to walk through that cloud to get to my office. I held my breath the whole way. Not that it did any good. Once I closed my office door and took that first breath, I realized that my clothing was covered in that smell. It was a damn good thing that I had discipline. For how long, though?

Pulling out my keys, I unlocked the bottom drawer of my desk and grabbed the burner phone. The club had 12 burner phones at all times. Every number was programed into every phone. Each phone had a number that correlated with a time. One through twelve. I held one in my hand. Obviously, Bear had taken number 3 on the job with him, hence telling me to call them at 3. I hit the power button and laid it on my desk to boot up. After pouring myself a shot of scotch. Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t with an omega in heat in the building, I hit the number 3 on the phone to make the call.

3 rings and a faint click “Boss?”

“Dammit, man, you know I hate that shit. Fuckin’ Owen started it. It needs to stop.” Even I could still hear the smirk on my face.

“You check on him yet?” Bear sounded worried.

“Ain’t made it up there yet. Some weird smells happening here, like in the cave. I know Clip smelled nothing, but I did and it’s back.” A quick swallow and the scotch warmed and relax my body.

” Yeah Mako, I’m thinking that smell might be HIM. You said you smelled it real faint when Hogg was around. Coulda been residual from living in the same house as the boy. Anyway, that’s not important. We showed at the designated spot man and that fuck of a brother of his. Gavin was in the alley beating the shit outta him. Stupid shit was laying out the entire plan to the kid between blows. Aww, Mako, some of the shit this fucker was saying. Just disgusting. Something about hoping we waited to kill him until he went into heat so he would know how it felt to be gang raped, then killed. How maybe he should just hang with us so he could watch it all go down. Maybe he would even take the first turn to ‘pop that cherry ass’. His fuckin brOTHER man. That’s a bunch of sick. Clip may have lost it and beat the shit outta the fucker. We left him in the alley while we loaded up the kid and Clip waited around the corner after calling an ambulance. Fucker’s alive, but we’re not sure how healthy he is. Part of me wishes we killed him. Anyway, the kid started going into heat in the back seat of the car, man. Not good, brother. Me and Spuds gave him over to the hang arounds to take care of. Too much adrenaline running through us. We loaded up everyone and Spud led us on a run to get away before something happened.” I don’t think Bear took 3 breaths during that entire rant. You could feel the anger welling up through the phone the longer he spoke.

“It’s alright brother, I get it. Given the circumstances, you did everything you could do to protect him. Thank you.” I know it didn’t need to be said, but I said it anyway. “The hangs cleaned him up. He’s in my spare right now because he chucked and made a mess in the guest room. They cleaned up him and the room, just waiting on laundry to dry to move him back.” I heard the relieved huff from my second. “So, he’s aware of the circumstances? I hope he’ll be able to understand he’s in no danger once his heat clears and we can talk to him. I’m not even gonna try while he’s in a state. This Gavin fucker is damn lucky I got hauled away. If I was there, he would most likely be dead. That shit is fucked.” I couldn’t help but be angry. Who treated family like that? Over fuckin money, no less.

“Anyway, brother, we’re at our usual spot just north of TAC if you wanna head this way. There’s 15 of us here. Everyone who actually saw him. We grabbed them outta the club and headed out. The others dispersed to their homes. Figured they were safe with some of em being mated and not everyone knows everything. That’s up to you to decide who gets to know.” Bear would make an amazing leader. That’s why he’s my VP, but he doesn’t have any ambition to have my job. The way he defers decisions to me makes that obvious. Yet another reason I love my brother. Not that I ever wanted the damn job, but who else was gonna step up after Pop was killed. We had to make sure the club stayed what it was. A refuge.

“Nah man, if it gets too bad here, I’ll head over to the motel and stay a night or 2. I just spent 24 sitting in a hard ass chair in the station. As much as I love my lady, riding her that hard for that long, I won’t be able to feel my legs for days. I guess we need to stop calling Theodore ‘kid’ too. He’ll be 25 in a few days, and we’ve all gotten a whiff of his heat. Let’s give him the respect of calling him by his name. Any ideas about how this should play out? I’ve got a couple rolling around in my head, but it’s all gonna depend on how he handles everything once he can think clearly.” Hell, he wasn’t the only one that needed to think clearly. What the fuck was wrong with me?

“Yeah, him having a clear head is gonna be necessary. Fuck man, I hope he understands this whole fuckin’ shit pile. I’ll help explain it, but I’m damn glad I don’t have to do it by myself. Owen give you any shit? Last thing I heard as we hauled ass outta there was Owen asking who the hell he was and why they were tasked with his care. Our little Owen has grown a pair, man.” He huffed a laugh towards the end.

“That boy hasn’t only grown balls, but he’s developed a mouth, too. I had to invoke ‘Club Business’ to shut him down without explanation. We’ll eventually let them in on it, but not right now. Not until we know exactly what it is we’re dealing with.” I hated feeling like I was hiding shit from my club. Even though omegas and women weren’t allowed to be a part of any organized group, church was the only exception for omegas. But I saw all the omegas and women in my club as part of my club. Fuck those laws.

“Whatever you decide. If they wanna know, OK, but I can’t see forcing it on them. Shit could easily go sideways with this, and they’ll have a damn site less protection than we will. Speaking of protection, what was the 24 about? The boys in blue showed up and you just went with them?” I was wondering how long it was gonna take him to ask.

“I’m thinking it had something to do with the job itself. Some omega I’ve never seen accused a ‘biker’ of beating him up and trying to rape him. Obviously, I fit the description he gave to the cops. They ask some questions and gave some excuses why it was gonna take a day for the omega to make it to the station for ID, but they had to hold me on ‘suspicion’. Gave me a rock-solid alibi for the job, though. Can’t help but think that was the intention. Once the omega showed up and verified that it wasn’t me, they cut me loose. A little over an hour ago. Speaking of… how did it go? Other than the Gavin bullshit?” I was ready to be off the phone so I could finish up here and decide if I was staying or not.

“All good. No cuts, no bikes. Except for Clip, and he parked 2 blocks away. That’s why he stayed and waited for the ambo. Well… that and he really wanted to know if he killed the guy. Once we got back to the club, we did what was necessary for his safety and ours. I’m sure you’ll hear everything about the brother’s condition when you finally decide to talk to Hogg.” That was the last piece of the puzzle. Time to move on with my evening.

“Yeah? Good. Then I’ll head on up and check on him and decided what I’m gonna do. I might camp on the couch in the office instead of heading out. I’m getting too old to keep doing this shit. Might have to revive that garden Gramps used to have. I kinda get why he loved it so much. Been thinking about it since I got back here from the station.” I didn’t bother to hide anything from Bear. There was nothing he didn’t know about me, well… except for dick size. Fuck, I needed to not think about my dick with that omega in heat.

I hung up the phone and took a second to wipe the call log before powering down and stuffing it back into the drawer. “Owen!” I yelled for the boy before I rested my head in my hands. Damn, I was wiped out.

“Yeah boss?” fuckin smart ass.

“Come on in.” he opened the door the rest of the way and I motioned for him to close it.

After I heard the click of the latch, I looked the omega in the eye and pointed to the couch. As soon as he parked his ass on the cushion, I made my decision. “Owen, I know what I said about this being ‘club business’, but that’s because I’m not sure how deep into this you will go. You omegas and the girls have always been and will always be a part of this club, but there are some things that some folks can’t handle.” I didn’t have any kind of speech in my head. This was all unfamiliar territory, and he was just gonna have to understand that I was winging it. “Not everything we do here is completely above-board. You feel me?”

He scoffed at me and gave a little smirk. “Care to tell me how I was not supposed to know that before now?” Fuckin smart ass. “Look, boss, how you keep the coffers flush, and your day-to-day shit doesn’t concern me or any of the others. How you ALL treat us does. We trust all of you with our lives. Hell, most of us wouldn’t even be alive without you guys. We understand why everyone left. Fuck, even the best of alphas would have a hard time around an injured omega in full heat. Honestly, I’m impressed that you’re holding out as well as you are, but you’re sweating like a leaky faucet right now. We just wanted to be sure that no one was gonna show up while everyone was gone. It was just us here, and its obvious someone beat him up. If someone followed the guys here with him, there would be no way to protect him or us with all of you gone.” There went my idea of leaving for a motel. Looks like the couch for me tonight. No way I was leaving them here alone and calling in some of the mated brothers wasn’t an option. They’d want to bring their ole ladies and men, too many people would know. Until we had a better idea how this was gonna play out, fewer was better.

“I’m calling church on Tuesday evening. I’ll let the guys know I want you to sit in. You’ll not be speaking or voicing your opinion, understood?” he simply nodded his head. “Keep in mind what goes on in church, stays in church until Bear or I say otherwise.” Another nod. “Now, I think it’s time I met our guest.” I rose from my chair and gestured to the door. Owen rose and followed. Time to face the music, whether or not I was ready.