bumped his head against Sean’s, and when he saw the silent question in his mate’s eyes, Sean nodded. Felix nudged his nose against Sean’s, then licked his face. That sweet touch of his mate soothed the pain.
“What’d he do?”
“He became a rat, a snitch. He used to be Lidon Hayes’s partner…and he ended up choosing his side. Bastard.” The word came out as a snarl. Jack was apparently still angry about that. “Now he’s joined his pack or whatever.”
“What’s your problem with Hayes? You guys always rag on him, but what’s the real issue?”
“You think all the stories about him are true? That he’s some kind of savior?” Sean’s father said mockingly.
“He can’t be any worse than Armitage. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Hush, you moron. He’s got spies everywhere,” Jack snapped. “That’s how they got Dan. All he did was drink a few beers with his mates at an illegal pub and bitch about the army taking over from us cops and leaving us with nothing to do. Day after, he was arrested for treason or some shit.”
“Shit, seriously?” Smoker Guy sounded scared now. “What happened to him?”
“We don’t know. Nobody ever knows what happens to those who disappear. The omegas, yes. They’re in the camp, but the others? Fuck knows. Rumors are they’re put on trains and transported elsewhere.”
“You don’t wanna find out what happened to your brother?”
“Are you kidding me? That idiot landed himself in this trouble. We warned him to keep his fucking mouth shut and not trust anyone, but he had to go and piss and moan about his misfortunes,” Sean’s father said. “He made his bed, so he can damn well sleep in it. I washed my hands off him. Same with Sean. He’ll come crawling back someday. Mark my words, but it’ll be too late by then.”
“I’ll repeat my previous question. What the fuck do you have against Lidon Hayes?”
A heavy silence descended, and just when Sean thought no one was gonna answer, his father said, “His great-grandfather got my grandfather kicked out of his pack, the Bowie pack. They shunned him after that, and it cost him everything. All he did was have some fun with a Hayes omega who was in heat, showed him a good time. Since my grandfather hadn’t asked permission, Old Man Hayes got all righteous about it. He said it hadn’t been consensual, then demanded justice be done. The Bowie pack had no choice but to kick my grandfather out, and once they do that…it applies to his descendants as well. Lidon is as much a self-righteous Goody-Two-shoes as his great-grandfather and his grandfather. I can’t stand men like that.”
“So let me summarize this.” Smoker Guy’s words came out in a low pitch. “You’re upset because your grandfather got kicked out after raping an omega, and two generations later, you still blame his grandson for that.”
The cocking of a gun came at the same time as Sean leaped out of the office, straight into the bullpen, where he found Jack pulling a gun on the older cop. The look on Jack’s face promised little good, and Sean snarled. Jack froze, his eyes widening in horror as Sean trotted toward him, a low growl in the back of his throat. The gun clattered onto the floor. Behind him, the soft pads of paws told him his team had followed him. The three men stared at him with open mouth, all color drained from their faces.
Sean growled again. Jack sank to his knees, his lips moving, but no words were coming. Sean’s father stood as if nailed to the ground, shaking like a leaf, and a dark spot formed in his crotch.
It turned out that revenge smelled like urine.
31
They’d been in the camp for an hour, and Lucan wasn’t sure how much more he could take. The stories the omegas told were horrific, and when Maz had examined some of them, he’d gone pale and tight. Riordan had taken care of their wounds, disinfecting them and bandaging them properly. Lucan had found the bathroom the omega had mentioned, and had started hauling water. Twice he’d encountered a soldier, but they’d barely looked at him. Their eyes had been empty, their gaze unfocused, as if they’d been numbed down to the point where they didn’t care about anything anymore. Maybe they had to, to survive in a place like this.
He was on his ninth water run when his father and Enar walked toward him, Sven between the two of them with his