Page 61 of Hangman's Knot

That's all the information they were going to get? Apparently so. The general takes a sip of his tea, dismissing them.

The weekend's job, it turned out, was the three of them joining the general and his pack while they raided a shady looking warehouse further down the river.

It's easy work killing the piece of shit alpha and beta males patrolling the perimeter with sawed off firearms.

It's not easy work when they make it inside the building.

Omegas and beta females of all ages are kept in cages. There are at least fifty of them. The stench of vomit, piss, shit, and sweat permeated the place. The girl closest to them takes one look at them and vomits, the scent of her fear reaching him even over the rest of the miasma.

"You're okay," the general's packmate is murmuring as he crouches in front of her, his voice low and soothing, a purr rattling around in his chest. It's immediately clear to Julius that this isn't the first time they've done this. "My name is Ihsan. I'm a doctor. Are you hurt?"

He'd only been introduced to Dr. DuBois briefly before they'd piled into the SUV on the drive here. He was a massive man with a square jaw and buzzed hair, just like the general. However, where the general had a tanned complexion with silvery hair, this man had dark skin and eyes, his hair salt and pepper.

The other alpha in their pack was a face Julius was familiar with, Admiral Harrison Keith, a name who had made itself known for wreaking havoc on the south Atlantic pirating trade. While the rest of them set to work freeing the girls and triaging them for the doctor, the admiral held back, surveying the warehouse before stepping out, presumably to do another round and call in first responders.

"Ma'am," Julius murmurs, maintaining the purr he's been rumbling out since he first stepped into this place as he stops in front of the next cage. "My name is Julius. I'm not going to hurt you. Are you hurt?"

The girl in front of him has golden skin, rich brown hair, and honey brown eyes. She's naked except for the black bralette and panties she's wearing, and he swiftly raises his gaze, training it on her face. She sniffs at him, but when he opens the door to her kennel and reaches out a hand to help her out, she flinches back.

"Hey," he soothes, his voice taking on the calming quality he used whenever Eden woke up from a nightmare. "I'm not going to hurt you," he says again and crouches down like he'd seen Dr. DuBois do, trying to make himself less threatening. "You're okay. You come out when you're ready, okay?"

After a minute, the girl creeps towards him and he offers her a hand up. She tentatively takes it. Her hand feels ice cold in his, her hand skeletal, as if she'd been starving for a long time.

"There's a doctor here, are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?" He leads her over to where they had set up a pile of warm blankets and water bottles, awaiting the medics showing up and anticipating shock from the females.

She shakes her head quickly but wraps the warm blanket around her when he offers it.

"Okay," he soothes. "First response will be here soon, okay? They're going to take you to a safe place where there won't be any alphas or males, so you'll be safe–"

He's cut off when she panics at his words, tearing the blanket off her and backing away quickly, shaking her head firmly.

"O-okay," Julius says, not sure what the problem was and way out of his depth dealing with this traumatized omega. Eden was different. Soothing her had come as naturally as breathing. "That's okay, uh– let me find someone else to help you, okay?"

But she wasn't listening, her eyes darting around the room, taking in the other alphas busy with the other girls still in cages, then darting to the still-open door.

Their behaviour had attracted the attention of the general. Julius had never seen the man's eyes so soft, nor seen the massive man go to any efforts to make himself look smaller or less dangerous. But that's what he saw as he approached this scared waif.

"Are you hurt, omega?" Cillian's voice was a low, deep rumble that commanded attention. It had been a good trait for a man of his status who commanded so many powerful alphas, but now it seemed to snap the girl's spine straight in a way that looked painful.

She bites her lip and shakes her head again.

"Can you speak?" He sounded concerned.

The girl pauses for a minute. "Yes," she says finally, her voice raspy.

"Did Julius do anything to upset you?"

Indignation rose in his stomach but he trampled it down. Of course he hadn't offended the little skeletor! Every instinct in him commanded that he crouch down and purr for her like a scrawny baby bunny that fell out of its nest.

"No," she says. "He said... we had to go someplace... I don't want to go anywhere. Can I just leave? I-I want to go home."

Cillian's brows furrow. "You need medical attention, omega. You're not well. They paramedics are going to take you somewhere safe–"

"No!" Her answer cuts him off and Julius feels his stomach clench at the way she cut the general off like that. He wouldn't have fucking dared, and he was an alpha who had worked directly under him for years as part of his elite tactical team.

But rather than reprimanding her for insubordination, he watches Cillian reassess for a moment. Julius could see the man considering just tranquilizing her and being done with it. But then he pauses, and the words coming out of his mouth make Julius slant a side eye at him for an entirely different reason. "My pack mate is a doctor. He can provide you medical care at our home. Would you be amenable to that?"

There was no goddamn way that would fly under any of the regulations, and there was no way the traumatized omega was going to agree to that. But–

"Yes," she says quickly, nodding her head.

The general grunts. "Good. DuBois," he raises his voice slightly to call over the doctor and the girl flinches back. The darker skinned male in Cillian's pack looks up from where he's bandaging up another girl's arm. He ties the bandage off then stands quickly and joins them, his gaze taking in the girl from head to toe in a clearly practiced medical assessment.

"This girl– sorry, what did you say your name was?" Cillian looks over at her and Julius wants to snap at him to be patient with the waif but bites it back.

"Bee," she says in that raspy voice.

"Bee will be coming to stay with us. Take care of her, will you?"

With that, Cillian walks away from them, leaving Julius to watch the waif eyeing up the doctor warily. What a goddamn mess.