Page 82 of The Runaway
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Three days later, the rickety old wagon that the group of them were riding in pulled to a halt at the end of the Calvet’s laneway. Connor stirred fuzzily as Gabriel nudged his shoulder. “Connor? Time to wake up. We’re here.”
Connor opened his eyes, blinking against the late afternoon light. He sat up from where he was leaning against Gabriel, feeling his back protest from the rough ride. They’d made their way back here courtesy of a merchant wagon from Paris, in which they’d sat on sacks of flour and barrels of beer while a team of eight horses hauled the load, then there had been a farmer’s wagon that was fortuitously empty, the farmer having sold his wares at a rural market, and finally they’d hitched a ride from town on the back of this sheep wagon, crammed into the rear while six sheep bleated in a makeshift pen just behind the driver.
The five of them all piled out of the wagon, Adalene helping Niles as his ribs were still sore. Connor stumbled a little, his right leg having gone to sleep while he was napping, and Gabriel was there in an instant, catching his elbow and righting him again. They checked that they all had their belongings, then Gabriel headed up to the driver.
“Thank you again,” he said to the man, handing him an extra coin over and above the agreed price. “We’re very grateful.”
“Happy to help. Have a good evening,” the man said, then clicked his tongue and the horses trotted off again.
Lucas stared up the laneway towards the estate and groaned. “More walking? We’ve walked for miles already.” It was true – their ride had dropped them off a mile short of the town on the north side, they’d had to walk all the way across to the south side to find a lift going in the right direction.
“It’s less than a mile to the house,” Gabriel said, shouldering his bag. “We’ll be there before you know it.”
“Why couldn’t we have stayed in town and sent a messenger for Antoine to send the carriage?” Lucas continued to whine.
Connor replied before Gabriel could say a word. “Because that would have taken about three times as long to get home and the five of us wouldn’t fit in the carriage anyway, so you’d still end up clinging to the back like you did last time, because you’re not supposed to be here.”
Gabriel snorted out a laugh. Lucas opened his mouth to reply, failed to come up with any decent response, and resorted to sticking his tongue out at Connor instead.
Twenty minutes later, they were strolling through the farm gate, while a number of the betas waved to them. The omegas came rushing over to ask how the trip had gone, and Cirroc hurried away to alert Antoine to their arrived.
Ten minutes after that, Connor and Adalene found themselves in the bathhouse, having a well-earned wash. Meanwhile, the alphas had been hustled off into the house, no doubt to give a lengthy report to Antoine on everything that had happened since they’d left, Lucas’s impromptu decision to join them included.
For his part, Connor was glad to have some time to just calm down and take a breath. The rest of the omegas had been shooed away to let them clean up and have something to eat, leaving Adalene and Connor to talk between themselves. There had been plenty of discussion during the trip, and especially on the journey home, but they hadn’t yet had a chance to talk privately, without any of the alphas listening in.
“So that was unexpected,” Connor said, by way of a conversation opener. The water coming out of the pipes on the roof was pleasantly warm, and he scrubbed himself vigorously, eager to wash away over a week’s worth of grime and dust. They’d managed a few washes out of a cold bucket while they’d been away, but there was nothing like warm water and proper soap to make the task more pleasant.
“I can’t believe they let us go,” Adalene said, pouring water over her hair. “I can’t believe they letmego. I mean, Gabriel would give you almost anything you asked for, but I honestly didn’t think Antoine would agree.”
Connor didn’t bother contradicting her comment on Gabriel. He didn’t quite agree with her statement, but he didn’t want to get into a discussion about it. “Antoine’s in a difficult position,” he said. “He talks a big game and makes a show of being in charge, but underneath it all, he really feels the same way about omegas as Gabriel does – that we’re people, just like alphas or betas are, and he’s trying to walk a fine line between respecting us as human beings and maintaining the social order that everyone else expects of him.”
“He’s changed a lot since he bought Dante,” Adalene said. “Dante and I didn’t get along at first. I was jealous of him, I suppose, and that created a lot of tension. It’s better now, particularly since I became Niles’s personal omega, but Dante and I have never been particularly close. But I can see the effect he’s had on Antoine. And I think it’s been a good change.”
“Speaking of Niles,” Connor said, taking a seat on a stool to wash his feet, “how are things between the two of you? Things seemed a little awkward on the first day. He told you he’d pretty much given up on bonding with you, right?”
“Basically, yes,” Adalene said. She rinsed the soap out of her hair, then started scrubbing her hands and arms. Her hands in particular were filthy, and Connor was suddenly reminded of the first day he’d come here, scrubbing at his own hands while Dante stood nearby and helped him bathe. How things had changed in the months that had followed.
“But to be fair,” Adalene went on, “I’d reached the same conclusion. I just hadn’t had the courage to say it out loud. He’s still a wonderful man. And letting me go to Paris with him only proved that. So I think… I think we’re okay,” she said finally. However, to Connor’s keen ears, she sounded noticeably wistful about it all.
He thought about how best to respond, and after a moment’s consideration, decided to push just a little more. “But after so much build up, it must be kind of disappointing to have to let that side of things go. Even if you’re still his personal omega.”
Adalene sighed. She came and sat down next to him, neither of them the slightest bit concerned about their nudity. “It’s kind of strange. I am a bit disappointed. I really do love Niles, but he always treated me like I was too fragile, like I’d fall over in a strong wind. He always wanted to protect me from everything. But then he let me go to Paris. AndIended up defendinghim.” Adalene had eventually told the rest of them the details about that particular day, how she’d killed a soldier who had been threatening to kill them both. Lucas had been a little shocked, but Connor couldn’t really say he was all that surprised. He’d known for a while that there was more to Adalene than met the eye.
“But the thing was… Niles was totally okay with that. He didn’t try to bluster his way through it and say he could have looked after himself. He leaned on me to walk back to the hotel, and he let Gabriel treat him without trying to be all tough about it. He’s not at all arrogant or proud. And I realise now that he wasn’t trying to take care of me because he thought I couldn’t do it myself. He was just trying to show that he cares about me.” She looked up at Connor and smiled sadly. “I suppose some things just aren’t meant to be.”
Connor gazed back at her, at the vivid, golden colour in her eyes, and a slow smile spread across his face. “Do you think he still loves you?” he asked, as casually as he could manage.
The golden glow in Adalene’s eyes got stronger. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s embarrassed about being rescued by an omega. Maybe he thinks I don’t want him or need him anymore. He hasn’t said anything about it since we left Paris, and I… Are you laughing at me?” she asked suddenly, scowling at Connor’s attempts to suppress his own laughter.
“Yes, but not for the reasons you think.” He stood up and tugged her towards the mirror hanging on the wall. It was dim and dirty, but it served well enough for the small amount of grooming that omegas did. “Look at yourself in the mirror and tell me what you see.”
Adalene looked. And as she did so, her eyes got wider, making the golden colour of her irises even more pronounced. It was the signature mark of a bonded omega – or a bonded alpha, for that matter. During times of heightened emotions, or if their partner was threatened in any way, a bonded omega would ‘flare’, a clear visual signal to anyone nearby of the deep emotional connection between the pair – and very often, also a warning, as either one of the bonded pair could be prone to outbursts of violence in defence of their partner.
Adalene stared at her own reflection… and stared… and stared.
“We’ve bonded,” she said, not seeming to understand her own declaration. She turned to Connor, a confused look on her face. “Why have we bonded?”