Chapter 5: Theodore - Marked By Love

Someone had chased him out of the grocery store. He’d heard them call for him to wait, but he ran without looking back. Hopping in his sedan, he sped away, pretending he’d been oblivious to what was happening.

And of course he’d dropped his darned alpha birth control. He kept it on him because of the dose schedule, but he was careful to keep it hidden. If anyone asked him where he’d gotten it or spent a minuscule amount of brain capacity thinking about it, he’d be in big trouble. Technically, the case of pills he had was stolen. And then there would be follow-up questions about why he was taking it.

Hurrying to park his car at the cabin, he paused to double-check his hip bag was zipped properly before running inside. He didn’t need any more mishaps. Storing his groceries, he rushed to his pile of bags in the bedroom. Theodore hadn’t bothered unpacking. What was the point when he’d just have to up and leave again in a few months? He found the stash of pills in a side pocket of his duffle.

Crap.

There were only two blister packs left.

He’d have to leave town and knock over a pharmacy at some point. Maybe he’d ditch Elk Cove earlier than anticipated in the process. Theodore didn’t think he wanted to stay in a place where it was considered ‘normal’ to be chased through a grocery store.

His phone alarm went off. He was supposed to be back at the clinic by now, but still hadn’t eaten anything. It had been a few days now, yet he didn’t feel hungry. Not a good sign. His phone buzzed again with a text from Margarette. The next appointment had arrived early and was now being checked in by the vet tech.

Crap!

Running from the cabin, he went through the employee entrance of the clinic in the back.

“Sorry!” he said to Margarette.

“Not a problem.” She waved him off. “Everyone needs groceries, and our store typically closes before the clinic. You know, now that I think about it, after Dr. Granton became a widower, he had them bag up his orders for him most weeks and deliver the food to the cabin. I’m sure they’d be happy to do the same for you.”

“Thank you, Margarette, for everything.”

In addition to rearranging the appointments so Theodore had time to get food before his Sunday off, she’d given him an advance on his check.

“Nonsense! Like I said, everyone needs groceries. Did you find everything you needed? I know our store is a bit small; sometimes the new arrivals aren’t too impressed with it.”

“The last place I was in was smaller than Elk Cove, I’ll manage just fine.” He smiled.

In truth, Theodore found no tofu and zero-dairy alternatives, but he was used to it by now. After all, most people in these dinky towns would be meat eaters and/or hunters who need the occasional supplemental meat—it was impractical for grocery stores to stock items no one would purchase.

He’d learned to make do with beans and veggies. As he discovered, the Elk Cove grocery had impeccable produce, so he couldn’t complain. He’d also found some dark chocolate-covered berries and mint chocolate truffles which he was over the moon about. Darker the chocolate, the less likely it was to have dairy. As a default, it was his favorite sweet treat.

“Hey, Doc.” The vet tech, Gerald, came out from the exam room with a tablet. “Your one o’clock is a schnauzer, clean history, still a puppy, but he’s been sneezing. Got a giant booger on me while I was weighing him.”

Theodore took the tablet and went into the exam room. He was greeted by an excitable dog, a young omega, and a late teen to early twenties alpha. “Good afternoon, I’m Dr. Abbott, but you can just call me Doc.”

The omega introduced himself as Dean and the alpha as his older brother, Matt.

“And this is Mr. Harrison.” Dean held up the dog who sneezed on cue.

“Hello, Mr. Harrison. Why don’t you tell me what’s been concerning you, Dean?”

Theodore went back and forth with Dean about the dog’s behavior and general health. It was hard to concentrate and remain professional because all the while Theodore was talking to Dean, his brother, Matt, continuously interrupted.

He was being obnoxiously obvious, flexing his muscles as he boasted about his training to be an enforcer. Matt was also not so subtly sniffing the room; most likely so he could see if the newest omega in town was his mate.

Theodore scowled. Matt smiled at him, oblivious that the bullcrap he was laying on had no positive effect on Theodore. It only stunk to high heaven. Theodore wondered if he puked on the alpha’s shirt, if that would wipe the sex-charged smirk from his face.

Sometimes Theodore despised alphas. Not for the first time, he thought if he was given a fated mate and they behaved like that, he’d happily drive himself off a bridge.

Hours later, Theodore, Margarette, and Gerald reviewed lab results and upcoming appointments. Margarette showed them both how to use the new system to send text updates to the clients from the computer, something she was very impressed with and proud to have invested in for the clinic. Meanwhile, Theodore clanked a peppermint against his teeth and surreptitiously glanced out the window.

There had been a blue SUV parked outside all afternoon. Odd, but there were other businesses along the same road as the clinic … It didn’t necessarily mean he had found Theodore. And yet he couldn’t swallow the bubble of fear rising in his throat.

The last run-in he had with his goons, Theodore had been cornered in an alley blocked off by a fence. He’d shot one goon and jumped the fence, but not before sustaining a bloodied nose and broken ribs.

Coming back to the present, Theodore listened to Margarette and Gerald explain all day Saturday had been blocked off for spays and neuters.

“The cat colony,” Gerald said. “There’s a group of us omegas trying to get them all trapped, neutered, and released. Well, the ones who aren’t feral are typically picked up to go home with someone.”

“How big is the colony?” Theodore asked.

“Not sure, to be honest. But we’re doing what we can. As much as I love cats, they can be a big problem for local wildlife if left to roam. And there are some birds in the area that are already endangered so …”

“So, we gotta get as many off the streets as possible and prevent more litters,” Theodore finished. “Alright, I’ll bring my gross shoes tomorrow.”

It was late by the time Theodore left the clinic and even later when he finally got his squash into the oven. He grumbled about the stupidity of having a fully functional gas range and oven but wood-burning stoves for heat. Perhaps the previous inhabitants were some sort of masochists? He hoped his choice of roasting squash for an hour to make soup with would help warm the cabin. To his dismay, it didn’t work as well as he’d hoped.

Teeth chattering, he boiled a small pot of water on the stove for a sponge bath. He’d discovered the hard way that in addition to not having central heat, the cabin also didn’t have hot water. He’d almost cried during that first shower for how miserable it was.

With himself washed, or rather washed as well as he could with a pot of water, he went into the bedroom. Digging through his duffle bags, he found an oversized cardigan that he placed atop his turtleneck. Looking up, he froze. The SUV was still parked outside the clinic.

That couldn’t be right. Margarette had gone home, so had Gerald. There were no businesses on this street that were open this time of night, and the closest residence was two blocks away.

Being chased from the grocery store and having a car parked outside all day couldn’t be a coincidence.

Going to his backpack, he retrieved his pistol. A .38 caliber was the most common for omegas because they were smaller and easier for their petite hands to maneuver.

After fastening his hip bag on, he set the .38 inside. Holsters were obvious; hip bags were nerdy and unassuming, just like omegas were supposed to be.

In some settlements, omegas were encouraged to learn firearm safety. It was easier to fend off traffickers when you were small and weak if you had some type of advantage. In other settlements, well, let’s just say they were kept like chattel until the alphas decided to cart them off to breeding centers or brothels.

Theodore hated feeling paranoid, hated feeling unsafe. But he had to admit that knowing what he knew, and seeing what he’d seen, running from what was chasing him, being strapped made him feel a heck of a lot better.

He sat on the sofa with his bowl of squash soup, willing his appetite to kick in. When it was apparent that wasn’t going to happen, he forced himself to eat as much as he could.

His stomach cramped. With a sharp gasp and a groan, he doubled over, clutching his abdomen. Rushing to the kitchen sink, he emptied the pitiful contents of his stomach. After that, he gave up on eating and put the food away.

Turning off the lights, Theodore walked to the bedroom window. Standing in the pitch of the cabin, he stared out.

A scattering of starlight fought its way through the mass of thick gray clouds ahead, painting the pockets of deciduous and fir trees in a faint silver glow. The grass glistened, almost as if it were sculpted from crystal instead of living, breathing matter. In the not-so-distant road, the same car sat in the same spot.

Narrowing his eyes, Theodore was careful to keep himself in shadow as he watched it.

Something shuffled along the side of the car. His eyes snapped to the movement. A moment later, a naked man appeared. He was tall and muscular—an alpha. His skin was pale, the kind that would turn golden in the summer. His hair fell in wavy caramel-blonde locks to his shoulders.

It couldn’t be … wasn’t that the alpha from the Town Hall?

He dropped to all fours then became a wolf. It shook out its great ruff of thick, sandy-colored fur.

When the shifter disappeared into the trees, Theodore ambled back to the sofa. He sat wrapped in the blankets and quilts he left piled on the sofa.

The living room had more escape routes than the bedroom. That and he’d already arranged everything into the perfect nest for him to burrow into. Mentally, he readied himself for another sleepless night, alone, watching the front door.

Logically, Theodore knew he couldn’t keep this up. He didn’t sleep much anymore. It was a combination of his anxiety and taking the alpha birth control for too long. All of it compounded into bigger issues the longer he took the meds and upped his doses. At this point, the only thing keeping him upright was his occasional absent snacking on dark chocolates. If he didn’t change something, his body was going to shut down. As his symptoms worsened, he worried that day was going to be sooner rather than later.

Saturday morning revealed the SUV hadn’t moved. However, no one had approached the cabin last night. Theodore wasn’t sure if that was a fluke or if the wolf shifter was simply there to confirm Theodore was the one inside. He would observe and report back to him, then when it was confirmed, the whole lot of them would show up in Elk Cove. After kicking down Theodore’s door, they’d kill him, or worse.

Theodore’s only hope was that he would be satisfied hurting only Theodore and leave everyone else alone, and that he wouldn’t find what was hidden in his chocolate tin. If that survived, if the investigation into the meek veterinarian’s death led to the right people finding it, it would be worth it. Who the ‘right people’ were to discover it, Theodore had no idea. If he did, he’d drive to their doorstep this instant.

He’d been hoping one of the head alphas in these backwoods towns would prove trustworthy. Thus far his instincts had begged him to avoid them all. Heck, one of the last ones he’d met was a shareholder in a ‘legal’ breeding clinic. He couldn’t trust any of them, so he continued to run.

Like every day, Theodore strapped on his hip bag before work; unlike the days prior, he stowed his .38 inside. If they really were coming for him, he wasn’t going to go easily, and he wasn’t about to let them hurt anyone else.