Maddy stepped out of the apartment complex manager's office with a sigh of relief. The man had raised a bit of a fuss about the condition of her mother's quarters, but Maddy had simply shook her head and told him to bill the dead woman for it. There was no way the slimeball was going to get one penny from her, and he should really be thanking her for taking care of all the garbage.
As she walked leisurely away from the building, a wave of warmth swelled over her chest and shoulders. She was well versed in the sensation, having experienced this particular cycle twice a year for the last nine years. In another three days she would be incapable of rational thought, robbed of the ability by the base urges and instincts of her heat. Knowing that she had time before her flight and craving more pancakes and bacon, Maddy walked down to the corner diner and slipped into the same booth she'd occupied the day before.
Shucking her jacket as another wave of warmth ran up her legs to the small of her back, she shoved it into the corner and tossed her purse on top. She had enough time for breakfast and then she would have to hurry back to the hotel in order to gather her luggage and check out. The smell of bacon in the air had her mouth watering and she whined low in her throat before Helen, the waitress from the day before, arrived to take her order.
"Getting ready to leave, Honey?"
"Yes, ma'am," Maddy nodded. "Flight's in a few hours. I just needed some more of those amazing pancakes and bacon before I took off for Canada."
"You want extra bacon?"
"Yes, please! And can I have a double stack of pancakes?"
Helen made a note on her pad as she nodded. "Do all Omegas eat this much?"
"Well," Maddy doctored the coffee Helen had brought with cream and sugar as she spoke. "I've never known another one close to heat that didn't clean every plate put in front of them."
Helen chuckled and went to put in her order.
Maddy ate quickly, her stomach a cavernous pit now that the distraction of her mother's apartment had been removed. There just didn't seem to be enough food to satisfy her on days leading up to her biannual heat, and she was glad it only happened twice a year. Any more than that, and she would have to visit the gym with a lot more regularity and rigor.
When the timer on her phone beeped, she snatched her purse and hurriedly paid for her food before ordering an Uber to arrive at her hotel as soon as possible. She really needed to make it to the sanctuary before her body went completely haywire.
Besides, Sheltering Pines always had the best food.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"Have a good day! I love you!" Angie dropped the kids off at school a few minutes before the first bell rang, laughing as the twins trundled out of the car and went sprinting toward their waiting classmates with careless waves thrown over their shoulders.
On a whim, she drove the couple dozen blocks over to the area where she had been the day before. If the woman Baron had smelled was still in the area, it was possible that she had gone for a morning walk the day before and would do so again. Pulling into a space at the park, Angie began walking the blocks back and forth, keeping focused on the sights and smells that accompanied the bustling streets.
Reaching the corner on which they had lost the trail the day before, Angie sighed. There was no trace of her friend's destined mate along any of the routes she had followed. Pulling her hair up into a messy knot and securing it with an elastic band, she nearly broke her neck when someone stepped out of the diner next to her. The fragrance coming from the place smelled strongly of the other women and Angie nearly ripped the door off its hinges getting into the building as fast as possible.
Looking around, she saw . . . no one. The only occupant of the room was an older waitress behind the counter chewing gum while she filled sugar shakers. The scent was too strong to not be connected to something in the restaurant, so Angie took a chance and stepped up to the counter.
"What can I get you, Darlin'?" The waitress had her pen and pad at the ready, paying more attention to the little green papers than the woman in front of her.
"Um, actually, I'm here to pick something up for my friend." Angie took a risk, hoping she was right. "She was in a bit ago and left her coat."
Nodding, the redhead reached under the counter and pulled out a paper bag. "Had to put it in here to try to dampen the scent a bit. Pretty sure a few of the men who came in before work ended up calling off so they could go home and take care of themselves."
"Yeah, she was pushing it a bit." Angie couldn't believe her luck, and tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke. "Sorry about that."
"Oh, it's no problem. Poor, tiny little thing was just the nicest girl, and I was sorry to hear about her mother's passing." She shrugged and began pouring herself a coffee. "You want one for the road?"
Angie nodded and accepted the cup of steaming liquid as she digested what she had just heard. "I should get this back to her."
"Well, I hope you are able to get it to her before her plane takes off. She didn't tell me what time it left, but she scooted out of here in a hurry."
"She probably left all her packing for the last minute. I'll most likely beat her to the hotel lobby. I'm supposed to give her a ride in half an hour anyway."
The waitress sort of shook her head. "Well, it just goes to show you how different our generations are, I suppose."
"What does?" Angie shifted nervously, wanting desperately to get back to her car so she could call her husband with what she'd discovered.
"Well, if I were an Omega heading off to some exclusive, hoity-toity, Canadian island sanctuary for my cycle time, I'd hire a driver and a private plane."
Angie wasn't sure how she ended the conversation. She was honestly a bit numb after such a huge bombshell landed at her feet. Baron's mate was not only out of the state by now, but out of the country. And she was an Omega.
In heat.
At a sanctuary he could not enter.
And they still had no name.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Baron slammed through his weight session at the hotel gym, his shoulders and back aching with the effort. He had always been aggressive, dominating with his size and the chilling stare he had perfected in his youth, but the last two days had been more filled with barely concealed snarls and growls than usual. Even those to whom he was closest were giving the large Alpha a wide berth.
His phone rang as he was walking to the elevator, Corey's picture smiling back at him before he accepted the call. "Find anything?"
"Hello to you, too." Corey's smirk could be heard from across an ocean. "Man, Angie found a few things out for you."
Angie's voice greeted him next before she went into her explanation, leaving out the fact that she was currently holding the other woman's coat folded neatly and sealed inside an airtight storage bag. She started with parking and walking the neighborhood before detailing the diner and the waitress there, telling him that she'd struck up a conversation about the scent while waiting for coffee. Baron listened to everything she had to say as he made it to his room and locked the door behind him.
"So, you're telling me we still have nothing?" Sinking down on the corner of the bed, he let his large frame flop back across the mattress.
"Well," Corey rejoined the conversation. "Not exactly nothing."
Angie was quick to agree. "The waitress called it hoity-toity, and said it was on an island, so I've been researching all morning."
"Yeah?" Baron sat up and nodded at Sami Zayn as the other man entered the room and crossed to the bathroom as quietly as possible. "Find anything?"
"There's only one sanctuary that caters exclusively to Omegas in the entirety of Canada. It's on a small island off the coast of Nunavut. I emailed you a few links."
Grabbing his tablet, Baron thanked his two friends for their help and hung up just as his email refreshed. Calling the place exclusive was like saying that Fort Knox secure. You really had no idea what was involved until you saw pictures.
The sanctuary wasn't on the island so much it was the island. A twenty foot wall surrounded the entirety of the land, leaving only two small docks and walkways at the front and back unprotected. Visitors had to travel through three gates before gaining access to the facility. The lodge looked massive from the aerial shots, with lots of chimneys and balconies, and was situated in the exact middle of the land.
All Omegas welcome, read the website. As each individual is unique, the staff here at Sheltering Pines will have accommodations ready for each guest ready for a week before their expected arrival.
The photographs following this statement all depicted warmly lit rooms with comfortable beds and large televisions.
The indoor pool is kept a bit cooler than normal to allow for maximum soothing of overheated skin. While formal meals are set out at specific times, there is always a buffet for those in need. Pictures of pool enclosed in a room made entirely of glass were followed by shots of a dining room and tastefully laid buffets.
Manned entirely by Betas, there is no reason to worry about personal safety while at Sheltering Pines. The walls are patrolled constantly by highly trained individuals with the full backing of the Canadian government, the United Nations, Amnesty International, International Omegas Rights Coalition, and the Center For Free Omegas. Anyone who attempts to enter the island without legal authority is subject to bodily harm and arrest.
There were no pictures to accompany the last paragraph, but Baron had no doubt that the security in such a place would be top notch. This left him torn, as he was ready to fly to Canada and rip the place apart brick by brick until he found the woman whose scent still lingered in his brain. However, he was simultaneously gladdened by the presence of a group of armed individuals who were ready and willing to take down anyone who posed a threat to his destined mate.
It wasn't until he was alone in the shower, washing the sweat from his body before meeting everyone else in the lobby to head to the arena, that he remembered some of the rumors he had heard about Beta sanctuaries. About the devices made exclusively to aid an individual in heat. Was his future mate even now sliding a toy between her legs and sighing as the knot at the bottom engaged and brought her the relief that he should be?
With a slight snarl at the thought, he braced one hand on the tiled wall and brought the other down to take care of the massive problem that had developed just thinking about it.