“Quick,” Ian snapped two of his fingers at the omegas. “Get me some duct tape. You do have some, don't you?”

An omega with astonishingly neat ginger-red hair nodded promptly and moved away from his brothers, disappearing into another room.

Ian grunted as he dumped the Alpha on the bed and stretched him out. The omega returned with a roll of duct tape. “Here you go, Sir.”

Taping the man's hands and feet to the frame would have to work.

Depending on how angry he would be when he woke later, it would take just a snap of his hands and feet to get free. It would buy them enough time to get to the bottom of the mountain.

Ian got down to it, taping Barry's wrists firmly to the bed posts. When he was done, he inspected his handiwork in satisfaction before shutting the bedroom door. He looked up, meeting the gazes of the omegas who hadn't moved from their cluttered mass in the corner of the room. This situation was completely out of this world. Too tragic. How on earth did it come down to this? Who was responsible?

He needed to find answers, but that would come later. Right now, his top priority was to get the omegas off the mountain immediately. He whipped out his phone, and to his surprise and anger, the battery was dead. He'd also forgotten to bring his power bank with him.

Shit.

How on earth did people enjoy living off the grid? It would never make sense to him, no matter how hard he tried to understand it.

“Alright,” he said, looking at the knot of omegas in the far corner. “Everyone, out! We're leaving now. Come on, out, out, out!”

They stood, glued in fright for a split second, and Ian thought he'd have to carry them. But they soon began moving, doing as he ordered them to.

He stepped out on the porch and fished out his keys to the Porsche. “I'm not sure we'll all be able to fit into my car comfortably, but we'll be alright. Safety first.”

“What about Kai?”

Ian's brows knotted together in a frown, his gaze sweeping over the omegas. He did a headcount.

Damn, it was true. Kai wasn't among them. “Where is he? I saw him in there a minute ago.”

The omegas exchanged looks amongst themselves, none of them bold enough to talk, until the ginger-red-haired one that'd brought the duct tape spoke up. “He, um...ran away, Sir.”

“What? He ran? Where the hell did he run to?” Ian asked, running a hand through his hair. He seriously didn't need this aggravation now. Barry could wake up any time now.

“I don't know for sure, but lately he's been strolling down the deer path. I think he must have taken it.” The omega pointed in the direction of the woodline.

Ian exhaled, pursing his lips. Great. Just great. “What's your name?”

“Ronan, Sir.”

“Ronan,” Ian nodded, holding out the keys to the Porsche. “Have you ever driven a car before?”

Tentatively, Ronan reached out to take them, his face breaking into a sheepish smile. “I'm not perfect, but I drive moderately well. Sometimes Milo would let me drive us to town.”

Fantastic, Ian thought. So he knew the way. “Get your brothers in the Porsche now, Ronan, and get off the mountain. There's a little supermarket at the city limit to the south. Preston's Shack, do you know it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then get moving.” Ian pulled his phone and held it out to him. “You can power it with my car. When you get reception, call the number for an Alpha named Pharrell. He might mess with you for a moment, but don't pay him too much mind. Tell him who you are, and what has happened. Follow his instructions.”

Ronan looked at the keys and the phone, and rocked back on his heels. There was a reluctance, as if he was undecided.

Ian didn't understand what his problem was, and time wasn't working on their favour. The longer he stood there, and tried to politely cajole them to cooperate, the more time he lost to catch up to Kai.

Even if he could find the omega in this downpour.

“Move. Go!” he barked. Rona jerked in fright, eyes wide, but it shook him into action. He jumped off the porch and climbed the wheel. A dark-haired omega, who looked older than the rest began pushing the rest of his mates towards the vehicle.

Ian wasted no time in shifting to his wolf form. He broke into a heated run in the direction Ronan had pointed out to him. He was at a complete disadvantage, coursing through a territory he was unfamiliar with. His only hope was that Kai was running away from fear, and that would slow him down.

Without his phone, Ian had only a vague idea of where he was and where he was heading to. His instincts were to simply go down the mountain. He knew he was heading in the same general direction he came from when he drove up and that would be good enough.

Now the rain was coming down in furious sheets of water. There was precious little he could do about that other than move forward. He had to find Kai no matter what.

Ian understood and appreciated what Kai was doing. Or trying to do. Running in the rain would normally throw a hunter off, especially given time as the rain would wash away the evidence. He considered it a good stroke of luck that Kai didn't have the head start Ian initially thought he had.

Running in panic was causing Kai to make significant mistakes, making it easy for Ian to pick up his trail.

He rounded a turn, and lost the signs of Kai thrashing through. Sliding to a stop, he turned in a circle, sniffling. Had Kai ran into the woods? If that was the case, Ian would have a difficult time following. The woods was so dense and wide that too much time would be lost trying to find out which way Kai had gone through.

He retraced his steps back to where he last saw the omega's footprints, drenched to the bone by the heavy rain now. He squinted at a nearby rock, and leapt on it, gaining a new vantage point. Snapping branches caught his attention and he crept to the edge steadily to see the omega sliding down the sloping ravine.

Ian huffed out a sigh of relief. He leapt down and patrolled along the edge to see if there was an easy way down to help. There wasn't. It was a lost cause. Too dangerous. The next, better option was to find something to pull Kai up with.

He shifted to his wolf form to search for vines, or thick roots. He found a long branch at last which he could extend down.

The sound of a hand slapping water, accompanied by deep grunts caught his attention and he realized that Kai had almost made it up to the top. He bit back a smile. What a persistent omega. 

The Blue Moon Pack may yet find value for these omegas after all.