Chapter Fourteen
Tristan wasn’t the only one who made a run for it at the gas station. He stuck with the other two for the first hour as they orientated themselves to where they were. The others were headed in the same direction, north. Tristan was headed south. The circus kept to a circuit, and during winter that meant moving south to keep warm. There were three towns they were most likely to be near, all clustered together. All he needed to do was get there.
He wound up circling back around to the gas station, hitching a ride south with an older man on his way home from a convention. He wasn’t the chattiest of companions, but Tristan was just happy to be warm and headed in the right direction. When they reached as far south as convention guy was going, he handed Tristan twenty bucks and dropped him off at a bus station. He was able to get a ticket to a city near where he needed to get to. The bus journey took half a day, and he was starving long before he got there, but every mile was a mile closer to family. Closer to home.
The bus depot he got off at had free internet kiosks so he was able to look up their circus and find out where they were performing. He felt a heavy sense of relief when he saw a performance scheduled for that night in a town only a few hours south. Finding someone headed in that direction was going to be tricky, but he scrounged up some cardboard and made himself a sign, going out onto the southbound road and waiting. There was no snow, but it was cold and raining. It didn’t take long for someone to take pity on him, a middle-aged woman stopping her car and rolling down the window to peer at him. There was a bulldog in the passenger seat next to her, sniffing him quizzically. Dogs could be funny around shifters sometimes.
“You can have a ride,” she said. “But you’d better behave, or Buster here will chow down on you. Won’t make much of a meal either, you’re just skin and bones.”
He opened the door to the back seat and hopped inside.
“Thank you for stopping,” he said. “I’m just trying to get home.”
Buster had stuck his face between the window and the headrest, his tongue hanging out.
“Hi, Buster,” he said. “I’m Tristan.”
“Tristan, huh?” the woman said. “I’m Betty.”
Betty and Buster. They didn’t seem dangerous. Well, except Buster’s teeth though he was pretty sure his tiger form could best a dog. Of course, he’d never had to test that out.
“You from the area?” she asked.
“I have family there,” he said, keeping it vague. People weren’t always that friendly toward circus folk. There was a suspicion that they’d walk off with anything not nailed down. Of course, some circuses had earned that reputation. Not theirs, though. Not since his uncle had left. They wanted to be known for their talent, not thievery.
She dropped him off in the middle of town.
“You sure I can’t get you closer? Buster won’t mind.”
“No, I can find it from here. Thanks though, for all your kindness.” Kindness that had included half a sandwich and an apple she’d had in her bag which he’d wolfed down gratefully.
“You’re about my son’s age,” she said. “He’s off at college. But he’ll be back for the holidays. You take care now. Get inside quickly. There’s a storm on the way.”
“I will. Thanks again, Betty.”
He got out, waved her off, then started the walk out of town. They were at their normal campground so it would take him an hour to get there. And it would be dark by the time he got there, the night’s performance in full swing.
As he walked, he saw some familiar faces and got a few waves and shouted greetings. The further he got from town the quieter the road grew. And then, in the distance, he heard the familiar roar of the crowd. He was nearly home. There was an almost overwhelming urge to shift and race the rest of the way but the rules they kept were strict. One too many calls to animal control and the police about loose animals and they lost their permit to perform. He wouldn’t risk the circus’ livelihood to shave a few minutes off his journey.
It was dusk when he finally caught sight of the lights. He just stopped and stared for a moment, breathing in the familiar, welcoming sight.
He started walking again, picking out individual details as he did. The gated entrance with the string of lights above it. The taller spotlights near the main tent and the smaller ones dotted around the campsite. Closer, he could see more, could make out the people milling about, the greeters at the entrance. Vaulting the fence, he kept away from the crowd. They weren’t who he wanted to see.
The act must have been at its peak, the noise of the crowd loud. He skirted around behind the main tent toward the performer's tent. That would be where he found his father and his sisters. He peeked inside, seeing a few familiar faces, before sticking his hands in his pockets and strolling in.
“Evening, Jerry,” he said to one of the performers who was reading a magazine. “Are Katie and Jess almost finished their set?”
“Any second now,” Jerry said, not glancing up from his magazine.
The opposite end of the tent was connected to the main tent, which was usually where the performers exited from. He grew a little anxious as he waited, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Good crowd tonight,” he said, just to have something to say.
“Yeah, new act’s drawing the punters right in,” Jerry replied, looking up at him. It was then he clocked who he was talking to, his eyes going wide. “Holy hell.”
At that moment, the other entrance burst open, Katie coming through. She froze when she caught sight of him.
“Hey, sis,” he offered, giving her a wave.
“Tris?” she said, her voice hushed. “You… you came back.”
She crossed the tent toward him and then they were hugging.
“I didn’t think we’d see you again. What happened? You didn’t bond with him, did you?” Her fingers felt across the nape of his neck. He jerked back out of reach. “What are you talking about? Bond with who?”
“That alpha you ran away to be with, of course. The handsome one, with the dimple, from that little town outside of Cherry Grove.”
He stared at her, lost.
“I didn’t run away, Katie. There was no alpha. Why would you think that? You’re my family. This is my home.”
She shrugged a little helplessly, a bemused smile on her face.
“You’re an omega. You guys do funny things where alphas are concerned.”
“So, you haven’t been looking for me? I get abducted right under your noses and you just write me off?”
“Abducted?” She actually laughed as she said it. “Don’t be silly. Who’d abduct you?”
“He sold me to breeders,” he continued, his voice small. “I’ve been locked in one of their houses for three months, waiting to be—”
He cut himself off and glanced away.
“But that makes no sense,” she said. “They’d never dare take one of us. And you packed up all your stuff and took it with you.”
He stared at her, incredulous.
“How could I have packed my stuff? He grabbed me on my way home that night, bundled me into a van, and drove me away. I didn’t pack for my abduction, Katie.”
Anger warred with confusion, hurt, and the urge to burst into messy tears. He took a deep breath, trying to hold them back, but he was struggling to keep a lid on his composure.
“Oh, Tristan,” she said, wrapping her arms back around him. “You’re home now and safe. That’s what matters.”
He returned her hug, but he didn’t understand. Why hadn’t they looked for him? Who had convinced them he’d run away?
“Dad and Jess are going to be so happy to see you,” she murmured.
“It’s good to be home,” he croaked. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see any of you again. Some of those omegas had been there years, Katie. Forced to have baby after baby…” He choked up again, burying his face against her neck.
“Shh,” she murmured. “I’m here, you’re home. Everything’s going to be okay now.”