There was another round of affirmations from the council members. Since the weather had started warming, pack runs had been instituted sporadically and not everyone could be involved, given the safety issues. Maybe they were being overly optimistic, but if the thinkers in the pack were okay with it, he was not one to second guess it. He fleetingly thought of Loki shifting for the first time since being bred. He knew it wasn’t an issue, and still he worried. Well, he would simply have to stick to the omega’s side the way he had in the past.
He really needed to stop looking for trouble when there was none. As the meeting broke up and they all headed out of the room with a renewed sense of purpose, Bard reminded himself that he had only one thing to worry about—getting Loki to fall in love with him.
Chapter Seven
“I don’t think this day could be any better.” The ever optimistic Mabel voiced everyone’s thoughts, including Loki’s.
Although the temperature was a bit warmer than he preferred, it was glorious with its sunshine and a light breeze—the first day when winter really did feel like it was gone for good. When Kyle had suggested the omegas take their various chores outdoors, no one objected. It was almost as easy to sew and prepare food on the large blankets spread out on the grass as it was inside. And, the pups loved crawling around, or in Annie’s case, running around. Whether it was on two legs or four, the girl was giggling and yipping with joy. Everyone was happier and the pack run happening in a few nights lent an air of excitement to their work.
Loki grinned and chatted away as much as the others. His body showed no signs yet of the life growing within him, so he had no trouble sitting cross-legged. He stitched away under the bright sun and soaked in the warmth. The hotter temperatures didn’t bother him quite so much anymore. He figured a few more years in Maine and he’d be fully acclimated to the weather. His pup certainly would be, having known nothing else. Even so, he was glad that he would whelp in the winter. His kind often did and it felt right that some part of his heritage would touch this first pup of his.
Mabel and Kyle had picked the spot they occupied, but he was delighted by their choice and would have chosen the same. From where he sat, he had an unobstructed view of the building project that included his hut. The sigmas were working overtime to get it done quickly. The news of the pack gathering had spread around within hours of the alpha’s council meeting. It was more exciting than the run coming up, although some of the servient pack members had been nervous at the prospect. There had been a lot of soothing efforts by the dominants, and that had included Destin and Bard reassuring Loki. While he appreciated their concern, the prospect of meeting other packs intrigued him more than concerned him.
Maybe he was too absorbed by other things to worry overmuch about the gathering. Certainly his attention was taken at the moment. It wasn’t only the sigmas hammering away at the wooden structure that was nearly finished. Bard was among them. Loki hadn’t known the gamma possessed any construction skills. He hadn’t thought about what the man was capable of other than being the muscle who did Destin’s bidding.
That was no longer the case because the guy swung a hammer with practiced ease. And, Gods above, he’d taken his shirt off in deference to the heat of the day. He’d also twisted his braid up in a messy bun to keep it off his sweaty back. So, there were a lot of those muscles of his on display. The way they bunched and relaxed, a ripple flowing with the movement of his hands and arms, was mesmerizing. He wasn’t the only shifter with a lot of skin showing, but he was the only one who captured Loki’s attention.
Bard’s broad back tapered down into a narrow waist that sat on a high, firm ass. There was power there, the kind that allowed a gamma to drive his dick deep inside a welcoming omega. Loki remembered clearly what that had been like, as well as the ease with which the gamma had held Loki’s slight omega body up in order to fuck him in the shower. Despite being mindless with his heat, his experiences with Bard were seared into his memories. They swamped him now with a mental and physical clarity that flushed through his system.
Whether he willed it or not, he couldn’t forget being under Bard’s control in that primal dance Loki had fought so hard to avoid. One of those delightful waves of arousal coursed through him. His hole did its usual clench and moisture seeped around the ring. He flushed with embarrassment. It no longer surprised him, though, and a quick glance around confirmed that the omegas hadn’t noticed.
No surprise there with the breeze stirring up all kinds of smells, and his omega slick was a scent designed by nature and the Gods to entice dominants. If Bard were near, he would detect it. The same way he’d done only a few days ago. The thought of the gamma scenting his arousal and reacting in kind no longer disturbed Loki. He was getting used to that idea, too, that this was what it meant to be a fully grown shifter—to want and be wanted in return.
It didn’t frighten him, but it did confuse him. He’d assumed that all of his attention would be taken by his breeding and that desire had to come later. Much later. As in the next time his heat came on and he was ready to breed again, only with full knowledge of what it meant to be mounted. There was really no need for his body to crave a dominant’s touch now. Why was he having such a hard time ignoring Bard? No matter how much he tried to keep his focus on the quilt square he stitched, his gaze kept wandering up and over to the gamma.
“They’re tough to tune out, huh?” Seth had scooted over on the blanket they shared. His face was scrunched up with concentration on his own needle work.
Loki tried to play it cool. “Who?”
Seth snorted. “Gammas. They’re so virile. All those big muscles. Makes me twitchy just thinking about them. Can’t wait for the sun to go down and have Caleb using that power on me.”
Loki couldn’t hold back his gasp. “Seth! Seriously? You’re a new father.” Even as he acted surprised and outraged, he was secretly happy to be part of such an adult conversation. And hearing that a newly whelped omega was excited about being mounted without his heat driving those needs fascinated him.
Seth flashed his eyes. “What? Sex is fun and I’m fully healed from the whelping. I have to have something to look forward to after the boys run me ragged all day.” He paused and his eyelids drooped. “Caleb is so sweet even when he’s pounding my ass, I know he will never hurt me. You’ll see one day when you’re finally mated.”
Loki sniffed. “I’m not sure when that’s going to happen.”
“It could happen tonight or right now, for that matter. It’s all totally in your control since you’re breeding. I see the way Bard looks at you. That gamma has an impressive amount of control. It’s obvious he wants you and is waiting for you to give him the go-ahead. Why don’t you?”
Sneaking another look at Bard, he shrugged. “I know he wants me, but I don’t like everyone assuming that because Destin picked him for me and Bard bred me, that I have to accept him. It would be nice to have a choice.”
Seth clicked his tongue. “Since when do omegas get that? I mean, sure my mating with Caleb was technically a choice, but our nature didn’t give me too many options. It’s how we’re made—breed or die. And, we can’t survive outside a pack for long, so we’re going to go into heat whether we want to or not.”
“You survived for a long time on your own, didn’t you?”
“Survived? Yeah, that’s a word for it. Desperate, hungry, scared are others. None of them mean ‘lived’ though, not in any way that counts.”
Because he could see the misery on the boy’s face in remembering what it was like before he’d come to the Rogues, Loki changed the subject. Sort of. “You love Caleb, though, right? You want him to sire more of your pups?”
Now Seth’s face lit up. “I adore him, and I hope he gives me a huge litter of them. Believe me, I never thought I’d say that. Love changes you.”
Loki went quiet for a moment as he absorbed that statement. He stopped his needlework and stared across at Bard, who now stood on the top of a ladder, working on
the roof of Loki’s hut. He did want what Seth had. He wanted love, too. It wasn’t hard to picture being in his hut, homey with his own touches, and welcoming Bard at the end of a long day. The gamma and he with their pups would make an arctic family in the middle of woodland pack. An oasis that would remind him of the home he lost. But would that be enough to accept his new life? He didn’t know.
He was being offered a choice. Seth was right, as an omega, he’d never expected to pick his mate. Being in this small pack didn’t make that any more so. To the contrary, his new alpha was allowing him to decide whether to mate with Bard or someone else. That was far more freedom than he could ever imagine. What was he looking for or waiting for, anyway? Sure, this idea of a gathering of packs would expose him to other dominants. But it was impossible to imagine finding anyone better than Bard. The gamma was trustworthy, honorable and kind. Sexy, too, of course. Virile, as Seth had said, and simply stunningly beautiful to Loki’s eyes. Bard set the bar of what an omega could want in a mate so high, it seemed impossible anyone could clear it.
Mating with a dominant from another pack would likely mean leaving this one, as well. Caleb might have left his old pack to join the Rogues, but that was unusual. He’d been looking for opportunity from what Loki had heard. Finding a mate had merely been a happy by-product. Loki couldn’t count on that happening with anyone he might meet. Omegas almost always ended up joining their mate’s pack, not the other way around. If he left, then he and his pup would truly be outsiders elsewhere. At least here he had Destin, the one bit of blood family that he had left.
And Bard. You have Bard. It was becoming impossible to shake that one thought and ignore the pull he felt get stronger every day to the gamma who’d bred him.
As these worrying thoughts endlessly looped through his tired brain, a flash of movement caught his attention. In her wolf form, Annie shot away from the little group of omegas and raced straight for the construction project. With a cry, Will dashed after her, his arms outstretched and yelling at his daughter to stop. The toddler paid no attention to her father, and at her tender age, she had no idea what she was doing. She slipped through the legs of a sigma, who was carrying a bucket by the hut. Small as she was, she still managed to send him off-kilter. He crashed into the ladder Bard stood on.
In an almost slow-motion view, Loki watched in sudden horror as it started to tip over. The sigma was too preoccupied with keeping himself from falling to be of any help. He only managed to stumble away from the pup instead of over or on her. Startled by the ruckus, Bard grabbed for the roof’s edge to steady himself. It didn’t work. His fingers only brushed the wood before he and the ladder tumbled to the ground. The drop was short, too much so that in his startlement, Bard didn’t shift. He landed in human form with a sickening thud. Loki dropped his sewing and was up and running toward him in the next instance.
“Bard!” He screamed the gamma’s name as he rushed up to kneel beside the supine body. Bard’s eyes were closed and his arms were flung wide. He might have been unconscious. Or even dead, except that his chest rose and fell on obvious breaths. That sign of life chased away the worst of Loki’s panic.
“Bard, can you hear me? Are you all right?” As he asked his questions, Loki reached out to place his palm on top of one of Bard’s pecs.
The gamma’s eyelashes fluttered, and he groaned. “Are you worried about me?” The question was asked with a quirking of his lips. He blinked up at Loki with a slightly glazed look, which indicated he wasn’t completely unscathed by his fall.
Loki snatched his hand back, embarrassed now that he’d shown such concern. He almost denied the obvious. He opened his mouth to say “no” then closed it again because he wasn’t quite so shameless as to lie blatantly, not anymore, anyway. And yet, he wasn’t ready to admit the growing feelings he had for Bard. They scared him, especially in how strongly he’d reacted to the gamma’s fall. The thought of losing Bard had caused a spike of fear that he needed time and privacy to think about and come to terms with.
The gleam in Bard’s eyes dimmed somewhat and his mouth lost its smile. “I’m fine. Truly.”
Before Bard could say more or Loki could react, the sigma who’d tripped into the ladder came over and joined them. “I’m sorry, Gamma.”
“Not your fault, Carrick. You did well in avoiding hurting Annie.” Bard’s reassurance was strong, just what the sigma needed, but there was a breathless quality to his voice that indicated to Loki he was under strain.
Now, other pack members came running over from wherever they’d been working. They crowded around the gamma with concerned looks and quiet murmurings. A few different sigmas took Carrick into comforting embraces.
Will ran up with a wiggling Annie in his arms. “I’m sorry!” The omega looked like he fought back tears. “It’s my fault. I should have been watching her better. Annie’s too young to understand what she was doing.” He hugged his daughter tightly to his chest and looked at everyone with pleading eyes.
He’s afraid for Annie. He thinks she’s going to be punished.
Loki had no sooner realized Will’s distress than he forgot about Bard’s condition and jumped up. “It’s fine,” he rushed to reassure the omega. “I’m sure no one will blame Annie for this. She’s just a little pup.”
He stepped up to put his arm around the boy. He couldn’t say why he was concerned about Will’s feelings. It just seemed important that he do what was necessary to calm the situation involving his gamma.
His gamma.
Matters were ramping up faster than he could wrap his head around. Now was still not the time to ponder his varying emotions. Will’s distress hadn’t abated much, probably because the word of an omega, like Loki, was hardly pack law. Sensing the tension in the adults, Annie began to howl and her wiggling increased. Loki hugged the two of them closer to help contain her.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Loki crooned, everything’s fine.
His efforts weren’t helping any, to his dismay. If anything, with so many pack members joining the group ranging around Bard, the noise and confusion was getting worse. Loki was torn between his continued worry about why Bard remained lying flat and his desire to help a now-crying Will and a fretting Annie. The one thing he didn’t feel was detached. For almost the entire time he’d been a forced member of the Rogue Pack, he’d kept himself apart, indifferent to those around him when he wasn’t being outright hostile. He hadn’t wanted to become involved with these shifters and their lives. He’d been too focused on the idea that all of this was transitory.
As he stood there in the middle of the fray, he finally understood that despite his efforts to the contrary, this pack had become his home. He did care about its members. Will’s pain was his pain and calming his brother omega was important enough that he chose to help him rather than fuss over a dominant who must be fine. It wasn’t possible that someone as robust as this gamma had been seriously hurt by such a short fall.
Why isn’t he getting up?
But, the moment the gamma started to push to a sitting position, Loki became alarmed. “Wait! Don’t move until the healer has examined you.”
Bard stopped his efforts and focused his gaze on Loki. While he didn’t say anything, his grin came back, bigger than before. And, his eyes seemed to sparkle with a joy that belied his present physical state. The intensity of the emotion showing through was difficult for Loki to absorb. He needed to look away. Before he could, though, thereby showing a vulnerability that he didn’t want to, the alpha and Andrea arrived.
As did Finn. The level-headed beta was naked, testament to how he’d been guarding the perimeter. Will’s wolf must have conveyed his anguish to Finn’s, bringing him running. He wasted no time in gathering his mate and their pup in his big arms. “There now, I’m here. Everything’s fine.”
Loki let go and stepped back. The beta guided his mate and pup to a spot a few feet away and bent his head to speak softly to them. The tender way Finn soothed his family was almost painful
for Loki to watch. He saw in that moment his dream of what life could be like for him. He desperately wanted it. That made him turn back to Bard, who was now sitting up with Andrea by his side and peering intently at him.
Bard chuckled. “I assure you, Healer, I see only one of you and clearly, too.”
“Hmm.” The healer didn’t accept his reassurance, obviously. She felt around the back of his head.
Bard hissed and jerked away. “Sorry,” he said with a grimace. “I guess I have a sore spot.”
“I’m not surprised,” the healer remarked. “You’ve got quite a lump forming. We need to get you inside. I’ll prepare a cold compress and I want to keep an eye on you for the next twelve hours. Our kind may weather cuts well, but blows to the head are something entirely different.”
“Thank you for your concern, Healer. I’m fine, truly.”
Before Bard could get up, however, Loki dropped beside him and pressed a hand to his chest. “Who are you trying to impress with all of this macho gamma stuff?”
Bard quirked an eyebrow at him. “Macho?” He stayed put, though.
Loki glared at him. “It’s a human expression, don’t you know? And, it fits your behavior perfectly. Gammas are not indestructible even if you might think so. If the healer says you need to rest, then you should rest. Do you think I want you to finish my home at the risk of your health?”
Bard stared at him with his eyes shining. It made Loki worry more that the guy had suffered a head injury. Then, Bard smiled, slowly, sensuously. The look sent a tingle up Loki’s spine. “Don’t fret. I’ll take the healer’s advice. I don’t want to upset you.”
Loki huffed and sat back on his heels. He immediately missed the contact he’d initiated. “This is not for me. It’s for you.”
Omega Lost (The Rogue Pack Book 7) Page 12
