Midlife Omega (Midlife Shifters Book 3)

by J. L. Wilder

  “If you try to shift,” he growled, “I’ll break your neck. I think you know I can do it.”

  Hank’s hands pried at Gage’s fingers, but to no avail. He couldn’t break Gage’s grip.

  Gage felt, more than saw, Ozzy moving behind him. “Approach and your alpha dies,” Ozzy said. “Stay back. No one move. No one take a step.”

  “We’ll kill you if you harm him,” one of them said. “If you kill him, you’ll die.”

  “Maybe,” Ozzy said. “But he’ll definitely die. And who knows how many of you we’ll take out with us before you manage to kill us?”

  “Tell them to go in and bring out our omega,” Gage said.

  Hank slapped at Gage’s hands and made a choking sound.

  Gage didn’t relent. “Raise a hand if you want them to do it,” he said.

  For a moment, he thought the plan might fail. If this didn’t work, he would be forced either to release Hank and come up with something else or to face the inevitable battle.

  Then, slowly, Hank’s hand crept up.

  “You see it,” Ozzy said firmly. “He wants you to go. Someone, go and get her and bring her out. When we’ve got her back, we’ll go away and leave you all in peace.”

  One of the men broke away from the group and jogged into the longhouse.

  It’s a trick. Gage was sure of it. They would bring Natalie out, but once he let go of Hank, they would be on him, teeth and claws. His mind raced, trying to think of a way to get them out of there.

  I’ll have to stay behind. I’ll have to stay here and hold onto Hank while Ozzy gets Natalie clear. It’s the only way.

  Ozzy would go. He wouldn’t like it. But for Natalie’s sake, he would do it. Gage knew that, because he would have done the same in Ozzy’s place.

  I only hope Natalie is willing to leave me behind. I hope she sees it’s the best chance for all of us to get away.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a cry of dismay. Then the man who had gone into the longhouse returned.

  “She’s gone!” he cried. “The omega is gone!”

  Chapter Twenty

  NATALIE

  The moment everyone jumped up and ran out of the longhouse, Natalie felt an irrepressible swell of hope. They’ve come to rescue me!

  But her hope was followed, instantly and overwhelmingly, by despair. If it was true, if her mates were really there to try to rescue her, then they were almost certainly in terrible trouble. There was no way the two of them would be able to stand against the entire Rocky Mountain Pack in a fight. They’d be killed.

  She rattled the bars of her cage, desperate to get out, to do whatever she could to save them. Her mere presence ought to create enough of a distraction that it would change things, though she couldn’t say whether that change would be in her favor or not. But anything had to be better than what was surely going on out there right now.

  She heard the sound of raised voices. It sent a shiver down her spine.

  Then, on the wall opposite her cage, a window began to creak open.

  She stared. Could they be coming in the window? Perhaps one of them had caused a diversion out front, allowing the other to sneak around back and let himself in this way?

  That must be it!

  She pressed her face to the bars, anxious to see him, anxious to hear what the plan was and know that they were going to be all right.

  But the man who slipped in the window, landing with easy grace on the floor and moving silently across to peer into the cage, wasn’t Gage or Ozzy at all.

  This man was considerably older than Ozzy—older than Natalie was herself. Probably older even than Gage. If his steely gray hair and lined face was any indication, she thought he was probably in his early fifties.

  His hair looked like he had cut it himself, maybe without the benefit of a mirror. It was hacked off in uneven chunks, as if he didn’t really care what he looked like. It made him look a bit like a madman.

  Which should have made him less attractive.

  But somehow, it didn’t. He looked like sex.

  Maybe it was the ice blue of his eyes or the incredible sharp line of his jaw. Maybe it was his hands, larger than any she’d ever seen, making her feel as if he had the ability to pick her up and set her down wherever he wanted. Or maybe it was those incredibly muscular thighs...

  She forced herself to stop looking below his belt.

  She had never seen him before.

  But there was a part of her that wanted to see more.

  And that was crazy. Because for all she knew, he was an enemy.

  “Who are you?” she asked, her voice shaking. Surely, he wasn’t one of the Rocky Mountain Wolves—none of them would have needed to come in the window. But he might be a Feral Fang, come to abduct her in hopes of selling her again.

  Is this what the life of an omega is? Constantly being passed from hand to hand until you die? Maybe it would be better to let them all know that she couldn’t bear children. Maybe they would leave her alone.

  The newcomer reached between the bars and grabbed her arm. She pulled away, trying to break his grip. But then she realized he was looking at her tattoo.

  Of course he is.

  He pressed a finger to his lips. Then he shrugged the shirt he was wearing down his back, exposing his shoulder blades, and turned so she could get a look.

  He had the same symbol tattooed there.

  So he’s with the Pacific Northwest Pack.

  Her body shuddered a little against her will. She was flooded with relief. He would get her out of there, and then, together, they could help Gage and Ozzy.

  Suddenly they heard the sound of footsteps thumping their way up onto the porch.

  “Hide,” Natalie hissed.

  He shook his head, but he withdrew slightly toward the window nonetheless.

  “We’ll kill them no matter what now,” a voice was saying. It floated in through the high window at the top of Natalie’s cell, and she leaned up against the wall, listening, desperate for information. “We’re not going to let them walk away from threatening our alpha’s life like this. They might get away from us today, but we’ll never leave them alone. We’ll hunt them to the ends of the Earth.”

  “You know we’ve held off on attacking the Pacific Northwest Pack,” another voice said. “It’s risky.”

  “I don’t care anymore,” the first voice said. “Hank won’t either. This is too much. They’ve gone too far. We’ll take them out. We’re going to war over this insult. It’s the only thing we can do.”

  Natalie’s mind raced as she tried to piece together what they were saying. Someone was threatening the life of the alpha? They might get away from us today?

  It sounded like Gage and Ozzy were out there—and they were winning.

  Before she could put her thoughts into words, the newcomer was back in front of her cell. He had found a piece of twisted metal somewhere and was carefully picking the lock.

  “Wait,” she said, her voice hushed but urgent. “My mates—”

  He shook his head. “That man’s about to come in here and get you, and God knows what they’ll do then.” The lock popped open and he reached in and grabbed her.

  She struggled against him. “I don’t want to go. I want to see what’s happening out there.”

  “Come with me and we will,” he said. “But hurry! There’s no time!”

  She glanced back at the door quickly, torn. Should she run out that way and hope to find Gage and Ozzy?

  But no. Whatever they were doing, it couldn’t possibly be helped by her sudden appearance—not if they actually had the upper hand. Whoever this new man was, he was clearly one of their allies, someone on her side. She could trust him.

  She crossed the room quickly. He made a step for her with his hands and lifted her up so that she could pull herself out through the open window. He clambered up and out behind her, and they landed on the ground outside behind the house. The man reached up and pushed the window closed.

 
He started away, but she caught his hand and held up a finger—wait. Then she pointed up at the window through which they had just exited.

  He stared at her in obvious consternation.

  She pointed again, insistently.

  He gritted his teeth, then came to her and lifted her up so that she could peer into the window. She felt a mingled sense of gratitude and surprise that he had understood what she had wanted and been so willing to give it to her. It was the kind of acquiescence she had come to expect from her mates, but certainly not from a stranger.

  Inside the longhouse, one of the Rocky Mountain Wolves was staring into her empty cage. He looked for a long time, as if hoping that maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him and he would see her after all. Then he turned and ran for the door.

  “He knows I’m gone,” she said in a low voice. “He’s going to tell the others.”

  “Then we have to go.” The man set her on the ground and grabbed her hand.

  She pulled away. “Ozzy and Gage are here,” she said. “We have to go and help them.”

  “We’re not going to help them standing here,” he said. “If they know you’re gone, they’re going to start searching the grounds for you. You need to be hidden when that happens. Come on. We have to go.”

  “But they—”

  “Look, I know Ozzy and Gage,” he said. “They’re part of my pack. I don’t want anything to happen to them. But you going missing—that’s going to distract the Rocky Mountain Wolves. That’ll give Ozzy and Gage the opportunity to get away, and they’re smart enough to do it once they realize you’re not here.”

  She had to admit that he was probably right.

  “They’ll go back to our territory,” he said. “We’ll see them there. Now for God’s sake, come on. They’ll come looking for us soon.”

  She nodded and set off at a jog alongside him, into the trees, away from the longhouse.

  “We can’t shift,” he said softly. “Not until we’re off their land. It will make it too easy for them to track us.”

  Natalie didn’t answer. There was no reason to let him know, just yet, that she wouldn’t be able to shift anyway. This alliance was too new.

  For a while, they ran in silence, all their focus on getting away from the danger of the Rocky Mountain Wolves. Natalie felt sick with every step she took away from her mates. What this new man had said about this being the best way for everyone to escape—it made sense. But leaving without knowing for certain that they were safe felt horrible and wrong, even though she was sure she was making the right choice.

  At length, they slowed to a walk. The woods were quiet around them, and there was no indication that they were being followed, though Natalie could tell that her companion was listening closely.

  “You’re from the Pacific Northwest Pack,” she said.

  He nodded. “I hoped you’d understand what the tattoo meant.”

  “I do,” she said. “Ozzy and Gage explained it to me.”

  “I’m surprised they were the ones to find you,” he said. “If you’d asked me who it would be, I would never have bet it would be them.”

  A thought had occurred to Natalie as they were running, and though she was hesitant to put it in words, she thought it was better to know. “Are you Randy?”

  He looked at her. “You know about Randy?”

  “They mentioned him.”

  “What did they say about him?”

  “That he was the alpha.” She wasn’t going to describe the way her mates had characterized Randy. Not until she knew who it was she was with now.

  “No,” the man said. “I’m not Randy.” He was quiet for a moment, then added, “My name is Chuck.”

  “Chuck!” she exclaimed. “You’re Chuck?”

  “You know about me?”

  “They told me about you too,” she said. “They told me...”

  She cut herself off. She had just met him, after all, and the risk seemed too great. What would he want from her? Both Ozzy and Gage had suggested that Chuck might want to claim her as his own, that he might be no better than Randy. There was a possibility that he would be decent, she thought, and that thought tempered her fear. But it was by no means a sure thing.

  “What did they tell you?” Chuck asked.

  “Just that you were a powerful member of the pack,” she hedged.

  “I see,” Chuck said.

  He seemed not to invite any further conversation, and that was fine with Natalie. She was lost in thought about her mates, about where they might be and what might be happening to them even now.

  “Are you sure Ozzy and Gage will go back to Washington?” she asked.

  He glanced at her. “Why wouldn’t they?” he asked. “It is our pack territory, you know.”

  “I know that,” she said.

  “So why wouldn’t they go back?” he asked again. “Unless there’s something you know that you’re not saying?”

  “I think they might try to track me instead,” she said.

  He shook his head. “The whole pack is out looking for you,” he said. “They’ll probably figure somebody else picked you up. They’ll come back. They’ll probably keep an eye out for you on the way, but they’ll come home.”

  Then he frowned. “Why are you so worried about it?” he asked.

  She hesitated, wondering whether she ought to tell him. She knew that Ozzy and Gage had been worried about how Chuck would respond when he learned what had happened between them. She knew that it would complicate things for everyone in the pack. Maybe it wasn’t her place to tell it.

  But it’s going to come out anyway. I might as well.

  “They imprinted on me,” she told Chuck. “They’re my mates. So I don’t think they will go home without me. I think they’ll keep searching. And I’m worried about it because I want to see them again. I need to be with them. If they’re hurt because I ran off...”

  He was staring at her. “They imprinted on you?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “You’re telling me that both of them imprinted on you?”

  “I thought it was weird too,” she said. “They told me it’s not unheard of.”

  “No,” he said quietly. “It’s not unheard of. But it’s very, very rare.”

  She watched him tentatively, wondering what his reaction to the news would be.

  But he seemed not to react to it at all. “We should keep moving,” he said, increasing his pace.

  She broke into a jog to keep up. “Aren’t we going to stop for the night?” Stopping would give Ozzy and Gage a chance to find them...

  “We’re still in Rocky Mountain territory,” Chuck said. “We need to get off their land. Once we’ve done that, we can figure out our next move.”

  He strode off. She ran after him, trying to keep up, afraid that she had made him angry after all.

  PART THREE

  Chapter Twenty-One

  CHUCK

  Both of them imprinted on her—both of them.

  It was a scenario Chuck hadn’t imagined in his wildest dreams.

  Of course, he’d never thought that his claim to the omega would be uncontested. He had known that Randy was going to want her—everyone had known that—and he had figured that a few other members of the pack might throw their hats into the ring as well, although he’d never considered that they might have any serious chance at claiming her.

  He had figured that he and Randy would be the biggest dogs in that fight. And he had expected that it would be a fight—a physical fight, one in which he could finally get his teeth and claws into the man who had run their pack into the ground for the past few years.

  He had been training for that fight. Preparing for it. He was ready for it.

  He had never imagined that the whole thing would be decided before he ever even met her, and that she would be claimed by not one but two members of the pack who had never seemed interested in leadership at all.

  Gage and Ozzy?

  Gage was practical
ly a rogue. He never stayed with them for more than a few weeks at a time! What kind of leader could he possibly be?

  And Ozzy—Ozzy was always so reserved, so quiet and watchful. Chuck would never make the mistake of calling him weak, but he certainly wasn’t aggressive. Until now, he’d been content to let his brother take the lead.

  He was acutely aware of Natalie running along behind him, struggling to keep up, and a part of him knew that he ought to slow down for her, but he didn’t want to. This was not how he had imagined their meeting would go at all. Even as he had been helping her out of that cage and through the window, his heart had been pounding with anticipation, looking forward to what would happen when they got the chance to talk about their future.

  Apparently, there wasn’t going to be any future. At least, not that concerned him. He’d just put his neck on the line to rescue somebody else’s mate.

  “Can you slow down, please?” Natalie called out crossly.

  “Keep up,” he said.

  “I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” she said, “but I’m not wearing shoes.”

  That stopped him. He looked back. Sure enough, she was barefoot. Actually, she was dressed as if she had kicked off her heels and run from a cocktail party, in a black dress that had seen better days and nothing else. Her hair was wild and matted, and she looked like sex. He had to keep himself from continuing to stare.

  “What are you doing out here dressed like that?” he asked. “This isn’t a country club.”

  She stared. “Are you always such an asshole? It wasn’t my idea to be out in the wild in nothing but a cocktail dress, you know. When I put this dress on, I was planning on going to a hotel bar for a few drinks and then back up to my room. I didn’t know I was about to be fucking kidnapped.”

  “You’re awfully mouthy.”

  “I don’t know what you were expecting,” she said. “Did you think I was going to fall on my knees and thank you for rescuing me?”

  “I mean, a thank you wouldn’t be totally out of order,” Chuck said. “I did risk my life to get you out of there. And now I find out you’ve been imprinted upon by my packmates.”