“I’m fine, thanks. Everything’s great.” He frowned again at his daughter, although without any obvious conviction. “I just wish Annie would grow up enough to control her shifting.”
Because Annie’s biological sire and former alpha had failed to turn her in infancy, she was an anomaly—a pre-pubescent pup who could shift at will. And, holy crap did she have a lot of will! It drove her parents a little crazy, but frankly the rest of the pack, including Caleb, was captivated by it.
Caleb’s stomach growled, making him grin sheepishly. “I hope there’s some dinner left.”
“Lots. It’s set up buffet style. Come on, I’ll fix you a plate, given that you’ve got your arm full of my pup.” Will spun on his heel and headed back to the great room. “Would you mind taking Annie to her sire?”
“Sure thing.”
Caleb’s sight homed in on Finn immediately. The beta was standing by the alpha, and the two of them were focused on the large, sectional sofa that dominated one wall. Propped up on a small mound of pillows, Joey lay with this new pup snuggled against his chest. Little Craig had already returned to the human form he’d possess for the next thirteen years or so. The proud father looked tired, but immensely happy. The sire knelt by his small family, feeding his mate morsels of food. The sight of the formidable gamma doting so gently and lovingly on his mate was too touching to ignore. It was no wonder Lorcan and Finn were captivated.
Caleb sauntered over with Annie still dangling under his arm. “Hey, Alpha. Congratulations on the new addition to the pack.”
The alpha spared him a glance, although it wasn’t a dismissive look so much as a distracted one. “Thanks. I can’t believe how many pups have been born since we’ve settled down. It’s a great sign of our pack’s long-term survival prospects.”
Being a gamma meant never having to ponder the more complicated aspects of their species’ existence, but he did know that shifters had a hard time surviving in a world dominated by humans. Inter-pack rivalries and competition for scarce resources often meant short lives for both individual shifters and packs alike. The thought led him back to his recent encounter with the black-furred omega.
“Alpha, I’ve got a security report if you have a second.”
Lorcan turned his attention in an instant. He gave Caleb a hard look. “What is it?”
Before Caleb could answer, Finn reached around to pluck Annie from his arms. “Let me take her, and thanks for playing defense.” Holding his pup up, he shook his head. “Damn, Annie, another ruined dress. Your poor father is going to be beside himself when he finds out.”
Caleb released his hold and scratched the back of his neck. “I’m afraid he already knows.”
Finn shook his head again, although he was obviously not really mad at his pup because he cradled her against his chest. Annie gave a big, wolfie yawn before snuggling in close and closing her eyes. She was clearly not afraid of her sire, which was as it should be. And, it led him back to his alpha’s question.
“Sorry, sir. It’s nothing major. I came across a male omega on pack lands when I went for my run.”
Lorcan frowned. “An omega?”
“Yes, sir, and he seemed feral to me.”
“How so?”
Caleb scratched his neck again, trying to formulate in words the impression he got. “He looked underfed, real skinny.” Before he could continue, Will came up with a plate loaded with all kinds of meat and vegetables. “Oh, thanks.”
He took the offering and tried not to be distracted by how Will snuggled up to Finn much as Annie had done. The three of them were such a beautiful sight, it made his chest hurt a little to see them. Uncomfortable with the reaction and not fully understanding why we felt it in the first place, he fell back on duty. That was something he understood. Ignoring the enticing aroma of his dinner, he turned his full attention back to Lorcan.
“It’s hard to say exactly, Alpha. His coat was dull and dirty, and he just didn’t seem okay. You know?”
Lorcan nodded. “I think I do.” Caleb believed him. Lorcan had spent years collecting stray shifters out in the wild. If anyone could understand his reaction, it would be this guy. “What happened?”
“I tried to approach him, except he ran away. I pursued him at a distance because I didn’t want him to think I was chasing him.” He grimaced. “He went into Haldon’s territory, so I had to stop.” He looked down at his plate. “I felt bad about that. I don’t think he’s from that pack and from what I hear, I wouldn’t want any shifter to run afoul of those guys. Especially an omega.”
Lorcan placed a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “I understand how you feel, but you did the right thing. We don’t want to start trouble with Haldon unless it’s absolutely necessary.” He sighed and lifted his hand. “That being said, if you see the omega again, I want you to try to approach him. Although his being on our lands is probably purely happenstance, if he needs help, I want to offer it to him. Omegas need care. There is no way he’ll last out on his own.”
A grin broke out on Caleb’s face before he could register his own expression. This was exactly the response, he realized, he’d been hoping for. “Yes, sir. I’ll do that, and with your permission, I’ll spread the word with the others in case the poor, little thing gets closer to our perimeter.”
“Good,” Lorcan confirmed with a nod. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, seeing the new happy family reminds me that I have a pup of my own and it’s her bedtime.”
“Of course, Alpha.”
Picking up the fork on his plate, Caleb started in on his mound of food. He happily ate his dinner, standing a little apart while watching the others mill about and socialize in a way he’d never been comfortable doing. The mated pairs and their pups slowly left the great room. When Liam picked up Joey and their pup to head back to their cabin, Caleb scraped the last of his meal off his plate and into his mouth before bringing his dirty dishes into the kitchen. The sigma on clean-up politely declined his offer to help and shooed him away.
He should have gone to the communal room for the unmated males and hunkered down on his pallet for the night. Instead, he walked back to the porch and stood staring out into the tree line. He didn’t feel sleepy. His mind was still on the omega—about where he was now and was he safe? He worried that the answer to the second question was no, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it now.
Or, was there? Without giving himself time to rethink his decision, Caleb stripped off his pants and shifted. He raced back into the woods, something urging him on to look for and find that omega.
****
Pain.
As the terror from the attack drained out of him, Seth was left with agonizing pain. Only a grueling determination to put as much distance as he could between him and the other shifters kept him moving. Gone was his speed, leaving in its wake a limping gait. His left hind leg was all but useless. He had to drag it behind him as he headed back to a place that should be equally as dangerous as the one he’d run from. And, yet some part of him instinctively believed he would find safety there. Rational thought had mostly left him anyway. If nothing else, he knew where he could find a soothing drink of water.
He smelled the stream before he saw it. The promise of that simple relief gave him an extra bit of energy. He flopped down on the damp bank and stuck his muzzle right into the rushing water. The relief he felt as liquid coated his tongue and dribbled down his throat almost made him forget the throbbing of his hip and shoulder. But the distraction was temporary. And while the temptation to simply lie all the way down and give up was strong, he pushed back and away from the stream. Pain flared white-hot when he tried to put weight on his injured leg. He whimpered in distress, then immediately bit back the noise. Like the squirrel he’d recently caught, he was easy prey now that he was hurt.
He fought the fuzziness clouding his human brain and remembered the location of a small cave he’d found and hidden in for a couple of days. It wasn’t far, and it was his best chance of shelter
ing in hopes that his injuries would heal. Progress was slower than ever, but he made it and slipped inside the cool space. It smelled very faintly of shifters that had once been there. They were long-gone, however, or their scent would have been much stronger. He limped over to the pile of fir boughs he’d dragged in as a make-shift pallet.
He considered shifting into human form and back again, except he had sense to understand that it wouldn’t help with wounds such as these. And being human would make him more vulnerable, not less. If his attackers had pursued him, they’d have no problem tracking him down. In here, he would be easy prey, except he didn’t think it mattered. As he flopped down on his side, he knew that no matter where he was, if other shifters discovered him, he would never have the strength to fight back or run. At least on his meager pallet, he was somewhat comfortable. It was the most he could hope for.
Even as he thought that, an image rose in his mind of the big, red gamma he’d encountered earlier in the day. The spot of their encounter was very near the cave because he’d been caught as he was leaving the territory. It never paid to stay too long in one place. In his pain-racked imagination, the red shifter came to him, not to hurt, but to help. As he closed his eyes and fell into a fitful sleep, he dreamed of the impossible—of a home, safety within a pack and of the protection of a stronger male.
He woke with a start, a low and pitiful growl erupting past his snout. In the sliver of moonlight coming through the cave’s opening, he saw the familiar glow of wolf eyes. The scent wafting into the cave told him that it was the red wolf that stood staring at him. In the blink of an eye, however, the vision changed as the intruder squeezed inside and shifted into the shadowy form of an upright human.
Hunched over, the man padded quietly to where Seth lay panting from fear and pain. White teeth flashed in the gloom. “There he is.”
In the next instant, the man crouched in front of him. “You’re hurt.” He reached out and skimmed his fingers over Seth’s injured flank.
Seth reacted out of instinct, nipping at the hand that dared to touch him. He managed to break the man’s skin and tasted blood. Only a drop or two hit his tongue before sanity overrode his mindless terror. Letting go, he cringed back, expecting a harsh blow in rebuke. Gods, he’d be lucky if this gamma didn’t kill him outright.
Surprisingly, the man pulled his hand back to rest on his massive thigh. “None of that, now,” he chided in a mild voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help, eh? Who did this to you? Couple of Haldon’s goons probably.”
Seth had no idea what the guy was talking about, but he didn’t dare do anything other than lie there and wait for whatever fate was in store for him.
With a heavy sigh, the gamma stood as much as the low cave would allow. The guy was huge, bigger than most of his kind, even. “I’m going to need some supplies to treat these wounds. I’d bring you back to my pack, except I’m not sure you should be moved.”
The gamma leaned over him. “Now, don’t get any ideas about taking off again. You’re too badly hurt to go running around, and I don’t much feel like chasing you in any event. I won’t be long,” he added before turning.
Seth cowered in his meager bed and watched the gamma shift back to wolf with an enviable speed and grace. The moment that he was alone again, he almost could believe that he’d imagined the entire interaction. But the scent of the powerful shifter lingered in the air as did the taste of him on Seth’s tongue. He lay his head on his paws and panted through the growing pain of his injuries.
He wasn’t even sure he should worry about the gamma returning. Or, worry that he wouldn’t.
Chapter Three
Caleb raced back to the longhouse, fear for the omega driving his speed. He took only a brief moment to drag his jeans back on before entering and heading straight to the healer’s room. Silence reigned given the hour, so he was careful to tread as quietly as his large feet and heavy frame would allow. Once he reached his destination, he fought a short, internal war with himself over how to proceed. He didn’t like the idea of rousing the older female from her well-deserved sleep, yet didn’t feel comfortable simply barging into her domain and taking her stuff.
In the end, he did a little of both by knocking softly and pushing open the door. “Andrea?” He kept his voice low enough not to carry back into the hall.
A snort and shuffling sounds greeted him, and as he shut the door, the shape of the healer loomed out from the back of the room. “Gamma?” The woman sounded sleepy, yet coherent. She padded over to him, rubbing her eyes. “What is wrong? Joey?” Now her tone sharpened.
“He’s fine,” he was quick to reassure her. “I, ah, need some supplies to treat bite wounds.”
Andrea walked over to her clinic area and snapped on a light. The sudden brightness made Caleb blink. “Who is injured?” the healer asked, after giving him the once-over.
He spent a few awkward seconds weighing how much he should tell her before remembering that he had no skill at dissembling. “There’s a feral omega lying injured in a cave on our pack lands. I think he was attacked by one or two of Haldon’s boys. I was afraid to try to carry him here given his condition, so I decided to leave him where he is and treat him there.”
The healer’s face softened with concern. “Oh, the poor thing. I should go to him.”
Alarm shot through him. He held out his hands. “No. I mean,” he continued with a hard swallow. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, ma’am. He’s deep in the woods and somewhat volatile.”
He rubbed the spot absently where the omega had nipped at his hand. “I can’t put you in danger without the alpha’s permission. I have some experience with tending wounds because in my old pack, our healer wasn’t always willing to patch up minor hurts of the lower pack members.”
That piece of information set the woman’s mouth into a hard, thin line of disapproval. “Very well, but you must come to me the moment it looks like something more than you can handle. I’ll speak to Lorcan in the morning about it.”
She said nothing more before gathering up bottles of medicine, pots of ointments, healing plasters and various bandages. She walked him through the use of each item, most of which he was already familiar with. The last two things she added were a small, battery operated lantern and a survival blanket. Stuffing them all into a bag that he could wear while in wolf form, she held it out.
“Promise you’ll return if he takes a turn for the worse or his injuries prove too serious for this to work.”
Taking the bag, he nodded. “Yes, ma’am, I will. I’ll have to stay out there with him, so if you don’t see me for a few days, please don’t worry.”
“I understand.” She headed for the door. “Come, we’ll get some bottles of water and food from the kitchen.” She dropped her voice once they entered the hall. “You’ll need to get him to shift to human form. These items work best when there’s no fur to get in the way.”
Caleb followed with the bag tucked under his arm. “I’ll try, but I think he’s been on his own for a very long time given how skinny and unkempt he is. I’m not sure I can get him to shift.”
Andrea stopped just inside the kitchen and gave him a tired smile. “You underestimate your strength, Gamma.”
Caleb frowned and held up the bag in one large hand. “I don’t think so, Healer.”
With a shake of her head, she said, “You misunderstand my meaning.” That cryptic reply was all he got before she started stuffing items into his free hand.
He added everything to the bag until it was as full as it could be. “Thanks. I’m sorry to wake you.”
“Never apologize for asking for my help. This is my purpose in the pack.”
Caleb slung the bag over his back, slipping his arms through the straps. He kept them loose, the slack being necessary to accommodate the bulkier body of his wolf. “Except this omega isn’t a pack member,” he felt compelled to point out.
The healer shook her head again. “You gammas are always so liter
al. Come, I’ll help tighten the straps once you’ve shifted.” She opened the kitchen door and stepped out onto the porch.
He followed. “That’s not necessary,” he said. “I’ll be fine.” He really didn’t like the idea of stripping down to his skin in front of a female, especially as they were alone.
“Don’t be silly.” Andrea gave him one of those looks that mothers seemed to always have ready for their pups when they were being difficult. “I am a healer and a shifter. You have nothing to be shy about with me. Come now,” she added with a quiet clap of her hands. “Time is not on our side.”
Regret washed over him. Of course. He was being stupid given that the omega lay terribly hurt and alone. Putting aside his own modesty, he shimmied out of his jeans and dumped them once again onto a nearby chair. He shifted carefully where he stood, feeling the weight of the bag sliding up his back. Andrea was by his side in an instant, repositioning it to a point below his shoulder blades and tightening the straps so that they were snug enough not to let the bag slip. There was nothing comfortable about the arrangement, but it was a simple system to help his kind move goods when they lacked arms and hands.
“There,” Andrea said, stepping back. “It’s as secure as it’s going to be.” She snapped her fingers. “Hold on.” She plucked up his discarded pants and stuffed them into the bag. “You may want these. Good luck and stay safe. I’ll make sure Lorcan knows where you are and not to expect you back any time soon.”
Caleb chuffed in appreciation before taking off. His speed was slower of necessity so as not to dislodge the bag. Still, he didn’t tarry, worry driving him to push his strength. Fatigue tried to eat away at him, too, but he ignored that and called up a new store of energy. Pack member or not, omegas were rare and precious, deserving of care and protection. His old alpha’s treatment of Will had been an abomination. If he didn’t think it would put the Rogue Pack at risk for war, he’d go rip Magnus’ throat out.
Taming the Omega (The Rogue Pack Book 4) Page 2
