Caleb huffed in exasperation, again more at himself and not the omega. A thought occurred to him, though, a second later. “Did you think you needed to do that as some kind of payment for my help?”
He could see instantly that he’d hit upon the issue squarely. How novel for him. As a typical gamma, he didn’t normally worry about the whys and what-fors of matters. Following orders suited him fine. Except that kind of thinking had led to him ignoring Will’s plight. Since learning how badly the omega had needed his help and not gotten it, he’d resolved to do better—to not just go along to get along.
Softening his expression, he said, “I’m sorry I snapped, and you don’t have to do anything in return for my helping you. I’m a gamma, so my duty is to protect, and right now that means treating your wounds until you’re well enough to leave this cave under your own power.”
He made an aborted move to pat the omega on the shoulders, stopping because it made the boy flinch. “Please don’t be afraid of me. I promise I won’t hurt you.” That pronouncement was met with a dubious look, but Caleb chose to ignore it.
“So, do you need to go outside?” he asked, waving vaguely in the direction of Seth’s crotch. He pointedly didn’t look at the omega’s slender dick.
The boy shook his head. “No, thanks. I went before I—you know.” His high cheekbones turned a duskier red than they already were.
Caleb frowned. “Please don’t do that again. I’m not sure you’re steady enough to be walking around without help. Anyway, I have to go out myself. I’ll be back in a minute and get you some breakfast.”
Feeling awkward, he grunted to his feet. He stretched as much as the cave would allow to get the kinks out from a night spent on the ground in human form. At the last second, he snatched his jeans from the bag. Under the circumstances, it would be best for him to stay as dressed as possible for the remainder of their stay. He should have realized before that a feral omega would have developed all kinds of ways to stay fed and warm. Servicing the odd shifter he came across in his wanderings must have been one of them. Well, Seth was about to learn that not all shifters required compensation for such basic things as food and medicine.
He stepped out into the warm morning, and took a deep breath of fresh air. He could tell even this deep in the woods that the sun was fairly high. He’d slept in later than usual, and given the night’s work, that was hardly surprising. He leaned against a nearby tree while he watered the ground and let his thoughts wander back to Seth. Where had the omega come from and what had led him to be on his own?
His mind returned to the idea of Seth giving the precious gift of his body to survive. The idea made Caleb so mad, he crushed his pants in his fist. If he could, he’d track each one of those predatory bastards down and sink his teeth deep inside their sorry hides…and that was foolishness. First of all, Seth was not his omega to defend. Second, if he was going to mete out punishment for debasing the boy, he’d have to start by bashing his own head against a rock. Right now the only cum coating the boy’s tongue was his. His cock jumped at the reminder of how and where it had come not long ago.
Straightening, he shoved his legs and his dick into his jeans and fastened them for good measure. What is my problem? Then he stalked over to the nearby stream and splashed cold water on his face. The jolt served to wake him up fully and to snap some sense into him. He had a duty to perform—to an omega who had no one else to protect him, and to his new pack that might be the beneficiary of acquiring a breeding shifter. He needed to keep his head screwed on straight.
Or rather his dick tucked in tight.
****
Seth lay on his uninjured side, ignoring the pain of his wounds and eyeing the bottle of water beyond his reach. He hated the bitter taste lingering in his mouth and desperately wanted to wash it away and soothe the rawness of his throat. Taking the gamma’s large cock hadn’t been comfortable, but he knew how to please a dominant shifter and quickly, too. It had been easy to make the guy come fast, so what was he mewling about anyway?
Caleb. His part-captor, part-savior was named Caleb. He couldn’t remember the last time he called another shifter by name, and certainly hadn’t dared do so with a higher-ranked one in his old pack. It had been all “yes, sir” and “no, sir.” And, “may I please suck your cock, sir, for a scrap of food?”
The few strange shifters he’d encountered since running away hadn’t bothered with social introductions. When they weren’t chasing or attacking him, they’d simply shoved his head down in unspoken command once they’d forced him to shift to human form. He’d been lucky if they’d tossed him some food in return. Often the blowjob was currency for being allowed to leave in one piece.
He shuddered at the memories and swallowed hard. He really was terribly thirsty, likely from the painkiller as well as the dick he’d taken. Did he dare take a drink without permission? Caleb had been amazingly kind to him so far, but he knew better than to trust that. Kindness could morph into brutality with little provocation. His dithering ended with the gamma’s return in any event. Seth instinctively shrunk back.
The guy had put on pants, which hardly served to hide his powerful bulk or the bulge between his legs. Of course, gammas were highly sexed. He was no doubt ready for getting head again no matter what he’d said. It would be nice if he’d let Seth have some food and water first. Not that Seth was dumb enough to wish for anything anymore.
The gamma flashed him a smile. With morning, more light filtered into the cave. Seth could easily see the paleness of the gamma’s skin and the brightness of his short, red hair. The strange shifter was so different than Seth’s people and the packs he’d known back in the western mountains of his birth. But, he’d seen all kinds in his wanderings and knew that like humans, shifters came in all manner of sizes, shapes and colors. The one overarching characteristic of his species seemed to be that the higher up the chain you were, the meaner you got.
“You must be thirsty.” Caleb grabbed the bottle of water Seth had been coveting. “Andrea, my pack’s healer, warned me that the pain medicine would do that.” His cheeks turned a deep pink. Maybe the gamma was thinking about the other reason why Seth might want something to drink.
Nah, that made no sense. Since when did gamma’s worry about omegas? With a shaky hand, Seth reached out to take the bottle. Caleb didn’t release it, though. He guided it to Seth’s lips and helped him keep his head up so that nothing spilled. Seth tried to ignore the warmth of the man’s touch. As with the previous night, there was a gentleness that surprised him. He was used to being grabbed roughly and held in place by pinching fingers. Nothing like that happened now. He felt that he could break away at any time if he wished.
With his immediate thirst slaked, Seth slumped back down onto his side. His stomach chose that moment to rumble. He ignored it, hunger being all too familiar to him. Food would come or it wouldn’t. Either way, he’d survive.
The gamma grinned at him. “Hungry, eh? That’s a good sign.” Putting the bottle down, he rummaged through the big bag.
Seth watched with surprising interest as the muscles of the gamma bunched and flexed. There was an odd cadence to the man’s speech. “You’re Canadian,” he blurted out, then immediately tensed. How dare he speak to him so freely?
Caleb didn’t seem to mind. He returned with a container of something in his hand. “That’s right. I relocated to a new pack down here. They were looking for more gammas. For more omegas, too,” he added casually.
Seth dismissed the information the moment he heard it. What did he care if a pack wanted someone like him? As if he’d ever want to tie himself to a pack again and give up the freedom he’d found on his own. If he were sure that a pack would treat him differently, better, than his birth one, he’d be happy to give up his solitary and dangerous life, of course. But nothing that had happened to him since his decision to run away had assured him that such a thing existed. So far, every shifter he’d encountered had left him more certain, not less, that pack li
fe for an omega was an unrelenting misery. Caleb might act differently for the time being, and maybe he was really as kind as he seemed. That didn’t mean everyone else in his pack would be.
Not that Seth would be given a choice, of course. If Caleb’s ultimate goal was to drag him to his pack as some kind of prize for his alpha, Seth would have to be ready to run again the moment he was well enough.
You can’t outrun a gamma. He swatted away that internal taunt, as well. Given the right motive, he could be as fast as the wind.
“Here’s some granola.” The gamma held up a rectangle of packed roasted grains, nuts and dried fruit. “Joey made it himself right before going into labor, and he’s the best cook our pack has.”
Taking the offering, Seth bit into it expecting it to be hard. It wasn’t, surprisingly. The chewy, crunchy mouthful made for a wonderful change from the raw meat he’d been ingesting for months in wolf form. His human palate delighted in the taste and feel of it. He quickly swallowed and took another bite. The import of Caleb’s words penetrated his pleasure, however. This food had been made by a male omega, like himself, even though he’d been heavy with a pup. Of course, he thought bitterly. It wasn’t like a pack would give a weak shifter a break. What good was an omega if they weren’t breeding and working—preferably at the same time?
Not that the plight of this Joey was any of his concern. He had his own problems. Finishing the bar of food, he reached for the bottle of water. The gamma got to it first and once more held it up to his lips. Seth didn’t really need the help and told himself he didn’t say as much because he didn’t want to piss off the gamma. The truth was that he liked the attention. If nothing more, it gave him the illusion that he was cared for.
“Thank you, sir,” he said when he’d finished the bottle. Damn, he was thirsty.
“Call me Caleb, remember?”
“Yes, sir. Yes, Caleb,” he amended. He lay down with his head pillowed by his arm.
“Are you in pain?”
Seth shrugged, intending to make himself as low-maintenance as possible. The movement caused a flare of pain, which in turn made him wince. “A little,” he confessed.
“No need for that.” The gamma mixed up a cup of the medicine, using part of another bottle of water. “We’ll see how this and the granola sit in your stomach, then you can have more to eat if you want. I’ll check your bandages in a minute and put on some fresh plaster.”
“I-I can do it, sir. Caleb,” he offered tentatively. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be touched anymore by this gamma. No, he wanted to be touched again too much, he amended inside his head. The notion scared him.
Caleb shook his head. “No need. Let me take care of you. I know I make a weird healer, but I’ve got you.”
Seth looked up into the gamma’s blue eyes. They were perhaps the most unusual part of him. As he dutifully wrapped his lips around the cup, he thought, yes indeed, Caleb had him.
Chapter Five
Seth spent the rest of the day wrapped in the fuzzy haze caused by the pain medicine. He slept for most of it, only rousing when Caleb offered him more to eat and drink. His wounds were healing quickly enough in the way of their species without any complications that he could feel. Soon he’d be able to shift into wolf form to help with the final mending.
As to what would happen then, he didn’t know, and was too tired to even muster much thought about it. Any time he was awake enough to ponder his situation, his thoughts always focused on what Caleb would want from him, would expect from him. Notwithstanding the gamma’s assurance about not taking blowjobs in exchange for help, Seth couldn’t imagine where else this attention was leading. In fact, the one rule his old pack had about leaving an omega’s ass cherry for its eventual mate might not apply here. His hole clenched at the thought. His life may have taken a turn for the worse.
There was nothing to be done about it in any event. So, he reveled in the unexpected boon of being warm, relatively safe and full-bellied for the first time in almost a year. Despite his injuries and the potential for a forced mounting, he knew he’d come out of this situation in better shape than he’d been. He lay thinking all of this and more in the now-empty cave during the waning hours of the sun. He’d woken to find Caleb gone. A brief burst of panic had shot through him until he realized that if the gamma had abandoned him, he wouldn’t have left his things behind.
A rustling at the cave entrance caught his attention. The sight of Caleb easing past the narrow opening made him almost dizzy with relief. He chided his own foolishness and chalked the reaction up to the lingering effect of the medicine. Lying on his good side, he watched silently as the gamma placed a large piece of bark down by the pallet. He caught the smell of roasted fish and rose up on one arm to get a better look.
“You fished?” The moment the question came out of his mouth, he regretted the stupidity of it. Obviously that’s what the gamma had done, plus he knew better than to ask questions.
Rather than admonishing him with a cuff or a curse, Caleb merely smiled. The guy seemed to do a lot of that. It made for a nice change unless it hid something malevolent deeper down. Seth had experience with that kind of two-facedness. This shifter didn’t give off that kind of vibe, but Seth still knew better than to get his hopes up or let his guard down.
“I figured you’d get tired of the stuff I’d brought from the pack. You know, granola and peanut butter sandwiches aren’t that interesting.”
“They are to me.” Once again, he marveled at how his tongue was getting ahead of his brain. He ducked his head. “Sorry. It’s only that I’ve been eating mostly raw meat for a long time, so anything else is a treat.”
Caleb tsked and used his fingers to break up the fillet. “You do that a lot. Apologize,” he clarified, then licked his fingers.
Seth couldn’t help but track the movement, and the sight of the big guy sucking on the greasy pad of his thumb in particular gave Seth a funny feeling low in his belly.
“You don’t have to, you know,” the gamma continued. “I’m not much one for ceremony and even if I were, you haven’t done or said anything inappropriate.”
“I bit you!” He couldn’t help blurting that reminder out. He was still amazed the gamma hadn’t killed him for it.
Caleb chuckled, another thing he did a lot. “You were in pain. Everyone knows that wounded animals are particularly dangerous. Served me right for not being more careful. I don’t hold it against you.” He shrugged. “Besides, you’re an omega.”
Like so much of what the gamma said, that statement made no sense to Seth. “Which means I know better than to disrespect any other shifter no matter how I feel.”
Caleb shook his head. “I guess we disagree on that point.” Sliding the piece of bark closer to Seth, he added, “Here, eat your fill.”
The first tentative morsel was a minor wonder for him. Even cooked flesh was different enough from eating fresh kills that Seth’s human taste buds were overjoyed. He was careful, though, to take small bites and wash them down with the water Caleb handed to him so as not to tax his stomach. Months of near starvation had shrunk his always small frame into almost a shadow of a being. He knew that simply by looking down at his concave abdomen and skinny limbs. Maybe that’s why Caleb didn’t want him sucking him off—there was nothing appealing about the way he looked now.
“How long has it been since you ate anything other than what you killed?”
Seth swallowed his mouthful and flicked a piece of fish off his lip with his tongue. The gamma’s gaze slid from Seth’s eyes to his mouth for a second. And in that second, heat flared in those bright, blue eyes—Seth would swear to it—before it disappeared again.
Seth shrugged. “Sometimes I get close to a human dwelling and raid their garbage.”
Caleb wrinkled his nose. “That doesn’t sound very appetizing, but I guess what I’m really asking is how long have you been on your own?”
“Almost a year maybe. Since last fall.”
“That’s a
long time for an omega to survive alone. Did you get kicked out of your pack or did you run away?” The gamma ducked his head. “Not that it’s any of my business.”
Seth drank some water to give himself time to figure out a reply. He was surprised by the question, assuming the gamma helped him only for his own immediate gratification. “I ran away.” What harm was there in telling the truth? It wasn’t like Caleb intended to drag him back to his old pack. Was it? He glanced up at him with sudden alarm.
“Relax, Seth. I don’t mean you any harm, remember? I’m only asking because, well…” The big guy huffed out a breath. “I’m worried about you. An omega shouldn’t be living alone.”
Seth lay down on his back, ignoring the twinge of pain it caused him. “Is it okay if we don’t talk about this?”
“Sure. I didn’t mean to pry, but I’m a pretty good listener if you want to talk.” Caleb let the topic drop even though he was more curious than ever about why Seth was living a solitary life.
None of your business. And, not your problem. Yeah, no, even he wasn’t buying those excuses. The better reason for letting go of the questions bubbling up on his tongue was that he didn’t want to stress Seth any more than he already was. Or give him a reason to try to flee before his wounds were fully healed. Shit, forget about the injuries, the omega was underfed and in desperate need of care in general.
“Hey, would you like me to comb your hair?” He asked the question before he could think better of it. “Except I don’t have anything to use other than my fingers, I’m afraid.”
Seth turned those big, brown eyes on him. “You don’t have to do that. It’s only tangled because it’s hair right now, and not fur.”
Caleb didn’t bother to point out how matted Seth’s coat had been. “I know, but a lot of my pack members have long hair, and they really seem to like it when someone brushes it out.” Of course, those “someones” were typically their mates. Not that he added that part.
Taming the Omega (The Rogue Pack Book 4) Page 4
