by Hawke Oakley
Table of Contents
Hawke’s Newsletter
Charlie
Flint
Also By Hawke Oakley
Alpha’s Protection
Indigo Mountain Pack Book 1
Hawke Oakley
Copyright © 2017 by Hawke Oakley
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review
Cover Designer: Cosmic Letterz.
Created with Vellum
Contents
Hawke’s Newsletter
1. Charlie
2. Flint
3. Charlie
4. Flint
5. Charlie
6. Flint
7. Charlie
8. Flint
9. Charlie
10. Flint
11. Charlie
Also By Hawke Oakley
Hawke’s Newsletter
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1
Charlie
“Daddy, I’m scared.”
As we ran through the underbrush, Casey looked up at me with her big blue eyes. It was dark inside the thick forest and she looked especially small on this moonless night. We had been on the run for hours and she must have been exhausted.
“I know, baby,” I reassured her. “We just have to get through this and we’ll be safe soon.”
“I hope so,” she said quietly.
I shared her concerns. In the past few months, our lives in Scarlet Ridge pack had become a living hell. Since the death of our old top alpha, the new alpha Gunner had gone mad with power. With his youth and power he took a practically medieval stance towards the omegas in the pack, treating them like property and lower class citizens. Through forced checkups and scrutinizing alpha scouts placed around the territory, he soon had knowledge of every single omega’s heat schedule. Gunner had a plan. He wanted to create an army of alpha shifters to expand his territory, and to do that he needed to breed the strongest alphas to omegas to create more alphas.
Six years ago, my mate - a “suitable alpha” - was chosen for me. Mate wasn’t the right term; he was more like semen donor. To be honest, I don’t even know who he was. Gunner implemented an artificial insemination clinic for omegas to be impregnated by alphas of his choosing. I had no say in the matter. It was a cold, clinical affair that left me alone with no support for the shortened five months of my shifter pregnancy.
That wasn’t to say I didn’t love my daughter with my whole being. She was everything to me, and heavily contributed to my decision to leave. I did not want to live in a pack that stripped away all my freedom - and more importantly, I didn’t want my daughter to grow up in a pack like that.
So when the notice was strapped to my door stating I would soon be in season again and needed to go down to the breeding clinic, I knew it was time to leave.
But now we had an entirely different set of problems. I’d abandoned my government assigned apartment in the middle of the night and all my belongings with it, escaping the territory boundaries with nothing but the clothes on my back and my beautiful daughter. Now we were alone in the woods without the protection of an alpha and no idea of what we were going to do.
I had a vague idea of the surroundings territories and that was the only thing I had to hold on to. We lived deep in the mountains, far from any human settlements. I couldn’t count on their help. The only thing I could depend on was assistance from another shifter pack.
But I was a lone omega with a child - not exactly the most desirable individual. If a strange pack turned us away, we would have nowhere else to go.
Now in the thicket, I was on high alert. Every twig snap and strange noise made me whip around, like I was sure a Scarlet Ridge wolf was right on my tail. But so far none had showed up. Luck was on our side - for now.
“Ah!”
My attention was wrenched away from my thoughts at the sound of Casey’s voice. She had tripped and fallen over an old tree root. I helped her to her feet.
“Are you okay, baby?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said with tears in her eyes. My heart broke for her. She was trying so hard to be strong when a five year old shouldn’t have to be.
“Change to your wolf form,” I told her. “I’ll carry you.”
“Okay, daddy…” She did as I asked, turning into a small bundle of yellow fur. I shifted as well and picked her up gently by the scruff of the neck. Being in shifter form used more energy, but at the same time we would have better agility in the deep woods. I hoped we reached our destination before completely tiring out.
We moved slowly but surely through the woods. My ears twitched at every owl’s hoot and strange animal call. Every so often I paused to put Casey down and lift my head to smell the air. I had to make sure we weren’t being followed. Fortunately the wind flowed from behind me, making it more difficult for Scarlet Ridge shifters to find us. At the same time, it would make our scent known to anyone upwind - and I could only pray that they were friendly.
“Are we there yet?” Casey asked through our telepathic shifter link.
“Not yet, sweetheart. We will be soon,” I replied soothingly. This seemed to placate her for now; she sighed and didn’t ask any more questions. I just hoped I wasn’t accidentally lying to her. The clock was ticking; by sunrise, we’d be easy targets for any shifters in the area - friend or foe.
I needed to act fast. I picked up the pace, running as fast as I could without making a large amount of noise.
Suddenly I sensed a strange scent. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart racing.
“What’s wrong, daddy?” Casey asked.
“Nothing, dear. Just be quiet and stay still a moment for me.”
I set her down carefully between my legs so that I could act as a shield just in case something went awry. I smelled the air again, concentrating on the scent I didn’t recognize; it was definitely a wolf shifter, and definitely didn’t belong to Scarlet Ridge. My pulse increased with excitement. It had to be one of the neighboring packs! Our chance had arrived.
But then my parental instincts kicked in; what if they didn’t accept us? What would they do with Casey? I knew from experience at Scarlet Ridge that some alphas were unforgiving and ruthless. Just to be safe, I had to hide Casey until I knew it was safe.
After placing her inside the hole in the base of a tree, I changed back to human form and whispered to her, “Stay as a wolf. Don’t move and don’t make any noise, okay?”
“Where are you going?” she asked with a note of panic in her voice.
“Don’t worry, Casey. I’m just going to see if these wolves will be kind and let us into their pack. But if they’re mean, you’ll be safe all the way over here. Do you understand?”
“Yes, daddy.”
“Good girl,” I told her. “I’ll be right back.”
Although my senses had been dulled by changing back to human form, I still knew which direction the wolf shifter’s scent came from. I approached it until I heard the crunching of leaves underfoot. I bit my lip. I was an easy target, standing out in the woods like this, but what other choice did I have?
Quietly, I spoke up. “Hello?”
The crunching sound stopped. My mind filled with doubts. Other wolf shifters should be able to smell it on me that I was another shifter and not a human. But they would also know instantly from my scent that I was a
n omega. At the last minute I became paranoid; what if this pack was exactly like Scarlet Ridge? Or worse? Suddenly I wanted to back out. My feet itched to run.
But then a massive shape moved in between the trees. The soft crunching of leaves rang in my ears again.
A huge red wolf suddenly stood in front of me.
I was frozen to the spot. My breath caught in my throat. My pulse exploded in my veins. All I could think about was Casey, alone inside the tree stump.
Then the wolf spoke. His voice was loud and deep inside my mind.
“Who are you?” he asked.
I swallowed thickly. “My name is Charlie Hill,” I said. “I’m… ex-Scarlet Ridge pack.”
The massive wolf’s ear twitched with curiosity. He took a step towards me. I flinched.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “I won’t hurt you, Charlie.”
For some reason, his deep voice and calming words soothed me. I knew instantly he was an alpha. The fact that he wasn’t instantly attacking me gave me hope.
“You are in Indigo Mountain territory now,” he said. “Why have you come here?”
It wasn’t an aggressive question; merely one out of curiosity. I didn’t feel afraid answering him.
“I’m… I’m running away from my old pack,” I said. His golden gaze was piercing and strong; I couldn’t look away from him. “My daughter and I need a place to stay. I’m afraid that if my old pack finds me, they’ll…”
I trailed off, but the alpha wolf in front of me nodded. He understood without me having to spell it out.
“I know of Scarlet Ridge,” he growled. “Where is your daughter?”
Suddenly I hesitated. “Can you promise she won’t be harmed?” I asked assertively.
The alpha wolf spoke firmly. “I promise no harm will come to either of you.”
I jogged back to where I left Casey and scooped her up in my arms before returning to the wolf.
“Daddy, who is that?” she asked, sounding scared.
The red wolf took a step towards us and lowered his head. “My name is Flint Williams. Don’t worry, little one. You’re in no danger.”
A huge breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding escaped my lips. Learning the wolf’s name made me relax; he let his guard down for us. I wasn’t used to alphas acting like that. I immediately liked Flint, but I knew we weren’t out of the woods quite yet - literally.
“Come with me,” he growled. “You’re not safe out here by yourselves. If my hunting party finds you, they’ll be less wary if you’re with me.”
“Thank you so much, Flint,” I said.
He nodded and then shifted to human form. My breath caught in my throat. He was tall with broad shoulders and muscles that filled his tight shirt. Messy, dark auburn hair swept across his forehead. His expression was firm but gentle. Despite his tough appearance, he had an aura of kindness and I instantly felt safe around him.
Since I apparently forgot how to speak, Flint said something first.
“Come with me, Charlie and - what is the little one’s name?” he asked.
My daughter, who was still in the form of a pup in my arms, piped up. Casey!
“Charlie and Casey,” Flint said in his deep rumbling voice. “Let’s get back to the rest of the pack.”
2
Flint
I don’t know what got into me. It was a normal routine hunt until something made me stop. It was like a signal deep inside me activated and break away from the rest of the party. That was when I saw him. Standing there alone, looking exhausted and anxious, was Charlie.
I glanced at him now beside me. His face lost some of the stress from earlier. I didn’t know what his situation was exactly, but I knew he was desperate. That fact alone awoke something within me - I couldn’t leave a omega alone, nevermind one with a small pup.
We had been walking in silence for a few minutes before I thought I should say something. The two of them still seemed a bit anxious, which was understandable from the basics I knew about their situation.
“We should meet up with the party soon,” I told Charlie. He nodded.
Then I saw the familiar group of wolves up ahead, along with the scent of fresh meat. I raised a hand to announce my presence. My packmates trotted over and I instantly felt Charlie tense beside me. I almost wanted to put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him, but I barely knew him and I thought it would be inappropriate to be so familiar.
“Flint,” my friend Jericho greeted me. He was another alpha, and his wolf was a powerful sandy-furred beast. He was surrounded by the rest of the hunting party, a total group of four wolves. They obviously had a good hunt, because Jericho had the fresh carcass of a buck deer on his back.
The whole party gave Charlie a glance before Jericho asked, “Who is this?”
“This is Charlie,” I said. “I found him and his pup alone in the woods. He said he’s running away from Scarlet Ridge.”
Instantly a prickle ran through the hunting party. A few of them growled deeply.
Jericho turned to Charlie and asked, “How did you escape?”
Charlie shrank a bit under the pressure of all the strange alphas staring at him. “I was lucky,” he admitted. “I didn’t bring anything with me. I just took my daughter and ran.”
“He needs a place to stay,” I added. “I don’t want them to be out here in the woods.”
Another alpha, David, changed back to human form and took on a serious expression. “Flint, I don’t know about this,” he said. “Scarlet Ridge might come looking for him.” In a lower voice he muttered, “It might be safer to leave them here.”
A burst of anger flared up within me. I glared at David and growled, “Let them come. I’m not leaving an exhausted omega and his young pup out here to be dragged back to an abusive pack.”
Charlie let out a quiet gasp and stared at me with wide eyes.
David held my gaze until he sighed and turned around. “Fine. But they’re your problem now. Don’t count on my help.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t need it,” I growled.
David shook his head and walked off.
“Ignore him,” Jericho told me. “He’s in a bad mood because he missed nabbing a second deer during the hunt.”
I nodded. I wasn’t bothered by David’s negativity, and I wasn’t worried about Scarlet Ridge retaliating over a single missing omega either.
The rest of the hunting party greeted Charlie and Casey before we headed back towards town as a group. Indigo Mountain spread across a sprawling, beautiful territory with a large town as the main hub in the center.
We went our separate ways from the hunting party once we reached the main road.
“We’re going this way,” I told them. “I live on the outskirts of town, so it’s a bit walk.” With a glance at the exhausted Casey, I said to Charlie, “I can turn into my wolf and she can ride on my back. She’s had a long night.”
“Are you sure?” Charlie murmured.
I nodded before shifting. In my wolf form, I was about as tall as Charlie and able to make eye contact with him. He picked up the half-asleep Casey and plopped her on my back. She immediately made a tiny noise and curled up in my fur.
“Thank you,” Charlie said with a sigh.
“It’s not a problem,” I reassured him.
Soon the trek brought us up the trail to my log cabin. It sat on a high slope, surrounded by pine trees, and overlooked the town. I always thought of it as the perfect place to raise a child - not that I had to worry about that. I didn’t have an omega of my own.
As we reached the front door, Charlie picked up Casey and I changed back to human form to open the door for them. “You can stay here tonight. It’s not much, but it’s home.”
Charlie stared around in awe as he stepped inside. “Are you kidding? Flint, this is beautiful.”
I shrugged. “I could have made some improvements while building it, but I just wanted to get it done.”
He turned to me with a shocked e
xpression. “Wait, you built this?”
I nodded. “I’m a carpenter. It’s what I do. It’s nothing special.”
But Charlie shook his head. “It’s amazing. You should be proud of your work.”
A strange emotion welled up within me. I turned away so Charlie wouldn’t see me blush in embarrassment. “Anyway, there’s a spare room over here. My friend Jericho - the alpha you met earlier - crashes here sometimes so it might be a mess. I’ll chew him out later.”
Charlie smiled. “Please don’t worry about it. Anything is better than the place I left. A little mess is nothing.”
I opened the door to the spare room and gestured for them to come inside. There was an old but comfortable double bed in the corner and a lamp on the bedside table. Sure enough, Jericho’s pile of clothes sat on the floor. I growled and picked them up, making a note to dump these off at Jericho’s place later.
“There we go,” I said.
Charlie let out a deep sigh, like he was finally comfortable after a long day. I couldn’t blame him after what he’d been through. All of a sudden his stomach growled loudly and his eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he mumbled, looking embarrassed.
“Don’t worry. In fact, if you’re not too tired to move, let’s have dinner before you pass out,” I said.
“I don’t want to be a burden more than I already am,” he said. He averted his eyes down to Casey, who had fallen asleep back in human form in his lap.
“Nonsense,” I growled. “To take care of your daughter properly, first you have to take care of yourself. I won’t let you starve.”
After a moment of deliberation he sighed with a smile and got up, following me to the kitchen. “You’re pretty persuasive, aren’t you?”
