by L. C. Davis
Caleb listened in silence as the Alpha spoke, taking in his words. The earnestness in Dustin’s eyes and voice made him believe those words, even if it went against his common sense. “Is that an order?” he finally asked.
A slow smile crept across the Alpha’s face. He was a handsome man, and the fact was obvious to anyone who met him, but he was usually so somber and lost in his own head that he seemed older than his twenty-seven years. When he smiled like that, it made Caleb see him in a different way. A way that made his heart flutter traitorously and shame seize him, warning him to retreat before his weak nature led him any further down the path of betrayal.
“Yeah,” he said in a stern tone that belied the amusement in his eyes. “As a matter of fact, it is.”
Chapter 7
DUSTIN
The fear in Caleb’s eyes when Dustin had approached him in the kitchen had thrown the Alpha for a loop. If he hadn’t known for a fact that Alec wasn’t the kind of Alpha—the kind of man, period—who would ever lay his hand on an omega in anger, he would have assumed the worst. He’d never seen anyone flinch like that without knowing what it was to be on the receiving end of a clenched fist.
Alec had made brief mention of his mate’s former life, but usually only in the context of being frustrated that Caleb wouldn’t share more with him. Dustin knew now without a doubt that whatever life Caleb had led before meeting his brother, it hadn’t been an easy one. The idea of anyone hurting the omega he’d already grown so attached to—his destined mate, even if he still wasn’t letting himself dwell on any of the implications that came with that realization—was enough to push him overboard.
He’d gone out that evening after enjoying a quiet dinner with Caleb under the pretense of having some more work to get done. In reality, he’d already finished his chores for the day, but he needed to blow off steam. Now, half his chores were done for the week.
Being single had its blessings and its drawbacks. On the one hand, it gave Dustin more time to focus on the needs of his pack. On the other, it was clear that the few omegas he’d dated casually over the years hadn’t prepared him for dealing with one as fragile as Caleb. His brother’s omega would take a far more delicate hand, both literally and figuratively. It was obvious that Caleb felt insecure with his role in the pack, and Dustin couldn’t blame him. Alpha, omega or beta, all shifters needed to know they had a place in the pack and without any defined role, Caleb would always feel like an outsider.
The only problem was, Dustin didn’t know how to tell the omega just how irreplaceable his role truly was. Especially not when it meant the subversion of everything he was supposed to be to Dustin.
Fortunately, the Alpha’s lifelong friend and the only person he trusted with such sensitive information was back in town for the week. Zander was a year younger than Dustin and Alec, and the three had been inseparable growing up. Zander spent most of his time on the road as a bounty hunter and he worked in loose cooperation with the Federation of Wolves. The Meadowlands Pack would always be his home base, but it had been clear to all who knew the young Alpha from an early age that domesticity just wasn’t in his makeup.
As they sat together at the sports bar on the edge of town, Dustin listened to Zander’s latest stories of the road. He knew most of them were slightly embellished, since he’d spent a year out of high school doing the same thing, but if the tales Zander spun were half as tall in reality as he said they were, Dustin decided he’d made the right choice by settling down to lead his family’s pack.
“So,” Zander said, gulping the last of his beer. “How’re things on the homefront?”
“They’re alright, all things considered,” said Dustin, still not sure how to admit that he’d imprinted on his brother’s mate. He knew when he did, there was a damn good chance Zander would deck him and he’d deserve it. Zander traveled often and had visited Alec and his mate in the city a few times. If anyone would understand, it was him. If anyone wouldn’t understand, it was him.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stay long after the funeral,” Zander said in a sympathetic tone.
“Don’t worry about it. I know you’re busy hunting down those omega auction creeps.”
“You mean the ones who don’t exist now that the Futurus Initiative has made the world a safer place for omegas?” Zander asked, rolling his eyes. He worked for Futurus, from time to time, but he’d never made any secret of his disdain for the program. Dustin had always been on the fence, himself. He didn’t like the idea of an omega being pressured into that kind of life, but his pack system had never made it mandatory, so he didn’t see the problem of omegas choosing to participate on their own.
“How are your parents holding up?” Zander asked, ordering another round of drinks.
“You know how they are. Dad’s pretending like nothing happened and mom’s eating up all the attention, but I can tell it still hasn’t really sunk in that he’s gone.”
Zander gave him a look.
“What?” Dustin asked even though he knew precisely what that look meant.
“You’re not exactly the king of emotional openness yourself. I saw you at the funeral, business as usual.”
“I don’t really have much of a choice,” Dustin admitted. “Alec is gone and it sucks, but there are too many people who need me to be there for them to fall apart now. Including his mate.”
“How is Caleb?” Zander asked worriedly.
“As good as he can be, I guess. He’s stronger than he looks.”
Zander snorted. “That’s for damn sure.”
“How well did you know each other?”
Zander blinked. “Alec didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Dustin hated to admit it, but there were a lot of things Alec didn’t tell him. They had stayed in contact after Alec left, but Dustin’s close proximity to their parents had put a wedge between them. Alec wanted a clean break, and Dustin was the jagged edge in between the broken pieces of his old and new lives.
“I’m the one who introduced Alec and Caleb in the first place.”
“Don’t tell me you two…”
“No. No, of course not,” Zander said with a dismissive laugh. Dustin hoped he wasn’t as obviously relieved as he felt. “I met Caleb on the job. He was at a halfway house for omegas.”
“Volunteering?” Dustin asked. It was the only thing that made sense.
“No, he was living there at the time.” The other Alpha’s eyes widened as if he’d just realized his mistake. “Oh, shit. I seriously thought you knew. I just assumed Alec would have told you.”
Zander’s words stung even though Dustin knew that wasn’t his intention. “He never told me how he met Caleb, just that he’d found a mate and he wasn’t coming home. I never even really knew why. It always ended up as a fight, so we just agreed to drop it before we could both say something we’d regret, and I didn’t want to push him even further away.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Maybe not, but whatever it is, if it involves Caleb, I need to know.” It wouldn’t change anything. Whatever the omega’s past was, Alec had been able to look past it and that was good enough for Dustin. Nothing would change the way he felt, but he did need to know as much about his mate as possible if he was going to keep him safe.
Zander hesitated. “It’s really not my place, man. He was Alec’s mate.”
“And what if I told you he was mine?”
The other Alpha stared blankly at Dustin, like he’d just told a joke that had gone over his head. Dustin wished it was that easy, but there was nothing funny about what had happened. “Come again, now?”
“I imprinted on Caleb,” Dustin admitted.
For a few minutes, Zander didn’t say a word. “When?” he finally asked.
“The moment I saw him.”
“Shit, man.”
“Tell me about it.”
“That’s…shit. Have you told him?”
“Of course not,” Dustin muttered
. “He just lost his mate and their child. You’re the first person I’ve told, and it’s gotta stay that way.”
“You’ll have to tell him eventually.”
“No shit. But right now, he just needs time to recover and heal and I’m not about to do anything that’ll get in the way of that.”
“Trust me, I get that.” Zander sighed. “I guess it’s kind of a good thing you didn’t meet him before.”
“Yeah, it’s a real silver lining.”
“You know what I meant.” Zander hesitated. “What are you going to do for now?”
“Take care of him. It would help if I knew what I was dealing with.”
“I guess it’s different if he’s your mate,” Zander murmured. “When I met Caleb, he was living at the halfway house because he’d gotten picked up working the streets.”
Dustin had to fight the urge to deck his best friend right there in defense of his omega’s honor. As impossible as it seemed, given Caleb’s nature, he knew that if those words were coming out of Zander’s mouth, it was because they were true and not a derogatory remark on the omega’s character. Zander wasn’t that kind of guy. He was a bachelor, sure, and he made no claims of being the responsible family type. He’d probably slept with more people in a year than Dustin had in a lifetime, but he was as chivalrous as they came.
“Don’t kill me, I’m just giving it to you as straight as I can,” Zander said, holding up his hands. “I don’t know all the details, but I know he wasn’t doing it for kicks.”
“Of course he wasn’t,” Dustin muttered. He doubted any omega would sell that part of himself to an Alpha if he didn’t feel like it was absolutely necessary. Shifters weren’t like humans. There was no such thing as casual sex with an Alpha, not for an omega. Chemical attachment was a hell of a thing, even if there was no mate bond to speak of. Then there was the high chance of pregnancy and the ineffectiveness of heat suppressants. Whatever had pushed Caleb to go into that field of work, Dustin knew he’d had his reasons. That didn’t make it any easier to swallow, but not for the reasons Zander probably thought.
“He’d been out of it for a while when we met,” Zander continued. “I’d bring omegas to the halfway house sometimes when I met ones who needed help on the job, and Caleb would help them settle in. He was studying to become a social worker. One day, your brother came with me to volunteer at their clinic for his residency requirements and I introduced them. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I can imagine,” said Dustin. It wasn’t difficult. One look at Caleb was all it had taken for Dustin to fall hard. Even if he hadn’t imprinted, he knew it hadn’t taken long for Alec do to the same. “Thanks for telling me.”
“I guess I just assumed that was why…” Zander trailed off, but Dustin knew what he was going to say.
“You assumed that was why he never came back?”
“I mean, I love your parents like my own, man, but we both know how they are. Your mom’s always been obsessed with ‘breeding’ and ‘reputation.’”
Dustin nodded. He did know, all too well. His mother had been cold enough toward Caleb without knowing about his past. He could only imagine what she’d say if she found out the truth, but he wasn’t going to give her the chance.
“I’m sorry you had to find out like this,” said Zander. “Especially now.”
“Don’t be. I hate that Caleb went through that, but in a way, I’m relieved to finally know. I always knew there was something. Some reason Alec felt like he couldn’t come home. Now I know, he was just protecting Caleb. You’re right, our parents wouldn’t have accepted him and Alec always wanted out of here. He always wanted his own life. I guess he just figured starting over was the best way to make it happen.”
“What are you gonna do? You’ll have to claim Caleb eventually. There’s also the chance they’ll find out about his past anyway.”
“If they do, I’ll deal with it,” Dustin said, finishing his beer. “I’m the Alpha of this pack now. They already chased Alec off, and I’m not gonna let them do that to Caleb.”
Zander was giving him that annoying smirk he knew too well. “Coming from you, I’d expect nothing less.”
Chapter 8
CALEB
Caleb opened his eyes and was immediately blinded by the sunlight. It was the first day he’d woken up with the sun, but he decided it was time to get back to his old habits. The good ones, at any rate.
A week had passed since Dustin had put his foot down on the housework, but Caleb could walk now with the aid of crutches and he only needed his chair when he was going to be standing for long stretches of time, so he hoped the Alpha might be persuaded to change his mind.
At first, Caleb had been so overwhelmed by the transition that he hadn’t noticed how different the pace of life was in the Meadowlands. Sawyers was the smallest town he’d ever been in, and even in contrast to the suburbs of upstate New York, it was quiet. Dustin was good company, but between the farm and his duties as pack Alpha, Caleb seldom saw him. Noreen was out even more often, but that was hardly a bad thing. When she was around, she made it clear that she wished Caleb wasn’t.
Caleb was downstairs reading in the library when Blake came in. It was the first time the omega had seen him since the funeral and when Blake stopped at the door to stare at him, he seemed surprised that Caleb was still there.
“Oh. Hello,” the older Alpha said in the polite yet stiff tone he always seemed to have. “Is my son around?”
“He said he was going to a meeting, but I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Caleb said, closing his book.
“And Noreen?” Blake asked, casting a wary glance toward the stairs.
Caleb bit his lip. “She went shopping for her party next week, I think.”
“Of course,” he muttered bitterly. “That woman was born to spend money.”
Caleb wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He never had been, not then and not years earlier when the men he’d been forced to service had used him as a sounding board for all their grievances with the mates they were betraying, among other things.
“I’ll tell them you stopped by,” he said, deciding that was the most diplomatic answer he could come up with.
Blake nodded and turned to leave. He paused, looking back at Caleb. “Could I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” Caleb said, sincerely hoping it didn’t have anything to do with Noreen’s shopping habits.
“My son,” Blake began, as if the words were giving him trouble. “Was he…happy?”
Caleb hadn’t been prepared for a question like that. Blake was such a somber, emotionless man. In fact, irritation was the only emotion he’d actually seen the Andrews patriarch express. He wasn’t sure what to make of this new side of him, or how to answer.
“I…believe so, yes.”
Blake crossed the room and sat on the other end of the sofa. “His job,” he continued, making it clear that he wanted more of an explanation. “Was he doing well? He was respected by his colleagues?”
“Well, yes,” Caleb said, shifting so Blake would have more room. “Very much so.” He could sense the Alpha wanted more, and despite the fact that Noreen had shut him down the few times he’d tried to speak of Alec, he longed so desperately to share the memories with someone. Especially someone else who had loved Alec for even longer than he had.
No matter what had come between the Andrews’, looking into Blake’s eyes, it was impossible to deny that he still loved and missed his son. He had just become an expert at hiding it over the years. Caleb wondered if the Andrews men felt the need to hide everything that troubled them.
“He had his choice of placements during his residency,” Caleb explained. Blake was hanging on his every word. “The best hospital in the country wanted him.”
“And that’s what he was doing when…” Blake trailed off, like his vocal chords were tightening, constricting the words he couldn’t bear to say. “When he passed?”
“No,” Caleb s
aid softly. “He turned the job down.” He couldn’t help but smile when he saw the look of shock on the Alpha’s face. Alec resembled his father, but they couldn’t have been more different in nature. “He wanted to work at a hospital eventually, but he decided to devote at least a year to working for charity.”
“That sounds like my son,” Blake said with a heavy sigh. “He was always set on walking his own path.”
“He liked helping people. I think it gave him a sense of purpose.”
“And you,” Blake said, watching Caleb.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Alec wasn’t like Dustin. He always went along with what his mother and I wanted because he didn’t like conflict.” He smiled sadly. “That’s why we were all so surprised when he was the one who chose to leave. But I’ve never heard conviction in my son’s voice like I did the day I called to tell him it was time he gave up all that big city nonsense and came home. He outright refused, and said it was because he already was home. Back then, I didn’t understand what he meant by that, but now I know he was talking about you.”
“I’m sorry,” Caleb said softly. “I never meant to come between you.”
“There was already an ocean between us by the time Alec left home,” Blake said in a thoughtful tone. “One little omega couldn’t make much of a difference.”
Caleb was still trying to find the words that might ease the guilt that was obviously weighing so heavily on Blake when he heard the front door slam shut. Noreen’s heels clicked on the floor and she came to a stop in the doorway, her arms folded and her eyes lit with suspicion. “What are you doing here?”
Caleb wasn’t quite sure which of them she was talking to. Blake stood, scowling at his ex-wife. The wall he seemed to have around him at all times was back up and thicker than ever. “There’s something I needed to discuss with Dustin. Did the mall close early?”
Her eyes narrowed but she held her tongue. The way her gaze darted over to Caleb, he knew he was somehow going to be the one who got blamed for whatever she thought she’d walked in on.
