The Hidden Omega

by Wilder, J. L.

  They shift.

  Clothing rips away from bodies, the way it almost never does for my pack anymore because it’s been so long since any of us have shifted on no notice. Fur sprouts and faces lengthen, and strides grow longer too, increasing the strangers’ pace. Suddenly, all too soon, they’re in the woods.

  They’re on top of me.

  They see me.

  And there’s a moment when I honestly think I’m dead.

  But their leader —it’s so easy to spot an alpha in animal form —stops cold, and the other two form up behind him. He shows his teeth, but cautiously, warning me that he’s not afraid to fight but that he isn’t planning to start with me.

  And I see an opportunity.

  It’s a risk to reassume my human form in front of three bears, and I’m especially displeased to be naked in this situation, but it’s dark out and the risk might pay dividends that would make it worthwhile. I shift back and stand before them, waiting, hoping.

  The bears do absolutely nothing for the longest time.

  Then, slowly, almost as though he’s easing into it, the alpha resumes his form. He’s an old man, older than me, probably old enough to be my father, but I can tell he’s still in good shape. Despite his silvery hair, he’s lean and muscular. “Zoe, Eric,” he says, “don’t do anything. Stay as you are. If this one tries anything, you know what to do.”

  “I’m not going to try anything,” I say.

  He’s impassive. “We’ll see.”

  “Listen, sir —”

  “Greg.”

  “Okay, Greg. I’m an alpha too. I’m not here to hurt your family, I promise. I was just out for a run. But then I heard, you know, a gunshot, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay, so I came closer.”

  Behind him, there’s a bit of movement. One of the bears is shuffling from side to side, looking discontent.

  “Easy, Zoe,” Greg murmurs. Then he looks at me. “These are my children. Zoe and Robbie. And I’m not their alpha.”

  “You’re not?” I’m completely taken aback. “But the way they follow you —”

  “I’m their father. You don’t follow your father?”

  “I never knew my father,” I say. “My parents were killed when I was young.”

  “Oh,” Greg says. “I’m sorry.”

  He doesn’t sound sorry. “Who’s your alpha?” I ask. “Maybe I should be talking to him.” It’s a jerk thing to say, but Greg seems like kind of a jerk, so I’m not feeling like pulling punches.

  Greg’s face hardens. “Who do you think they shot?”

  Shit. I didn’t want to be that much of a jerk.

  “They let us go,” Greg says. “They wanted the house, and our alpha said no. So, they killed him and told us to start running.” He shakes his head. “Don’t know why we stopped to talk to you, frankly. Stupid. They could come looking for us.”

  “Hang on,” I say. “Do you know where you’re going to go?”

  “We’re going to run,” he says. “That’s all.”

  “Because —” I hear the words as they come out of my mouth, and I can’t believe I’m saying them. “I have a pack. We have a camp. And you could join us. We’re the Hell’s Bears, Laurentian Mountains Chapter.”

  “The Hell’s Bears?” Greg’s eyebrows all but disappear into the hair that’s swooping across his forehead. Behind him, one of his children ripples out a little growl.

  “What’s wrong with that?” I ask.

  Greg gives me an odd look. “Do you think I’m some kind of sucker? Do you really not know?”

  I’m starting to have a funny feeling. “What don’t I know?”

  “The Hell’s Bears were the ones who shot our Alpha.”

  I can’t breathe. “What chapter?”

  Greg appraises me. “What chapters are you affiliated with?”

  “None,” I assure him. “We’re completely off the grid. And if...if you don’t want to come with me now, I understand. But please tell me before I go —was it Montreal?”

  The look he gives me is pure pity, and I realize I don’t even need to hear the answer.

  Harlan.

  Chapter Eighteen

  LANE

  None of us get any sleep.

  I spend the night sitting up by the fire, sandwiched between Clay and Mike. I expected, honestly, that Clay would have a problem when he realized what had happened between Mike and me. Once the hormones settled and we were able to think critically about what we’d done, I realized that Clay would probably be furious. After all, he and I only got together one day ago, and already his packmate is imprinting on me and we’re having sex when no one else is around to catch us? It’s a complete betrayal. I even worried about the possibility of Clay and Mike coming to blows over it.

  But to my surprise, when we confessed what had happened, Clay laughed with a sort of pleased surprise. “I told you,” he said to me. “Didn’t I say? Didn’t I say others were going to imprint on you?”

  “You didn’t say it was going to be Mike,” I said, feeling a strange mix of lightness and exasperation. I resented being laughed at, but on the other hand, this was sort of the best response we could have hoped for, right? And now we’re sitting together on the log that we use as a seat by our fire, staring into the flames, shoulder to shoulder like a real family. Despite the weirdness of me matching up with two different people in this new and profound way, and of those two people being as close as brothers, everything feels very comfortable.

  The only problem is that Bruno’s been gone for nearly twelve hours now.

  I’m so tired. We all are. I’ve got my head on Clay’s shoulder and my fingers threaded through Mike’s and I’m staring out at the horizon, which is just starting to turn that color between gray and pink, as though a veil is being lifted. I’m shivering slightly, but I can’t tell whether that’s due to cold or fear or pure exhaustion.

  “Is he coming back?” I whisper.

  “I don’t know,” Mike says. “I thought so. He said he was going for a ride. I thought he would have been back by now. Maybe we should be looking for him.”

  “We don’t even know which way he went,” Clay says.

  “We could split up...”

  “We’re not splitting up.”

  “But what if he’s hurt?”

  Clay is quiet for a minute. “If he’s not back by the time the sun is up...then we’ll go.”

  “Wait. What about me?” I ask. “I haven’t got a bike.”

  “You’ll ride with one of us. It’s okay. We’re not going to leave you alone,” Clay says.

  I turn my face into his neck. I can’t believe this is happening. Bruno is our alpha. I mean, okay, I know he isn’t mine, but he’s the head of my pack. Without him here, it’s like we’re a bunch of children who don’t really know what to do with ourselves. “Why did he leave?”

  “I have no idea,” Clay says. “I never thought he would do something like that.”

  Mike is quiet.

  Being in each other’s presence like this is comforting, even though everything else in our lives is a mess right now. Mike rubs his thumb in slow circles across the back of my hand. Clay, every now and then, turns and kisses my temple. I feel safe and loved, even through my fear. It’s a new feeling. Being with the Hell’s Bears these last few weeks has been a wonderful reprieve from the family I grew up with, but not until today have I felt this kind of familial bond with them. I’m part of them now. And I realize, as that thought occurs to me, that I will never leave them. And Clay and Mike would never let me.

  We’re together now.

  Suddenly, my thoughts are interrupted by a rustling in the darkness. I tense in Clay and Mike’s arms. “What is that?” We haven’t seen any animals of significance since we’ve been camped here, but that doesn’t mean one couldn’t show up.

  Then Bruno steps out into the clearing.

  There’s a beat, during which nobody says anything. Then Mike gets to his feet, crosses the clearing, and stops in
front of Bruno.

  “Is he going to hit him?” I whisper. Clay shrugs.

  “Are you all right?” Mike asks. His voice is tight.

  Bruno nods once.

  Mike grabs his shoulder and pulls him into a hug, slapping his back firmly once before holding him away at arm’s length. “If you ever do that again, I’m going to kick your ass.”

  Bruno chuckles a little. “I’ll just tell you to stop kicking my ass, you know.”

  “Don’t start with that right now. Do you know how worried we’ve been? You could have been dead on the side of the highway for all we knew.”

  “Come on, you’d have heard sirens —”

  “Or you could have decided to leave us —”

  “I’d tell you if I ever —”

  “Right, like you told Harlan?”

  Bruno’s face closes down. “This isn’t like that.”

  “But I didn’t know it wasn’t like that,” Mike says. “Clay didn’t know. Lane didn’t know.”

  Bruno looks over Mike’s shoulder, making eye contact with each of us. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Why were you gone so long?” Clay asks. “Don’t tell me you were riding your bike all this time.”

  “Of course not,” Bruno says. “I actually...I met someone.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Guys,” Bruno says, and it’s a split second before I realize he isn’t talking to us. “Come on out.”

  Three figures emerge from the trees behind Bruno. As they step into the light, it becomes clear that one of them is an older man, while the other two are a young man and woman close to my own age. Each is holding a plastic bag that looks like it might contain a change of clothes.

  “You went shopping?” I say.

  “They didn’t have any clothes,” Bruno defends himself. “Everyone, this is Greg and his children Zoe and Robbie. They want to join the pack.”

  “You mean our pack?” Clay asks. “The Hell’s Bears?”

  “Northern Quebec Chapter,” Robbie recites, as if he’s learned something and he’s showing it off for the teacher.

  Greg steps forward. “We know about your history within your pack,” he says. “We know you split with your Montreal branch and formed a new pack on your own.”

  Mike cuts his eyes at Bruno. “We’re just telling people that, huh?”

  “Mike, they were attacked by Harlan and his gang,” Bruno says. “They’re no friends to the Montreal Bears. They needed a place to go, and we’re on the same side, so I told them they could band together with us.”

  Hang on a minute. “So, they’re in the pack?” I ask. “They’re actually in? Like, you’re their alpha?”

  “None of us was an alpha anyway,” Greg says. “We don’t mind.”

  As if that was my point. What about me? I’ve been with the Hell’s Bears for weeks now, and I’m not in yet. Bruno isn’t my alpha. It’s always been the thing that sets me apart, but I didn’t complain, because I thought it made sense. I’d just met them. Why would their pack already include me? But now Bruno brings home these three new people he just met tonight, who Clay and Mike hadn’t met at all, and they’re already in? What gives?

  Does Bruno not want me?

  I look at him, study him, trying to figure it out. He’s showing Zoe and Robbie the shelter, making side comments to Clay about how we’ll need to expand the shelter now to make room for the newcomers.

  They didn’t expand the shelter when I came.

  There was only one of me. They didn’t really need to. But somehow, it hurts.

  No one is paying attention to me and I don’t feel like being here in the campsite and watching the family I’m not part of expand around me, so I retreat into the trees and head toward the river. I’ve never been allowed to go help with the fishing. Well, I’m not Bruno’s. I don’t need his permission, do I?

  “Hey.”

  I nearly jump out of my skin. Spinning around, I see Robbie leaning against a tree and watching me. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to.”

  My heart rate is returning to normal. “That’s okay. What are you doing?”

  “I didn’t catch your name.”

  “I’m Lane.”

  “And you’re the omega.”

  “I...” this feels like a shockingly personal question. Even Bruno and I haven’t actually discussed the fact that I’m an omega, although I’m sure he knows by now. Is it possible he would have told these strangers about me?

  “I know you are,” Robbie says. “Look, it’s all right. I’m not trying to scare you. But we had to see you for ourselves. That’s a big part of the reason we joined up. Your alpha thinks it’s all about having a common enemy, but the truth is that if we hadn’t caught the scent of an omega here, we probably wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with any Hell’s Bears at all.”

  So, this is my fault. “You could smell me?”

  “Sure, on Bruno’s coat,” Robbie says. “Once you’ve caught the scent of an omega, you never really forget it. I’d recognize that smell anywhere.” He steps toward me. “Are you mated?”

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “Because I’ve always wanted to get with an omega,” he says. “It’s kind of a fantasy. You know what I mean? And you’re pretty hot.” He reaches out a hand and stops just short of my shoulder, as if he’s asking a question.

  I should be finding Bruno. I should be talking to him about what happened yesterday, and about why he’s never welcomed me into the pack like he is with these newcomers. I should be sorting out my feelings about all of this. Maybe Clay and Mike and I should leave together and start our own pack, even.

  But instead there’s this guy. This simple, straightforward guy who doesn’t have an imprint binding him to me, who just thinks I’m hot and wants a little fun. It’s like the old days, before everything changed. When I thought I was just a human?

  And honestly, it’s kind of a relief.

  I close the distance between us and let his hand meet my shoulder.

  “Is your mate okay with this?” he asks as my fingers find the button on his jeans.

  I pop it open slowly. “Mates,” I correct him. “They’re fine.” I honestly think they are.

  He strips me bare and lifts me in his arms, and I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as he fucks me slowly. He’s so strong that he holds me up the whole time. He doesn’t even move to prop my back against a tree. He holds me upright with one arm wrapped around my back. I feel tiny with him.

  And there’s no imprint, so it’s not intense and desperate and borderline painful the way it was with Clay and Mike. We don’t reach those heights. With Robbie, here in the woods, it’s just nice. Just casual and easy and pleasant, and when we’re done, we adjust our clothes and smile sheepishly, go our separate ways and I know I’m going to want that with him again because it was just plain fun.

  Chapter Nineteen

  BRUNO

  Having Greg and his children around is a relief. Suddenly, there’s a buffer between me and Lane again. This is what I assumed Mike would provide before he went and fell in love with her. Or whatever they’re in. Maybe it’s not love. It’s not like I’m going to ask them.

  Zoe definitely doesn’t have potential as a romantic partner for me —she’s cute, but she’s defensive and unfriendly, and it’s all the two of us can do to get along. For some reason, we do much better when we’re in bear form, so she’s quickly becoming my favorite fishing companion. I get the feeling Zoe understands the value of escaping your human concerns by stepping into your animal self just as well as I do.

  Robbie quickly falls in with Mike, which I could have predicted. They’re both young and loud, and they like sitting by the fire and laughing at each other’s stupid jokes. He also seems to get along with Lane, which doesn’t surprise me either. I think Lane could probably get along with anybody. She’s spent long stretches talking with Greg about the pack he grew up in and about
his children’s mother, who he tells us died several years ago. It’s a kind thing to do, and it’s welcoming, and I respect her for it. She also shows Zoe around the campsite, I imagine feeling some duty of care as the only other woman present. The two of them have a bond, even if they’re not exactly friends.

  In fact, the only person Lane seems not to be getting along with lately is me.

  We haven’t spoken since I brought our new packmates back to camp. Occasionally, we’ll accidentally make eye contact, but we’ll quickly look away. If I didn’t know better, I would think she was avoiding me. But there’s no reason for her to do that. The awkwardness between us is purely one sided. She knows nothing about my feelings for her. I know that Mike would never betray my trust, even if they are bonded now.

  But it’s hard to be around her, with her always shooting curious looks at me as if she knows there’s something I’m not telling her, so I find excuses to get away. Today, the pretense is laying rabbit traps. I’m not even sure if the snares I’m constructing will work, but worst-case scenario is we won’t get any rabbits and I at least got out of camp for a few hours. That’s better than nothing. And hey, maybe they will work and I’ll be able to bring home the bacon. The rabbit-bacon, that is.

  “Hey, Bruno.”

  Well. Damn.

  Lane is standing over me, looking down. She sinks to her knees beside me. “What is this?”

  “Rabbit trap.” I know I sound brusque, but maybe she’ll go away.

  She moves closer. “I didn’t know you knew how to make rabbit traps.”

  “I don’t. It’s an experiment. Hey, don’t touch it, you’ll mess it up.”

  “Okay, okay, sorry.” She pulls back. “Bruno, can we talk?”

  “Talk about what?” I bend closer to my snare, adjusting the knot.

  “About how you never talk to me anymore,” she says evenly. “You were so nice to me when I first met you, and now it’s like you don’t even want me around. Did I do something?”

  “I don’t act like that,” I say.