First Time (Pure Omega Love Book 1), page 11
When it became clear he wasn’t going to find a grocery store down this way, as the buildings thinned out and the road before him was the only thing to be seen for miles, Corey turned back around and started his search anew. This time, he found the grocery store. As it turned out, he’d missed it and passed it by. He didn’t think he could be blamed for that lapse, especially since it was called Bob’s Mart—no indication whatsoever that it sold food—and was crammed between the post office and a florist.
He turned into the parking lot and went inside, bringing out the list to examine it. Simple enough, he supposed. Eggs, milk, cheese, bread, a number of frozen goods…
How am I going to carry all this by myself? he wondered. Oh, well, He was strong. He could do it.
Grabbing a shopping cart, he busied himself with wandering up and down the aisles. One grocery store really wasn’t that different from the next and he found all the things he needed with little trouble.
Then, halfway through, he felt something.
Corey paused, a gallon of milk hanging from his fingertips. That odd sensation… Did he know it? It was like heat, but not from inside himself. It came from another source, behind him somewhere.
I’m being watched.
He caught his breath in his throat, panic rising up inside him. All he could think was that the panthers had come for him. They were behind him now, perhaps one, perhaps many, crouched down low to the floor with murder in their eyes. Any second now, he’d feel hot breath on the back of his neck and then he wouldn’t be able to feel anything anymore as they crushed the life from his body.
“Excuse me,” someone said. “Could I reach around you?”
Corey turned his head, muscles in his neck creaking, to stare at the woman who had approached him. “What?” he croaked.
She frowned, eyes behind her glasses growing impatient. “You’re standing in front of the milk.”
This stranger had eyes only for him. There was nothing behind him. What he’d felt, surely it was only a shadow of his paranoia, a ghost conjured up by some nightmare that had risen to the surface of his brain. In other words, he’d imagined it.
“Sorry,” he said, and pushed his cart out of the way. The woman huffed at him but he hardly heard it, as he was too busy trying to convince himself that he really had imagined it. At the very least, it was gone now.
The rest of the shopping trip went without incident. He paid and was given a few coins’ worth of change back by the uninterested clerk, who didn’t even say a word to him the entire time. Corey pushed the shopping cart back to where it belonged, gathered up his purchases in both hands as best he could, and hurried back out onto the street. All he wanted to do now was get home, get somewhere safe where he could put these groceries up and pretend he hadn’t gone insane. Or maybe, just maybe, he’d been remembering something.
Why had his past been so dark as to give him nightmares like this? Only time would tell, especially since it seemed as if no one even cared that he was gone from wherever he was supposed to be.
As he staggered along, his arms started to ache from his burdens. His shoulders felt like they were strained to the limit, on the verge of popping out of their sockets. The sunlight, so pleasant before, now worked against him. Sweat trickled down his back, making his shirt stick uncomfortably to his clammy skin. Stubbornness kept him planting one foot in front of the other, though not even at half the speed he’d been going before.
As he crossed the street, he felt it again. That burn on the back of his neck, like lasers piercing right through him. The wolf in him clearly detected two eyes turned his way, the stare unbroken and drawing nearer.
Corey braced to shift and was on the verge of transforming when a voice came from behind him. There wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that it came from the person who was following him, which meant one of two things: either he wasn’t hallucinating something from his past, or he was really insane.
“Don’t do that. You’re okay.”
He had been a wolf long enough to recognize that distinct timbre, the overwhelming bass that came from deep within the chest. He was being talked to by a shifter, and an alpha at that.
And is that voice familiar?
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” the speaker continued. “I just thought you might want some help.”
Curiosity now mingling with his fear, Corey turned around awkwardly and found himself looking up into the eyes of a very tall, very broad man with milky skin and flame-red hair. He wasn’t wearing his blue uniform, but Corey recognized him in an instant. This was the alpha who had been standing in as the Chief of Police, while the actual Chief was out of town on his honeymoon. Corey didn’t remember his name, but he did remember being spoken about as if he wasn’t in the room.
“Help?” he repeated, uncertainly.
The deputy gestured with one wide hand toward the bags Corey held. His fingers were long and sprinkled with curly red hairs. “You went shopping. I thought I’d ask if you wanted help carrying those home.”
Jefferson, that was his name. Corey struggled to remember why he hadn’t liked this man. He seemed so different now; polite instead of aggressive. Maybe it had just been a tense time when they met, because this alpha was certainly all smiles now.
Despite that, he still couldn’t help but to feel wary. The wolf inside him lingered on the verge of bursting out of him, ready if needed. “I don’t really need help, thank you,” he said, as politely as he could. “I can get there on my own.”
“Sure you can,” Jefferson agreed. “But you’d get there a lot faster if you let me help. Here.”
Before Corey could react, the alpha had nabbed half of the bags from his hand and hefted them up in the air easily. His other hand came around just as neatly, and Corey was relieved of the gallon of milk.
He had to admit that it felt a lot better to be carrying so little. Some of his wariness faded away and he smiled tentatively up at the other. “Thanks. Um, it’s not far.”
“Oh, I know it isn’t. I know where Dell lives.”
They started walking together. Jefferson strode along with an easy bounce to his step, as if he held far more power in his body than could be contained.
“So, is it your day off?” he asked awkwardly, uncertain if Jefferson would like a conversation to bridge the gap between them.
“Indeed it is, though I imagine it will be the last one I’ll have for quite a while.”
“Oh… why is that?”
“Because of the panthers, of course.” Jefferson looked at him. His brown eyes were very dark and serious, two abysmal caverns on the moon of his face. “They’re getting braver. Soon enough, they’ll attack and innocent lives will be lost.”
Corey swallowed hard. He could picture it: the cats swarming down from the hills in a dark wave… “So what are you going to do?”
“We’re going to eradicate them before they eradicate us.” Jefferson spoke dispassionately, like a man discussing the weather instead of mass murder. “There will be a battle. It happens. But, you should get Dell to tell you about that. It’s not my place, since you’re his omega.”
Dell’s omega. On the one hand, Corey did like the sound of that. On the other hand…
“You know what it means to be his, don’t you?”
If it was what he thought it was, he didn’t want to say it out loud. A wash of color rose up his face and settled in his cheeks.
Jefferson looked off into the distance, seeming to see past the neighborhood to something else. Something more. “He hasn’t told you then? Hm.”
“Told me what?”
“Well, it’s not my place to say…”
Corey sped up and then spun around, facing Jefferson and looking up into his eyes. “I have to know,” he pleaded. He knew his eyes were his best feature and he used them now to his advantage, begging with them. “If he hasn’t told me, it’s probably something I need to know.”
“Well…” Jefferson looked troubled, deliberating for a long moment before nodding. “Okay. But you can’t tell him that I’m the one who told you. I would hate for him to be angry with us.”
Just thinking of Dell’s anger was enough to make him shudder, so he nodded. “I won’t tell. I promise.”
“Alright then.” Jefferson stopped where he was and set down the bags he carried, careful not to break anything. Corey kept ahold of his, since they were light anyway. “There’s this thing that alphas can do, called marking. We do it during mating, and it tells other alphas that you belong to someone else. It’s a sign that you have a mate.”
A mate. Not merely lovers or boyfriends, but mates?
“But, Dell hasn’t bitten me or anything.”
Jefferson shrugged. “Then you aren’t his. Maybe that’s a good thing, you know? You’re so young. Why would you want to be tied down to anyone, especially a gruff loser like Dell? There’s nothing really special about him. All he’d do is use you to make babies.”
“Wait. Babies?”
“He didn’t explain that to you either, huh?” Jefferson shook his head. “Maybe we shouldn’t have put him in charge of you if he doesn’t tell you important things like this. You see, omega shifters are the ones that have babies. They’re usually female but then there are males like you who can have children too.”
It was like the world had been ripped out from under his feet and he was falling. He could accept the fact that he was a shapeshifter, and he could accept the fact that being marked was a thing that wolves did, but a man getting pregnant from another man? Surely it was impossible! And yet, it wasn’t. He could tell that he wasn’t being lied to. This was the reality he lived in now.
And hadn’t he gone into heat? An animal state intended to inspire a lot of sex so that babies would be born.
Shit. Is Dell… did he really use me? No. I don’t believe it! I won’t. I don’t.
But, he did believe at least part of it. Dell clearly had a reason for not telling him, for making him have to learn the truth from someone else. Why? He needed to find out.
“I’m sorry you had to find out like this so suddenly,” Jefferson murmured. “Maybe you need to have a good, long talk with Dell about what he wants… before he marks you and you’re his for good.”
Chapter 12
“We will attack on the night of the new moon,” Michael announced. His voice was proud and strong, carrying to every last wolf gathered at the meeting place. “It’s in two weeks. That gives us more than enough time to prepare.”
“Yes, and it gives the cats time to prepare as well,” Dell grunted from where he sat on the ground. Night in Montana was no dainty thing. It was so cold it hurt his teeth and froze his nose hairs. Wind sliced through his clothes as if he wore nothing, lashing his skin raw and red. “Let’s abandon tradition. It hasn’t gotten us anything but a bunch of pain. It’s just like I told that damned Blackwell panther. This is now. Leave the past in the past.”
But Michael shook his head. “This is the one tradition we can’t break. Battles will always be commenced on the new moon. It’s our way of remembering from whence we came. You know that, Dell.”
Yes, he did know that. And he thought it was quite stupid, too. There was no honor in being picked off one by one, but there was also no glory in setting down an appointment to fight. It took away any advantage that might be gained.
“How do we know the cats will keep to the new moon agreement?” he demanded. “What’s to stop them from attacking us in broad daylight tomorrow?”
A third speaker entered into the argument. Dell winced. Ugh. Jefferson.
“Ian Blackwell spoke of retribution for wrongs done in the past. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would want to get his revenge out of turn. He would wait. As will we.”
Chief Michael nodded. He was the alpha of the pack and his word was law. Jefferson cut a smug look across to Dell, who curled his lip at the man and then looked away. He hated the bastard even more now that he had come home recently and discovered his scent on Corey. Add to that the fact that Corey was acting much colder to him than normal and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the two had shared some words. He didn’t know what those words had been, or why the deputy had done it, but it had turned the omega against him.
With a massive effort, Dell refocused on the meeting. Every single wolf in Eureka was here, even the babies and toddlers and the elders. They occasionally gathered in these secluded hills in the middle of the night when something needed to be discussed, using only the light of the moon overhead to guide them.
Michael stood on a low boulder that put him above everyone else, as was his right. The rest formed a semicircle around his feet, listening to him speak as he discussed the coming battle. It would signal an end of the children’s peaceful lives. Hell, it signaled an end to peace for all of them. They would be out here constantly, practicing their fighting moves and deciding upon a strategy. Anything less than utmost preparation was suicide.
Dell glanced over at Corey, wondering with a pang in his heart what the omega thought. He wondered if he was frightened about his first battle, if he really knew what was going on. If he fought alongside the pack, as he would be expected to—since they had sheltered him all this time—then he would truly be one of them.
I wish you would talk to me instead of pushing me away. Whatever lies Jefferson has fed you, I need to undo them.
However, every time he tried to talk to the kid, to his omega, it always ended in avoidance and frustration. He hadn’t quite realized how much it meant to him that they had grown so close until it was all taken away from him. His heart ached.
The meeting concluded, not that Dell had heard any of it. He stood up and started for Corey, his heart lodging up in his throat. He couldn’t stand this any longer. They had to put this right somehow, before he went insane from misery. Screw being a lone wolf. Screw being the big tough guy. He just wanted his omega back.
However, before he was even halfway there, Jefferson appeared between them. Alpha and omega exchanged a few words before walking off into the night together, transforming into wolves as they went back to town. Dell hung his head, smiling bitterly because he didn’t know what else to do with himself. They looked like such a fine pair, fire and the smoke beside it. Maybe all this time he’d just been fooling himself.
Someone approached his shoulder and he turned to see Tim at his side, Michael’s mate. He held their daughter in his arms, her face lax with the deep sleep only a child can have. Dell looked down into her sleeping face and felt his heart wrench at the sight of her. She was such a perfect blend of both her fathers, so precious that he didn’t know what to do with himself. If he had children someday, would they be like this? Would they have his hair? Corey’s eyes? What would their wolf look like?
“Are you just going to watch them walk away?” Tim asked, quietly. He rocked his daughter in his arms, glancing down at her. His gaze was so full of love that it was painful for Dell to see, almost like he was looking at something he had no right witnessing.
“What choice do I have?” Dell replied. “I screwed up somewhere and Jefferson moved in.”
“But Corey hasn’t been claimed yet. There’s still time. You can still save it.”
Dell shrugged. The sandy-haired man at his side just didn’t understand. His romance had come easily because he had wanted it from the very beginning, had always known that he wanted a family. “It’s not right of me to force it, is it? Corey’s young. He’s allowed to do what he wants.”
“And you want him to do Jefferson?” Tim said, sarcastically. “Don’t discount him just because he’s younger than you are. Hell, it’s age that makes us confused about what we want from life.”
“What kind of life could I give him, Timmy?” Dell turned to look at the other man, blinking into his eyes and searching for the answer. “I don’t know how to be in love. I don’t know how to keep anyone happy. Not even myself.”
A month ago, he wouldn’t have admitted that he wasn’t happy, but what did it matter now? He was on the verge of being alone, as he had always wanted, and it took that long for him to realize just how much he didn’t want it.
“You could give him the life he wants, instead of whatever lies Jefferson’s feeding him. Man like that just can’t be trusted.”
Dell just shook his head and then headed off to his home. Corey wasn’t there.
The next day, preparations for battle began. The wolves took turns patrolling Eureka’s perimeter, and a group went out into the hills to hold the first battle training session. Dell was amongst their number, as he was one of the strongest. Jefferson was to lead the session, and of course Corey tagged along in his shadow. The omega looked exhausted and miserable; their eyes met once, but he just looked away again, leaving Dell alone once more.
Jefferson wandered amongst the group, pairing up the wolves and setting them up to spar. Dell watched with a grimace on his lips as he was the last one left alone.
“Looks like you’re training with me,” Jefferson said, loftily. He tossed his head and looked down at Dell, managing to do so even though they were the same height. “Try to keep up. I don’t play fair.”
“So I see,” Dell growled. He shifted and immediately threw himself at Jefferson. Jefferson shifted as their bodies collided and they went rolling across the grass. Someone had to leap out of the way as they went barreling toward them, bodies tangled together. Though the other wolves were all sparring, exchanging blows and practicing their dodges, Dell and Jefferson ripped at each other with abandon. Their muzzles met, fangs pushing together as they vied.
Dell braced his paws and then shoved forward with all his strength. Biting down, he wrenched his head around to the side. Pain from the strain of the effort lanced down his spine, but he was rewarded with a resounding thump as Jefferson crashed down hard onto his side.
“Bastard!” Dell snarled. He ran at the fallen alpha, claws outstretched to rip his exposed stomach wide open.
“Stop!”
A sleek silver shape dashed in front of him. Dell raised his paw to slap the other wolf aside, until he saw who it was. Black ears, black legs, piercing eyes. It was Corey he was about to strike down, and with enough strength to break his spine if it landed right.
