His Sweet Omega, page 3
Remy went to the back of the cave and lapped at the pool of water. Then he went over to the pallet to sit beside it. In the far corner, strips of venison hung over a smoldering fire pit. His stomach tightened with hunger. He knew better than to simply take, however. A servient couldn’t eat before a dominant permitted it. It was hard to wait, especially as Merida had never made him once they were on their own. There was a beta leading them, now, so the old rules must apply again. He stayed in wolf form for both the warmth and to control his hunger better. Lots of things were easier for some reason when he was in his fur.
Merida came in, too, shifting as she went to the drying rack. She grabbed a couple of strips of meat and brought them to him. “Here, change and eat.”
Remy shifted and eyed the food. “Is it okay with the beta if I eat?”
His sister huffed with obvious impatience. “I’m telling you to do so.” She pushed the strips closer to his face.
The smell of it with the sharpness of his hunger, as well as, the commanding tone she used, proved too much for him to resist. Taking both pieces of venison, he bit off a hunk and chewed.
Merida pulled the bear skin closer and draped it over his shoulders, then sat beside him in her quiet way. When she wanted to be, his sister was like an unmovable rock, sturdy and silent, yet ever watchful, too. He leaned against her as he always did, appreciating the extra warmth and the safety of her presence. Before he’d finished the second strip of meat, his wolf went on high alert. The beta entered the den with a leather sling filled with sticks clenched in his teeth. Dane dropped the bundle near the fire pit before shifting. As always, his magnificent body caught Remy’s attention. He stopped mid-chew to stare in a most impertinent manner. It was until Merida jabbed him in the ribs that he was able to look away.
It didn’t matter anyway because the beta came to them with his hands full of dried berries. He squatted in front of Remy. “Here, have these. Venison is delicious but fruit is good for your human self.”
Remy looked at him with eyes cast downward as he’d been taught and cautiously took some of the berries from the beta’s large hands. He popped them into his mouth and savored the explosion of taste on his tongue. There’d been precious little of this kind of treat while on the run. His hunger seemed to grow even as he ate. He couldn’t help taking more and more until the beta’s hands were empty.
Swallowing down the last of his mouthful, he peered up at the beta with trepidation. I’m sorry, sir. I’ve eaten them all.”
Dane did something very un-beta-like in Remy’s experience—he chuckled. “Not to worry, omega. I have more and besides, you are too thin. You need fattening up.”
No one had ever said such a thing to him before. If anything, his old pack members had insisted that he needed little of their precious food. All except Merida, of course. She’d always shared her own meals with him and had snuck him what she could pilfer from the pack’s stores. Not knowing how to respond, he continued to finish his venison.
“Have you had anything to eat this morning, Gamma?”
It took Remy a few seconds to understand that Dane was talking to Merida. The male seemed positive that Merida was a gamma and not a sigma. Remy didn’t understand how that could be true, but if the beta said it was…
Merida kept her gaze downward, too. “Not as yet, Beta. I was waiting for permission.”
Dane tipped his head back with a narrowed gaze. “Permission? The food is there and I’ll tell you if we need to portion it out.” He waved toward the fire pit. “Go and fetch as much as you like. There’s plenty and besides, the venison was your kill. You won’t be here for long anyway.”
Merida didn’t hesitate to do as told.
Remy sat blinking back sudden tears at the beta’s last statement. “We have to leave, Beta? Did I do something wrong?”
“Of course not.” Dane moved his position quickly so that he sat next to Remy. He cupped the back of Remy’s neck. “Settle down. There is nothing to be worried about.”
The feel of that warm hand pressing into his skin caused Remy to calm instantly. He closed his eyes and leaned into the comfort. No one had made him feel this way since his sire used to. It reminded him of how a dominant’s hand could bring pleasure as well as pain.
“Better now?” the beta asked.
Remy could only nod his head. He was vaguely aware that Merida had returned to join them.
“He is easily upset.” Merida’s tone was chastising as much as it was informative.
Remy would have tensed at the disrespect his sister was showing her superior, but the way Dane’s fingers massage his neck kept him relaxed.
“The way of all omegas. I should have been more careful in my words.” Against the nature of a dominant, the male was acknowledging a mistake. “What I meant to say, Remy, is that your sister and I have agreed that I’ll see about the Strongblood Pack taking you in for the winter…perhaps permanently.”
Remy opened his eyes and looked at his sister. “Is that the pack you said we were going to?”
She shook her head. “No. This is one close by and where the beta is from.”
Surprised, Remy tried to turn his head to look at the beta before remembering his place. “You have a pack, Beta?” He couldn’t keep the surprise from his voice and inwardly cringed at his usual loose tongue.
The beta didn’t seem to take offense. Instead, the male turned Remy so that they were face-to-face, his hand still on the back of his neck. “I had one, yes. I…choose to live in this den but my brother is the alpha of the Strongblood Pack and he can be trusted to care for you both.”
“But you’ll come too, won’t you?”
Dane didn’t answer right away. Of course, he didn’t. Dominants didn’t have to explain themselves to servients. Then, he said, “I’ll take you there.”
Remy smiled at the answer. “Thank you, Beta. I know you don’t have to tell me anything. It’s nice to know what’s happening, though.”
Dane moved his hand to cup Remy’s chin. He lifted Remy’s face such that he had to look him in the eye. “You may ask me anything and I will always answer with the truth.”
The intensity of the beta’s gaze made Remy’s skin tingle and the ache deep inside flared up. His wolf whimpered. The strong wolf call he heard inside his head, which was now becoming routine, answered with a reassuring yip.
The beta abruptly let go and stood. “I must go and talk to Alpha Graydon. Make yourselves comfortable in my absence, but don’t wander away from the cave.” This last bit was said to Merida.
“Yes, Beta.”
Dane shifted as he walked away and bounded out of the den.
Remy stared at the empty mouth of the cave. “Is this what you want, Merida?” His sister always did what was best for him and even now that a beta was in control, he couldn’t help worrying that she was upset to be under another’s power again.
Merida went to get more venison and handed him another strip as she bit into her own. She sat cross-legged in front of him. “The pack I was taking us to is farther than I thought. A winter storm could hit any time now and we can’t afford to be caught out in one.” She bit off more and chewed with her usual vigor. “I’ve spoken with the beta and I believe him when he says we’ll be safe with the Strongbloods. We have no reason to trust any dominant, but this one is not like those from our old pack. I see an honesty and caring in him that I’ve never known before.”
Remy ate some more before saying anything. “I like him.”
Merida smiled, almost sadly. “I know you do.” She looked away. “But you need to be in a pack regardless of the weather, and I bet there will be other dominants there that you’ll like just as much.”
Remy frowned. He was certain that wouldn’t be the case, although why he was so certain was a mystery to him. Not expecting his sister to understand his feelings, he didn’t dispute her expectation about the personal stuff. He focused on the idea of joining another pack. “I don’t understand why a pack is necessary. You’re really good at taking care of me, and if we could stay in this den until spring…” He wasn’t sure why he even brought it up as a possibility. Here or in some pack didn’t seem obviously different, yet they were for him. There was something so perfectly right about being in this cozy place with the beta.
“We can’t stay here. The Strongbloods will give you better food and a safer place to…mature.”
Remy scrunched up his nose. “I don’t think I’m getting any bigger than this, Merida.” He looked down at his small, skinny body. “I can’t imagine that the Strongbloods will find me any more helpful that our old pack. I can’t do sigma stuff much better than you can. Being an omega makes me pretty useless. What were the Gods thinking of when they made me.” It was a puzzle he’d struggled with his whole life. Even when the dominants had started paying attention to him in that strange way that made him uncomfortable, he hadn’t understood why. And Merida had only said they were nasty males and running away was necessary to stop them from being mean to him.
As usual whenever he brought the subject of his purpose, Merida looked away and didn’t say anything. At least she didn’t at first. As she went to get a drink of water, she said, “You’ll understand soon. The Strongbloods will make it clear.”
He knew that tone of his sister’s. She was done with the topic. So Remy pulled the edges of the bear skin closed and huddled in its warmth, waiting for Dane to return.
Chapter Three
Dane approached the perimeter of the Strongblood lands slowly, letting one of the sentries catch his scent so that there would be no alarm. Not much of one, anyway. Despite Graydon’s assurances that he was welcome to rejoin the pack, Dane didn’t take it for granted that he wasn’t perceived as a threat. He’d lived feral too long and had done too many stupid and dangerous things to be fully trusted. He didn’t blame them and while he was content to remain as he was, it was important that he get his brother to agree to take in Merida and Remy. There really was no doubt of how his brother, an honorable shifter, would react. But there would be no answer at all if some hot-headed dominant decided to take him down first and ask questions later.
It was some relief when he spied the sentry who’d noticed him. The gamma had been a pup when Dane had left the pack. Now, he was as big and imposing as his kind should be, except that Conan had always had a more even temperament than was typical of his type. Dane shifted and stood with his human feet already starting to freeze in the small amount of snow covering and crossing his arms against the bite of wind.
Conan loped up, clearly not alarmed, and shifted into his human skin as well. If he was cold, he didn’t show it. “This is a surprise, Beta.”
“I have an urgent need to speak with the alpha. It involves an omega and…”
Conan held up his hand. “No need to explain further to me. You had me at ‘urgent’ and ‘omega’. I’ll take you to Graydon.” He paused a moment. “You know that the alpha mate whelped a few days ago?”
Dane shook his head. How would he given his isolation? It’s not as if shifters made announcements like humans, nor was there anyway to reach him in the forest even if his brother had been inclined to tell him specifically. “Are father and pup both well?”
Conan nodded. “Yes, but it’s the alpha’s story to tell.”
They spoke no more. Shifting, they headed at a trot toward the compound. Other sentries made themselves known but none tried to interfere. Word must have been spread anyway because Graydon was there to greet him by the side of the longhouse. Dane was surprised and pleased at how…relaxed his brother looked. Becoming a sire was good for him, apparently. He stood with legs braced and arms crossed, as usual. He wore boots, leather pants and a thick shirt in deference to the cold. Those would come off as soon as Graydon stepped back into the warmth of the building, as was true with all of the Strongbloods. And it was also a sign that his brother wanted to speak with him before letting him inside. Otherwise, he would have stuck to wolf form.
Dane stopped a few feet away and shifted once more, ignoring his human’s skin instant displeasure. He bowed his head. “Alpha. Thank you for seeing me. I have a favor…” The breath got knocked out of him as his brother wrapped him in a hard hug. Dane returned the embrace. “I guess we’re doing this first.”
Graydon thumped him once on the back, hard enough to make him wheeze. “Brother, I am glad to see you. Have you come to winter with us?”
Dane pulled away and caught his breath. “No.” At the look of disappointment that shot across his brother’s face, he hurried to distract him. “But before I explain myself, tell me how your mate and pup are.”
Graydon had always been a classic alpha—full of obvious pride and assurance of his own virility and power. Now, he practically burst with it. “They are well. Despite Ethan’s trouble with the pregnancy, he weathered the whelping with ease. And…I have an alpha son.”
Of course. Nothing pleased an alpha more than siring the next leader of the pack and the first time around, too. “I am happy for you, Alpha. May I ask the boy’s name?”
“Duncan.”
Dane nodded. “A strong name.” He stamped his cold feet before saying more. “I’ve come begging for a favor, brother. It involves giving sanctuary to an omega.”
Graydon’s expression turned serious. “Then you’d better come inside.”
Dane was grateful for the chance to get out of the cold. His den suited his needs and would prove to be an excellent shelter even in the dead of winter. But there was nothing like being inside the longhouse—the instant heat and the mouthwatering smells of the food that was prepared all day long to feed such a large group of shifters. He allowed himself to bask in the pleasure of it all while he waited for Graydon to strip his clothing off, then followed him as he headed toward the back of the structure.
The sigmas noticed his presence immediately as they went along and gave him furtive looks as they hurried on with their tasks. There was no fear in their faces or emanating from them, which made him happy. He’d never intended harm toward his old pack and didn’t want to become a source of concern. Again. Not so long ago, his actions had done just that. No amount of regret was going to change his past behavior. And he wasn’t entitled to a second chance. All he needed to do was make sure Remy and his sister had a safe place to go. Then he would be back to living in the forest like the feral shifter that he’d become.
Instead of leading him to the alpha’s council room, Graydon brought him to the great room. “I don’t want to disturb my mate and pup. They sleep a lot still.”
“Of course.” Dane would never have pressured his brother otherwise but he did long to see his nephew. Maybe someday.
Once they were seated at the family eating mat, Graydon waved for him to proceed. “Tell me.”
Dane opened his mouth to speak, then snapped it shut again as a sigma hurried over to put hot mugs of cider and small meat pies in front of him. It was obvious proof of how long he’d been out of pack life that he hadn’t even noticed Graydon giving the silent order to give him refreshments. It was as much out of hunger as politeness that he didn’t hesitate to take a big bite out of the pie and down half of his drink before telling his brother what he knew of the siblings.
He told the tale of how he’d stumbled upon Remy and his unusual sister with the efficiency that came natural to a beta and ended with, “The boy is near his first heat and needs a safe place for it. From what the sister has told me, he doesn’t even understand what it means to be a male omega. Finding out right as he’s going into heat is going to be hard on him. And even if he weren’t ready to breed, the forest is no place for him notwithstanding his gamma sister to protect him.” He knew he was saying the obvious and also dredging up his own dubious past actions. Still, he let the information sit with the alpha while he finished up his food.
“A female gamma, you say?”
Dane wasn’t surprised that Graydon focused on the most unusual fact of the situation. The fate of the omega wasn’t in question. His sister being a gamma…? “I know it’s shocking, but there’s no denying it. Her old pack must have been willfully blind—not surprising, really—trying to force her into performing sigma tasks.”
Graydon toyed with his own mug. “If all you see are the female parts and she’s obviously not an omega, you’re only left with one thing. I can always use more gammas…” He looked sharply at Dane. “Betas too, of course.”
Because any mention of his rejoining the pack forced him to remember how he’d abandoned it, as well as his mother and brother, out of pure cowardice, he ignored the comment. “I’d like to bring them here for at least the winter months even though I’m sure they might bring trouble as well.”
“Well yes, we have to assume someone is pursuing them. No one lets an omega get away, especially as they probably already had plans for him.”
Dane had assumed as much himself, even though Merida hadn’t said it in so many words. “I could take them to Lorcan. The Rogue Pack is used to dealing with this sort of thing.” That was the wrong thing to suggest.
Graydon puffed out his chest. “You think the Strongbloods aren’t up to the challenge of protecting our own?”
“Of course not!” Ancient habits kicked in and he lowered his gaze and exposed his neck. “I meant no disrespect. I merely thought that with your mate newly whelped…”
“Ethan would be the first to skin me alive if I turned away an omega in need.” Graydon huffed and stared into his mug. “Bring them.”
Dane drained his mug and set it back down. “And when the boy goes into heat, what then?” It was incredibly foolish to court more of Graydon’s ire by asking him questions that were none of his concern.
His brother gave him a weird little smile. “Someone will service him, naturally. Conan, maybe. He’s a good lad, bright for a gamma and modern in his thinking.” Graydon shrugged.
Dane’s fingers curled into fists of their own volition and his wolf rose under his skin to howl. “You won’t force him to mate with anyone.” It wasn’t a question, and his gall took even himself by surprise, but his wolf wouldn’t let him back down.
