Page 37 of The Feral Alpha

Jag’s surprise grew. “I gotta say. I’ve known him for months. This is the happiest and most vocal I’ve seen him.”

Olson blushed. “Thank you for taking care of him.”

Rex rubbed Olson’s dick drawing against his chest. “Mine.”

Jag snorted, shaking his head. “Figures. He needed an omega to bring him out of his shell.”

At this point, Olson was fairly sure no other omega would have that effect on Rex, but he wasn’t about to share that. “I’ve moved him out of the forest.”

“Gonna give him a job?”

Olson blinked. That hadn’t occurred to him. “I haven’t decided if he’s a good fit for the Wine Shack. But maybe.”

Rex lifted Olson’s drawing to his nose and sniffed at it. Then he leaned over the counter and caught Olson’s hand, pressing his nose to the scent gland at Olson’s wrist. He rubbed his face against it and smiled.

Jag looked extremely amused.

“You’re slightly besotted,” Olson said dryly to Rex. “Just slightly.”

“He’s had a hard life. I think it’s time he got to be happy.”

Yeah, Olson thought so, too. “Is there anything I should know about him?”

Jag hesitated. For the first time since they’d known each other, Olson saw him turn uneasy. “I don’t know if he has anyone after him,” Jag said quietly. “He never told me where he came from. Or how he escaped. He still had freshly-scabbed wounds when I first found him.”

“Do you mean... wounds from getting into fights on the street?”

Jag shook his head. “No. Senseless injuries. Clean, deliberate incisions that didn’t just come from some drunken punch.”

Olson’s stomach turned. When he chanced a peek, Rex had narrowed his eyes, growling softly.

How was Olson going to protect him, without knowing what he had to look out for?

“What should I do?” he asked.

“Stay close to him.” Jag scanned the patrons in the Wine Shack. “I’ve been teaching him to fight, on and off. I can’t visit often—got a boy to protect. But I’ll give you some emergency contacts. My sworn brother, Hades, is in town. Storm is on his way. Fury, too.”

More help was better than less. Olson had a few friends he could call, too. “How do you know these people? They... have interesting names.”

Jag gave a sharp smile. “Prison.”

“That reassures me more than it probably should,” Olson admitted.

Jag laughed. “You know my brother will be happy to help, too. Although he’s busy right now with babies and sleep deprivation.”

His brother was Troy Gardner—one of Landon’s alphas, currently an assistant soccer coach, and previously an agent.

“I know a couple other ex-agents,” Olson said. “I’ll look into being prepared.”

Jag nodded at Rex. “Anyway, give him a haircut. I think he’ll be more difficult to track down without that beard.”

Unease fluttered in Olson’s gut.

Something told him that maybe he shouldn’t shave off Rex’s beard.

“Soon,” he said without quite meaning it, even though he knew the sooner they got that hair off, the safer Rex would be.

“Good,” Jag said. He tapped on the counter, turning to leave.

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