Page 32 of Taming The Omega

“Join the club. We’re all scared of that. At least you’ve got one night under your belt without having to deal with heat hormones. Hopefully, you’ll have more time to get to know each other before that whole thing begins.”

The alpha paced away and stubbed the ground with his toe. “I would have liked to have had that opportunity with Kyle. He was so primed to go into heat that I triggered it in less than an hour after he’d left the influence of his sire. It didn’t take long with Will, either. Joey was an unusual case, so it took months before I had any effect on him.”

Lorcan shrugged. “Seth’s health is obviously improving rapidly. He looks way better than he did when he first got here. And, now that he and I are crossing paths a lot…” He shrugged again. “I guess what I’m saying is that you should make the most of the time you have with your new mate before nature takes your choices away.”

Caleb scratched his earlobe. “That’s good advice, sir. Thanks.”

“Be patient with him. That’s another lesson I learned, too late, with Kyle. Omegas always need extra care, but those raised harshly are particularly skittish.”

“Yeah. I think he’s expecting me to push him around. From what little he’s told me, the higher-ranked members of his old pack treated the weaker ones like shit. It sounds worse than Magnus was.”

“And a lot like Haldon’s pack.” Lorcan’s expression turned grim. “That guy’s still spoiling for a fight. We need to increase our gamma numbers fast. Got any ideas?”

Caleb started to shake his head, then stopped. “I might, actually. Back in Canada, near Magnus’ pack lands, there was a small group of ferals. Some of the boys ran into them, although they hadn’t actually invaded our territory. Anyway, of course being Magnus’ gammas, they were hoping for a fight regardless. They came back laughing about how the ferals took off instead of mixing it up with them. Like not fighting meant they were scared or weak.”

“Do you have any idea what their ranks were?”

“That’s the thing, sir. One of the boys told me the ferals were big—a beta and two gammas. They looked like they could come out on top of any conflict. He thought it was weird that they’d turned tail. Like maybe they had females and pups they were protecting and couldn’t afford to get hurt or killed.”

Lorcan’s interest had been piqued for sure. He stared thoughtfully at the ground for a few seconds. “Interesting. They could have been a group like ours. I don’t suppose they lingered in that area, though.”

“I think they did because another patrol spotted them shortly before Finn showed up. Magnus thought he might have been one of them, except the ferals were all white wolves. Like, stark white which implies they were from much farther north. Finn obviously didn’t fit that description.”

“Then there is hope they might still be reachable.”

“Yes, sir.” He paused. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to mention it before.”

Lorcan waved away that apology. “No, it’s fine. This is a long-shot. They could be totally feral and a real danger to our pack. Still,” he added, “it would be nice to at least try to parlay with them.”

“I can go up there, sir. In wolf form, it wouldn’t take me long. And, if I run into any of my old pack, they’d have no reason to challenge me.”

“That’s an excellent idea. We’ll discuss it with the council, but I want you to try it.” He gave him a pointed look. “After you’ve bred Seth, of course.”

Caleb’s stomach dropped. “Oh, right.”

Why did the idea of breeding his mate cause him such instant distress? He had a workable plan. He could make a life with Seth without risking his heart. Part of that life involved pups, and pups needed care and protection. Being a gamma, that kind of job came naturally to him. Nothing to worry about.

Nothing at all.

With a chuckle, Lorcan slapped him on the back. “Don’t look so worried, Caleb. You’ll manage. We all do. Now, let’s go talk to the construction sigmas about starting on the house. You’re going to want to get your mate into a proper home as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

As he followed the alpha to the woodworking building, he started planning out his route back to Canada. His journey would start once Seth was breeding. He tried not to imagine the look on the boy’s face when he learned that his mate would be taking off for who knew how long just as their life together was getting started. But it was for the good of the pack to increase their numbers. Haldon continued to be a threat, and the stronger the Rogue Pack got, the better.

Seth would understand why Caleb had to go. He might even be relieved to be rid of his gamma mate for a while. That thought should have pleased him. After all, it was the idea of being tied to a mate and family that unsettled him. And yet, the notion that Seth would be happier without him around was somehow worse.

His wolf rose up and snarled at his thoughts, leaving him more conflicted than ever.

Chapter Thirteen

“Sorry, I’m not being very helpful.”

Seth lay on the floor of the play area with Annie draped over his back still in wolf form. She seemed really happy being able to use his body as an obstacle course. In front of him, Mabel’s twins kept stacking and knocking over wooden blocks. His job was to retrieve and hand them back over. This was a game that could go on forever.

He was having the most fun he could ever remember.

The activity also helped him put aside his remorse over acting so prickly with his mate that morning. After a night that had gone far better than he’d expected, he’d still felt resentment bubbling up. Having spent almost a year running, he’d ended up exactly where he’d feared all along—mated to a powerful shifter who had control over his body and his destiny. The fact that he’d more or less made the decision himself didn’t seem to matter. He knew he wasn’t being fair to Caleb, yet couldn’t keep his conflicting emotions at bay.

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