Page 14 of Omega's Breed

He told it to shut the fuck up.

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The healer had been gone so long, Will had begun to worry that she’d forgotten them. Enough time had passed that Annie had fallen asleep against his shoulder. He stayed put in the room that doubled as a kind of medical facility, however. Orders were something he’d learned early to obey. Pacing around the room to keep Annie lulled, he tried not to fret about what was happening elsewhere in the longhouse. Andrea had assured him that Annie was healthy and safe in this pack, and he’d believed her. Fear still plagued him. Where his pup was concerned, no amount of worry was too much.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, he stopped, watched and waited. He knew even before he saw the alpha looming behind the healer that the female hadn’t returned on her own. The scent of the dominant male, along with his heavy tread, was a clear give-away. He automatically held Annie tighter, waking her inadvertently. She didn’t like that and let out a squall.

The healer gave him an indulgent smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” She held out her hands. “May I?”

Even though his brain screamed at him to not let go of his daughter, he made himself loosen his hold and hand the fussy pup over to the female. She immediately started to cajole Annie, who wasn’t very receptive to the touch.

“Let me take her out so that you and the alpha can talk. I promise not to go far. Perhaps she can be convinced to meet some of the other pups.”

Will glanced up at Lorcan, who stood to one side of the doorway. The alpha had a serious look on his face that didn’t bode well, yet Will didn’t detect any menace in the shifter. He nodded his assent, then watched with a sinking heart as the healer carried Annie out. Lorcan shut the door behind them. He gave Will what was probably intended to be a reassuring smile, but fell far from the mark. Will knew better than to ask what was wrong. The alpha would tell him in his own time what he wanted Will to know.

Lorcan rubbed at the back of his neck. “So. Caleb has filled me in on some of the details of your life in your old pack, and Andrea confirmed them based on her exam of you. I know that you came into your heat and were bred too young and too harshly.”

Embarrassed to hear his sordid history had been a topic of discussion, Will felt his cheeks heat up. He gazed down at the floor and because the alpha had paused as if expecting some kind of reaction, he gave a curt nod.

“Andrea said that you were forced to wean Annie early, and given that I’ve been known to throw pack members into heat quickly, we can expect you won’t be any different.”

Again, Will simply nodded mutely. A shudder ran through him as he was forced to face a fact that he’d already known. If he’d stayed in his old pack, Magnus would have eventually sent him into heat a second time. This alpha was clearly younger and more virile. Would he mount Will himself, or would he only throw him to the betas and gammas? The thought of enduring what he had before was terrifying. The seemingly endless parade of males, all a blur of pain and humiliation. Could he survive it all again? He had to. For Annie, he had to.

At least there were fewer higher-placed males in this pack, and Caleb might refuse to join in this time, too, leaving it down to only four counting the alpha. And, one of them would be Finn. That thought was more comforting than it should have been. It was because the beta had been kind during their trip. It gave Will some hope that the breeding wouldn’t be as bad.

“Will?”

He glanced up guiltily. He’d been so consumed with his thoughts, he’d forgotten he was in the presence of the alpha and should have had his full attention on him.

“I want you to understand that what happened before won’t again. I mean, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop your going into heat sometime soon, but when that does happen, your experience will be different.”

Not having a clue what that was supposed to mean, he nodded once more. “Yes, Alpha.”

“I don’t think you’re getting it, son. Come on, let’s sit down.”

Surprised at the offer, Will hunched in his shoulders and shuffled in the alpha’s wake to sit in one of the two sturdy chairs Andrea had in the office part of her large room. He sat next to the guy where indicated, supremely aware of how large and powerful the shifter next to him was. How easily the guy could bend Will’s body however he wanted to slake his needs. He made himself as small as possible, as if somehow Lorcan might forget he was even there.

“Will, can you please look at me?”

With a flutter of lashes and dredging up courage he didn’t think he had, Will did as asked.

The alpha smiled at him, this time in a more convincing way. “Thank you. Now, as I was saying, your next heat is going to be a different experience. You will not be mounted by me, first of all. Kyle is my mate, my heart, my everything. I only want to breed him.”

“I understand,” Will dared to say, somewhat relieved that he didn’t have to suffer the attentions of this alpha—any alpha.

“Good. Now, second, I’m only going to give one male access to you. Your heat only needs one to satisfy it and breed you, so that’s what’s going to happen.”

It took Will’s brain a second to catch up. “Only one?”

“Yes. Even if you want variety, you’re not going to get it.”

“No!” He swallowed hard to get himself under control. “I mean, thank you, Alpha. I only want one.” One male compared to a dozen sounded like paradise to him.

Lorcan scrubbed his face with his hand. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. But, there’s more. I want you to be mated, as well. You need someone to take care of you and Annie. And, any of your future pups. You haven’t been well-attended to so far in your life, and that’s going to change here. Our pack is made up of shifters that have been orphaned from other packs for one reason or another. I’m determined that we’ll be different, and that means looking out for and helping each other.”

“Mated.” Will rolled the word around in his head as if it were a foreign concept. It was for him. He’d given up since his first shift the idea that someday he’d be mated to a male that would care for and perhaps even love him. “Mated,” he said again, his gaze unfocused.

“I’m going to stand firm on this point, Will, if not for your sake, then for Annie’s. The only problem is that we’re not a big pack. Most of our males are sigmas, and they won’t be virile enough to breed an omega. It has to be a beta or a gamma. Liam and Craig are already mated, and Deidre’s out for obvious reasons,” Lorcan added with a huff of laughter.

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