Page 32 of Omega's Breed

Finn’s wolf was beside itself. It prowled, desperate to break free of Finn’s human skin. It reared up on its hind legs and howled. Will flinched in response, and curved in on himself. His wolf didn’t even answer.

Forcing his wolf down and his fingers to relax their grip, Finn said, “Will? Baby, please look at me. Come on, no one’s mad at you, I promise.”

“Of course not,” Andrea chimed in, her sweet feminine voice adding an element of calm to a room with three seething, dominant shifters.

Slowly, Will raised his gaze to Finn’s. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Finn ran his thumbs across his mate’s cheeks to wipe the tracks of tears. “You have nothing to apologize for. We just need to understand what happened.”

“Please. I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I know, baby. But, it’s necessary. Do it for Annie. This is important to protect her.”

Will sniffed and shivered before nodding. “The night of my first shift, Magnus came to my room after the run and said…” He halted on a gasp, and started to fold in on himself before stopping and straightened. “He said that I was old enough to show my gratitude for his taking me in. That was when it started, and he came to me every month after the pack ran with the full moon.” Will’s gaze drifted off to a point beyond Finn’s shoulder. He sat still, barely breathing, as he waited no doubt, for the rest of them to absorb the implications.

For a brief second, Finn’s mind shut down completely before he forced himself to be as strong as he expected his mate to be. “Your first run?” His voice was choked by his constricting vocal chords, and his wolf banged against his human form as if it were going utterly mad. He cleared his throat. “You were how old?”

Will swallowed audibly. “Thirteen.”

Finn hung his head, but he wasn’t surprised. That was the typical age for their kind to hit puberty and start shifting on their own.

“When I went into heat,” Will continued. “Magnus said it was fate. That I really had wanted him, too, all those years and now I’d welcome him.” Will gave a heartbreaking sob. “I didn’t! I didn’t want any of them, but my body betrayed me with Magnus. After that, with the others, it just hurt.”

“Oh, baby.” Finn gathered his mate close and showered him with kisses to convey how much he cared for the boy. How much he loved him, he realized with a jolt. Yes, he loved his mate. That fact came with instant clarity, and he’d do anything within his power to protect Will and Annie. She was theirs. His. Magnus wasn’t getting anywhere near either of them ever again.

With a sense of calm he couldn’t believe he could produce under the circumstances, he placed one last, chaste kiss on Will’s head and slowly stood. He looked at the healer. “Is this why he went into heat so young?”

Andrea nodded. “Yes, that would explain it. When pups are forcibly mounted in early adolescence, it can cause their heat to hit early.” She heaved out a breath. “I had worried about it, but didn’t want to raise the issue unless Will brought it up.”

Finn turned to face Lorcan. He let his alpha see his fury, even allowed his fangs to descend. “This abusive piece of shit is not getting Annie. He lost all rights as a sire when he abused Will.”

“I agree.” Lorcan said, except his expression told a different story.

“But?”

The alpha paced away and shoving his hands in his front pockets, stared out the window and into the back of the pack lands. “But, if I deny Magnus’ claim, he can return here in force. And, if he makes an alliance with Haldon…” He turned around. “We can’t survive an attack by two packs combined.”

Finn took a half-step forward. “It wouldn’t come to that.” He glanced at Caleb. “Would Magnus really travel all the way down here and wage a war over this when he could more easily take yet one more mate instead?”

The gamma shrugged. “Magnus has a temper that overrides his better judgment. My old pack is large, too. You wouldn’t stand a chance against them.” He shrugged again. “Sorry.”

Lorcan came closer. “We know that Haldon would jump at a chance to get rid of us for good. He’d join Magnus in a heartbeat. I’m sorry, too,” he added with a shake of his head. “I have to think of the good of the pack, and however distasteful his behavior, as Annie’s sire, he has the stronger claim to her. His treatment of Will doesn’t negate that right, not by shifter law, however much I would argue it should.”

“No!” Will launched himself out of his seat and right into Finn. Wrapping his arms around Finn’s neck, he sobbed against Finn’s chest. “Please! Please don’t let them have Annie. I can’t bear it. You’re my mate, Finn, make this right, and I promise I’ll do anything. Anything you want for the rest of my life. Please save my Annie!”

Finn hugged his mate and rubbed his cheek on the top of the omega’s head. “Our Annie. She’s our pup, and I won’t let Magnus have her.” He glared at Lorcan for a second, his emotions overtaking his good sense. “He lost his right to her when he didn’t change her. Didn’t that effectively mean he banished her?”

The alpha simply gave him a sympathetic look back. “Again, I would argue so, but Magnus doesn’t seem like the kind of shifter you can reason with. If he were, he wouldn’t want Annie back given that as far as he knows, she’ll never be able to shift.”

“This is the first I’m hearing about Annie,” Caleb interjected. “But I can assure you that Magnus is not one to think too deeply or plan ahead well. Right now, my guess is that he’s feeling alone and wants his blood back under his roof no matter what.”

“Which puts us back to the Rogues being attacked,” Lorcan said.

Finn grimaced. “I know. You can’t risk the pack, and I’m not asking you to. Easy, baby,” he added, disengaging his mate from his death grip. He stared once again into Will’s reddened eyes. “I will take care of this. Trust me.”

He pulled away fully and stood straight in front of Lorcan. “Alpha, as Will’s mate and Annie’s adopted sire, I claim the right of personal combat.”

Lorcan sighed. “I figured you’d say that, and I can’t blame you. It’s your right as Will’s mate, and I’ll support you on it so long as Magnus will recognize that ancient code.”

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