Page 8 of Omega's Breed

The nightmare came as it so often did.

He raced toward a destination to which he never got closer. Panic made his heart pound, adding speed to his legs, yet all to no avail. He wouldn’t get there in time. He never did. His tongue lolled around his muzzle with every pant. Blood, sharp and coppery, coated his teeth, dripped from his fangs. His side ached where he’d taken a hard hit, and the painful injury to his left front paw caused him to whine with each step. Faster. He needed to go faster. The crying, the howls, the bays of victory all egged him on.

Finn’s eyes flew open, but he’d trained himself not to bolt up and startle the others sleeping nearby. As quietly as he could manage, he willed his breathing to slow and his heart to stop hammering away. He wiped sweaty palms on the thin blanket covering him and glanced around to make sure he hadn’t woken Will or Caleb. The omega stilled huddled over on his side and the gamma lay sprawled on his back in the other bed.

He could see above the curtain that the moon was still fairly high, so with as much care as he could, he slipped out of the bed. Experience told him he wouldn’t get back to sleep and the best way to ease his misery was to go for a run. He slid on a shirt, socks and boots and grabbed one of the room keys. The moment he opened the door to the motel room, he also looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, Caleb had roused with the small amount of noise. He gave the gamma a quick salute to reassure him and quietly left the room.

A few meters from the back of the motel was a densely wooded area. It took little time for him to reach a spot where no one was going to see him. He undressed and hid his clothes and keys in a hollow of an old tree. Being a shifter living close to humans meant finding hiding places for your stuff when you went for a run away from home. It was second nature to him, and he was sure his belongings were safe. He shifted and took off a moment later.

Racing through the woods in the dark at full speed took tremendous concentration and energy. It helped him chase away the lingering effects of his nightmare. In wolf form, Finn returned to his most elemental state, even though his human capacity for rational thought remained. He could more easily shut off that part of his brain and open up his wolf’s superior senses. For a couple of hours, he would feel, not think, and those feeling were driven by the here and now—this smell, this sound, this taste. There were endless distractions in the forest, and he allowed himself to be overtaken by all of them.

By the time the dawning sun drove him back to his stash and the responsibilities of being a beta, he felt cleansed and refreshed, ready to face another long day of travel with his new pack mates. He wasn’t surprised to meet up with Caleb, Will and Annie on their way back from breakfast. While the omega carried the pup to the room, Caleb loped over to Finn with a bag in one hand, and a to-go cup of what Finn hoped was coffee in the other.

The gamma held out his offering without prompting. “Sorry, sir. The pup woke with the sun, demanding her breakfast.”

Ignoring the bag for the moment, Finn grabbed the cup, lifted the lid, inhaled deeply, then slurped down a scalding amount of black coffee. He sighed. “Thanks. I, ah, needed a run.”

“I understand.”

No, you don’t. Finn only nodded, though, knowing that the gamma would assume the run was tied to being cooped up and nothing more. “Did Will eat enough?” he asked, taking the bag and finding a breakfast sandwich waiting for him. Juggling the coffee, he unwrapped his meal and took a big bite.

“Yes, sir. I made sure he had his fill of eggs, baked beans and toast.”

Finn made a face. “You Canadians have weird ideas about food.”

The gamma just grinned. “You Americans should try it. In fact, I’m going to see if I can get the sigmas in my new pack to make some of my favorite dishes.”

Taking another bite and a bigger gulp, Finn headed back to the room. “I’m sure something can be arranged, but you should know that an omega rules the kitchen in our pack.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s interesting.”

Finn nodded. “It’s a story all right. We’ll have plenty of time on the road for me to fill you in on the comings and goings of the Rogues.”

When they entered the room, they found the portable crib already packed up and Will changing Annie’s diaper. The pup had on different clothes than the day before, yet her father had on the same ones. The T-shirt he’d washed and hung up the previous night looked dry enough, still Finn didn’t like the idea of the omega lacking so many basic things. The shirt Finn had lent him lay neatly folded on top of Finn’s bag. Stuffing the rest of his sandwich in his mouth, he walked over and snatched it up.

He held it out to Will, and said around his mouthful of food, “Here, keep this.”

Will looked up as he finished with the pup and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you, sir, but I don’t want to take your shirt from you.”

“I didn’t ask you what you wanted. I said take it.” He winced inwardly at his harshness. There was something about this boy that caused him to lose the tight control he usually had on his emotions.

Will meekly reached out to take the shirt as if it were something poisonous. “I’m sorry, sir. Thank you,” he added as he quickly backed off and added it to his own bag.

In the middle of packing his things, Caleb stopped and watched the exchange with raised eyebrows. He obviously was protective of the omega, yet a stalwart enough pack member not to admonish a superior. After a tense moment of silence, Finn drained the last of his coffee and tossed the cup away. He closed up his bag, then slung it over his shoulder and grabbed up the portable crib.

“Come on. Let’s hit the road. We have a lot of distance to cover before we stop for the night again.”

No one argued that they needed more time or complained about another long day ahead of them. Of course, they didn’t. Shifters were pack animals with a strict hierarchy. If he told them to ride all night, they would without a murmur of protest. Caleb left the room first with Will hot on his heels. He carried his bag over one shoulder while holding Annie against the other.

The pup grabbed her father’s braid and grinned at Finn. “Da!” she said, flicking the hair is if it were reins, her gaze boring right into Finn’s heart.

Shit! The trip home was going to be torture.

Chapter Four

By the time Will reached his new home, he’d been on the road nearly four full days, and three long nights. As interminable as the time in the truck had seemed where he’d had to work to keep Annie quiet and occupied, somehow the nights had been worse. Even with the pup settling down with surprising ease thanks to Finn, it was the presence of the beta that had made being in the motel room uncomfortable. Every place they’d stayed was the same—small rooms with small beds filled with two big shifters.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if Finn had allowed Will to sleep on the floor. But, the beta had proved to be intractable on that and many other fronts. That first night, Will had assumed that the guy had intended to mount him. Finn was a beta, after all, and Magnus had always allowed his betas in particular to take their pleasure wherever they wanted with anyone not mated, pregnant or nursing. Will had no reason to believe that his new alpha viewed things differently. And, like it or not, Will was fair game at this point.

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