Page 12 of Omega's Breed

“And, now he’s under mine.” Lorcan eyed Finn. “See to it. The Rogue Pack takes care of its own, and that goes double for its most vulnerable members.” At that moment, there came a knock. “Enter.”

Andrea slipped inside and shut the door. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Alpha. May I have a word? With the whole council?”

Her somber expression sent Finn’s blood pressure rising. He was half-way out of his chair before Lorcan could respond to her question. “Is there something wrong with Annie?”

The healer came closer and clasped her hands in front of her. “No. I’ve come about Will.”

Chapter Five

Finn’s head might have actually exploded if Lorcan hadn’t risen, too, and cupped the back of Finn’s neck to calm him down. Damn, that paternalistic alpha touch worked surprisingly well on even a mature, highly-placed shifter such as himself. His wolf lay down, alert but not crazed. He forced his lips closed because really it wasn’t his place to question the healer.

Lorcan pushed Finn back into his seat before taking his own. “Please sit down, Andrea, and tell us what’s wrong.” He gestured to the chair on the other end of the table.

The older female did as requested, fatigue and sadness obvious in the way she moved. “First, sir, let me assure you—all of you—,” she added with a pointed look in Finn’s direction. “That the pup is fine. A bit small for her age, which is hardly surprising given her father. Still, a good weight for her size, bright and cognitively age-appropriate.” She stopped and cocked her head. “The only odd thing is that if I didn’t know better, I would have mistaken her for a human child.”

“How so?” Fuck, Finn just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“I can’t really articulate the feeling. Her wolf seems a bit elusive, shall we say.”

This time, Lorcan managed to get a word in edge-wise. “She’s too young for her wolf to come out.”

“Of course, it’s just…” Andrea shook her head. “No matter. It’s Will I’m concerned about.”

Once again, Finn’s blood pressure spiked. He opened his mouth, shut it again, and reminded his wolf to stay down.

Lorcan sighed. “Go ahead, Finn. Ask any questions you want. I did say the boy was your responsibility.”

“Thanks.” He shot a grateful look at the alpha before returning his attention to the healer. “What’s wrong with him?” His tone was sharp enough to cut glass.

Andrea gave him that patient smile of hers. “I’m sorry, Beta, I don’t mean to worry you. It’s only that the omega is malnourished and undernourished. He needs more and better food.”

“Yeah, that I noticed already. We, Caleb and I, have been shoving food into him for the last few days.”

“I don’t think Magnus was feeding him very much,” Caleb added.

“Are you sure we can’t go snap this shifter’s neck, Boss?” Liam chimed in.

Lorcan shook his head. “Other than food, what does the boy need?”

“Clothing. Annie needs some, too. Will told me he’s been making hers from his own.” This was also something Finn knew already.

Craig leaned forward. “That’s an easy fix in the short-term. I’ll talk to Mabel. She and the other moms have started a pile of pup clothes for sharing. Our little ones weren’t exactly petite when they were born and have already outgrown a lot of stuff.” He looked at Finn. “I bet there’s things we have that would fit Annie.”

He smiled back. “Thanks, that sounds great. Maybe some of the sigmas have clothing they don’t need any more that we can give to Will. I lent him one of my shirts, but it’s like a bedsheet on him.” When the alpha gave him a discerning look, he felt compelled to explain. “He had to wash out his shirt every night. It was either lend him something or he’d have to sleep naked.”

And, that was so the wrong word to come out of his mouth. Not only did it intensify Lorcan’s expression, it flashed an image in his head of the boy the first night, flushed pink from his shower and totally nude.

Squashing down that memory, he focused again on Andrea. “Is there anything else wrong with him?”

The healer took in and let out a deep breath. “No. He’s otherwise healthy. It took some cajoling, but I finally got him to agree to a full physical, and well, as I said, there’s nothing wrong. I mean, he weathered the pregnancy surprisingly well, given how young he was when he bred.”

“He told you?”

Andrea nodded. “It happens and there’s nothing to be done about it now, naturally. The thing I’m concerned about is that he told me he was forced to wean Annie already because his milk dried up. Not surprising given his lack of nutrition.”

Finn frowned over at Caleb. “Yeah, we knew that. We gave the pup the same food we were eating, more or less. Is that a problem? You said she was fine.”

The healer gave him the kind of pointed look one gives to someone utterly clueless, but it was Lorcan who put the pieces together for him.

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