Page 2 of His Prodigal Alpha

The taller man called for my attention without even having to speak. I could scent the difference in him on the air. It buzzed and tickled my nose.Alpha.

My lower lip quivered and I ducked my head.

Having guessed that the man standing next to the Alpha was his mate, I was overwhelmed with a moment of irrational jealousy. How come that guy had been enough for the man who had mated him, but I wasn’t enough for the guy who mated me?

The Alpha cleared his throat and I forced myself to look up at him with watering eyes. Both men scented like wolves but, strangely, my inner cat had no complaints about that. Perhaps it realized they weren’t a threat to me.

The Alpha smiled back at me softly. “Hi,” he greeted me casually. “I’m Beck. Jazz said you were asking for me?”

My eyes darted between him, his mate, and the hedgehog lady. Jazz.

Weird name, but okay.

I nodded and tried to swallow around the lump of emotionin my throat. “Yeah,” I croaked out. “I, uh, I heard about this town. This pack. And I, um, I was wondering if I could join it. The pack, I mean. I…I ran away from my pack. I couldn’t stay. If they found out…”

“Whoa,” Beck held up his hands to stall my babbling. “Let’s start with your name first, huh? And maybe we’ll head inside somewhere and get out of the cold. You’re shivering.”

I hadn’t even noticed. I nodded again, dumbly. Then, after a beat of silence, I realized they were still waiting on my name.Stupid baby brain.“Damon,” I finally blurted, then blushed. “My name is Damon. Damon Richards. I’m sorry. It’s…it’s been a really long trip to get here and I’m…I mean, I know I shouldn’t just expect that you’ll let me join the pack, but I have nowhere else to go and—”

“It’s okay,” this time it was Beck’s mate who spoke. He also smiled kindly at me. “Shifters Sanctuary is supposed to be just that: a haven for outcast shifters and people who don’t have a pack or family.” He extended his hand. I took it. “I’m Ollie,” he said, shaking my hand and then gently tugging me upwards. Standing next to him, I realized he wasn’t as short as he looked. In fact, he was at least two inches taller than me. “Come on, let’s head inside. Have you eaten? The diner here makes the best burgers.”

“You’d think you would be sick of them by now,” Beck teased his mate as they guided me back out of the stall and towards the town’s diner. “Considering how many you ate when you were pregnant.”

The child in my belly rolled over, as if summoned into action by that word. It was a word I hadn’t spoken out loud to anyone yet, but Beck and Ollie used it as though omega pregnancies were totally normal.

Having lived through one, I supposed for them they had become as much.

I let their banter wash over me until we were inside the warm building. It was a long, narrow space, with one wall lined with back-to-back dining booths, and the other with a kitchen and counter. Three stools lined the counter space next to the cash register. It looked as though it had been decorated in the 80s to resemble the 50s. The Formica counter tops were chipped and worn, and the bright red vinyl seats of the stools and booths had also seen better days. But it smelled so good. My stomach rumbled audibly and the baby inside me kicked up a storm.

“Come on, let me take your coat and you can take a seat. It’s sweltering in here.” Ollie was bright and cheerful and he had no idea what kind of anxiety he’d just set off with his request.

I swallowed and turned to face him and Beck, reminding myself that they had been through what I was going through. If I was going to be safe anywhere, it would be with them. They would understand. I needed them to understand. If they didn’t, I really was out of options.

“Before I do, there’s something else. The reason I ran from my pack. I…um…I…” God, why was it so hard to say aloud? With a growl of frustration at myself, I said. “How about I just show you?”

Giving them no time to respond, I removed my coat.

The threadbare sweater I wore beneath it was stretched tight over my unmistakable baby bump, and the jeans I was wearing were baggy around my legs but growing evermore snug around my waist. I’d found them in a Goodwill during my travels, and the sales lady had looked at me strangely for buying a pair so much larger than I hadvisibly needed at the time. Standing in that diner, I thought they wouldn’t be big enough for much longer.

“Holy shit,” Beck breathed, before turning to Ollie with startled eyes. “I swear, I didn’t do it.”

Ollie just rolled his eyes at his mate. “I know that, dumbass,” he sassed, but the affection in his words was more than obvious. “But you know what this means.”

Beck nodded, his expression becoming serious. “He’s definitely joining the pack.”

“Well, duh,” Ollie sighed. “But that’s not what I meant.” He turned back to me, his eyes roving over my swollen, gravid form. “We were right: there’s at least one other alpha out there somewhere.”

Chapter One – Damon

It had all started in a run-down bar in the middle of nowhere, Texas.

“Well, now, what’s a pretty young thing like you doin’ in a place like this?”

The voice drawling the question sounded just as sleazy as the pickup line itself. I hung my head over my margarita glass for a moment before I sighed and turned to face the owner of the voice.

To be fair, he wasn’t quite as gross as his voice had led me to believe he’d be. Yeah, his dirty blonde hair looked like it was slicked back with way too much product, and yeah, his teeth were yellowed and crooked, but he had an otherwise pleasant enough face. Still, he’d already rubbed me the wrong way and I wasn’t interested.

“Sorry,” I told him, my voice pitching high as I raised it above the general din of the bar I’d found myself sitting in, “I don’t speak English.”

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