Page 17 of Golden Valley
Chapter 6
At age sixteen, Morgan’s plan had been to travel the world and visit far away packs. He would meet new people, see new terrain, and develop new skills, and then he would find his mate and return to Golden Valley to raise a family and share with his pack what he had learned on his adventures. His father had supported his dreams and had arranged with his various contacts to host him. But right before he could embark on his journey, Morgan’s world had blown up and he’d had to adjust. Now, seven years later, he was experiencing a distorted version of his teenage dream.
The time he had spent in Ricky’s company had been brief and hurried, a mistake for which he had nobody but himself to blame. He had scented his mate in his house, and instead of going to him, fighting for him if necessary, and then cherishing him, Morgan had been consumed by anxiety over the welfare of his pack and he had focused on their needs instead of his Omega’s. Even after Ricky had sought him out in his own home, Morgan had forced him to beg for attention—something no mate should have to do. And if those sins weren’t bad enough, Morgan had left Ricky to wake up alone in a new place after their first intimacy. He didn’t blame the other shifter for leaving, given the way he had treated him, but he hoped once he apologized, Ricky would forgive him and they could start their lives together.
In order to apologize to his mate, he had to find his mate, so for the past two months, he had made half a dozen trips to other packs in an effort to track down Ricky. His initial attempt was at Ricky’s home pack of Purple Sky where the enraged pack Alpha had punched his jaw, told him Ricky was gone forever, and then, before Morgan regained his bearings, shifted into wolf form and attacked. Although it was the hardest battle of his life, Morgan could have killed Berger if that had been his goal. But death and bloodshed weren’t what he wanted and a violent wolf wasn’t a useful source of information, so once he flipped the other Alpha onto his back, his throat exposed and vulnerable, Morgan had turned tail and sprinted away from Purple Sky, taking with him a black eye, two cracked ribs, and a torn thigh.
While he healed from the vicious fight, he did his best to learn about Ricky, in the hope that knowledge would help him find his Omega. Locating him would have been easier if Morgan could have told anyone what he was doing, but Golden Valley’s sole experience with a male Omega had ended in the worst way possible and Morgan didn’t want the only thing they heard about his mate to be information that could paint him in a bad light. Even Lillian, who knew how poorly he had treated Ricky, said no mate would run and hide from the person fated for him, and because the Omega chose to leave without a word in the middle of the night, he couldn’t possibly be Morgan’s mate. Instead, she insisted he was yet another male Omega intending to cause trouble for Golden Valley.
But Morgan had ignored Ricky all evening and then gone for a run while he slept, which wasn’t all that different from running away from his mate, so perhaps Ricky was making a point and trying to teach him a lesson. Whatever the case, if his mate wanted him to put in work and grovel, that was what he would do. He had dreamt of having a mate for too long to let his pride get in the way of his future.
Both of Ricky’s parents’ families had been in Purple Sky for generations, but, over the years, some of their kin had mated with folks from other packs. Morgan discovered a cousin in White Plains and another in Orange Sunset, so he traveled to both pack lands, hoping, but failing, to find his mate. After extinguishing all the leads related to Ricky, Morgan reevaluated his approach.
As he reflected on every moment he had spent with his mate, he couldn’t help but think about Brian Berger. The passion with which the other Alpha had fought Morgan when he came looking for Ricky showed the intensity of his feelings. If he was willing to risk death to avoid talking about Ricky, surely Berger had knowledge of where he had gone. And if he knew Ricky’s location, he may have assisted him in moving. With that in mind, Morgan tried a different approach—instead of focusing on packs connected to Ricky, he considered packs where Berger had family.
The most obvious choice was the Red River pack where Berger had been raised. Unfortunately, getting to Red River wasn’t as quick or as easy as his trips to nearby packs. Admitting to himself that going away overnight without anyone noticing wasn’t realistic, Morgan asked Lillian for help. It was a testament to their friendship that she covered for him, despite disagreeing with every part of his efforts.
Refusing to acknowledge the possibility that Lillian was right when she said that, if the Omega wanted to be found, he wouldn’t be doing such a fine job of hiding, Morgan set off to Red River. He napped on the side of the road when his eyelids became too heavy to keep open, but anxiety over his mate and his pack made his sleep fitful and short. When he finally arrived at Red River, Morgan was long past tired. Out of leads and depleted of energy, he pleaded with the Red River Alpha for help.
He was certain fate was finally on his side when the man gave him useful information: his mate was in Blue Mountain. Morgan knew Lillian wouldn’t be able to hide his absence if he extended his trip, but even though he had spent only a short time with his mate, Morgan yearned for him, and he couldn’t stand to be apart an extra minute. Besides, he justified to himself as he drove directly from Red River to Blue Mountain, as soon as his pack met Ricky, keeping the secret wouldn’t matter because they’d see that despite being a male Omega, he was a normal shifter and not a monster.
In Morgan’s daydreams, his arrival in Blue Mountain was met with joy. A pleased Ricky viewed his efforts to find him as proof of his devotion, and together, they returned to Golden Valley and began their lives as mates. Being realistic, however, Morgan suspected he would have to actually apologize and explain his behavior in order to earn his Omega’s forgiveness, which was fair and reasonable. What Morgan did not anticipate, however, was anunwelcome party consisting of two Alphas radiating anger and his mate nowhere in sight.
Exhausted but excited, anxious but hopeful, he pulled into one of the parking spots in front of the Alpha house, drew in a deep breath, and willed his muscles to relax as the oxygen flowed through his body. Yes, the men he presumed were the Grant brothers were using their body language to send him a clear message of aggression and disdain, and yes, he was alone on pack lands far from his own and where he knew nobody. But he was too much of an Alpha wolf to be scared by the latter and, he supposed, not enough of one to have his pride triggered by the former.
Slowly, Morgan stepped out of the car, keeping his posture relaxed and his arms at his sides. Fights didn’t worry him, not after spending so many years successfully defending his position and his pack from outsiders hoping to unseat him. But no matter how many times the blood of another Alpha had coated his tongue as he took down a challenger, he had never gained a thirst for battle, so he wanted to keep this visit civil and free of violence.
“Hi. You must be Mitchell and Frederick Grant.” He walked toward the Alphas who were now approaching him, their shoulders back, chests out, and teeth bared. “I’m—”
“We know who you are,” said the smaller of the two men. “You need to get off our pack lands.”
Morgan hadn’t had time to learn much about Blue Mountain, but he knew the basics and that was enough to realize the not-as-tall, not-as-wide, not-as-muscular, not-as-scowling Alpha was Frederick. “No problem,” he said as he stopped his approach and smiled, determined to deescalate the tense situation. “I’m here for Ricky Marx. If you can please have someone get him, we’ll be on our way.”
Mitchell, who was now less than two body lengths from him, growled.
At the same time, Frederick said, “Leave.”
Assessing the situation, Morgan locked eyes with the Alpha who hadn’t yet spoken but clearly was the bigger threat. “I’m not leaving without Ricky.”
Mitchell squeezed his fists, cracking his knuckles.
“It wasn’t a request,” Frederick said. “Get in your car and get out of Blue Mountain.”
They were at an impasse, for which Morgan hadn’t prepared. Admittedly, he wasn’t in prime condition. Two months of minimal sleep and frequent travel had worn down his body, and anxiety over finding his mate and integrating him into his pack had exhausted his brain. But despite his scuffle with Berger, he genuinely hadn’t anticipated a situation where other Alphas would stand between a wolf and his mate.
“If it’ll make you more comfortable, I can wait in my car while you get Ricky,” he offered, wanting to avoid violence, “but when I go home, he’s coming with me.”
“Not going to happen, friend,” said Frederick, not sounding the least bit friendly.
“I don’t want to fight,” Morgan said as he as rubbed his palm over the ribs that had only recently healed from the battle at Purple Sky.
Mitchell scoffed.
Grinning at his brother, Frederick shook his head and then he looked at Morgan. “Believe me, it won’t be much of a fight. Get out of here while you still can.”
As he pondered why two enraged Alphas were nearly frothing at the mouth in anger and provoking a fight with a stranger, when all he sought was what nature intended—to be with his destined mate—Morgan remembered an evening many years earlier when his brother had shouted at his father about the power of male Omegas to manipulate and seduce. At the time, Morgan had brushed it off as Jerold making excuses to justify his misdeeds; now, he wasn’t so sure. His brain flooded with memories of the many challenges he had defended against Iredell, yet another Alpha who acted irrationally over a male Omega.
But even if his mate’s presence in Blue Mountain was the cause of their obstinance and regardless of the reality that defeating two Alphas would be more difficult than his battle with Berger, if a fight was Morgan’s only avenue to his mate, Morgan would use teeth and claws. Not letting himself get distracted, he shook off the past and focused on the Blue Mountain Alphas, who were likely to attack him at any moment.
