Page 28 of His Reluctant Omega Mate

We ate our dinner, Dakota shoving an extra portion at me as part of his scheme to fatten me up, which was actually working. Then got ready to travel to his family’s home. Their pack was based on the other side of Sweetwater, but we didn’t have to go through the town to get to it. It was a longer journey, but safer to skirt it.

My nerves rose as we approached the compound where the entire pack lived. They numbered around fifty, just a handful of families that had broken off from the Sweetwater pack when they reported their former alpha for omega abuse.

It was a serious crime but difficult to prove, often too insidious and packs rife with it. They pressured omegas into saying that they were fine or withdrawing complaints to keep children with them. I’d seen a lot of it in my birth pack. After leaving them, I hadn’t even considered joining another for fear of landing somewhere worse. It wasn’t like the packs came with a rating system or a try before you buy. They always put on their best face to tempt you in.

Headlights illuminated a large house, not nearly as imposing as the Sweetwater pack’s main house, more welcoming. Dakota parked his silver truck next to a navy blue one, and I scanned the area, seeing several cars neatly parked in rows.

“There’s a lot of people here.” I remarked.

“Pretty much the whole pack, but don’t worry, they know to leave you alone and let you come to them.” He left the truck, rushing around the back to open my door for me and rested a hand on my back as he led me around the house to the back porch. I should have shrugged off the touch. I didn’t want to give anyone the wrong impression. Dakota must have felt the tension rising in me as he moved his hand and gave me an apologetic look.

A large group of people were milling around on the grass next to the porch, the older pack mates sitting on the porch swing and assorted chairs. The atmosphere was lively since the April weather was favoring us with mild, rain free weather. Shouts of greeting went out to Dakota as we were spotted, and a couple rushed to meet us.

“Hello, Kade! Welcome! It’s so lovely to meet you.” The shorter of the two pulled me into a brief hug before inspecting me. “Still too thin, but you must be looking better or Kota wouldn’t have you out of the house.” He grinned at his son. The likeness between them was too much for them to be anything else. They had the same honey brown eyes, though the shorter one had lines around his. Why had I ever thought they were mud like? My perception must have been distorted. The same chestnut brown hair and tanned skin, they had to be a close relation.

“Kade, the man assaulting you is my Papa, James. Papa, as you guessed, this is Kade.”

James moved aside so that the taller man with chocolate brown eyes and gray flecked, almost black hair could inspect me. “This is my dad, Aldrin. He’s also the pack healer.”

Aldrin moved closer and leaned down so he could look into my eyes. At five-ten, I wasn’t short, but these bears towered over me. He grasped my wrist, checking my pulse. “Hmm, I’d like to discuss what happened with the blockers when you feel up to it.”

“Um, sure?”

“Aldrin, leave the poor boy alone.”

“Sorry about them,” Dakota said, as his parents were pulled away to join the group all lined up at the edge of the forest. “It looks like they are about to start. Do you want to try shifting?”

I shook my head, embarrassed that I didn’t feel the call of the moon. “I’ll try from here, but you go on ahead.”

“He can sit with me.” Came a voice from on the porch. I looked up into the face of an older lady, long white hair flowing free, her hands on the railing were lined with age. Her eyes had gone milky. She must have been ancient. Well over a hundred, likely closer to two hundred.

Dakota joined the rest of his pack, stripping quickly. They all rippled at an unheard signal, the shift moving over them in turn until a line of bears stood together and then made their way to the cover of the trees.

Envy burned in my chest as I tried to pull at my wolf, to use my born magic to change form, but I was stuck. Trapped in a body that was done with my abuse. I sagged against the porch railing until the old lady called for me to join her.

I sat carefully next to her on the swing, careful not to jostle it too much as she drank from a tall glass. She stopped my hand from picking at a thread on my jeans with a wizened hand. “Don’t you worry, it won’t last. That wolf of yours is just resting. You need to be kinder to them, and to yourself, y’hear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I quickly replied.

“Less of that now, I’m Janet.”

“Nice to meet you Janet, I’m Kade.”

“I know, dear. The Luna tells me things sometimes, and she told me you’d be coming.” I snorted internally and when she smacked my hand, I feared I’d done it aloud. “Yes, she did. Before the pack healer did. Now I don’t care if you believe me or not, but she had a message for you.”

“A message?”

Janet’s thin lips twisted in a smile. “Believe me now, do you?”

Fuck. I didn’t want to offend the old lady, who seemed really sweet. I’d been raised better than that. Also, I knew that The Luna often sent messages to the shifter elders, which Janet had to be. Shifters of every age were valuable to a pack. Age meant wisdom. “I meant no offense. Just… I can’t imagine what The Luna would have to say to me. I’m not important.”

“You are. To so many people and you don’t even know it. Right now you are putting things in motion that could change so many things for our people.” Janet looked off into the distance, eyes unseeing. “The Luna wants you to be patient with our bear.” She turned those milky eyes on me and I felt stripped bare. “She put Dakota in your path because he needs to be there. You already know he isn’t for you. Being around you will help him find the one soul meant to match his.”

My heart leaped into my throat. Her words matched that feeling I often got around him these days. After I’d stopped resisting having Dakota in my life, he fit and was so important to me. To know that he was meant, by our goddess, to be there made me feel so much better. I had worried constantly about hurting him, but knowing that he had a purpose took that stress off my shoulders. I took a deep breath and smiled.

Janet and I waited for the return of the bears, some only needing an hour in their alter forms. We sat in silence, Janet having imparted her message. My thoughts ran a mile a minute as I formulated my plan. I’d already decided I was done running. This time I had something I hadn’t had before. I had allies now. Dad would find me, I was sure of it. I’d try to keep him away from me until I recovered, but our clash was coming and I’d send him packing. I’d get him put away and live my life in Sweetwater, however I damn well pleased.

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