Page 12 of Carmichael's Omega

It's all I can do, I guess.

I jog into the woods, deep past the edge and under the canopy. Taking off my clothes, I guess it's kind of a good thing that I forgot everything in the room. This way, I can shift and not worry about any of my stuff except my clothes.

My small, brown wolf takes off into the woods as soon as I'm on paws. He runs around, almost in circles, for a long while. He's trying to shake the memory of Dylan out of his head. Neither of us is fans of that wolf.

Finally, my wolf's head droops. Worn out, he sniffs out a small hollowed-out ledge near a seasonal streambed. The running water feels great as he laps it up and lets it run over his sore paws. Then he curls up at the back of the hollow to sleep.

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A firm hand strokes my head. "Hey, pup," the deep baritone voice makes me fearful for only a split second before the familiarity registers. My wolf's tail starts wagging. This is a good touch. Blinking, I stare up at bright green eyes looking at me with concern.

I shift back and throw myself into my big-brother-by-mating's arms. It's embarrassing, but crap is it good to see him.

"What are you doing here?" I ask. My voice is muffled in his shirt, but Teague still understands the question.

"Lyall called me last night to tell me about the apartment he found for you. I called you, texted you. You never answered, Matt. Where's your phone, pup?"

"I left it all in the dorm," I rasp out. My body is shaking. The adrenaline of that moment of fear is draining from me, leaving me a quivering mess. My wolf is whining, pathetically happy to see our alpha-male even though we just saw him a couple of weeks ago.

"Why did you leave so abruptly?" Lyall's worried voice comes from behind Teague.

I pull away reluctantly. Goddess, I'm so pathetic. Mina is pregnant, and Teague had to travel hours to get here because I couldn't deal with a bold, touchy wolf.

"Just had to get away," I hedge.

"Yeah?" Teague's eyes narrow on my face. He and Lyall exchange a look. Beefy arms that I'm secretly jealous of cross over a massive chest. "We went to your dorm first, Mattie. Met your roomie. He's an asswipe if I ever met one. Seemed OK in the Fall. Lyall, anything turn up on that little shit?"

"Not a damn thing," Lyall growls. He's angry, and I cringe, even knowing that his anger isn't directed at me.

"Sorry," I apologize. I don't know what I'm apologizing for, but it seems like a good idea.

"Don't apologize," Teague says automatically. "It's our job to make sure you don't room with pencil-dicks." I cringe again at the unintended accuracy of that comment, and he sighs, uncrossing his arms. "Alright, Mattie. Let's go to your new apartment and get you settled, yeah?"

"It's ready?" I ask. I'm not really surprised. The money that ClearHowl has can make a lot happen in a short amount of time.

Teague hugs me again. "It's an hour from campus, Mattie. Only two hours to Cassie. Five to home. I needed you closer." He takes the blame for moving me so far from the university, but I'm not a complete idiot. As the Beta to one of the wealthiest packs in the nation, if not the world, Teague could have purchased an apartment anywhere. He could have bought a mobile home, given a donation to the university, and planted that sucker right in the middle of the central quad if he wanted to. I know he purchased this apartment to let me be closer to Cassie and ClearHowl.

Relief floods me as I step back from Teague. "Thanks. Can we get my stuff and go, now?" I practically beg.

"We collected it already," Lyall says cooly. His wolf postures aggression and violence. It's not something I'm used to from our Gamma. He's always cool and collected.

Teague grins cruelly. His viciousness is much closer to the surface, ready to defend his pack and family at the drop of a hat. "That little pencil-dick punk destroyed some of your stuff, Mattie. We got to it before he could ruin it all. Most of it, at least."

What? My face must show how bewildered I am because Lyall elaborates on Teague's statement.

"Nasty little homophobe pissed on your bed. He broke your laptop, too."

"Kenneth did?" I ask in disbelief. A human marked my stuff? My bed where I sleep?

"The fire-bush pencil-dick, yeah."

I look at Teague before I lose it. Laughing, I bend over to clutch my knees before realizing that I'm completely naked and bending over. Hey, the gay pup is naked and... I'm not going there. Not with males that are my defacto brother and uncle. I straighten up. "Kenneth is gay," I rasp out. I'm not sure why I decided that was what I needed to say first.

"He's jealous," Lyall replies flatly. "He's also a predator."

"He's human," I point out.

"Which is why I couldn't Challenge him and rip his arms off," Teague says wistfully.

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