Page 44 of Stray Omega

Right now, Leros wanted nothing more than to get away from her. He wished that the crowd of curious alphas and omegas would make way so that he and Embla and the rest of his pack could be on their way.

But the crowd was slowing down their progress, and Leros was stuck fending off Jora.

The dark-haired omega looked at Embla again, who was now shuddering with nerves.

“Well, it was kind of you and your pack-brethren to take care of this poor helpless woodland creature, but why in the world did you bring it back here? Surely it would be much happier back in its natural home in the forest? I mean, just look how frightened the poor little thing is.”

“She,” Leros said coldly.

He was struggling to keep his temper in check, but Jora’s provocations really were too much.

“Excuse me?”

“She. You will refer to Embla as ‘she.’ She is not some woodland creature, as you put it. She is a person, and you will respect that.”

Jora rolled her eyes dramatically.

“And the reason she’s afraid,” Leros added, “is because she’s got half the Zone gawking at her right now. Come on, all of you get out of the way! We’re trying to get through!”

His companions were now getting irritated as well. Ark was growling and Orwen was tensing up like he was about to start throwing punches. But the crowd was just too damn curious, and they closed in tighter to get a look at the funny omega. They were shouting questions, many of the same questions that Jora had been asking.

“Who is that omega?”

“Where did you find her?

“Why doesn’t she have any piercings?”

“Is she a Farlander?”

This was getting out of control.

As the crowd had closed in, Jora had squeezed closer to Leros. She placed one long-fingered hand flirtatiously on his arm and peered over his shoulder to look more closely at Embla.

“She has a mark, Leros. Don’t tell me you stole her from a pack of Farlander alphas.”

Suddenly Leros felt his frustration bubbling over.

“She’s not a Farlander,” he snarled. “Ark is the one who marked her.”

Jora drew her hand away from his arm like it was on fire, and her eyes circled with shock.

A collective gasp swept through the crowd.

Leros had meant to direct his statement toward Jora, but in his anger he had practically yelled the words for all to hear. He immediately regretted it. Leros didn’t even have to turn around to know that Ark was casting a disapproving glare in his direction. He could feel the pack leader’s eyes searing into the back of his head.

Leros had fucked up.

The mark on an omega’s neck signaled to other alphas that an omega had been claimed. She was off-limits. But they would not recognize simply from the bite pattern which alpha had done the marking.

Of course, Ark was by no means ashamed of Embla. But considering the unusual circumstances, he probably would have preferred to divulge that information in a more orderly way, rather than having Leros blurt it out to half the tribe.

Oh well, the cat was out of the bag now.

For a beat, the crowd stood back in stunned silence. Then they closed in again, chattering even more excitedly.

“Do you plan to bind her?”

“Is she fit to perform the ritual?”

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