by J. L. Wilder
She shook her head vigorously. “You can’t have," she said. “Ozzy is my mate. I love Ozzy. He imprinted on me. Whatever I’m feeling now—”
“Then you are feeling something.”
“But it doesn’t matter,” she said. “I don’t know what it is, and I don’t need to know. It’s nothing. Danger causes arousal, right? It’s probably because of the Feral Fangs. I’m feeling something because of that whole ordeal. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Who are you trying to convince?” Gage asked.
She looked at him.
He stepped closer, reached out, took her by the hand. “It’s been known to happen,” he said quietly. “With really powerful omegas. They can be imprinted upon by multiple men. It’s happened in other packs. There’s a pack up in Maine like that. I met them once.”
“How can I belong to both of you?” Natalie asked. She was shaking, but Gage could see that she was starting to accept what he was saying.
“You want me, don’t you?” he asked quietly.
“Yes,” she breathed.
“As much as you want Ozzy?”
She bit her lip and nodded.
“How else do you explain it?”
“I can’t,” she said quietly.
He pulled her against him firmly and kissed her again, and this time, she didn't pull away.
He spun her around, grabbed her wrists gently but firmly, and pressed her palms against the trunk of the nearest tree. Already she was pushing back into him, grinding her ass against him, and he could feel himself growing almost painfully hard.
He slid his hands down her sides and gripped the hem of her skirt, pushing it up above her waist, exposing her to the night. She gasped and rose up on her toes, tipping her hips back. Inviting him.
“God,” he groaned. “I knew you wanted it.”
“Of course I want it,” she said. “Are you trying to torture me?”
He wrapped one arm around her waist and cupped her firmly between her legs. She sighed happily and let her weight settle in his hand, rocking back and forth, enjoying the friction.
With his other hand, Gage lowered the shoulder straps of her dress one by one, freeing her arms. He pushed the top down so that the whole dress was bunched around her waist and gripped her breast. It was as large as his hand, giving him plenty to hold onto. He stroked her nipple, and she arched into his touch, her head falling back on his shoulder, leaning in to rest against his neck.
He couldn’t take it any longer. She was too appealing. She was like a ripe piece of fruit in his hands. He had to take a bite.
He kicked off his pants, grabbed her by the hips, and pulled her back against him roughly. For a moment, he held her there, feeling the throb of their bodies reaching for each other, listening to her pant with desire.
He lowered one hand between her legs and stroked her once with the side of his thumb, slowly, gently, his touch feather light.
She shuddered, a whine escaping her lips.
He slid his aching cock inside her, sighing with relief.
He’d been looking to this moment from the second his lips had met hers, but it only satisfied him for a few seconds. Then he needed more. He held her hips still with one hand and reached his other hand up over her shoulder to press over her own hand. He felt the rough scrape of the tree bark and knew she was feeling it too.
He fucked into her, hard.
She let out a cry.
It was one of the hardest things he had ever done, but he forced himself to hesitate. “Are you okay?” he said, surprised by the rough quality of his own voice.
“Don’t stop," she groaned.
It was all he needed. He slid the hand on her hip up to her breast, squeezing and circling her nipple, his hips snapping into her. He was hypnotized by the slap of their bodies meeting in rhythm. He lost himself to the pleasure of it—the heat and the tightness and the way she writhed on him, angling herself back, doing all she could to take him deeper, to take more.
“Fuck me,” she moaned. “Harder, Gage. Don’t stop. Please don't stop.”
He couldn’t have stopped now if he'd wanted to. He slid his hands down to her waist and hung on, pulling her back into each of his thrusts so that their bodies came together with increased force. Her palms skidded on the tree and her back arched.
Then she was coming, and he was coming, and it felt as if they had left the forest altogether and landed somewhere else, somewhere the only thing that mattered was their bodies and the intense pleasure they had created for themselves.
When they returned to Earth, they were on the ground. They must have collapsed, but Gage had no memory of it.
He reached over and took Natalie in his arms. She was panting, but she came willingly and pressed her face against his chest.
“Oh, God,” she said quietly. “That was amazing.”
He wrapped himself around her. They would go back to the cave in a few minutes, when they had the strength to get to their feet. But for now, he would shelter her with his own body. She was his omega now, and he would always do all he could to protect her.
Chapter Fourteen
NATALIE
“Is it going to be a problem?” Natalie asked.
Gage looked over at her. They were sitting on the bank of the stream, dipping their hands in and pulling up handfuls of water to drink.
It was difficult for Natalie to remain focused on what she was trying to ask him. Since she’d met him, Gage had kept his long hair tied back with a cord at the back of his neck. But this morning he had let it loose. His thick, soft curls spilled down over his broad shoulders, framing his face.
She kind of wanted to climb into his lap and bury her fingers in that hair.
“Is what going to be a problem?” he asked.
“You and me,” she said. “You imprinting on me.” She’d been trying to work up the courage to ask about this for the past hour. Now that the euphoria of what had happened between them had worn off, her anxieties had returned. “Eventually, we’re going to meet up with Ozzy again, right? Isn’t he going to be really hurt by it? I know you said that sometimes omegas could be imprinted upon by multiple men, but he can’t have been expecting it.”
“Ozzy's the least of our worries," Gage said. “And trust me, it’s to your benefit that you have two strong allies instead of just one. You’re going to be glad I’ve got your back when we get back to Washington.”
“Because of the alpha?”
“Randy,” Gage said.
“He’s that awful?”
“He’s the reason our pack is as weak as it is, if you want my opinion,” Gage said. “I mean, there are other reasons too—the Rocky Mountain pack keeps attacking us, and that keeps us weak, and then there’s the fact that we lost our omega all those years ago.”
“You’ve never had another omega?” she asked. “I would have thought another one would be born since the time I left.”
Gage shook his head. “Omegas are rare,” he said. “And the gene is usually passed from mother to daughter, or at least through the mother’s line—I think your grandmother was our last omega. Anyway, when we lost you, we also lost the capacity to produce a new omega.”
Natalie was stunned. She’d had no idea of her own importance.
And now she felt, even more potently, the terrible fact that she was likely unable to conceive a child. Her marriage had been destroyed by that fact. They’d spent years trying, and it had come to nothing.
Everyone was searching for her, hoping that she could pass on her valuable omega genes. Two men had imprinted on her. And they had no idea how worthless she really was. They had no idea that she would never be able to live up to the potential they hoped for.
She wanted to tell Gage. Telling him would make her feel better, would ease the huge knot of guilt in her stomach.
But she couldn’t do it. What if it broke the connection between them? What if, when he learned the truth, he decided he didn't want her anymore, the way her ex-husband had?
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What if they all decide that?
If Gage and Ozzy decided she was worthless, would they bother to keep her? Would they protect her against Randy? Would there even be a place for her in this new world that should have been hers by birthright?
How can I be the omega they think I am if I can't bear children?
All the evidence pointed to their being correct about who she was, of course. She had the tattoo. She had been imprinted upon twice. But what did any of that mean if she wasn’t capable of carrying children?
No, she couldn’t tell Gage about that part of her past. Just as she had kept her infertility a secret from Ozzy, she would also have to keep it a secret from him.
And what will I say, in the end, when they see that I can’t conceive?
Maybe by then, they would accept that she was too old to have children. She wasn’t young. It was a plausible story. Maybe they would consider it their own fault, in part, for having taken so long to find her, and they wouldn't blame her for all of it.
Maybe they would simply love her too much by then to let her go.
It would mean no new young omega for the pack. She couldn’t save them in that way. She couldn’t give them what they hoped for most.
But Gage had also spoken about the way alphas and omegas uniting together could give a pack more strength and power than it would have had otherwise. Natalie could do that much for the Pacific Northwest Wolves.
That is, if I don’t tear them apart.
“What do you think will happen?” she asked Gage. “When we get back to Ozzy, I mean.”
Gage shrugged. “We’ll tell him how it went down between the two of us,” he said. “He’s a reasonable guy. I think he’ll understand.”
“You do?” she asked doubtfully.
“He’s always been a little more human than the rest of us.” As if to punctuate the statement, Gage slipped off his shirt, exposing a bare chest covered with scars.
Natalie sucked in a breath. “What happened to you?”
“What?” Gage followed her gaze. “Oh. It’s nothing. Sometimes I like to live wild, like I told you, and you get into your share of scrapes doing that.” He grinned. “I guess Ozzy doesn’t have many scars.”
“Not like that.”
“Like I said. Human.”
It was funny—Ozzy had told her the same thing, but when Gage said it, it sounded like he was making fun of Ozzy. Not cruelly, but slightly disparagingly, the way an older brother might tease a younger one. “You think that’s going to make him more understanding about this situation?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Gage said. “He’s always had his nose in books. He probably knows more about the history of shifter culture than just about anyone else in the pack. I knew about the idea of omegas having more than one mate because I’ve seen it before, but Ozzy’s probably read dozens of stories about it. He probably won’t even be surprised.”
“I didn't know it was something that could happen,” Natalie said quietly. “Does that mean Randy could imprint on me too?”
“I guess,” Gage said. “To be honest, it doesn’t seem likely to me that Ozzy and Randy would respond in the same way to anything. But it’s not outside the realm of possibility.”
“What would happen then?”
“I don't know,” Gage said. “It’s going to be complicated enough for me and Ozzy to get on the same page.”
“What do you mean? Do you two dislike each other?”
“No, nothing like that,” Gage said. “We’re just not that close, that’s all. We’ve never had a common goal. We’ve never worked together on anything. I’m guessing he’ll be as dedicated to the idea of keeping you protected and safe as I am, but that doesn't mean we’ll be able to agree on the best way to do that.”
“What’ll happen?”
“In an ordinary disagreement, we’d just fight it out,” Gage said.
“Fight it out?” She thought back to the confrontation that had occurred in her hotel room, the horrible fight between Ozzy and the other man. That had been hard enough to watch, and she hadn't even loved Ozzy then. She hadn’t had to watch the fight with the knowledge that someone she cared for deeply could get hurt.
If Ozzy and Gage fought, there would be no way to win. She loved them both. She couldn’t bear to see either one of them harm the other.
“You can’t fight Ozzy,” she said. “Promise you won’t.”
Gage shook his head. “I don’t think I could anyway,” he said. “Ozzy’s your mate as much as I am. There’s no way I could fight him without hurting you, and I couldn’t do anything to hurt you.” He said it matter of factly, as if he was telling her that he couldn’t fly.
“You might change your mind about that,” Natalie said, thinking again of the secret she was keeping from him, the fact that she would likely never give him a child.
But Gage shook his head. “It's not a matter of changing my mind,” he said. “Physically, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything that would hurt you. It would be as impossible as cutting off my own hand. It would be as hard as resisting the allure of your body would have been. You’re part of me now. I can’t do anything to hurt you, and I’m driven to protect you.”
“Really?”
“I never knew it would be that way,” Gage said. “I never expected to imprint in my life, to be honest with you. I wasn’t interested in finding a mate, in settling down. I’ve spent time away from the rest of my pack—our pack—and I’ve met women in my travels. But it’s never been anything like this.”
“Then you and Ozzy will have to find a way to get along,” Natalie said. The idea was a relief to her. “You won’t have any other alternative.”
Gage picked a piece of grass and put it between his teeth. “We'll have to figure it out,” he agreed. "It might be hard, but I’m a lot more worried about what will happen when we get back to the rest of the pack. Ozzy’s an agreeable guy. Randy definitely isn’t. And Chuck—he might be difficult too.”
“Chuck, the one who some people thought would take over leadership when I got there?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Gage said. “The important thing is that Chuck himself thought that. He’s been planning on it. Everyone wanted to look for you when we saw your photo in that article, but Chuck was the most eager to see you found. He believes that your return will mean a chance for him to kick Randy out of the alpha role.”
“He really wants to be alpha, I guess.” Natalie wasn’t sure what to think of Chuck. If he was a rival of Randy’s, then maybe he wasn’t all bad. On the other hand, the idea of someone who wanted to use her to put himself in a position of power was intimidating, and she didn’t know if she should trust him.
Fortunately, I have Gage and Ozzy.
Assuming they could find a way to work together, that was.
"It's always like this in weaker packs,” Gage said. “There’s always someone bucking for the top spot. A strong alpha would be able to create contentment among his pack so that no one would worry about trying to take over.”
Natalie hesitated. “You said that Ozzy would become alpha because he’d imprinted on me,” she said. “But now you’ve both imprinted. Who’s going to be the alpha now?”
“I have no interest in leading a pack,” Gage said. "I'm not going to fight Ozzy for that role. And I’m definitely not going to fight Randy for it. They can have it.”
“But how is that going to work?” Natalie asked. “You said yourself that a pack was strongest if the alpha and the omega were mated. Isn’t it going to cause a problem if I’m mated to someone who isn't the alpha? Won’t that weaken the pack?”
Gage looked uncomfortable. “I don't know,” he said. “All I know is that I don’t want to be the alpha. I want no part of that mess.”
“I don’t think Ozzy wanted it either,” Natalie said. “It sounds like the only person who did want it, aside from Randy, is this Chuck. But he’s not the one who imprinted. It was you, and it was Ozzy. And someone’s going to have to
take control.”
Gage shook his head. “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about,” he said. “No offense, but you haven’t been part of the shifter world for very long.”
“Okay,” Natalie said. “You tell me how it’s going to work, then.”
“Ozzy will take over,” Gage said.
“And you’ll be his second-in-command?”
“Hell, no.” Gage sounded offended at the suggestion. “I’m not second to Ozzy in your heart, am I?”
“Of course not,” she said, surprised and a little pleased by how easily the answer came. “But if you’re not willing to be second to him, how can he be your alpha? How can he lead the pack?”
“So maybe Ozzy won’t be the alpha,” Gage said. “Maybe neither of us will. Maybe we’ll stay in the wild and never go back to the pack.”
Natalie drew her knees up to her chest, wondering if that was how this had to end. She wanted to be reunited with the pack she’d been born into. She was curious, after all this time, to know them better.
But maybe there simply wasn’t any practical way to do it.
Chapter Fifteen
GAGE
“Welcome to Indiana,” Natalie read from the sign as they crossed the state line.
“You’re really interested in what state we’re in,” Gage observed.
“I lived in the human world for forty years,” she reminded him. “That kind of thing matters when you’re living a human life.”
“I guess so,” Gage said.
“It doesn’t matter to shifters?”
“It matters less,” Gage said. “We’re between humans and full wolves when it comes to this, just like we are with almost everything else. Humans are really interested in political land divisions, and wolves don’t care at all. Shifters care, but we have our own way of dividing up the land.”
“According to pack territories?” she asked.
He was impressed. “You’ve been paying attention.”
“Everything seems to be dominated by the packs, by what they need.”
“Well, you’re not wrong about that,” he said. “Right now, we’re in territory belonging to the Great Lakes Pack. We might have crossed from Illinois to Indiana, but we’re in the same territory, so as far as I’m concerned, nothing much has changed.