The Omega Objection

by G. L. Carriger

  Judd looked like he couldn’t keep taking the mental hits. “You’re saying you’re sleeping with an Omega. A male. An obviously gay male Omega and he’s dominating you? I can’t… what… fucking hell.” Judd shook himself like the dog he wasn’t and then straightened into enforcer stance – big and threatening.

  “Obviously gay? Why obviously?” wondered Isaac, because he couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut.

  Both Tank and Judd turned and stared at him.

  Tank was bigger, but he was much less aggressive, even fully clothed. “Yeah. He could totally be bi or pan or…” Tank was ready to defend him no matter how ridiculous.

  Judd growled in exasperation and stepped in toward his pack mate, chest out. “We gotta get him back to Alec. Right fucking now. We’ll sort out how goddamn unlikely your sex life has gotten later.”

  Isaac crossed his arms. “You gonna involve me in your decision-making process or just bark orders and push me around like every other werewolf since I was fucking born?”

  Judd only widened his eyes at him, somehow managing to look more dangerous than shocked. “Are you actually insane? Omegas just can’t exist without pack. You have to come with us. You don’t have to fucking stay with us, but you certainly can’t go wandering around on your own. Hell! Why the fuck didn’t the trappers tell us they were after an Omega? That goddamn Alpha probably wanted to claim you for herself.”

  Isaac could feel his skin prickling. Here we go. He glared at Tank. You said your pack was different. “You didn’t tell me one of the trappers was an Alpha werewolf.”

  Tank let out his breath. “What’s going on?”

  Judd gestured at Isaac with his thumb. “Tank, you’re not that thick. I know you’re not.”

  Tank gritted his teeth. “Pretend. That. I. Am. Use short sentences, enforcer.”

  “This one is a werewolf Omega on the run. Omegas can’t be without pack. I bet he’s got every shifter in a twelve-mile radius panting after him. They come belly-up with big eyes and sob stories. He tries to fix ‘em, right? Except the ones that go sour and turn psycho.” Judd turned back to Isaac. Isaac was beginning to very much not like the man. “Is that how you netted our Tank?”

  Tank bristled. “Now hold on there! No one netted anything. I’m not a fucking fish.”

  Judd put some enforcer power into his next statement. Isaac could feel it, shivering over his bones. “You two are coming with me, now. Alec should be home soon. This is so not the right place to do this.” He turned on Isaac. “You thought it was a good idea to come to a shifter hotel? Just hang the fuck out. A loner Omega? Are you as dumb as Tank then? Well-fucking-suited.”

  Isaac’s temper turned at that. How dare he criticize Tank. “You asshole! I’ve never had trouble from any shifters except werewolves. Tank’s been the only exception to that reality. Ever. So forgive me if I don’t do anything you ask. Or order.”

  Tank said tentatively, “What about Hayden?”

  Isaac flinched. “Okay, maybe I’ve had issues with a barghest or two. But you all are like practically cousins.”

  “You all. But you’re one of us.” Judd let frustration leak into his voice.

  Isaac wrinkled his upper lip. “Only by birth.”

  Judd looked both upset and desperate. “Only… birth? Birth, nothing more? Tank, get your man to come with us! This is ridiculous.”

  Tank crossed his arms, mimicking Isaac. “Isaac doesn’t want to.”

  “That was not a request, grunt!”

  Tank flinched at the slur.

  Isaac bristled. His lover had taken the other insults with impunity but he didn’t like that one. He held his ground, though. Isaac thought the worst thing was that Tank seemed to believe it was true. That he was nothing more than a grunt and didn’t matter to his own pack. Which might be worse, thought Isaac, than not belonging to one at all.

  Judd growled.

  Isaac caught the slight tremble in his lover’s massive body. Poor baby. It’s against every part of his nature to stand against his own pack’s enforcer.

  Isaac couldn’t do that to him. Couldn’t watch his big gentle wolf fight for him, fight a battle he couldn’t win. Because Tank would try and Judd would take him down. Because Judd was an enforcer and Tank, well, wasn’t.

  Isaac took a shaky breath. Perhaps it was best to have this out. Perhaps it would be better if they were all witness to what happened next. How an Omega like him could destroy a pack, just by being inside it.

  “Fine, I’ll come.”

  Judd relaxed slightly. “Tank, get dressed.”

  Tank only sneered at him and in the next breath shifted into his wolf form. A massive dark brown beast, he looked far more incongruous in the luxury suite than a naked man.

  Isaac was struck by a pang of regret. I wish I’d had a chance to fuck him one last time.

  * * *

  They walked through the hotel. Tank stayed a wolf and close to Isaac. He needed to touch him.

  Tank couldn’t really wrap his brain around it. Isaac was an Omega. It explained so much and not enough.

  Well, I know now why he insisted on a condom for oral but not for fucking. He didn’t want me to taste his jizz. Couldn’t tell a werewolf from the way he fucked but you could from the way he tasted. Which only made Tank, now that he knew Isaac’s species, want Isaac’s cum filling his mouth. How spicy would it be? How much would it heat his tongue? Would it be sweet or bitter or if he was very lucky, both? Or were Omegas different from other werewolves in this as they were in so many other ways?

  Tank knew almost nothing about Omegas. His old pack hadn’t had one. Nor had the Red Paws mingled much with other werewolves. He’d never met an Omega in real life.

  He knew that they were special. Highly valued by those packs lucky enough to have birthed one. Which put Isaac even more firmly out of his league as a mate, and way too far above him in pack hierarchy.

  I should move away from him now, not act so proprietary. Besides which, as a dominant, Isaac probably didn’t like him so close.

  Except Isaac needed Tank’s reassurance. He was headed into alien territory, confronting strange wolves. Tank was the only one he might trust, even a little.

  Tank didn’t want to move away. Couldn’t.

  He and Judd had driven one of the pickups to the hotel. For security’s sake, Isaac should have been in the middle, but Tank wouldn’t let him, cramming his wolf body into the cab first so he was between Isaac and Judd. He didn’t want Isaac sitting next to a man who’d threatened him. It didn’t matter that Tank knew Judd to be a good man – his instincts screamed to protect Isaac regardless.

  Judd glared at him.

  “I’m not going to run on you,” said Isaac as he climbed in after Tank. “He’s only trying to keep me happy.”

  Tank chuffed at them.

  Isaac scratched behind his ear. It comforted them both.

  “How the fuck did you even happen?” Judd asked, putting the truck into gear and peeling out into traffic.

  “When a werewolf and a woman love each other very much—”

  “Oh, I see, you’re a punk-ass. You’ll fit in well with this pack.”

  “You’re not fucking keeping me. Why does everyone want to keep me?”

  “Calm down, Omega,” Judd said, as if it were obvious. “I only meant socially.”

  “You’re an asshole.”

  “Well that’s true. So you were born and then what, you ran away?”

  “I was taken. Look, if I’m gonna have to tell this story I’d rather only do it once.”

  Judd grunted. “Music?”

  Isaac grimaced. “Instead of talking? Hell, yes.”

  Judd twiddled with the radio until they had something resembling acceptable.

  Tank couldn’t help being pleased that Isaac was about to meet his pack at last. Tank was, if nothing else, a proper rule-abiding werewolf. He’d wanted to introduce Isaac to his pack from the start. Tank was
also unhappy, because Isaac didn’t want to be there. Isaac wasn’t doing this of his own free will. Isaac didn’t want them, which meant he didn’t want Tank.

  It took too long to get across the bridge, and then it wasn’t long enough down Alexander into town and up the steep hill to the pack property.

  Isaac jumped out of the truck and looked around, hunched and wary. All they could see from the parking area was the garage and the funny little apartment above it. The rest of the yard was too overgrown with trees and bushes.

  “That’s it?” Isaac looked suspiciously at the garage.

  Judd snorted.

  A large reddish wolf came bouncing up – Kevin. He exchanged nods with Judd and sniffs with Tank. He then approached Isaac, who hunched further into himself, as if trying to shrink, in obvious fear. Kev huffed at the stranger long enough that Tank started a low rumbling growl.

  Kev stopped, flicked his ears at Tank, then looked up at Judd, head cocked to one side in utter confusion.

  “I know, he has no scent and Tank’s acting weird. We’ll explain soon. You finish patrol and come in when Alec gets back. He’s not home yet, is he?”

  Kevin shook his head.

  “Best we wait for the Alpha.”

  Kevin gave a bark and bounced off.

  “Come on, then.” Judd led them through the yard under the massive old oaks and young redwoods, until they arrived at the big house.

  Tank glanced at his lover. Isaac was trying hard not to look impressed by the barn-like mansion. “Okay, this makes more sense.”

  Judd slammed in through the heavy front door. Tank nudged Isaac to follow, gently encouraging.

  Isaac sighed. “Fuck my life.”

  Judd was already in the kitchen rummaging around for something to eat. The first thing the pack did when remodeling was knock out almost all of the downstairs walls, turning anything weight-bearing into pillars, so the whole thing was one big living area. Then they’d installed massive two-story windows that looked out over treetops and roofs to the ocean beyond. It was impressive and would be even more so when they finished the deck.

  Tank loved it.

  They were still remodeling the rest of the house, their private rooms and so forth. But this part, the pack den, was finished. Tank, who had done a lot of the heavy construction, was proud of it. More often than not because Max, who loathed the big house, was becoming comfortable on this floor at least. Because it was so changed. Tank was always pleased when his hard work brought others comfort.

  Colin came down the stairs at the noise of their arrival. He looked nervous – but that was normal around Judd. “Oh, hello.” He noticed Isaac. “It’s you.”

  Isaac gave an embarrassed wave.

  Colin looked at Tank. “What’s he doing here?”

  Judd answered since Tank couldn’t. “Great. You met him too?” Judd’s tone was off.

  Colin blinked at the enforcer, who’d never been anything but gentle with him.

  “He’s an Omega, okay? And he has no smell. It’s weird, do you all not know how weird that is?”

  Colin’s big green eyes went wide. “Is he really? Cool. I’ve never met one before.” He turned back to Isaac, looking almost eager. “Is that why you didn’t want to talk to me?”

  Judd looked at Tank. “I take it you never met one before?”

  Tank shook his big shaggy head.

  “Has Alec? Kevin? Lovejoy? Bryan?”

  Colin turned and gave the enforcer a funny look. “Judd, we’re all like a third your age. Possibly less, cause you never say how old you really are. When would we have had the chance? We never traveled as kids. Never even left our town. Most of us barely attended high school.”

  Judd crossed his arms, biceps bulging. “Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I know that much more than you do about Omegas. They’re basically a new species. Post-Saturation and all that.”

  Colin smiled softly, offering no possible challenge. “Except clearly, you do know more.”

  Judd looked poleaxed. Colin rarely smiled and almost never at him. Tank sniffed to test the pheromones in the air. But he couldn’t get over his own eagerness at being near Isaac, who was still permitting him to press close.

  Colin lowered his lashes and shrugged. “You’ve been wandering around, loner, post-Saturation, longer and more than we have. Did you forget how rare Omegas are? I did some research on them once. Nothing came up about their smell, though, or lack of.”

  Judd’s expression shifted somewhere dark. “They should smell like pack. Wait, why were you researching Omegas?”

  Colin flushed with embarrassment. “It’s kinda silly.”

  Isaac waved a hand in the air. “I’ll just go sit over there, shall I? While you talk about me like I’m not here.”

  Judd, as always, only had eyes for Colin, and Colin, for once, was actually having a conversation with him.

  Tank followed Isaac into the sunken sitting area. When Isaac settled into one of the armchairs, Tank flopped over his feet the way Bryan always did with Max.

  He liked it too much. It felt right and good. He wondered what Isaac’s wolf looked like. Isaac had asked him once, and then he’d laughed when Tank described himself in fur. Why’d he do that? Tank’s mind was full of questions. But he knew he was less threatening to Isaac in this shape, more doglike and reassuring. He could wait to ask. Also, he still might have to fight one of his other pack mates. Better to stay a wolf.

  Isaac petted his head and played with his ears as Colin talked to Judd. Tank knew that if he were a cat shifter he’d be purring.

  Judd loomed over Colin. Enforcers, always slightly agro. “Fess up, pretty boy, how come you researched Omegas? I mean, I know you’re all smart and shit, but why bother?”

  Colin flushed and flinched back. “Look, I just thought maybe I was one for a little bit. Because I’m this.” He gestured to himself. “Small and weak. Of course, I found out really quickly the one thing everybody knows about Omegas, they’re born as well as made. Which means I can’t be one. Since I was only made.”

  Tank bet that Isaac was really cute as a pup. He tried to imagine what that would be like, having shifting abilities as a child. I would have gotten into so much trouble.

  The front door opened.

  Alec came ambling in dressed for the lab. Kevin followed, shifting into naked human as he crossed the threshold.

  Isaac said, “Well, he’s hot.”

  Tank growled at him.

  “Not as hot as you, baby. That’s the other enforcer, right?”

  Tank nodded.

  “Definitely not my type.” Isaac shifted his focus and stared at Alec. No surprise there, werewolves were always drawn to him. “Who’s the pretty one?”

  Judd stepped forward before Alec could do what he usually did upon getting home – head into the kitchen distractedly telling them all about his day with microorganisms, spill Meaty-O cereal over everything while he poured himself a bowl, and then wander aimlessly out onto the unfinished deck to look over his territory.

  “Alpha, we have a visitor,” explained Judd.

  Alec looked over at Isaac with thick-lashed hazel eyes and an absentminded smile.

  “You’re the Alpha?”

  Isaac jumped to his feet.

  Tank stood as well, leaning against his leg.

  “Yeah. Sorry about that. I’m never what anyone expects. Did you say I was pretty? That’s very kind.” Alec hurried over to greet their guest. “Are you a friend of Judd’s? I didn’t know Judd had friends. Welcome to the San Andreas Pack. But you have no food! Colin, would you get our visitor some—” And then, exactly like Judd in the hotel room, Alec hit scenting distance.

  “Holy fuck, what are—?” And that was as far as Alec got before he, entirely without intent or control, began to shift forms.

  “Holy shit,” said Kevin. “What’s he doing? Is that third form? Christ, grab his glasses, he’ll break them with that size of hea
d!”

  “Is he gonna...? Oh, I think he is!” Colin blanched and took a step back, even though he was pretty far away.

  Judd yelled, “Save the lamp! Marvin will kill us!”

  Tank had no idea who anyone was yelling at. He swung around to defend Isaac, hackles up, teeth bared.

  Isaac crouched behind him, making himself as small a target as possible. Isaac buried both hands into Tank’s ruff, gripping as though Tank were the only thing anchoring him to the earth.

  At that juncture, Marvin came home from work, wearing his Coast Guard bathrobe and looking tired. He took in the chaos in his living room at a glance.

  “Is that Alec? What the hell is he doing? Is that third form? Alec, take it outside! Oh God no, there he goes. Save the throw pillows!”

  Alec seemed to have registered what was happening and was trying to stop it. He was flickering between human and third form. It was a thing only Alphas could do, transform parts of themselves into wolf, while leaving the rest basically human. Third was the Alpha’s breeding form. It was the shape a werewolf had to be to give a maker’s bite – to turn a human into a werewolf.

  So far as Tank knew, Alec had never used that form in its intended role. As a rule, being human was better for most activities and being a full wolf worked the rest of the time. If they ever had pups in the pack to grow up and take the bite, Alec would need third form then. Once or twice Tank had seen him use it to prove a point. Last month he put third form on for Halloween, to give the neighborhood kids a proper scare.

  It was extremely weird for the Alpha to suddenly become a monster for no apparent reason. Tank had never known an Alpha to shift involuntarily.

  He’d also never seen one fight against it so hard.

  That was kind of the point, after all. Alphas were supposed to have the most control of any of them. Even on full moon.

  Marvin, who had no fear, came rushing forward to his struggling mate. “Babe, what are you doing?”

  Behind Tank, Isaac’s breath quickened and he seemed to be close to hyperventilating. Tank whined. Isaac wanted to flee. Tank could feel the man quivering with it. Except that would be worse than anything, because then Alec would be overcome by the need to hunt.