“Really?” Vaughn asked, exchanging glances with his twin. “Where is he now? Is he okay?”
“He’s joined River’s new pack in Cascade City, and he’s doing well. We were able to deliver his three babies safely, but he bled a lot. His birth canal shut off, something that no one’s heard of happening before. We had to take the babies by surgery.”
“Just like Shane did for Gabriel,” Vaughn said.
“Gods,” Vincent whispered, rubbing his hand over his swollen stomach.
“I’m not trying to frighten you,” Angela said. “I just want you to be aware that we’re trying to stay on top of things. More and more humans in the medical field are becoming interested in lycanthropes. We’re learning new things every day, and with Bridges traveling from pack to pack, we have resources we didn’t have before. Recent findings have revealed problems. Nothing terrible, but when added together, they certainly give us pause to think something might be going on.”
“The other packs are welcoming to you?” Ian asked.
“For the most part. We can’t expect them all to be, but we make sure each pack alpha understands what we’re doing and what may be at stake.”
“I don’t follow,” Ian said. “What is it you think is happening?”
Angela wet her lips and looked at each werewolf in turn before speaking. “Perhaps something beyond your control. We just don’t know.”
“What?” Gabriel looked up at his mate with wide eyes.
Ian squeezed the omega’s shoulder reassuringly.
“This is all speculation,” Angela assured him. “That’s why I don’t want to say until we look into things further. Bridges and I were just talking about how very strange it is that two reproductive problems have popped up in two omegas originally from the same pack. So far, no other packs have reported that sort of problem, but there have been other things.”
“Such as?” Ian asked.
“I’d really like to wait until we know more before I bring it all up.”
“Are you saying someone is trying to harm our omegas?” Ian asked, dark eyes concerned.
“I’m not saying anything for certain. Meanwhile, we’re checking things out just in case. You can’t object to that?”
“No, of course not,” Ian said. “We’ll do anything we can to help.” He took Gabriel’s hand. “Let’s get you home to rest before dinner.”
Gabriel didn’t argue, and after the two left, Vincent turned to the doctor. “You can help him, can’t you? He looks so sick. Worse than the last time I saw him.”
“How long ago was that?” Angela asked.
Vince thought. “A couple of weeks, I guess. He seems much paler, and he didn’t even argue about going home and resting like he normally would. I’m worried.”
“Me, too,” Vaughn said, and Justin echoed him.
“I’ll do everything I can. Werewolves seem to react well to natural treatment, so we’re beginning there. In the meantime, Dr. Talcourt and I will be asking a lot of questions.”
“We’d better go,” Vaughn tugged at Vincent’s sleeve.
They said their goodbyes, and the twins walked back to the schoolhouse, where Craig and the kids stood outside waiting.
“I’m going to school next week!” Ryan said, taking Vincent’s hand.
“I know! Isn’t that exciting?”
Ryan nodded, and then shifted to run ahead with J.J. and Jasper.
Vincent couldn’t stop thinking about what Angela had said. Could Sawyer and Gabriel’s troubles be linked?
He relayed Angela’s words to Craig.
“Sounds to me as though she’s insinuating humans are trying to find a way to destroy us besides torching our compounds. They’re targeting the omegas, the most fertile of werewolves.”
“Are they that devious?” Vincent asked.
“It makes sense, and it’s even more reason to keep humans off the compound. I don’t like this at all. I’m going to talk to Kale about it tonight.”
“But Angela and Bridges are here to help,” Vincent protested.
“They may be, but who knows what’s going on? They may inadvertently carry information back to someone who wants to harm us.”
Vincent shivered. It was a scary thought.
Chapter 16: Duncan
Duncan hadn’t caught any fish and soon returned to the barn where Rick and Bruce were working. A sudden gust of wind blew through the open door, and the alpha tilted his head and sniffed the air, unease settling over him. The scent was unmistakable and brought up the hairs on his neck.
“Do you smell humans?” he asked the two betas.
Rick threw a piece of rotting wood onto the growing pile outside the barn door and straightened. Bare-chested with his T-shirt hanging from the back pocket of his jeans, the beta’s defined abdominals and rock-hard pectorals glimmered with a layer of sweat.
Bruce grabbed his own shirt from a nail on the wall and wiped his face before answering Duncan. “Grey brought a doctor here to help his omega. Weren’t you at the alpha meeting?”
Duncan ran a hand through the longer hair on top of his head and wiped his face on his bare arm. He’d missed the meeting, having gone to see Jake and Earnest in Echo Valley. He’d been expecting a dressing down from Grey ever since, but perhaps the omega’s poor health was the reason Duncan hadn’t had another irate visit from the pack alpha.
“What’s wrong with Grey’s omega?” he asked, tossing the hammer he’d been using to pry up rotten boards onto the floor. The loft was the last part of the barn that needed repairing, and they’d decided to tear it down altogether. Rick and Bruce had set up their forges and had already begun making an iron fence for one of the pack members.
Rick answered the question. “He’s carrying and tired all the time, not sleeping well, that kind of thing. Having the last pup almost killed him. Weird for an omega. So, Grey’s got some doctors here who have been studying lycanthropes and might be able to help him.”
“And they’re human?” Duncan thought about Grey’s omega. He hadn’t looked sick when he’d approached Duncan about Canaan, had he? The alpha really hadn’t paid attention. “How long are they gonna be here?”
Rick shrugged. “For as long as it takes, I guess. I don’t know what’s wrong with Grey’s omega, but you can’t blame the man for trying to find a way to fix it, even if it does involve humans.”
Duncan grunted. “You two saw first-hand what allowing humans onto pack territory causes.”
Rick and Bruce had been part of the trade with River Wolf Pack compound. As blacksmiths, they were intended to benefit an already thriving pack. After River left and the pack had crumbled, the two betas had decided to return home. As far as Duncan was concerned, allowing humans onto pack territory was a grievous mistake on Grey’s part, and the fact that worry over his omega had prompted the action was only further proof that omegas weren’t worth the trouble.
The breeze shifted and another scent assaulted Duncan’s nostrils, this one much more pleasant. Mild and slightly citrus-y, it tickled the alpha’s nostrils.
“Let’s take a break and meet back after lunch,” he said, leaving the barn without waiting for the betas’ replies. He strode out into the sunshine and stopped short when he spotted Canaan in the field beside Duncan’s barn. Realizing Canaan was the source of the pleasant scent, the alpha took a moment to look the man over, from the top of the beta’s goldish-brown hair, downward. Duncan’s cock stirred.
The alpha started across the field, watching the way the beta gracefully bent to pluck flowers from among the tall grass. Duncan knew Canaan had to scent him, particularly since the alpha had been sweating heavily, but the beta didn’t look up.
Duncan stopped within feet of Canaan. “What are you doing?”
Canaan straightened, unhurried, hands full of late-blooming wildflowers.
“Are you always so abrupt?” the beta asked, green eyes meeting Duncan’s.
Canaan’s blatant lack of respect raised the hairs on the back of t
he alpha’s neck, as well as his cock in his jeans. He sneered and put all his authority into his tone. “Answer my question.”
Canaan tilted his head, presenting his long, creamy-skinned neck, and lowered long lashes. Although technically reacting the way he was supposed to, a mischievous glint sparkled in the beta’s eyes that Duncan didn’t miss.
“I’m picking flowers for my students to use in a project. What are you doing?”
Duncan’s fingers twitched. He simultaneously wanted to run them down the column of Canaan’s exposed neck, and to squeeze the beta’s throat for his impertinence. Lowering his voice to a growl, the alpha said, “You obviously don’t know your place, beta, or you wouldn’t be questioning an alpha.”
Canaan’s eyes flashed with a mixture of fear and arousal, and a surge of blood flowed to Duncan’s cock.
The beta averted his eyes. “I’m sorry, alpha. My history with alphas has been somewhat difficult.”
“What does that mean?”
This time, the tone of Duncan’s voice sent the beta to his knees. The alpha liked the sight of him there.
“I-I had an alpha mate who was a little confusing, to say the least.” Green eyes flicked upward to Duncan’s face before skating over the alpha’s body. His lips pursed. “I see you’re wearing clothes today. Pity.”
Duncan stared. The alpha ought to knock the beta to his back, but couldn’t move.
“If it’s okay with you, I’ll just finish here and leave,” Canaan said.
At Duncan’s nod, Canaan got to his feet and continued with his flower-picking, which the beta had to know gave Duncan an excellent view of the beta’s round ass. The alpha wanted to bite it. He didn’t take his eyes off the perfect globes until Canaan straightened up again.
“What happened to your alpha?” Duncan asked, unable to suppress his curiosity.
Canaan blinked in surprise. “His name was Stone. He was sent away from my previous pack and our mating was dissolved. I came here with the others who were mated to him. He attacked Justin near your barn a while back.”
Ah, Duncan should have realized. Canaan had been one of Justin’s beta mates.
Duncan turned abruptly and walked away without saying anything else. He didn’t like the feeling he got when around Canaan, nor the way he couldn’t seem to control his mouth. Evidently, he couldn’t control his feet either, for he found himself walking toward the main part of the compound rather than back to the barn. More precisely, he walked to Milo’s house.
The second alpha’s home was built into one of the caves surrounding Angel Hills compound. Duncan entered the small yard, walked up the steps of the wooden porch built to the front of the rock, and knocked on the door. Milo answered with a sandwich in his hand, looking more than surprised to find the reclusive alpha standing there.
“Duncan. Hello. What can I do for you?”
Duncan’s gaze was drawn to the tattoos covering the second-in-command’s arms and one side of his neck. Duncan had never killed another werewolf and therefore had not received the markings.
Duncan met Milo’s eyes. “I’d like to speak to your omega. Alone.”
Milo’s body stiffened. “Fat chance of that.”
The small omega’s dark head appeared from under Milo’s arm, and Duncan found two dark eyes darting up and then away from him.
“Hi,” Justin said. “What can I do for you, Duncan?”
Milo growled, but Duncan ignored him. “I’d like to speak with you in private.”
“And I said that’s not happening,” Milo told Duncan, attempting to push Justin behind his back as though Duncan planned on eating the omega or something.
Justin put a hand on Milo’s arm. “I’m not in heat, Milo. Duncan’s not going to hurt me.”
“He’s unmated!”
Justin ran his hand over Milo’s arm, as though soothing an angry animal. Duncan was never happier not to be chained to an omega who could bend his resolve with a touch.
“Come on, Milo. Let me talk to him,” Justin said.
Milo’s nostrils flared. “There’s only one way I will allow you to speak to an unmated alpha without me in the room.”
Justin nodded. “Fine, fine, whatever you need.”
Duncan smirked as Milo unzipped his pants and brought his cock out. Before Justin could say a word, the alpha had sprayed him head to toe with strong alpha urine.
Justin stood, mouth agape, dripping onto the floor. “What the hell, Milo?” he almost squeaked.
Duncan met the other alpha’s eyes, an amused look passing between the two.
“Can I talk to him now?” Duncan asked, nose wrinkling.
“Inside.” Milo stepped back.
Justin grumbled as he walked, arms away from his body, to a rocking chair in the corner of the room and sat down. Milo strolled into the kitchen, whistling.
“My question is about your previous mate. Tell me about him,” Duncan said.
The omega frowned. “Um. Well, he was a real jerk.”
Duncan’s brow rose.
“He was always beating me, and he raped me.”
“You were his mate,” Duncan said, not sure what Justin meant by the word rape.
“That doesn’t mean he could have me when I begged him not to. When I was sleeping, sick, so pregnant I could barely move. He was mean. He only cared about being the strongest, most bad-ass alpha in the pack. He wanted to take River’s place as pack alpha. I had four children with him and couldn’t stand it anymore. I asked Josiah, our first omega, to ask River to dissolve our mating.”
Duncan stood in the center of the room, hands on hips, thinking. Had Stone treated Canaan similarly? He didn’t care for the thought.
“Could we hurry this along?” Justin finally asked. “I’d like to shower and change.”
Duncan grunted. “What about your other mates? There were three.”
“Yeah, Henry, Gaston, and Canaan. Being betas, Stone wasn’t quite as cruel to them, although he hurt them in other ways.”
“Such as?”
“He’d make them watch him beat me. He had a friend, Griffin, who later took over the pack when River left. He’d come over and watch Stone…do things to me, and Stone always made sure my other mates were there, too, at least to hear what was going on if not to witness it. If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have made it through all that, because they were always there to comfort me afterward. When I volunteered to come here, I asked if they could come, too.”
“Did Stone ever hit the others?”
“Not like he did me. I think it was worse for them before he took me as a mate, but once he had an omega, he focused all his wrath on me. He got off on my natural submissive reactions to him, and the betas weren’t like that.”
Duncan could imagine Canaan hadn’t given Stone the reactions the cruel alpha had desired. “Did the betas have children with Stone?”
“Only Canaan, and his son died.”
Milo appeared from the kitchen, another sandwich in hand. “Time’s up.”
Duncan had heard what he needed to hear and nodded to Milo and then to Justin before leaving. He was sure the omega was wondering why Duncan had asked about Stone, but Duncan couldn’t have said why if he’d wanted to, as he didn’t know himself.
Chapter 17: Christopher
Xavier was avoiding him, that was obvious, and it pissed Christopher off. When the beta had returned from his evening with Perry and seen the birthday cake waiting for him, his heart had stopped for a moment. That X had cared enough to go to the trouble touched Christopher. So, finding X on the ground after having fallen off the ladder when checking on Christopher, the beta had become bold and taken what he’d wanted, fueled by the newfound confidence he’d achieved with Perry.
With X’s cock in his mouth, Christopher had had no doubt at all who he really wanted to be with.
But after Xavier had recovered from his orgasm, and he’d focused on Christopher’s face, his eyes had immediately shuttered. The alpha had mumbled apolo
gies as he’d zipped his pants and left the barn as though it had been on fire, and Christopher had been too stunned to try to stop him.
Humiliated, but sure of one thing, Christopher had gone to find Perry the following day and told the older beta he was sorry, but he needed some space. If Perry had thought Christopher was overwhelmed by what they’d done, he was wrong. Christopher longed to suck a cock again—only X’s, not Perry’s.
“Gods, I’ve gone from zero to ninety in a day,” Christopher muttered to himself as he finished cleaning the stalls, brisk movements energized by lingering anger. He paused, memories taking over of Xavier, sweaty, moaning, so into what Christopher had been doing.
And then, just as Christopher had had the big alpha on edge, balls drawn tight and knot bulging, X had called out before shooting his load down Christopher’s throat.
A name. Trace.
It had taken a moment for the beta’s head to clear and for him to realize what he’d heard. By that time, X had been on his feet and apologizing. Christopher didn’t think the alpha had been apologizing for what he’d said, either. He doubted the alpha had even realized. Christopher had rather X had called out Canaan’s name. At least then the beta would have someone tangible to compete against.
Knowing Xavier had been thinking of his dead mate while Christopher had pleasured him should be what upset Christopher the most, but it wasn’t. What turned the young beta’s heart to ash was that X had said he was sorry—sorry what they’d done had happened at all—and run.
The entire thing might be more understandable if Xavier hadn’t been with anyone in the time since Trace had been killed, but there was Canaan. Had the alpha called out his dead mate’s name when he’d been with Canaan? Christopher highly doubted the older beta would have put up with that for so long.
Tears pricked Christopher’s eyes, realizing the alpha had been fantasizing about someone else when they were together. It hurt more than he would have imagined it would.
At least when Christopher had sucked Perry’s cock, the other beta had still wanted to be with Christopher afterward. Maybe Christopher was stupid not to choose Perry, but the heart wanted what it wanted.
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