Omega in the Middle (The Rogue Pack Book 5)

by Samantha Cayto

  There was no hesitation by any of them because no one could fight such a powerful command. In a blink of an eye, Daniel and the white gamma shifted while still braced for battle. They stared at each other with heaving chests. Both were magnificent in their human skin. Ben hadn’t seen Daniel fully naked before, and he couldn’t keep his gaze from lingering on the impressive dick swinging between his powerful thighs.

  The gamma was equally compelling and masculine. His pale beauty caught Ben’s attention just as much. His cock hung a little lower than Daniel’s and appeared thicker. Other than long silky, white strands that fell from his head to his hips, he seemed almost hairless. His blue eyes were easy to see now, and they were so light, they looked like ice.

  Ben stared back and forth between the two awesome men until a movement caught his attention. The omega crawled out from under the porch to join the others. Like the gamma, he was a long-haired pale beauty. Every part of him was delicate to the point of looking fragile. Short and slender, he barely reached Daniel’s chest, and made Ben feel large in comparison. Next to the massive alpha, the omega looked like a young pup. The boy sidled up to the dominant man as if looking for protection. Daniel didn’t even glance at him, but the gamma’s gaze flicked from the beta to the omega with obvious irritation.

  The alpha remained focused on Daniel, however, which scared Ben. While he hadn’t known the beta for long, he still felt loyalty to him. He’d saved Ben from a horrible life with Kurt. Ben didn’t want Daniel to end up hurt or killed. He’d wandered into another pack’s territory deliberately, and Ben figured it had to do with him somehow. Nothing else made sense.

  “What is the meaning of this, beta? You’ve entered my pack lands uninvited and challenged a shifter who does have permission to be here. Not to mention that you’ve put two omegas at risk with such behavior.” The alpha flicked his hand at first Loki, then Ben.

  The guy didn’t wait for a reply before rounding on the other man. “You, too, Carr. You and your feral brothers are here on my sufferance. Yet you not only endangered Loki, but that other omega, as well, when he’s entitled to protection.

  “This is disgraceful and insupportable behavior from the both of you.” The alpha shot daggers between Daniel and the gamma. “I will have an explanation before I shift and tear you both to pieces.”

  A whimper of fear escaped past Ben’s lips before he could stop it. He didn’t want to see Daniel killed for doing what was right. He found the courage to take a step forward in the hopes of setting the story straight. Daniel hadn’t been doing anything wrong. He’d only been trying to protect the white omega. The exquisite little shit was standing there with his head ducked down, hiding a smirk.

  “Please.” Ben uttered the one word in a soft strangled voice, his fear making it hard to get it out.

  The alpha shot his gaze over to him. “Stay where you are, Omega. You’re safer there.”

  Ben wanted to argue, but knew better. An alpha always had to be obeyed, and while he knew Daniel wouldn’t hurt him, he wasn’t sure about the gamma or the other two shifters that still stood in wolf form behind him.

  Daniel jumped into the exchange. “He’s right, Ben. Keep away.” He threw him a stern look unlike the softer expressions he’d used on him before, then focused on the alpha. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t intend to menace your pack. I couldn’t ignore a gamma chasing after an omega. Neither you nor anyone else was in range of protecting the boy.”

  The alpha stared down his nose at Daniel. “You’re saying you engaged with Carr to protect Loki?”

  Daniel held his ground, not cowering in the face of a dominant shifter, in an impressive display of courage. “Yes, sir. The poor thing was cowering under the porch. What was I supposed to do?”

  The alpha folded his arms across his chest. “I see.”

  The white gamma let out a barking breath. “Huh!” He put his hands on his hips, and relaxed his stance.

  Daniel glared at him. “I was in a defensive posture, as I’m sure you’ll agree. If you had backed off, that would have been the end of it.”

  The gamma sneered. “That was never going to happen. Guarding the little brat is my duty for the day. He’s been leading me on a merry chase, which is hardly unusual. When I heard the alarm raised, I had to corral him. And, if you think I was going to give up when the strange shifter who set off the alarm in the first place got between me and Loki…”

  “Enough,” the alpha said. “Loki, go inside and ask Kyle for some clothes. Then sit in the great room with the others and be a very good boy. I better not hear of anything but that. I’m already going to have a talk with your brother about all of this. I’m sure you don’t want my report to get worse.” Despite the stern words, the alpha’s tone was not threatening.

  The omega looked up at him coyly. “Yes, Alpha. I’m sorry to cause so much trouble, sir.” His apology rang false to Ben’s ears even though the soft tone held the right amount of deference. The boy sauntered over to the stairs, his slender hips swaying enough to entice.

  The alpha appeared mollified, but the gamma’s lips thinned and he shook his head in obvious disgust. “That boy needs a good hiding.” Daniel bared his teeth at the remark, and the gamma held out his hands. “Easy. That’s my opinion, not my call.”

  “Right,” the alpha agreed. “The boy’s brother will handle it.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Daniel said. “I thought you were the alpha of the Rogue Pack. Isn’t that your decision instead of the boy’s brother?”

  “I am. And, it’s complicated. Also, none of your business. Now what are you doing coming into my pack lands, bringing an omega of breeding age into my orbit?”

  ****

  “That’s my story, sir. I didn’t know what else to do, and didn’t give Ben’s heat any thought.”

  Daniel sat at the large council room table, fiddling with his mug of coffee. He’d given the shorter version outside when the alpha had demanded answers. Sanctuary for the omega. That was the way he’d put it, and that had been enough for the alpha and his pack to relax their guard. They’d given him a chance to change into his spare set of clothing to protect his human skin from the brisk cold of the fall day. His other set had been shredded by his abrupt shift. He wasn’t going to regret his actions, though. He’d seen an omega at what he’d thought was risk and had acted.

  The alpha sat back and stared at him. It was hard not to flinch from those assessing eyes. No wonder this guy had managed to carve out territory for his new pack. Anyone going against him was an idiot. The loyalty of his pack members was also obvious. The beta and gamma, who’d backed up Carr, sat in the room with them. Those two, Finn and Caleb, were ready to tear him apart of he did anything they didn’t like to their alpha. Carr was there, as well, although his standing in the pack was murky. Daniel’s wolf was still worked up over the altercation. He admonished him to knock it off. Carr wasn’t the enemy. Hard to be mad at the guy given the back story of what was going on with Loki. It made Daniel appreciate how sweet and well-behaved Ben was.

  The white gamma stood out from the rest, not only because of his unusual coloring, but also in an aloof way that was hard to pin down. He lounged back in his chair, wearing only a pair of jeans, braiding his long hair into a fat tail. His weird ice-blue eyes telegraphed keen intelligence, and Daniel got the feeling the guy hadn’t made up his mind about him yet.

  “So, you’re from the Pacific Northwest?”

  Daniel turned his attention back to the alpha. “Yes, sir. From the Elliot Redwood Pack.”

  The alpha raised his eyebrows. “I know that pack. I’ve met Elliot.”

  “My sire, sir.”

  “Indeed. That speaks well of you, except I don’t understand why you’re all the way on this side of the country. Why aren’t you with your pack?”

  “It’s a long story that amounts to wanderlust and a taste for human-style living.” He sighed and took a sip of his coffee to marshal his thoughts. “To say that my sire understood my need
to leave would be misstating the facts. Let’s just say he gave me his blessing to do what I had to do. The door is open if I ever want to return.”

  “I see.” The alpha—Lorcan, he said Daniel could call him—frowned. “From what you’ve told us, it’s obviously not a good idea to take Ben back to his old pack.”

  “No!” Daniel’s response came out more forcefully than he’d intended. The others in the room became more alert. “Sorry.” He huffed. “I won’t allow Ben to be taken back. His sire will only sell him again to the highest bidder instead of giving him to the most trustworthy mate. If that’s your intention, I’ll leave with him and figure something else out.”

  Lorcan held up his hand. “Easy. I’ve already agreed with you on that point. He’s welcome here.” The alpha shrugged. “He’ll fit right in with the rest us Rogues. I’m surprised to hear that we’re the topic of conversation on the Internet.”

  “It was hard to find the information, but you’ve definitely developed a reputation among our kind who are online. And, many of them know where you are. It wasn’t that hard to find your compound.”

  “I don’t like that, sir,” Finn said. “That smells like Haldon’s work to me.”

  “Haldon?” Daniel asked.

  “Our neighbor,” Lorcan supplied.

  “Our enemy,” the beta corrected. He looked at Daniel. “They want this land back and have been spoiling for a fight.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought Haldon would use something as human and sophisticated as the Internet.” This from Caleb.

  Carr leaned into the conversation. “He’s brought in new pack members you’ve said. Is it such a stretch to imagine that some of them are hooked into the human social fabric? And, we’ve noticed an uptick in their activity. Too many of them are pacing close to your borders.”

  Dawning alarm rose within Daniel. “Wait, are you saying that you’re at war with another pack?”

  Lorcan grimaced. “War is perhaps too strong a word for it.”

  Before he could say more, there was a knock on the door and an older woman came in. “Your pardon, Alpha, I would like to give my report.”

  Lorcan waved at the far end of the table. “Please, Andrea, be seated. This is our healer,” he added to Daniel.

  That got his attention. Ben had been surrounded by a cluster of omegas in various stages of breeding the moment that they’d entered the longhouse. All of the weaker pack members had been holed up in the great room until Daniel had been deemed safe enough. The omegas, with the exception of one very pregnant one and another lying on the couch, had whisked Ben off for a check-up. Daniel had been the one to ask for it, even though he could tell by Ben’s reaction that it embarrassed him. Daniel wanted to jump in and ask about the boy, but reminded himself of how packs worked. The alpha was the one who had the right to do that.

  “So, how is the boy, Andrea?”

  The healer’s lips turned down in a grim frown. “He’s malnourished, Alpha, much like Will was when he first arrived. And,” she added with a huff, “he’s been abused and still bears the marks of it on most of his body.”

  Knowing all of this notwithstanding, Daniel’s stomach still clenched at hearing her assessment. Of course, he’d only seen the outside. He had no way of knowing what damage might exist inside the boy and wasn’t sure he had the guts to ask.

  Lorcan nodded. “I see. That squares with what Daniel said about a gamma’s treatment of the omega for the past year.”

  The healer smiled at Daniel. “Yes, Ben was quite clear about how you weren’t to blame. He’s most grateful for the care you’ve taken with him.”

  Daniel couldn’t hold her gaze. “He shouldn’t be. I didn’t do anything more than my duty as a beta.”

  She shook her head. “Everyone in this room has seen or heard of dominant shifters doing much worse than what that gamma did. You don’t give yourself sufficient credit, Beta.”

  Her tone brooked no disagreement. Before Daniel could work up the courage to contradict her, she moved onto another topic. An even less pleasant one, amazingly.

  “Now, Alpha, I hate to be the one to broach this topic yet again…”

  Lorcan held up his hand. “I know. We have an omega of breeding age absorbing my pheromones. Without warning or a plan.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing, sir, that you have proven to be so virile. The pack needs to grow. But, yes.”

  The alpha tipped his head back and drummed his fingers on the shiny, polished table. Someone had taken great care to make the piece of furniture and maintain it. The whole place from what Daniel had noticed was orderly and cared for. Every shifter he’d seen looked happy and cared for, too. No one, not from the alpha mate down to trouble-making Loki, had shown any fear of their alpha. That was a good sign. Ben would be safe in the Rogue Pack, except the news there was a neighboring one sniffing around for trouble bothered him. He didn’t want to leave the boy in a worse place, especially when he’d need to be bred soon.

  Why didn’t I think that part through?

  He had, really. But, getting Ben out of his apartment and away from humans had been his overriding concern. Plus, if he was to be honest with himself, he wanted to hand the daunting responsibility of caring for an omega to someone superior. And, that’s what he’d done. Lorcan was accepting Ben without any noticeable qualms or hesitation. As an alpha, the guy would know what to do. He was born for this.

  So was I.

  Nope, not going there. Being a beta was a mantle of duty that he’d found to be too heavy to bear. He liked living alone among the humans, enjoying his small business, slurping on lattes, and eating the occasional tapas. Moonlit runs with the pack and keeping lower-ranked shifters in place was not his thing.

  At all.

  Never had been.

  Nothing had changed.

  He turned to Lorcan. “Sir, what are you going to do with Ben?”

  Dropping his chin again, the alpha looked at him with narrowed eyes. “I’m not quite sure how to handle this at the moment. But, you’ll be leaving anyway, won’t you? You’re welcome to stay for the night, but I expect you’ll want to get back to your life now that you’ve safely delivered the omega.”

  There wasn’t a hint of censure, yet guilt pricked at Ben anyway. He racked his brains for an answer. It should have been easy and obvious. It wasn’t. “Um.” He felt like an idiot with everyone staring at him and his not having anything coherent to say.

  Lorcan raised his eyebrows. “Are you concerned with leaving Ben here?”

  “Yes. Sir.” The answer popped out before he thought it through. “Based on what I’m hearing about a potential war with this pack.”

  “We beat Haldon before when we were smaller than we are now.”

  “He’s added to his pack, though, right?”

  “As have we. With Caleb joining us and the white wolves, we are nine strong in fighters.”

  “With respect, sir. That’s not very much. How many of the others have you sniffed out?” He directed the question to Carr, which was a breach of protocol. Not that he gave a damn. Not with Ben at risk. He didn’t have time to analyze how he wasn’t ready to give up his dominion over the boy. Not yet.

  Carr played with the end of his braid. “Hard to say. We’ve detected at least twenty-five different shifters. Nineteen of them are gammas.”

  “That jives with what we think,” Finn chimed in. He leaned into his alpha. “We’ve talked about this before, sir. They were weak and lazy when we first got here. I don’t think they’re like that anymore. Three to one are not great odds if it comes down to another fight.”

  “Not quite that bad.” Daniel heard the words come out of his mouth around the same time everyone else did. Now they all looked at him. “Sorry, I only meant that I make ten.”

  Lorcan looked at him. “You’re asking to stay?”

  “I guess I am, sir. I don’t like the idea of leaving Ben in a place where he’s vulnerable. Especially if he’s going to be bred.” Who, exactly, was goi
ng to handle that privilege—chore—anyway? His wolf pricked up his ears and growled.

  Stop that! It didn’t matter. It wasn’t going to be him. He was a loner, and Ben needed the safety and socialness of a pack. As would his pups. Daniel could never give him that, and even if he could, a male omega couldn’t live among humans.

  “I’m not sure that’s your concern, Beta,” the alpha said mildly. “You live in a human city, so you’re not going to breed or mate with the omega. And, he’s as safe here as he’s going to be living with you in a place where danger lurks everywhere for our kind. Rest assured, we’ll take care of him.”

  “Yes,” Carr chimed in. “Go back to your city. We know how to protect what’s ours. If you’ll pardon me for saying so, sir,” he added with a nod to Lorcan.

  Sir, not alpha. The status of the white wolves was another thing Daniel wanted some clarity on before he left Ben here. “I’m sorry, Lorcan.” He deliberately used the alpha’s first name to both show his independence and also set himself apart from Carr. Something about the guy bugged him. “I don’t mean to imply that you can’t handle your pack or your enemies. I’m only asking you to allow me to remain until Ben is settled.”

  He looked at the healer. “I’m sure you’ll agree, ma’am, that the boy is in a fragile state.”

  “That is true. He was asking for this beta, Alpha, and even the calming presence of the alpha mate and Joey weren’t enough to ease his nerves. He nearly trembled himself off my exam table.”

  Daniel jumped up before the woman had finished speaking. “I need to see him. Where is he?”

  She looked up at him with a mild expression, not concerned by his show of agitation. The males in the room weren’t so placid. They were all on their feet, too, and focused on him.

  “He’s in the kitchen having something to eat. I promised to tell you that as soon as you were free.”

  “I’m free now.” He turned to leave before his more rational side took over. “Sorry, Lorcan. With your permission, of course.”