Getting Close to the Omega (16 page)

that Dean might be permanently harmed by something that

wolf shifters had no business being near. Zombie dust sounded

like something out of the living dead movies. He didn’t think

that zombies themselves were real, but acting like a zombie

was not in a wolf’s nature.

“It won’t harm him,” Shawn said softly, looking at him and

there was a wealth of compassion in his ice blue eyes. “But

whatever Kylan wants to do to him, well, there won’t be

anything that Dean can do about it. He won’t be able to move,

shout, or defend himself in any way. His mind will be perfectly

lucid, but his body will be totally controlled by Kylan.

Fortunately the effects don’t last very long.”

Turning to Kane, Shawn said, “I need you to call the pack, hon.

It’s going to take all of us to find Dean and get him back. I also

need to talk to Jax.”

“Why Jax?” Kane asked, while Matthew just stared at the

ground, his mind filled with what a wolf like Kylan could do, or

would do, to an unclaimed Omega. Dean’s naturally submissive

nature would be an aphrodisiac for someone like Kylan, who

had such a strong need to dominate other wolves. Matthew’s

gut churned as his mind was filled with the horrors of what he

had seen happen to Omega wolves in his past. And his little

mate had already lived through that type of abuse once in his

life already.

/~/~/~/~/

Well, at least the lodgings are a little more comfortable, was

Dean’s first thought when he regained consciousness for the

second time that day. At least he hoped it was still the same

day, although in this windowless room it was a bit hard to tell.

Dean was laying on a large, comfortable bed, in a warm room,

that was furnished in crimson red and dark woods. On the

bedside cabinet sat an unopened bottle of water along with

some sealed packets of cheese slices and crackers. Looking

down at his body Dean noted – yep, still naked though. But at

least he could wrap himself up in a bed sheet.

Spying an open door in the corner of the room, Dean

clambered off the bed and peered around the door frame. A

bathroom, yes! Too nervous about being caught in the shower,

Dean did avail himself of the toilet, much to the relief of his

bulging bladder. Washing his hands and face, he wondered how

long he had been unconscious and how long it had been since

he had seen Matthew. Too fucking long. I am never letting

that man out of my sight again when I get back to him, he

promised himself.

Hearing the door to the bedroom open, Dean grabbed his make

shift covering and headed back into the main room. As

expected it was the two ethereal beauties.

“Oh good,” the blond said. “You are awake. Let me introduce

myself and my best friend. I am Aelfric and this is Fafnir. We

are Fae, or more specifically Sidhe, which is part of the Fae

realm.”

“I would say pleased to meet you,” Dean said, edging his way

past them towards the water. He was still deathly thirsty.

“But given that you have just rescued me from one kidnapper,

and taken me captive yourself, I think that is a little

inappropriate.”

Fafnir, smiled, showing perfect white teeth. “You have a strong

spirit little wolf. I’m impressed.”

“I’m also hungry, thirsty and in dire need of some clothes, so

I’m sorry if my manners aren’t up to scratch,” Dean said,

grabbing the water, checking the seal before breaking it, and

enjoying the cool liquid. At that point he didn’t really care if it

was drugged. He just needed some fluids down his throat.

When he had finished the bottle, he sat down on the bed and

looked at his captors, who in turn, were watching him with an

almost avid fascination.

“Tell me wolf…” Aelfric said.

“Dean. My name is Dean.”

Aelfric bowed his head. “Tell me, Dean, are all wolf shifters like

you?”

Dean frowned, he didn’t have a clue what Aelfric meant. “In

some ways yes,” he said after some thought. “Wolf shifters are

loyal to their pack and their Alpha. They tend to be very

strong, good fighters and their mates are the most important

person in their life.”

“In other ways no,” he continued. “I’m an Omega wolf, so I am

smaller than all other wolves. I don’t fight very often, although

I will to protect my mate, Alpha or pack. I’m quiet and don’t

tend to do well with others, apart from my pack members and

my mate. Most other wolves are more social creatures.”

“You keep mentioning this mate of yours, yet you don’t wear a

scar.” Fafnir observed. “I thought all mated wolves carried a

scar on their neck.”

“Matthew and I had only just met when I was taken,” Dean

said, and his heart ached with the thought of what his mate

must be going through. “We were negotiating how our mating

would go before he claimed me.”

Aelfric came and sat down next to Dean and put his arm over

Dean’s shoulder. “You miss your mate? This Matthew?”

“I’m worried about him,” Dean confessed. “He’s an Alpha wolf

and he won’t be handling my disappearance very well.” His

sadness at missing Matthew, and his helplessness in his

situation sparked an anger he was happy to share. “What do

you care, anyway?” He snapped out. “You’ve taken me captive,

for goodness knows what reason. I’m no use to you. Why can’t

you just let me go?”

Fafnir came and sat on the other side of Dean and took his

hand, and Dean couldn’t help but be affected by such close

proximity to two physically beautiful but powerful men. He was

still naked, even if he was covered, and the thought that these

two friends could easily over power him, made his wolf edgy

and his nerves tingly.

“Don’t be frightened of us,” Fafnir said, his voice like a soft

breeze through the trees. “We don’t want to harm you, but we

do need your help. We need to understand more about wolf

shifters.”

“Why?” Said Dean, not bothering to hide his suspicions. These

two had been in league with Kyron, and Kyron wanted to rule

all wolf packs. Giving these magic men more information was

like loading a gun for them. Information was power.

“Because we have been told that our mate is a wolf shifter,”

Aelfric said sadly. “And we don’t know anything about your

kind.”

“How do you know your mate is a wolf shifter, if you’ve never

met him?” Dean felt compelled to ask, curious despite his

predicament.

“We both have this,” Fafnir said, tugging down the waistband

of his pants. There, on his pale hip was what looked like a

birth mark, but it was too detailed for that. It showed a wolf’s

head, in one third of a triad symbol. The other two thirds were

filled with an identical character, much like a rune symbol.

“Like you, our mates are chosen by the Fates,” Aelfric

explained. “When we come of age, a symbol appears on our

skin giving us a clue as to who our two mates are. Fafnir and I

have the same symbol, which we realized when we got

together for a bit of fun one time, and now we are looking for

our third. We can’t claim each other until we meet the wolf

shifter fated to be ours.”

“So why were you helping Kyron? He wants to rule all wolf

packs, and he’s got some crazy ideas about how that was going

to happen. That’s not good for any wolf.”

“We didn’t mean any wolves any harm,” Fafnir said. “We were

looking for a way to meet some of your kind. We’ve tried going

to clubs and things, but wolves don’t want anything to do with

us.”

“And you thought kidnapping was the way to go about it?”

Dean had thought these beautiful men might have had some

brains, but it seems they might be lacking in that department.

“Well, in all honesty, that wasn’t our idea. When we met him,

Kyron had already planned to take you, and apparently claim

you for his own. We just helped with the logistics of it all. At

the time we just wanted to meet as many wolf shifters as

possible and Kyron’s idea, as it was, seemed to be a good way

to do it.”

“It was based on bullshit,” Dean said firmly as he reached

across Fafnir to snag a pack of the cheese and crackers. He

was hungry and it didn’t look like these two were going to feed

him anything more substantial anytime soon.

“Look,” he said, after swallowing some cheese. “Most wolves

live in packs. They have Fated Mates just like you do and there

is a strict hierarchy among wolves that we all adhere to. Kyron

is a beta wolf who is supposed to protect his Alpha and be

compassionate to other pack members. I’m an Omega wolf. I

am the balance to the Alpha, in my case, Kane. He is the

strength of the pack and will fight to protect us all.”

Dean tried to think of what Shawn had told him. “I’m more of a

peacemaker. Wolves usually fight to a submission or death,

and when there are lots of angry wolves around, it is

apparently my job to calm the waters, so to speak.”

“But how do you find your mates? How do you know when you

have found your one and only?” Aelfric seemed to have a one

tracked mind.

“Through scent usually, and that is going to cause you two

some serious problems,” Dean said bluntly.

“Why, do we smell bad?” Fafnir sniffed under his arms as if

looking for a sour smell.

“I can’t smell you at all,” Dean said, sniffing deep to make

sure. “I’m not sure, but I think it might have something to do

with your magic because we couldn’t smell Kyron when he was

working with you either. I imagine it’s also why my pack hasn’t

found me yet, because you are probably blanketing my scent

as well.”

Fafnir and Aelfric looked at each other as if they were

communicating again. “Our wards,” they said together, and

suddenly there was a flurry of hands flying around the air.

Dean could feel the tinge of electricity in the air, as though the

air was alive with power, and then just as suddenly, it stopped.

“Try now,” Aelfric said hurriedly.

Dean took a deep sniff of the air, and yes, now he could scent

the two men sitting on either side of him. The smell was

different to anything Dean had ever smelt before. Not

unpleasant or anything, but strange without the underlying hint

of animal spirit. Fafnir smelled of rain on mown grass, a

bubbling creek in a forest and a hint of pine. Aelfric was

different again. His smell was like something from a beach –

salt, sunshine and surging water.

“Would that be why any wolves we’ve met haven’t wanted

anything to do with us?” Aelfric said, and Dean thought he

caught a hint of sadness in the man’s expression.

“Our sense of smell is highly developed,” Dean explained. “I

can tell when someone is lying, or if they are sad, and even if

they are sick. I don’t know about the other wolves that you

have met, but if they can’t smell you at all, then they will think

that you are hiding something. No matter how attracted to you,

your potential mate will be, if he can’t smell you then he won’t

trust that attraction, or you. How do you find your mates?”

“We feel it in our magic,” Fafnir said, “and then we look for the

matching mark. Our wolf shifter will have it, even if he doesn’t

know what it is.”

“Well, if he scents you then he’s not going to have a problem

with you checking him out. Wolf shifters are notorious for

fucking first, and asking questions later.”

“So why didn’t that happen for you and your Matthew?” Aelfric

definitely was the more inquisitive one of the two and Dean

wasn’t sure that he wanted to answer the question. But these

two men hadn’t hurt him, and seemed to be quite genuine in

what they were saying.

“I have issues,” he said. “I was badly abused by my ex-pack

because I’m an Omega. When I managed to escape I had a lot

of emotional problems to deal with, and…well let’s just say that

I haven’t had sex since.”

“And your Matthew, he doesn’t mind waiting?”

Dean shook his head as he thought of his big and yet so

incredibly gentle mate. “No, he has been really good about it.

He’s letting me control the pace of our mating and given that

he is an Alpha, that is a big deal. He is absolutely perfect for