Getting Close to the Omega (24 page)

Not wanting to see any pity in the eyes of the men in the room,

Dean looked down at his hands.

You didn’t do anything wrong, little one. Keep remembering

that, you didn’t do anything to be ashamed of.

Matthew was right – he hadn’t done anything to be ashamed

of. Pulling his head back up, Dean said, “My home pack is the

one just outside of Jefferson City in Missouri. From what I

remember, and you have to know I haven’t had anything to do

with them for more than six years, they weren’t a very big

pack. Maybe fifty odd people back then, including women and

children.”

“Can you think of roughly how many people would be married,

and have children,” Anton asked and Dean was surprised at the

gentle tone the man was using. He was usually so abrupt.

“I’m trying to get an idea of how many adult males we might

be dealing with,” he went onto explain.

“Most of the males were married,” Dean said thinking back.

“The Alpha didn’t believe in homosexuality, which is a joke

right,” he laughed to himself, “nor did he agree with what he

considered loose morals. So the men were encouraged to mate

early and there were a lot of children in the pack. But the

Alpha also didn’t like anyone around who was born with an

Alpha spirit, so any of those were booted out of the pack as

soon as they could shift.”

“So we could only be looking at, well, under twenty males,” Jax

said looking at Anton, who nodded his agreement.

“Was the Alpha married or mated?” Shawn asked.

Dean shook his head. “No, not when I knew him. He said he

was waiting for his true mate, but I think to be honest he just

didn’t want to give birth to any pups that might grow up and

challenge him. He was phobic about that side of things.”

“What about money, resources, land, connections to other

packs?” Griff asked.

“Not really much in the way of contact with other packs,” Dean

said struggling to remember the ins and outs of daily life when

he had lived with his home pack. “The Alpha was constantly

worried about being challenged, and so he kept his pack

isolated from others. He had a few visitors over the years I was

in captivity, but they were more courtesy calls rather than any

form of alliance, from what I overheard.”

“If the Alpha kept his pack so isolated, how did the men meet

their mates?” Diablo wanted to know.

“They didn’t,” Dean said firmly. That was something he did

know. His parents weren’t true mates, and he didn’t think there

was a true mated pair in the pack. “He would capitalize on the

men’s sexuality when they had shifted, and insist that they

mate with any pack woman they might be caught dallying with.

The Alpha claimed it kept his pack pure – in case any of the

true mates of his men proved to be human, or a different type

of shifter, or paranormal.”

“Well, that ties in with what Kyron told us,” Shawn said. “Kyron

apparently emailed some packs, saying he knew of an Omega

that was looking for a new pack, but that the Omega was being

held hostage. He was looking for a pack that would be

prepared to give him the manpower to take over this pack,

using Dean as an excuse. Dean’s home pack answered, and

said that it was probably their Omega, who had been stolen

from them years before, and they wanted him back. They

offered Kyron the manpower to take this pack, so they could

get Dean, but Kyron said that it would take more than that to

bring us down, given the number of Alphas we have, your

powers Dean, and mine.”

“So what happened to him? Where did the magic come from?”

Dean asked. Matthew had been silent up until now and Dean

quietly brushed over his mate’s thigh, just wanting to make a

connection. He got a warm glow through his whole body when

Matthew’s hand captured his, and held it firmly, Matthew’s

thumb gently rubbing across his wrist.

“Kyron’s not sure,” Shawn said. “He did say that he was invited

to dinner at a hotel in Jefferson City. He met the Alpha there,

who was with a tall, redhead female. Kyron thought she was

human, but clearly she wasn’t. He figured they must have put

something in his food or drink, because he felt compelled to

find you – all thoughts of dominating a pack, or wolf shifters

overall, went out of his head and Kyron had just one focus.

Find you. That’s why he kept coming back here. When the

Alpha wouldn’t give him any manpower, he went to the Fae,

who he met in a gay club in Jefferson City, and when that

didn’t work, he came here himself.”

“And in the meantime he was dying,” Dean said softly, hating

the thought that magic could kill a wolf from the inside.

“Kyron didn’t know that,” Shawn explained. “His wolf was

already upset with him. Kyron was born a beta wolf and his

wolf spirit wanted to protect and serve his Alpha, and care for

others, like Troy does here. It was Kyron’s human side that

kept thinking that he should be an Alpha and that he was being

wronged all of the time. With both sides at such huge odds

with each other, the wolf spirit was giving up on him. I think

that is why the magic hold on him was so powerful. If Kyron’s

wolf spirit had been strong, I’m not sure Kyron could have

been compelled to do anything, despite the magic.”

“So this Alpha, fuck it all, I can’t keep calling him that, because

he makes a mockery of the position. Dean, what was his

name?” Kane wanted to know.

“Ron Collett,” Dean said.

“Right, thank you,” Kane said gently to Dean. Then to the

others, he said, “Okay so this Ron has somehow taken up with

a witch, who dabbles at least, in the black arts. The female

voice kept calling Ron the one true alpha. Where did she get

that idea?”

“The man’s got crazier as he’s got older?” Dean offered, not

sure about that himself. “I’m not really sure. He had pretty

fanatical ideas about keeping wolf lines pure, which is why he

didn’t allow his pack members to mate outside of the pack.

That’s also why he didn’t agree with gay wolves, although he

clearly had no problem with gay sex if the person was

submissive like me. It doesn’t really make sense that he would

bring in someone from the outside, human or otherwise, to

help him achieve his goals. Unless, she was his fated mate.”

“The sex with you would have been about power, not sex

itself,” Matthew said from behind him. “I’d seen it more times

than I care to remember. It’s amazing how many wolves can

forget that they are supposedly straight, when they want to

overpower or humiliate someone they perceive as a weaker

male. It gives them a false sense of being bigger themselves. I

imagine you were the smallest in the pack, sweetheart, and so

you were prime fodder for someone who was basically a bully.

I’d say initially Ron kept you so no-one else could have you – a

power trip. When he found out you were an Omega wolf that

feeling of possession and the need to dominate you increased.”

“I’m so sorry all that happened to you, Dean,” Troy said and

Dean could see he did look sad. So did everyone else in the

room. Uncomfortable with the scrutiny and the pity, Dean

smiled. “That part of my life is over now, and I wouldn’t be

where I am today, if it hadn’t been for the path I had been on.

If I hadn’t have been abused, I wouldn’t have found the

strength to escape. I could have ended up being mated to

some bossy female, who would have made my life a living hell

because she would have wanted pups. I’ve known I was gay

since I was ten – so you can imagine how that would have

worked out.”

Fortunately his attempt at levity worked, and everyone

laughed. The Kane looked at Shawn, chatting in private again,

and then turned to the rest of them. “Okay guys, well you

know the drill. I think it’s best if you all come and stay here for

a while, until we can find out more about the Jefferson City

pack. I’ll let Damien and Claude know we are being threatened

again, along with my Dad’s pack in case they want to send

anyone along to help out. I think, from what we’ve heard, we

can take care of ourselves in terms of manpower, but I’m

worried about this magic angle, so I will talk to Damien and

Dad’s shaman about that as well, and Shawn is going to do his

thing and see what he can find out.”

“Do you think I should get in touch with the Fae and see if they

could help?” Dean asked. He didn’t know what Aelfric and

Fafnir could do, but the idea that magic could be involved in an

attack on the pack, had him worried. Fae were magical beings,

and more powerful than any known witch dabbling in the

magical arts.

But Kane shook his head. “Not yet, no,” his Alpha said. “We

might need them closer to the time, when we have more of an

idea on who we are dealing with. Troy, can you and Diablo do

your magic on the computers and see if you can find out who

this female might be. Search for any connection with this Ron

Collett first. Anton and Jax, I want you to work with Griff and

come up with ways of securing this place as much as possible.

I want to be alerted if anyone comes within a fucking mile of

the place.”

“What do you want me to do?” Matthew asked. He would fight

to protect his pack along with the rest of them and while Dean

worried about him, more than any of his other pack members,

he did understand.

“You’ve got the most important job. You protect Dean. I don’t

want you out of sight of each other until this mess is over, and

that’s a fucking order.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Matthew grinned and Dean had a feeling his mate

was going to be more protective than ever. Mind you, the idea

of being ordered to stick to his mate like shit to a blanket really

wasn’t a hardship. Yep, no problems there at all.

Matthew was in the pack kitchen supposedly helping his mate

prepare a meal for everyone. Shawn was busy communing with

the spirits, or whatever it was he did as a Shifter Guardian, and

after they had collected some stuff from Dean’s house, Dean

had offered to cook dinner. Matthew wanted to be with his

mate so he was in the kitchen too, and Dean had given him the

job of cutting vegetables. But the sight of Dean prancing about

the kitchen, even in his baggy clothes, with the promise of

what was to come later, was fogging Matthew’s brain, making

even the most basic of tasks difficult.

“I kinda wanted them diced, mate of mine,” Dean said with a

smile as he peered around Matthew’s shoulder. Matthew

looked down at the board and the carrots that were waiting for

the chop. He had scraped them, and they were cut in half, but

that was as far as he had got.

“Give them here,” Dean said, slipping in between Matthew and

the kitchen counter and picking up the knife. Yep. Matthew

thought that was an excellent idea, given that Dean’s tight little

ass was now bumping his legs.

“I’ll end up cutting myself if you don’t stop,” Dean said with a

genuine giggle, as Matthew bent over and started nibbling

Dean’s delectable neck. Hmm, his mate tasted so much better

than any meal Dean might be cooking. “Go set the table or

something, I’ve almost finished here.”

“Kane said we weren’t to be apart,” Matthew argued, hanging

onto Dean’s hips as the man slipped under his arm with the cut

carrots now in a heap on the chopping board.

“I’m sure it’s okay for you to set the dining room table. It’s

only over there.” Dean indicated with a toss of his head.

“I’m not taking any chances,” Matthew said, half seriously. I

mean honestly. Dean had been taken when he was ten yards

away leaning on a car, in plain sight of Matthew. Then he had

been abducted when Matthew had only been gone thirty

minutes. The third time Kyron tried to take him, Matthew was

asleep in the bedroom and the fourth time everyone was in the

fucking pack house, less than a hundred yards away.

Dean managed to get the carrots into the salad he was making

and then he turned and hugged Matthew tight. “I know what

you’ve been thinking about,” he said, trying hard to look