Getting Close to the Omega (34 page)

simply said, “No.” With that one word, he felt a surge of power

flow from his body and fill the room. It was warm and a scent

filled the air – of family, shared meals and good times. Dean

felt the men behind him – those who would fight for him, all

instantly relax. In front of him the men from the Jefferson

pack, all in wolf form, dropped to the ground on their bellies,

and stayed there, watching Dean intently. There was no

aggression in their stance, none of the growling and tension

that had been in them moments before. It was as though the

wolves were simply waiting for more instructions.

“These men who have come to take me home, they don’t have

a problem with any of you,” Dean said quietly to the wolves.

“Don’t underestimate them. They are strong and would kill you

all if they thought it would save my life. But they are not out

for your blood. They are angry at your Alpha and your Alpha

Mate for stealing me from my home and my mate. There is no

need for you to lose your life, fighting, when you have women

and children that need you alive. You have a responsibility to

keep them safe, I understand that, but they are in no danger

from the men who have come for me. Please, shift and go back

to protect your loved ones. It’s your Alpha who has to face the

consequences of his actions, not any of you.”

“They will fucking fight,” Ron yelled, so red in the face that

Dean wondered if Ron could prove to be the first wolf shifter

ever to die of a heart attack. Ron’s Alpha power was crashing

out of his body, in fits and starts, but none of the wolves in his

pack paid any attention. They were all focused on Dean,

whose own power was providing a calming counterpoint to the

Ron’s aggression. After a long look at Dean, one by one, the

men from Jefferson City shifted quietly, hunted for their

clothes, and when dressed, went back to stand with the women

and children.

“Your men won’t fight with you or for you today,” Shaman

Paulo said to Ron. “But you will get your fight. A fair one,

against Matthew, true mate of the Omega and a powerful Alpha

in his own right.”

“I’m not fighting anyone,” Ron said petulantly. “Just take the

fucking Omega and go. This isn’t a fair fight. You’ve bewitched

my men. You’re holding my mate in some sort of catatonic

state that unfortunately doesn’t come with a mute switch. If

you want to challenge me for my pack, then do it fairly or piss

off.”

“No, that is not the way it’s going to be,” Shaman Paulo said

calmly. “Everyone in this room knows, that if this isn’t done

properly by the rules governing wolf shifters, then the moment

your mate is free, you will retaliate against the Cloverleah

pack. With a true and fair challenge, there can be no

retaliation. Matthew, come forward and state your challenge as

per pack law.”

Matthew stepped forward pulling his shirt over his head. Dean

didn’t think he had ever seen anything so glorious. Matthew’s

muscles glistened under the lights in the hall, his skin lightly

tanned and so fucking smooth. Dean knew intimately how

wonderful that skin felt under his fingers, under his tongue.

Quickly shoving those thoughts aside for another time, Dean

listened as his mate started to speak.

“Alpha Ron Collett,” Matthew said firmly, his voice ringing with

his own power. “I challenge you under the
mating laws
of our

people. You have stolen my mate, who I intend to pledge

myself to through the rituals that bind us, and as such I

challenge you to fight, to submission, first blood or death, for

the right to have my mating with Dean recognized under pack

law.”

“You’re pulling the
Alpha Mating Ritual law
?” Ron said and

there was no disguising the shock in his voice. “But I’m already

mated and not to some fucking man. I’m into women, not

Dean, or any other man for that matter.”

“Then you shouldn’t have stolen someone else’s mate,” Shawn

said stepping forward. “The pack laws are very clear. Anyone

who interferes in the true mating of one wolf with another, has

to fight. Matthew intends to go through the Alpha Mating ritual,

or at least the mating ritual, with Dean, and you stole his mate

before that could happen. You interfered, took his mate, so

now by pack law, he has to fight you to get Dean back.”

“I’m giving the little runt back,” Ron yelled. “Doesn’t anyone

get how much of a clusterfuck this whole thing is, and it was all

her fucking idea,” he carried on, pointing at Gretchen, who was

blessedly silent now, although watching everything with a

gleam in her eyes. The woman definitely had a thing for wolves

fighting, or maybe it was Matthew’s chest she was ogling.

Either way, Dean couldn’t stop a small growl from escaping his

throat. Matthew flashed him a smile and a wink, and then

went back to the scene being played out in front of him. God,

Dean thought, he looks fucking amazing.

“She’s not wolf, and you are apparently her wolf mate,” Shawn

reminded him. “Under pack law, you are responsible for her

actions. Incidentally you are also responsible for reparation to

all of the packs represented here today, under pack law,

because she threatened to set the Brennus on our men. Wolves

don’t do that and you know it. Wolves have the guts to fight

fairly, or they slink off into the shadows like the cowards they

are. They don’t call in demon spawn to annihilate a pack.”

“I’ll do it again, the moment I have my power back,” Gretchen

cried out. “You’ll all die, every single one of you.”

“You can’t,” Dean spoke up then, remembering when he had

been taken. “When you took me, I came with you willingly, in

return for you never raising a hand against these men,
ever

again
. You agreed. We had a pact.”

“I lied,” Gretchen snarled. “Sue me.”

“And the moment you try to raise the Brennus again, they will

turn on you,” Shaman Paulo said quietly. “You bargained with a

source of magic that is a lot older than you, and a lot more

powerful. If you try and use any magic, of any kind, against

any of the men here, or their packs, you will die by Demon

hands. Your pact meant something to others, even if it meant

nothing to you. You said the words and words have power.

You should know that as a magic user. Worse, you used the

Brennus as a toy, to summon and dismiss, in exchange for the

bargain you made with Dean. That is against the Demon laws

that bind the Brennus and the Wiccan laws you live by. The

Brennus didn’t get their kill, guaranteed when they are

summoned and you will pay for it with your life if you try that

again.”

“Fuck it,” Ron screamed at Gretchen. “Can’t you do anything

right? You dabble with demons and you don’t understand their

laws, or those of your own kind. You’ve put my life at risk

because you didn’t follow pack laws. You’re nothing but a

fucking liability, and the only thing you will be doing from now

on is bearing my fucking pups, and I’m not sure I even want to

do that with you. Knowing my luck they will all turn out to be

spawns of the devil.”

“This is all very interesting,” Kane said quietly but with a power

that reminded Dean of why Kane was his Alpha. “But my men

are tired and we all just want to go home. So either accept

Matthew’s challenge, or be branded weak by your pack and

accept the consequences. Either way, Dean comes with us.”

Ron ran his eyes over his pack, no doubt weighing up the odds

of surviving a fight with Matthew, or being considered weak by

his pack members. Brian looked like he would be more than

happy to place an Alpha challenge for the pack leadership.

Dean wondered how that would work, because Brian wasn’t an

Alpha. He was a beta wolf, but he looked far stronger than

Ron, and in wolf law it was usually the strongest that led the

pack. Brian might be a bit of a lout, but anyone would be a

better Alpha for the Jefferson pack than Ron and his fucked up

mate.

“I accept your challenge,” Ron finally said to Matthew. “To

submission or first blood. For the Omega, Dean. Not because I

want him as a mate. But because I will show my pack, why I

am Alpha here.”

“You have the right to the first shift,” Matthew said, and the

feral grin on his face, calmed all of Dean’s nerves. His mate

would win this, and then, finally, they could go home.

The fight was nothing – a farce, if it had to be called anything

at all. Dean was amazed when Ron shifted, that his wolf was

so much smaller than he was used to seeing in Alpha wolves,

and the poor thing really didn’t look that healthy. Just like the

other wolves in the Jefferson City pack. Clearly Ron had not

allowed his wolf to hunt, or run in some time because his

muscles were weak, and his fur had a dull sheen showing a

lack of nutrients and care. Ron’s shift was slow, and Dean felt

almost sorry for him, especially when Matthew slipped off his

jeans and shifted in one fluid movement, watched avidly by

Gretchen. Matthew’s wolf was huge, just like the man, with

solid muscles and a long, thick almost glossy coat that gleamed

under the lights of the dining hall.

Ron had to be a coward as well, because the smaller wolf took

off running the moment he saw Matthew shift. Dean knew that

Matthew would have been used to fighting outside, in a pack

circle – this time he was trying to contain a wolf on a wooden

floor, the room littered with chairs and dining tables. Ron used

his smaller size to scrabble his way under tables, trying to

evade Matthew’s claws and teeth. Matthew quickly cottoned

onto what Ron was doing and used his massive bulk to fling the

heavy tables over on their side, giving Ron nowhere to hide.

Ron’s wolf was panicking, his mouth dripping, his body

shaking, but Dean had to give Ron credit in that the wolf didn’t

just submit. Matthew’s wolf was out for blood though, and

despite his size, was a lot faster than Ron would ever be. Dean

knew that Matthew could have ended the fight in under two

minutes, but Matthew stretched it out for a good ten before he

cornered Ron between some tables and a wall and ran a swipe

at Ron’s side with his claws, taking first blood.

While Dean kept an eye on his mate as the fight went on, his

mind was rehashing old memories. Why had he ever been so

afraid of Ron, when the man was weak, in both of his forms?

Dean tried to tell himself it was because he was a child when

the abuse first began, but he was trouble believing himself.

Was it all in his mind, the atrocities that he lived with? No. He

knew what he lived through was true – he had the scars and

the memories combined with phobias and fears to prove it.

But when did Ron get so weak, and why hadn’t Dean known

about this before?

“Abuse is an insidious thing,” A soft voice beside him said, and

Dean looked up to see the soft eyes of Shaman Paulo looking

at him with compassion. “It starts, either softly, or with an

almighty bang, and at first you think only of the physical

impact,” Paulo continued. “But the effects of abuse grow over

time, slowly infecting every part of who you are. It’s like a

spider in your brain, building a web so dark and so all

pervading until you can’t see anything but how you appear in

the eyes of your abuser. As a child, you had no defense against

it. You had no support, and as you grew, you were already

infected with Ron’s hate against you and what you represented.

His hatred of you was his weakness, and now it has come back

to bite him on the ass, quite literally,” the Shaman added, as

Matthew did indeed snap at Ron’s backside.

“But why does Matthew even have to fight Ron for me. You

heard the man. He told Matthew that I could go. I don’t

understand what anyone has to gain here.”

The Shaman tipped his head up and seemed to be communing

with the ceiling, although Dean doubted it was anything so