Chapter Two

Dane skinned and butchered the deer with the quick efficiency he’d mastered during his long time living feral. No amount of the animal was wasted as was the way of shifters, and as there were no sigmas to perform the task, he’d had to teach himself to do it. He was never going to be as good at it as the servients were, but he did a passable job. The antlers and hooves would be crafted into useful tools, and there was still a good amount of meat to dry despite the voracious appetite of the gamma in particular. He was glad that she’d been able to eat as much as she’s wanted. It was obvious that she’d been denying herself in favor of taking care of her brother. As it should be.

The little omega had fallen fast asleep as soon as his head had hit the pallet, testament to how tough his time in the forest had been on him. That would stop now, though. Dane was determined to tuck them safely into the Strongblood Pack. It was the only solution that made sense. Even as he made those plans in his head, part of him rejected them. Seeing the omega lying where he normally did himself sent a strong feeling of possessiveness shooting through him. He’s not for you. His wolf chuffed in disagreement before settling down again. And there was that faintest of an echo from another wolf in answer before it, too, settled down. Dane forced himself to ignore the noise. He wasn’t going to get caught up in that fated mate nonsense. Whatever connection the two wolves might be experiencing, it was an anomaly that would break as soon as Remy was away from him.

Merida sat nearby, between him and the omega, her muscular legs crossed and her heavy breasts dangling above them. She was a striking female, one that he would have pursued back in his days of being a pack member. That fact that she was a gamma was of no matter. In fact, he’d always liked big women. They were sturdy so he didn’t have to worry about accidently hurting them. But there was no chance of his pursuing this female. It wasn’t merely because he knew his face was disturbing to others—hardly appealing for sex—there was also the disturbing matter of his desire being absorbed entirely by the omega. There was no sense in how he felt. If any shifter was delicate, it was omegas. And Remy was smaller than most—and the sweetest thing he”d ever come across. Those facts should have scared him off. Instead, he was drawn to the boy as if an invisible line tethered them together, pulling him closer. At least the fact that he’d given the omega a safe place to bed down was a comfort.

Thinking of how the boy had been living rough angered him all over again. He gathered up the undesirable parts of the deer and left to scatter them away from the cave. When he returned, he began the laborious process of cutting the meat into strips. “I won’t ask you why you ran from your pack.”

Merida said nothing in response. Instead, she shuffled closer and held out her hand. “Give me a knife so I can help you with that. Not that I’m good at it,” she added under her breath.

Dane didn’t hesitate to hand over his own knife before getting another for himself. “Dominants are never going to do this as well as sigmas can, but we’ll muddle through.”

“Living feral as you do, you’ve had no choice but to learn how to prepare your own food. Except you could just live in wolf form and need none of this.” She tossed her head to take in the cave.

Dane kept his head down, concentrating on his task. “I did for a while. I travelled a lot, too, before returning to the place of my whelping.” He paused, turning his face to look at the gamma. “I didn’t like how I was losing the human in me. This is an important part of me, too. I don’t want to sacrifice one for the other.”

Merida grunted. “Fair enough. I know Remy can’t live outside a pack for much longer,” she added with a sigh. “I can’t trade one danger for him with another.”

Dane took strips and laid them on his drying rack. Beneath it was a small fire pit and above it was a natural crevice that permitted the smoke to rise out of the cave. It was an indulgence to process food this way just so that he didn’t have to go hunting in the dead of winter. But at the moment, he was glad he’d bothered to do so. With Remy there, the omega would need an easy food source and… What am I thinking?

As he started the fire, he spoke again in a low voice. He didn’t want the omega to hear. “He’s more mature than he looks, isn’t he? Nearing his first heat.”

Merida brought him her own strips of meat. “You’d know better than I, wouldn’t you? He’s my brother, so his scent doesn’t register with me…in that way.”

Dane merely grunted. Just thinking about Remy in that way caused his blood to heat. If he weren’t careful, his dick would do the answering for him. “What was the plan, where were you headed with him?”

Merida blew out a breath. “I’d been thinking of this for a while. We’re a fairly isolated pack but I heard things. There’s a pack south of here that is rumored to be different, a place where Remy wouldn’t be exploited.”

Dane nodded. “The Rogue Pack.”

Merida’s head shot up. “You know if it?”

“I’ve run into them.” He wasn’t going to tell the long and shameful tale of what he’d tried to do with Wren. “Their alpha is a good shifter. Lorcan would certainly take you in and give you both shelter. But,” he said on a sigh, “it’s a journey of another few days at least. And with the weather I can scent coming in…you shouldn’t chance it with Remy. If you get caught out in a storm…” He shook his head and turned his mind away from the frightening thought.

“Agreed. We can’t stay here, though. As nice as it is, Remy needs comfort, especially if you trip him into his heat.”

Dane’s wolf stirred restlessly at the notion that he might be virile enough to breed an omega. He tamped the thought down before it could blossom. He’s not for me. “I was going to suggest that you join my old pack, the Strongbloods. We’re close to its territory here and I can guaranty the alpha would welcome you both.”

Merida huffed in obvious disgust. “Of course he would. An omega like Remy would always be welcome. But I didn’t bring my brother all this way only to put him back into the same danger he was in before. I won’t have him bartered away like a thing.” Her fury and fear were palpable.

Dane blew on the small flame to make it flare and smoke. Then he turned to the gamma. “It won’t be like that with Graydon. Although the Strongbloods stick to the old ways for the most part, the alpha is also trying to modernize it for the sake of everyone. He’s a good and decent shifter and I assure you he won’t treat your brother like an object to bring him wealth and power.”

“And how are you so sure of what this alpha will do?”

“Easy. He’s my brother.” A dull ache in the middle of his chest that never left caused him to rub at it. “I can go to him and explain the situation. I know what his decision will be, though. Caring for an omega is one of his top priorities.”

“If he’s so great, why are you living out here?”

Well, that was a fair question. Dane grimaced. “It’s complicated and it goes back to our sire. I’m out here now because I choose to be.”

Merida didn’t say anything in response for a long time. They finished processing the deer, then went to wash away the gore in the pool he’d created. The water entered from the wall and drained slowly at the bottom. It was a great luxury to have when the river iced over.

The gamma shook her wet hands before wiping them on her thighs. “Even for an omega, Remy is special.” She hung her head. “He’s…uncomplicated, innocent in every way, trusting, as well. Too much so.”

This was no surprise to Dane. He knew from the first moment that Remy had a pup-like quality to him that hadn’t matured along with his body. “He has no idea what’s going to happen to him, does he?”

“No. He has a basic understanding of mating and whelping, but only with males and females. There is no other male omega in our pack and the alpha made it clear that no one was to educate him on anything. He wanted him to remain ignorant. Thought it added to his desirability.” The bitterness in her tone was unmistakable. “And I’ve been too cowardly to tell him anything even after we’d left.”

Dane clamped his hands into fists, pushing down his own anger at how the omega was going to be exploited. “Your first priority was keeping him safe. Explaining his nature to him was never supposed to be your responsibility, anyway. What of your sire?”

“Our parents are dead, mother from sickness, and father died on a hunt. It was an accident, the others said, but I’m not convinced of that. The alpha hated the fact that a beta had sired a male omega when he himself hadn’t been able to.”

Dane wanted to comfort the female but such a thing was foreign to him now and he sensed she wouldn’t want him to anyway. Typical gamma, stoic to the point of stubbornness. “Graydon’s mate is a male omega and raised in a very modern pack. I’m sure he can guide Remy through everything. And we have an omega brother, as well, living in the pack with his beta mate. The two of them will take good care of Remy.”

Merida sniffed. “This alpha brother of yours will trip the heat quickly I imagine. What then? Who will service him?”

Me!No, absolutely not. Remy deserved better. “There are any number of decent dominants in the pack. And Graydon won’t force Remy to mate with whoever impregnates him. He’ll leave the choice to Remy the same as he did for our omega brother.”

“I want him to mate and be cared for. Of course, I do. It must be someone with patience and kindness, though. Remy will break under harsh treatment.” Now there were tears underling her voice, testament to how scared she was. Gammas never cried.

“He will be treated like the precious boy he is. I promise you.” Dane didn’t know if his words mattered to someone who’d only known him for a few hours. He put as much sincerity as he could into them because he meant them. If anyone dared to harm Remy… His wolf rose up and howled.

There was a whimper in response and over on the pallet, Remy stirred. Dane’s wolf immediately calmed down and let out a series of reassuring barks. There was no question at this point about what was happening. Against all reason, he was connected to a shifter he hadn’t even mated with. He shook his head internally. It didn’t matter. Remy deserved better than he, and he would make sure the boy got it.

“Go and rest. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

Merida said nothing as she obeyed. Before lying down next to Remy, she shifted. Ever the vigilant sister, she would guard him through the night. The boy sighed and rolled against her, snuggling into her fur.

Wishing he were the one giving comfort to the omega, Dane rose and walked away. Outside the den, fat flakes of snow were falling and the cold air made him shiver. Good. He needed the cooling down and if freezing to death was the price of protecting that sweet omega, he’d gladly pay it.

****

Remy woke truly refreshed for the first time since leaving the pack, and he no longer worried about being alert. He lay snuggled under the warm bear skin and simply basked in the sense of security. Merida had always been a good protector and he believed in her ability to do so without question. But things were different now. They were under the leadership of a beta and that made everything all right again. There was no question that Dane would take care of them and Remy had even less to think about with that assurance. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked away at the last haze of sleep. He knew even before he looked around the den that he was alone.

Not completely, though. He scented his sister right beyond the opening of the cave. Shifting, he stretched, then trotted outside to relieve himself. Merida sat to one side on the ground littered with a coating of snow. She cocked her head as he came out but otherwise left him to his business without staring at him. Instead, she scanned the area constantly, always on the lookout for trouble. The air was crisp, something that delighted him, and he liked the way his paws made crunching sounds as he picked his way over to a tree.

There was no sign of Dane, not even a faint scent of him. A spark of alarm shot through him before his human mind calmed him from the unnecessary worry. The beta will not leave us. Returning to Merida’s side, he dared to try something. He let out a howl inside his head, something that no one should be able to hear. And yet, there it was, an answering bark that rattled through him. He shook himself as if he were wet to throw off the sensation that still bothered him as much as it thrilled him. Then he went back into the den before he gave away too much of what he’d experienced to his sister. He didn’t understand what was happening, but nevertheless, expected that Merida wouldn’t like it. She’d been worried enough throughout summer, and he didn’t want to cause her more upset.

Remy went to the back of the cave and lapped at the pool of water. Then he went over to the pallet to sit beside it. In the far corner, strips of venison hung over a smoldering fire pit. His stomach tightened with hunger. He knew better than to simply take, however. A servient couldn’t eat before a dominant permitted it. It was hard to wait, especially as Merida had never made him once they were on their own. There was a beta leading them, now, so the old rules must apply again. He stayed in wolf form for both the warmth and to control his hunger better. Lots of things were easier for some reason when he was in his fur.

Merida came in, too, shifting as she went to the drying rack. She grabbed a couple of strips of meat and brought them to him. “Here, change and eat.”

Remy shifted and eyed the food. “Is it okay with the beta if I eat?”

His sister huffed with obvious impatience. “I’m telling you to do so.” She pushed the strips closer to his face.

The smell of it with the sharpness of his hunger, as well as, the commanding tone she used, proved too much for him to resist. Taking both pieces of venison, he bit off a hunk and chewed.

Merida pulled the bear skin closer and draped it over his shoulders, then sat beside him in her quiet way. When she wanted to be, his sister was like an unmovable rock, sturdy and silent, yet ever watchful, too. He leaned against her as he always did, appreciating the extra warmth and the safety of her presence. Before he’d finished the second strip of meat, his wolf went on high alert. The beta entered the den with a leather sling filled with sticks clenched in his teeth. Dane dropped the bundle near the fire pit before shifting. As always, his magnificent body caught Remy’s attention. He stopped mid-chew to stare in a most impertinent manner. It was until Merida jabbed him in the ribs that he was able to look away.

It didn’t matter anyway because the beta came to them with his hands full of dried berries. He squatted in front of Remy. “Here, have these. Venison is delicious but fruit is good for your human self.”

Remy looked at him with eyes cast downward as he’d been taught and cautiously took some of the berries from the beta’s large hands. He popped them into his mouth and savored the explosion of taste on his tongue. There’d been precious little of this kind of treat while on the run. His hunger seemed to grow even as he ate. He couldn’t help taking more and more until the beta’s hands were empty.

Swallowing down the last of his mouthful, he peered up at the beta with trepidation. I’m sorry, sir. I’ve eaten them all.”

Dane did something very un-beta-like in Remy’s experience—he chuckled. “Not to worry, omega. I have more and besides, you are too thin. You need fattening up.”

No one had ever said such a thing to him before. If anything, his old pack members had insisted that he needed little of their precious food. All except Merida, of course. She’d always shared her own meals with him and had snuck him what she could pilfer from the pack’s stores. Not knowing how to respond, he continued to finish his venison.

“Have you had anything to eat this morning, Gamma?”

It took Remy a few seconds to understand that Dane was talking to Merida. The male seemed positive that Merida was a gamma and not a sigma. Remy didn’t understand how that could be true, but if the beta said it was…

Merida kept her gaze downward, too. “Not as yet, Beta. I was waiting for permission.”

Dane tipped his head back with a narrowed gaze. “Permission? The food is there and I’ll tell you if we need to portion it out.” He waved toward the fire pit. “Go and fetch as much as you like. There’s plenty and besides, the venison was your kill. You won’t be here for long anyway.”

Merida didn’t hesitate to do as told.

Remy sat blinking back sudden tears at the beta’s last statement. “We have to leave, Beta? Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course not.” Dane moved his position quickly so that he sat next to Remy. He cupped the back of Remy’s neck. “Settle down. There is nothing to be worried about.”

The feel of that warm hand pressing into his skin caused Remy to calm instantly. He closed his eyes and leaned into the comfort. No one had made him feel this way since his sire used to. It reminded him of how a dominant’s hand could bring pleasure as well as pain.

“Better now?” the beta asked.

Remy could only nod his head. He was vaguely aware that Merida had returned to join them.

“He is easily upset.” Merida’s tone was chastising as much as it was informative.

Remy would have tensed at the disrespect his sister was showing her superior, but the way Dane’s fingers massage his neck kept him relaxed.

“The way of all omegas. I should have been more careful in my words.” Against the nature of a dominant, the male was acknowledging a mistake. “What I meant to say, Remy, is that your sister and I have agreed that I’ll see about the Strongblood Pack taking you in for the winter…perhaps permanently.”

Remy opened his eyes and looked at his sister. “Is that the pack you said we were going to?”

She shook her head. “No. This is one close by and where the beta is from.”

Surprised, Remy tried to turn his head to look at the beta before remembering his place. “You have a pack, Beta?” He couldn’t keep the surprise from his voice and inwardly cringed at his usual loose tongue.

The beta didn’t seem to take offense. Instead, the male turned Remy so that they were face-to-face, his hand still on the back of his neck. “I had one, yes. I…choose to live in this den but my brother is the alpha of the Strongblood Pack and he can be trusted to care for you both.”

“But you’ll come too, won’t you?”

Dane didn’t answer right away. Of course, he didn’t. Dominants didn’t have to explain themselves to servients. Then, he said, “I’ll take you there.”

Remy smiled at the answer. “Thank you, Beta. I know you don’t have to tell me anything. It’s nice to know what’s happening, though.”

Dane moved his hand to cup Remy’s chin. He lifted Remy’s face such that he had to look him in the eye. “You may ask me anything and I will always answer with the truth.”

The intensity of the beta’s gaze made Remy’s skin tingle and the ache deep inside flared up. His wolf whimpered. The strong wolf call he heard inside his head, which was now becoming routine, answered with a reassuring yip.

The beta abruptly let go and stood. “I must go and talk to Alpha Graydon. Make yourselves comfortable in my absence, but don’t wander away from the cave.” This last bit was said to Merida.

“Yes, Beta.”

Dane shifted as he walked away and bounded out of the den.

Remy stared at the empty mouth of the cave. “Is this what you want, Merida?” His sister always did what was best for him and even now that a beta was in control, he couldn’t help worrying that she was upset to be under another’s power again.

Merida went to get more venison and handed him another strip as she bit into her own. She sat cross-legged in front of him. “The pack I was taking us to is farther than I thought. A winter storm could hit any time now and we can’t afford to be caught out in one.” She bit off more and chewed with her usual vigor. “I’ve spoken with the beta and I believe him when he says we’ll be safe with the Strongbloods. We have no reason to trust any dominant, but this one is not like those from our old pack. I see an honesty and caring in him that I’ve never known before.”

Remy ate some more before saying anything. “I like him.”

Merida smiled, almost sadly. “I know you do.” She looked away. “But you need to be in a pack regardless of the weather, and I bet there will be other dominants there that you’ll like just as much.”

Remy frowned. He was certain that wouldn’t be the case, although why he was so certain was a mystery to him. Not expecting his sister to understand his feelings, he didn’t dispute her expectation about the personal stuff. He focused on the idea of joining another pack. “I don’t understand why a pack is necessary. You’re really good at taking care of me, and if we could stay in this den until spring…” He wasn’t sure why he even brought it up as a possibility. Here or in some pack didn’t seem obviously different, yet they were for him. There was something so perfectly right about being in this cozy place with the beta.

“We can’t stay here. The Strongbloods will give you better food and a safer place to…mature.”

Remy scrunched up his nose. “I don’t think I’m getting any bigger than this, Merida.” He looked down at his small, skinny body. “I can’t imagine that the Strongbloods will find me any more helpful that our old pack. I can’t do sigma stuff much better than you can. Being an omega makes me pretty useless. What were the Gods thinking of when they made me.” It was a puzzle he’d struggled with his whole life. Even when the dominants had started paying attention to him in that strange way that made him uncomfortable, he hadn’t understood why. And Merida had only said they were nasty males and running away was necessary to stop them from being mean to him.

As usual whenever he brought the subject of his purpose, Merida looked away and didn’t say anything. At least she didn’t at first. As she went to get a drink of water, she said, “You’ll understand soon. The Strongbloods will make it clear.”

He knew that tone of his sister’s. She was done with the topic. So Remy pulled the edges of the bear skin closed and huddled in its warmth, waiting for Dane to return.