20. Omega Instincts

Omega Instincts

Dalton

W hile Aldrin took Larken through the last of the healing, James led me to a room and proceeded to take all the samples I never wanted taken.

"We just need to check your hormone levels so we can compare them to what they were pre and post mating bite," James explained. Not that I'd asked.

My mood was low.

Hearing that Lark had been injured out on a supply run had scared years from my life. I was pretty sure I was going to have a heart attack the way the damn thing was hammering in my chest. If I looked and found gray hairs on my head, I was going to blame Lark for scaring the bejesus out of me.

All I wanted to do was take him home, get him washed up and settled into our bed, then not let him leave my sight until I calmed down, which could take weeks. I was so terrified he would die!

Yet this feeling was apparently normal. Just an omega's instinct to care for and defend their mate. Never in my life had I felt so out of control!

I hated it while also loving the validation. My omega instincts were kicking in! The mating bite had worked! Any day now, I would have my first heat. Then hopefully a baby would come and make me and Larken a family.

He made me so mad doing something so risky. I couldn't fault his commitment to the pack. It just came at such a high price personally.

Cleared to leave, they made Lark shift to further boost the healing. His giant Komodo Dragon walked placidly alongside me as we crossed the compound. My raccoon wanted to walk alongside their mate, but I stopped them, not him, no, he was changing inside. They understood, though they pouted about it.

We didn't talk. I was too busy thinking through my plans for how I was going to get the pack out of this mess.

The house was cold and dark when we arrived home. Spice and Priscilla, who were used to Lark's alter form, came to greet us, though Spice probably just wanted to be fed.

"Could you wait to shower until I feed them?"

Watching a huge lizard nod was a trip. I nearly cracked a smile until I saw bruises littering his gray and green leathery skin. Nothing about this was funny. He could have died.

I made quick work of feeding the animals and even locked the door, something I rarely did, before I urged Lark to shift and follow me to the bathroom.

The shower was a little too small for two people, especially one being an alpha as big as him. I'd ripped out the original one to put in a larger bath. It suited me when I only had myself to think about.

"Do you think we should ask for one of the new homes or even one in the omega compound for now? For when we have a baby?" Babies came with a lot of stuff. They grew so fast. My little house wouldn't be nearly big enough.

Larken's eyes lit up. "That's a fantastic idea. Not that I don't love this place, it's just a little…"

"Small. It's small." I shrugged, unbothered. "For the two of us it might be okay."

"But not for a baby."

"No. Okay, I'll ask Dakota to put us on the list tomorrow." He tried to take the cloth from me. "I'm washing you, then we are going to bed to actually sleep, okay? You need to finish healing so you can make it up to me."

"Whatever you want, my mate."

Lark was on bed rest, but I was not. The spare room made a handy office since I didn't want to leave him alone. This way I could work while he rested.

They easily fixed a hairline crack to his skull with plenty of magic. The internal bleeding, cuts, bruises, too. Still, it was a lot... I'd nearly lost Lark. All for what? Some supplies? There had to be a better way of doing things.

We had access to portals. The elves were already doing so much, would they be able to set smaller, stable portals so we could get what we needed to keep our businesses working?

I made some calls. The truth was, they could, but would we be able to trust the portal would be properly guarded on the other side? A permanent portal took a lot of magic to maintain. The elves didn't recommend it for just transporting goods.

Another problem was that magic, particularly elven portals, could mess with technology. Phones were okay, smaller tech was usually fine. More complex machinery was the issue. We had lost some of the equipment Larken was delivering from the crash, then more from the portal which had taken them, and the truck, to safety.

Would the demons help? Their magic could make portals too, though only hellhounds could make them in the same realm. Demons went from their realm to ours with no problem whatsoever. I knew Toth, who was in partnership with the pack, had a hellhound friend. Would he be willing to work with us? We'd pay him, of course.

I spoke to the hellhound, who was apologetic, but until the issue with Basil, the ex-High Witch of the Northarbor coven, was resolved, then he couldn't take on another job. He gave me the number of the guild instead.

Apparently hellhounds were in high demand. The magic involved in my plan was expensive. Like bankrupt the pack costly.

So my choices were to find some money to pay for a hellhound or find more people to guard the supply routes, which would need to be routinely changed.

I rubbed at my face, tired and more than a little frustrated. I'd slept a few hours with Lark, then woken him on doctor's orders to check that his concussion symptoms hadn't worsened. His bruises made spectacular colors over his body. I hated seeing the ones on his face, knowing why they were there. I was just grateful the arrival of the elves made the aviary shifters run.

"Hey, Deke?" I asked when he picked up my call. "Do you think you could bring over some maps? Not just of Northarbor, but further afield. Maybe we need to switch suppliers."

"Sure. D'you think they were in on the attack too?"

"Call me suspicious, but the reports from the other enforcers tell me something was amiss about this pick up."

"Right?" I could almost hear the grim satisfaction at being proven correct in his voice. "How they were delayed picking up with the excuse of paperwork? They do it all digitally. We've never had to wait for a printed invoice or had a supervisor sign off on the trade of vehicles."

"Zand said the warehouse was emptier than he'd ever seen it. I wonder if they cleared it out, hoping to trap our people inside."

"Yeah. I need to report our suspicions to the authorities. They've been all up my ass over the damage to the guardrail. Tell me you don't care about shifter lives without saying it."

"I'm sorry. You've got enough to deal with without the police. "

"Oh, it wasn't just the police. We had the mayor on the phone. Did you know he's fae? Got in on a platform promising to control the shifters of Northarbor."

"He doesn't have authority over the pack. We have the cou—"

"Exactly. No council, no protection. Sweetwater is safe from him, but we were on their turf."

"So find other suppliers in the other direction?"

"Please. I'll bring over those maps and check on Larken."

"Thanks. Door's unlocked."

"Dalton?"

"Yeah?" The seriousness with which he said my name had me alert.

"I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have asked Larken to go. When he said he would, I was relieved because I know I can trust him, but that nearly cost him his life. You would have had to go through your first heat alone and grieving."

"Deke—I don't blame you for what happened. I just don't want to go through that again. We'll find another way so we don't have to risk losing more of our people."

I heard Spice making his little ferret noises of excitement and craned my neck to call out for Deke.

"Why is he so cute?" Deke cooed to Spice as he cradled the furry noodle. Spice had never forgotten Deke's interest in him or the gentle way he reached out to pet his fur the first time they met. Deke had made quite the impression on us all. Even Priscilla, who could be a diva to strangers, was a fan of the former Alpha.

"Spice, don't forget who feeds you!" I called. "In the office, Deke."

"It's me who feeds him," Larken said, snatching Spice from Deke and heading to the kitchen. He was all rumpled from sleep but he looked better than before. Though he was out of danger, he still had to take it easy.

Deke tried to follow Larken to check on him personally, I halted him and took the maps."Thanks for these."

"No, thank you for taking this off my plate. Oh, a guy called for you. I gave him your cell. He's going to call back. "

"Did he say his name?"

"Nope. Just that he knew you from a while back and saw what was happening on the news. Said he wants to help out."

Suspicious. Most of the people I'd worked with before were contacts from my old life when I worked with my birth pack and the pack we were absorbed into. Basically, no one I would want to speak to.

Sure enough, my cell buzzed with an incoming call from a familiar number.

"Now, the Head Enforcer told me someone I knew would be calling, but I can't think why you'd be the one, Gerry."

"Is that how you greet an old friend, Dalton?" Gerry's smarmy voice was still as grating as it used to be.

"Friends? Is that what we were?"

"Oh come on, don't be like that. I'm offering to help your pack with your problem."

"At what cost, Gerry, huh?"

"Friends rates, of course."

"Right. As if I believe that," I scoffed. There was no way I was taking part in any schemes Gerry had going on.

"Come on, Dalton. You know I've got the people to cover your routes. Or did you need some cash for a hellhound? I hear their portals don't fuck with tech as bad."

"How? No, nevermind that. Just how am I going to pay you for this? I imagine you don't want cash."

"Nah, nah. Just you to do some jobs for me like you used to. Work the market, clean up some money."

"Break the law," I said dryly.

"Dalton, come on, you're the best in the business."

"I'm not in the business."

"Not anymore, but that can change. What I'm offering could really help your pack, especially with the legal trouble. We know how to grease the wheels of justice."

"Pay people off, you mean?"

Goddess it was tempting. A few simple jobs and I'd get the money to help the pack. We wouldn't have to send our people out to risk their lives. We wouldn't have the mayor and the police breathing down our necks.

Yet, I couldn't bring myself to agree. Just where would it end? There would always be an excuse to fall back into those bad habits. I'd kept a clean record, kept myself above board all this time. There was only one choice.

"Sorry, Gerry. Not interested." Then I hung up the phone and blocked his number for good measure before I could change my mind .

I'd find a way out of this while sticking to the rules. I'd laid out a new path for myself when I'd come to Sweetwater. Now I was going to stick to it.