Laura wasn’t a fool. She had known it would take hard work to get the town back to working order, but right now she swore under her breath; every muscle in her body ached. Along with helping distribute food and care packages to each family to tide them over until the stores were up and running, she’d healed quite a few injuries over the past five days. Which meant she felt as if she was covered in bruises.
She watched as the hot water poured into the tub and the scent of lavender filled the room. Laura planned to soak until she became a prune—anything to loosen her muscles. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy helping the pack members clean out the debris so they could start rebuilding; she wasn’t used to heavy physical labor, though she had been more than ready to try. Now her body was screaming at her for the effort. The women and children of the pack had gravitated to her and she was overjoyed. This had been exactly what she wanted—a family, a pack and a loving mate.
Laura turned off the taps and slid into the lavender-scented water, letting out a sigh of relief. She leaned her head back on the edge of the old claw-foot tub and closed her eyes. The last few days had been a whirlwind of activity. They’d managed to frame five houses, and were ready to put on the roofs tomorrow. Most of the members of Dedric’s pack were farmers, both cash crop and livestock. They knew how to work hard and seemed to be flying through the lumber Karli, Joseph and Rowl had been kind enough to give them from their pack’s mill.
Soon, the Newton pack would have to resupply, and Laura wondered if there was any chance of going to visit her friend Karli. Laura had been Karli’s chaperone when she had been courted at the Black Ridge pack. They had become friends and Laura missed Karli. Maybe they could make plans to go out sometime soon.
Laura ran her hands through the hot water and then rubbed the muscles in her legs. One of farmers named Nareaux had had a nasty cut on his right leg and it took her a little bit longer to heal from his injuries. Hell, at one point she felt certain the pain would never go away, but of course it had, as it always did.
She wondered what Dedric was going to say when she told him the effect healing people had on her body. Laura didn’t intend to keep a secret like this from her mate, but she was worried about his reaction. Would he dare to order her to stop? That wouldn’t go well. At all.
“Laura, are you in there?” Lily’s voice came from the other side of the bathroom door. She sounded unsure and a touch scared.
“I’ll be right out.” Laura called out. No matter how she felt, she would never turn away someone who sounded distressed.
Carefully, she got out of the bathtub, dried off and grabbed her robe. Considering the only residents of the house were female she felt sure wearing a robe would be fine to walk around. Of course, her trusty warriors were posted outside, ensuring it stayed that way. Besides they were all shifters, and every time they shifted into the wolves they had to be naked, unless they wanted to ruin all their clothing. You got over the whole nudity thing pretty quickly.
Laura let the water out of the tub and opened the door to the bathroom to find Lily waiting. Lily was a quiet and reserved omega who showed her love through her food. She was an excellent chef. However, right now she looked like she was ready to cry. A wave of anger fired through Laura’s veins. Who would dare hurt someone so sweet?
“Lily, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Laura asked as she gathered Lily into her arms and led her toward her bedroom.
“I’m not hurt, but there might be something wrong,” Lily responded as they walked in to her bedroom and shut the door behind them. They sat on her bed and Laura grasped Lily’s hands. “Tell me what’s bothering you. We can work through it.”
Lily looked as if she was afraid to answer but she took a deep breath and spilled her secret. “I think I’ve found the man I want as my mate.”
It took Laura a moment to put two and two together. “He’s not an alpha?”
“No, he’s not. Nevertheless, he’s an honorable man, with strong morals and he’s a decorated war hero. But he isn’t an alpha.” Lily looked down and shook her head. “How old do you think I am?”
This was a strange question but Laura went with it. “Well I’m only fifty, and you can’t be older than me. I’d say we’re still rather young for shifters that could live to a thousand.” Wolf shifters tended to age slowly after they reached the age of twenty-one so it was difficult to pin somebody’s age correctly.
“I’m one hundred and fifty-nine years old,” Lily stated. “I should’ve been mated and have a family by now, but here I am.”
“Why haven’t you chosen a mate in all that time?” Laura asked.
“I swore to my mother that I wouldn’t take a mate until I found the man that truly moved something inside of me,” Lily explained while twisting her fingers together.
“Moved something?” Laura wasn’t quite sure what that meant.
“Yes. Not only sexually, but only if something deep inside of me calls out to that man. I know it’s silly to swear such a thing but over the years, I believe my mother was correct. I’ve met lots of alphas and no one moves me the way General Jensgar does.”
“General Jensgar? He’s the one you’ve chosen. That’s wonderful; he truly is an amazing man. You know he has been mated before but she passed away? He has two adult children back in Black Ridge.”
“Yes, I know, and I’m afraid that I won’t be able to compare to his last mate. Then I gave myself a headache thinking about me being an omega and him being a warrior and the backlash we might receive because of it. I don’t even know if I should approach him.”
“So General Jensgar has no idea?”
“No,” Lily huffed.
“But remember Karli had chosen two warriors to be her mates and after a few bumps in the road she has her men.” Laura was pleased she’d come up with a perfect example to cheer Lily up.
“But Joseph and Rowl are now alpha and beta of their own pack.”
Shit, so much for that. “Do you really want to see if there could be anything between you and Jensgar?”
“More than anything,” Lily confessed. “He’s brave, handsome and caring.”
Laura thought about it for a moment before saying, “Let me talk this over with Dedric so we can come up with a plan to get you two alone. Then you can have a chaperoned conversation about it.”
“You would do that for me?” Lily asked.
“Of course I would. You have been nothing but kind to everyone including me. I’d be more than happy to help you.”
“Thank you. I think that would be great. Now I need to figure out what I’m going to say.”
Laura wrapped her arms around Lily and told her, “Well, I can’t help you with that one; you’re on your own.”
“We’ll figure everything out as we go. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Dedric sat staring at the evening sky from one of the twenty-five foot beams that would hold up his and Laura’s new roof. He still couldn’t believe that his world had changed so much and that he’d soon be mated. He, the alpha of a small pack in the middle of hundreds of acres of forest and farmland, had his own omega to love and cherish.
Laura was an amazing woman and he’d thought that before she had even talked to him all those months ago. Now he knew her heart, and believed she would work side by side with her pack no matter how hard the job was. She was kind, loving and strong. Then of course, he couldn’t help but think how beautiful she was. Which caused his body to react at the thought of the day when they’d finally be able to be together.
He couldn’t help it. With Laura’s unruly blonde hair, deep chocolate brown eyes and her curvy as sin body, Dedric wanted to make this mating official, but it had only been five days and he swore to wait for seven. On the eighth, if Laura still wanted him, he would finally have his dream and be mated to the woman he loved.
As he looked across his town, he was proud of how far they’d come in only five days. All the damaged and burnt lumber had been removed and the shells of new houses rose out of the ashes. Of course, they were living in a construction zone, but nobody seemed to mind as long as they got their lives back. Newton was a close-knit community, and until the ogre attack, they had never been forced from their town.
He understood the pack’s need to restore the homes and town to what they once were; to regain some semblance of normalcy after months away. Dedric felt like he could breathe again now that he was home. He imagined it was the same for his packmates.
His thoughts returned to Laura, and he smiled at her impatience. She’d told him she didn’t need to wait seven days to know she wanted to live out her life in Newton. But Dedric had to be sure; his home, as well as all the people of this pack, were at stake. If Laura had come to Newton and decided it wasn’t for her he would have been devastated, but the pack would still hold strong, regardless of his personal feelings. The pack always came first. If he’d mated Laura prior to bringing her to Newton, had her completely, body and soul, and she decided she didn’t want to live there, it would destroy him and his pack. He’d never survive the pain. It was a fear that became smaller with each day that Laura was in Newton, smiling and working among the pack.
However, Dedric knew something wasn’t quite right. He didn’t exactly know what it was but Laura was holding something back. At times, it seemed like she actively tried to avoid him. That wasn’t going to work; there could be no secrets between them, and if she chose not to tell him before the seventh day, he’d have to demand an answer.
Great way to start a mating.
He scented the air, noting that Samson was twenty feet away and closing in. Dedric didn’t bother to move. His beta would easily find him among the lumber, which was proven moments later when Samson came into sight.
“Good evening,” Dedric called as he jumped off the beam to join his Beta in the clearing between skids of cut and dried wood.
“Hey, Dedric. Thought I’d find you out here.”
“What’s up?”
“The omegas wish to go for a run in the forest and wondered if you would like to come along,” Samson explained. “They say they got their second wind and want to have some fun.”
“Can’t blame them for that—everybody’s been working hard and needs a break. Let’s go have some fun with them,” Dedric said as he started walking in the direction of Rayanne’s house with Samson at his side.
When they got there, Laura and the other omegas and their guards had already shifted and were waiting for Samson and Dedric. His beautiful mate bounced around playing with Gabi. Laura was pure white like all omegas, and her jewel remained embedded on her forehead. However, his love had golden streaks running through her coat. Her brown eyes sparkled with happiness as she ran to him.
Dedric got down onto his knees and took his mate into his arms. Her coat was thick ensuring her warmth and her jewel was flashing yellow with joy. She was his mate and his future.
“Okay, let the two of us shift and we can be on our way,” Dedric stated before he began stripping out of his clothes. Nudity wasn’t a problem among a pack; as shifters, it was second nature to them. But as he stood there with Laura watching him, he felt nervous for the first time. Until now it hadn’t mattered to him what anyone thought of his body, but her opinion counted. He slid off his boxers, winked at Laura and shifted into his large, black wolf.
As an alpha wolf, he was quite a bit larger than everyone else and almost twice the size of Laura. He had to be stronger and faster to protect his pack. Laura brushed her body up against his in greeting and did something he hadn’t expected. She nipped him on his thigh and took off into the forest followed by the other omegas. Oh, yeah, she wanted to play.
Dedric’s heart lightened as he chased her through the trees, the general and his warriors spread out around them. Earlier, when Dedric had made the announcement that General Jensgar and Drune would lead the warriors, the edict had been met with cheers, confirming Dedric had made the right choice.
He watched as his mate zipped in and out of the trees, her sleek body shining in the moonlight. Dedric easily caught up and began herding them back to a nearby clearing where they could get a cold drink out of the nearby stream. Having Laura run beside him was exhilarating, and someday their children would join them. He couldn’t feel any prouder if he tried.
They’d barely entered the clearing when he heard the shot and the tree beside Laura’s head splintered. Dedric quickly shoved her to the ground and covered her with his body. No one would get to his mate. Two warriors gave chase while Jensgar, Samson and Dedric protected the omegas. This could be an attempt to steal them, or worse, a direct attack on Laura.
The warriors returned without having found the culprit. Whoever it was had gotten away and Dedric was pissed. Slowly he let Laura up and she remained by his side. It seemed as though Samson had taken responsibility for Gabi and the general for Lily. The other two warriors took position around them as they quickly made their way back to the pack. By the time they got back, pack members were already out of their homes, clearly having heard the shot.
The moment they were back in the town proper Dedric led them back to Rayanne’s house and shifted along with the general and Samson. Immediately, they dressed and opened the door for the women to go inside. Rayanne met them at the door, gloves on and a scrubber in her hands. That’s when the smell of bleach hit him.
“What?” She looked at him like he was crazy. “I was taking the opportunity to scrub a little while you were gone.” Rayanne took a step back, looking a little flustered.
“You didn’t hear the shot?”
“Oh my, no. What happened?” she asked. “Who would fire a shot at anybody?”
Laura walked into the kitchen fully dressed and sporting a small cut on her jaw. Dedric knew it would heal quickly but the sight of it almost sent him into a rage. The bark of the tree must have cut her when the bullet hit it. He crossed the room and took her into his arms. She trembled slightly and he held her tighter. He scented the air. Where he expected fear, there was only anger.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” he asked, her face still buried against his chest.
“I’m pissed,” she answered with a growl.
Dedric released her and looked at his mate’s face, he was happy to see the cut was already healed. “You’re pissed.”
“Damn straight. Other than nearly blowing my head off, whoever it was ruined our evening,” she snarled and her eyes had a fire burning in them. His beautiful mate was furious, not frightened.
He couldn’t be happier—or more worried. Laura would be perfect to stand by his side and lead their pack, as he had believed, but someone was trying to either kill or kidnap her. Someone was on his land, or worse, someone in his pack was plotting against them. That last thought brought a lot of pain. He’d loved and taken care of his pack for such a long time, and now to have someone among them attempting to hurt his mate—it was unthinkable.
“I need you to stay here, where it’s safe. There will be more warriors assigned around the house until we can get this figured out,” Dedric explained. Her omega stone flashed and he knew Laura didn’t want to be left behind.
“I will not hide here like some weak damsel in distress, not a chance. I’m coming with you.” Before Dedric had a chance to argue she continued, “You can assign as many warriors to my protection as you wish, but I will not hide.”
Laura stood there with her hands on her hips, her omega stone and eyes flashing with anger and determination. This was one battle he wasn’t going to win. “Fine, you can come with me, but if you sense anything off from anybody you have to tell me.”
“You think someone in the pack is responsible?” Laura asked, a little less bold than a moment before. The idea of such a thing hit her as hard as it had Dedric. “No one in the pack would want to hurt me. I’ve been living and working beside them for days. No one seemed the least bit hostile towards me.”
“I don’t want to think so, but we can’t rule that out. Whoever it is, they’re obviously watching you and the other omegas. Therefore, the first course of action is protecting the three of you. Even if that means returning you to Black Ridge.”
“Alpha, a crowd is gathering,” Jensgar called from his post at the kitchen window. Lily was standing not too far away.
“Black Ridge? I’m not running away with my tail between my legs. This is my home and I’m not leaving,” Laura swore.
It did something to Dedric to hear her speak so passionately about Newton. He pulled her into a tight embrace and murmured, “I should, but I won’t make you leave, my love.”
“You’d have a hard time making me do anything,” she teased.
“Of that I have no doubt,” he agreed, knowing that with her omega gifts, she could mop the floor with him. At least until they were fully mated. Then she would share a version of her gifts with him. “I want everyone else to stay inside the house for the time being until I get this under control. Laura and I will be back shortly.”
Dedric took Laura’s hand in his and led her from the house. The pack gathered around, waiting for their alpha to speak. This wasn’t an announcement he wanted to make but he had to tell them the truth. For their own protection.
He wrapped his arm around Laura before speaking.
“My pack, serious events have taken place this evening. While my mate and I were out on a run, she was nearly shot.”
The group erupted into shouts of anger and retribution, as was right—after all, Laura nearly was the pack’s omega. The women of the pack were working their way closer to Laura seeking comfort and reassurance she wasn’t hurt. The pack had accepted Laura into their hearts. She was their omega. A rush went through his body as he watched his mate interact with the pack he’d being taking care of for hundreds of years.
“I’m doubling the warriors assigned to watch over the three omegas, but the rest of you need to be aware of your surroundings. If you see or feel anything that isn’t right or simply feels wrong I need you to report it to me immediately.” Dedric knew that one order would bring up questions he wished he could have avoided.
“Do you think it’s someone from the pack?” Charles, a farmer, asked.
Noise of the crowd grew louder with the revelation but Dedric didn’t want there to be a witch hunt. “My pack, please calm down. I don’t want friends turning on friends or family turning on family. Remember these people are your family, your pack. All I want is for everyone to keep an eye out. This can be outside the pack as easily as in.”
Murmurs went through the crowd and questions began to be directed to Laura.
“Were you hurt?”
“Is the mating going to be called off?”
“Will you be leaving us?”
Dedric could feel the rising tension in the air and was about to step in when a wave of calm flowed peacefully over them all. Laura. When he looked down at his mate, she had a calm expression on her face and the move allowed the pack to calm down and take a breath. She was forever amazing him with her compassion and care for the people.
“My pack, I suffered only a scratch. The mating will be happening as planned, and I don’t intend to go anywhere—this is my home. Nothing this person can do will stop me from becoming the Omega to this pack.” The ‘short of killing me’ part of that sentence went unsaid. “I want all of you to return to your homes and finish your evening with your family and friends. We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Laura announced before leaning into Dedric’s side. She may be showing a brave face, but in truth, this had to be difficult for her.
He held Laura close and led her back to Rayanne’s home as soon as the gathering began clearing up. Tomorrow would be another day spent rebuilding the town, and now, keeping his beautiful mate alive. Dedric couldn’t help but wonder if the great god Fenrir found it entertaining to screw him over. First, no one wanted him, and then he found his omega only to have someone try to kill her.
Yeah, he was somebody’s cosmic joke.