Page 21 of Advocate Omega (Unforeseen Paths #1)

Lucan

He has maybe one wave left. And it’ll be short.

Since Zander decided his nest wasn’t needed anymore, we cuddled up on the couch in the living room.

It’s old, dusty, but I don’t think either of us minds.

I’m thrilled he’s even entertaining something beyond his heat.

Whatever that might be, I can’t help but hope it leads to something permanent.

I’ve been through enough ruts in my life to spot the difference between instinct and desire.

And fuck, do I desire the little omega in my arms.

He’s very talkative now that we have moved past our mishap. Always so full of questions and ideas, I don’t know why his brain works the way it does, but I love it all the same.

“Sometimes I wonder if I would’ve been better off born a vampire, but I don’t really like blood.

I guess if I had to pick that or being a human, I’d deal with the blood.

” He pauses, frowns, and then continues, “I don’t like the dark, though.

I’d go crazy without sunshine and fresh air.

What do you think, Luc? Should I have been born a vampire? ”

I kiss his cheek. “No.”

“Rude. I would be an amazing vampire.” He glances at me and then asks, “How come?”

“I would’ve never met you if you were a vampire,” I say easily, and he blushes.

Clearing his throat, he continues his rant about why wolves are terrible, “I wouldn’t ever have to shift. You know I’ve only done that once? When I was four? We didn’t really have a choice, but I think even if we did, I wouldn’t want to. What if I stepped in my own poop or something gross?”

I blink.

“Don’t act like it’s never happened,” he insists, waving his finger. “Wolves and dogs aren’t that much different, and dogs step in their own shit constantly. ”

“Stop talking about bowel movements,” I say with a laugh, grabbing his chin to steal a kiss.

“Okay, fine. What if—”

We both fall silent as the sound of a vehicle approaching cuts through our easy conversation.

For a solid five seconds, I listen, trying to determine whose vehicle I am hearing.

In the back of my head, I know I recognize it, but the overwhelming weight of reality crushes down on me before I can react reasonably.

Zander opens his mouth, the words slipping free, “Who is that?”

I slam my palm over his lips, and he jerks in surprise.

The effects of my rut still linger, still toy with my rational thought process, and the only thoughts running through my skull right now all translate into one thing: hide Zander.

Springing into action, I lift him into my arms without warning, and he smothers his yelp.

I sprint us down the hall and into the bedroom that reeks of our combined scent, but it’s the only option I have.

I’m not careful and I don’t slow down enough to gently place him, so he ends up flopping like a ragdoll against the mattress and busting his lip on his canines.

“Fuck,” I growl, wipe the blood from his weeping bottom lip, and brush it off on my pants. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s happening?” he whimpers.

“Stay put,” I order, and his eyes round. “Whatever you hear, do not leave this room.”

“Luc!”

I ignore his whines, locking him inside the room.

I stalk back down the hall, ready to rip a throat out, when I stop dead in my tracks.

Ryker is in the living room, bent over the couch, smelling the cushion Zander had just sat on.

There’s no point in denying the truth. I have an omega here, and he can fucking smell it.

“I’m going to allow you to come clean before you start spewing lies,” Ryker says calmly.

He has always been more levelheaded than Ulric, but I’m not in my right mind. I have an omega to protect, and currently, he’s my fucking enemy.

Instead of having a civilized conversation, I release a threatening growl. My claws extend to their full length, and I guard the hallway.

“It’s beneath you,” he starts, casually walking away from the cushion and scanning the room. “We all know you still pine for Ian. I wouldn’t think you were so desperate to go out and find any omega to stick your cock in as a distraction.”

“Leave now while you still can,” I warn.

Ryker chuckles. “You always were unreasonable during a rut. Look at you!” He waves his hand in my direction.

“Going to try and stake your claim on this one, too? Would that be fair to this…stranger?” I can tell he’s trying to place Zander’s scent, but he’s unable to.

“Does he know how you howl for Ian late at night? How you wish it were you who sired Ulric’s daughter?

Did you tell him how fucking horrible you became? ”

If he intends to make me snap, he’s extremely close to achieving that goal. “Who is this omega anyway?” He scents the air, tastes it, wets his fucking lips like he has any right to know it.

“Ryker,” this is the last warning I give him.

“Warren and Uriah both claim they weren’t able to scent the Sorrel omega, that it was masked somehow.

I find it odd that his clothes were in your home, and even though I can smell fresh slick all around, I can’t detect anything else.

I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Surely, you wouldn’t steal away our clan’s only hope at survival and keep the omega for yourself.

We both know your seed won’t give you healthy pups. ”

I launch, consequences be damned.

We hit the floor with a loud thud, our growls and snarls echoing off the walls. Any other time, I would have argued. Any other time, I probably would have told him to leave it be and would’ve walked away. Not this fucking time.

How dare he insinuate I did anything to Zander that he didn’t ask me for? I raise my hand, claws at the ready, and slash at his throat. He bellows, bucks, and snaps his canines in a poor attempt to get me off of him.

I don’t hold back. I will kill him if I have to.

Only a fucking fool would come between an alpha and omega during a heat. I slash my claws down his chest, trying to dig out his heart. He manages to swipe at my cheek, slicing open the skin. Blood trickles down his face as I roar.

“Think about what you’re about to do!” Ryker screams. “Think about Thalira!”

Just before I break apart his rib cage, my fingers and claws buried deep into his meat, I get a flash of her face.

Her innocent, sweet face, and think of how it’d be marred with tears after discovering someone from her pod is dead.

Blood seeps past his teeth, dribbling out of the corners of his mouth.

“If you do this, you’ll never be welcome in Thorn Valley, never!”

I assess his damage quickly, knowing the wounds I’ve given him will heal. Lowering down so we are nose to nose, I growl out, “Get the fuck out of here and do not come back.”

“Ulric will find out.”

“So be it.”

“This is a mistake. Give him to me now, and we can be done with it. No one has to know it was you who soiled him.”

I punch him in the face.

There was no time to give Zander any warning of what I was doing, but I trusted he would see reason.

After I calmed down only a fraction, I carried Ryker’s unconscious body back to his car, threw him in the back of it, and drove it out of the area.

He would wake up eventually and hopefully return to Thorn Valley with his tail tucked between his legs.

Since I hadn’t planned this out, I had to return on foot.

I didn’t trust myself to shift for the run back, too fired up from the fight and in agony from leaving Zander.

So, by the time I get back, covered in sweat and residual blood, I’m ready to fall into his arms and let him soothe my broken heart.

Ryker's statements weren’t false, but they were wrong.

I hadn’t howled for Ian in years . And the last thing I wanted was to get my heart ripped out by another omega.

He knows this—they all do. My being here with Zander is its own string of fate and none of their fucking concern.

That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.

I go back inside the house, listening for the sounds of a sobbing omega, but it’s oddly quiet.

I can smell him, his scent potent and still lingering with traces of his heat.

Seeking him out, I stalk through the house and enter the bedroom.

He’s sitting on the bed with criss-crossed legs and a stoic expression.

I close the door quietly behind me and stand tall, waiting for whatever he is going to say, because I know he will say something.

His pretty blue eyes take in my disheveled form, the blood on my clothes, and under my nails.

The cuts on my cheek are already scabbing over.

I spot it when his pupils dilate, heavy breaths coming faster, the longer he stares at me.

Deciding to push my luck, I take a step forward, and he growls. I retreat to my original spot.

“I just want to know one thing,” he says a few minutes later, making my heart race.

He heard everything Ryker said. There’s no way he didn’t. And of course, he heard what I did. I have no good excuse other than there was no way in hell I’d let Ryker take him from me.

Wringing his hands in his lap, Zander’s face cracks, the blank mask impossible for him to keep in place. His heart kicks up in speed, and his eyes swirl with uncertainty. I almost think he won’t ask his question, but he swallows hard and meets my gaze. “Do you still want Ian?”

“What Ryker said—I haven’t—he made it out to be something it’s not.” I’m scrambling, and it doesn’t look good.

Truth is, I don’t know how to explain my complex feelings regarding Ian.

Yes, I loved him dearly. But time has passed.

I’ve been given years to reflect on what went wrong, how I failed, and what I couldn’t provide.

A rejected bond leaves its scars no matter what.

It alters your psyche and injects you with self-doubt. It’s painful and unnatural.

Sitting up straighter, he asks me again, “Do you still want Ian, Luc?” That little crack in his voice when he says the pet name feels more painful than anything I’ve just described.

“I want the idea of him,” I admit. “I want what I thought we would have.”

He sucks in a sharp breath, chin wobbling.

“My whole life, I knew who I wanted to be. I wanted to be a mate . There was a time when I was supposed to be more, but…” I trail off because that part is irrelevant to his question.

Getting back on track, I continue, “Everything you have told me you don’t want, I do.

I want to fulfill my role as someone’s alpha.

I want to live and breathe my subservience to an omega.

I want a pod of my own , without another fucking brute sniffing around what is mine .

” Gods, I can’t stop trembling. “I don’t want to share.

I don’t want to watch from the sidelines while the one I crave is satisfied by someone else.

And most of all,” I take a breath, “I want pups, Zan. I’ve dreamed of being a sire since I was five years old. ”

His eyes well up while listening to me. I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this before.

Seemingly brought on by seeing his own tears, a few sneak out of the corners of my eyes, and I swipe them away quickly.

“So, no, Zan. I don’t want Ian. Looking back, he was never what I wanted to begin with. He was just… all I had. ”

“Luc,” he whines and beckons for me.

I groan in relief and dart over to the bed.

As soon as our skin touches, something gives way inside me.

Like those weights I’ve been carrying around finally snap free.

It’s startling and foreign, but I lean into the sensation of flying and bury my face in his neck.

Clinging to me and peppering me with little kisses, Zander hurries to peel my shirt off.

The scent of his slick sets a fire within me, and I rush even more to give him what he needs.