Page 23 of Advocate Omega (Unforeseen Paths #1)

Lucan

This is a terrible fucking plan.

These modern wolves can’t be trusted. I don’t think anyone can in our situation.

After a six-day-long rut, I’m exhausted. Every inch of me aches. What if I’m not able to protect him? What if something were to happen because of my shortcomings? The drive to the Kato Clan territory is long, but I’m the only one who can get us there. Zander doesn’t know how to drive.

He’s fidgety and wide awake, but he hasn’t tried to touch me since we left.

It’s making me irrationally cranky. I’m trying to be respectful, I’m trying to get it through my thick skull that just because he claimed to want me—need me—during his heat, that might not be how he feels now.

And we’ve yet to talk about how I went against his firm word about not consenting to it.

Perhaps it’s time to remedy that.

He might need to hear my apology.

“Zan?” I start, making sure not to use his full name since that made him upset last time.

“Hmm?”

Gods, he won’t even look at me. Blowing out a breath, I grip the steering wheel tighter and shove my feelings aside. “I had every intention of respecting your wishes and leaving you to your heat alone.”

That gets his attention. His head whips to face me. “I know.”

“And I feel…like I betrayed your trust by intervening. It wasn’t about me, you must know that. You were in pain—you were crying and I—”

“Luc,” he coos and places his hand on my arm.

“How was I supposed to leave you in that state? I’m not young anymore. I can control myself. And I’d never use you for that. Never.”

“I know,” he insists. “Where is this coming from?”

It’s coming from a deep chasm of insecurity. He is distant and distracted. Despite all my efforts not to become attached, I am. I crave his touch more than I thought possible. Everything I said, I meant. He’s completely taken the reins of my heart, and I doubt I’ll ever get them back.

“You deserve an apology,” I say instead. “Because you were clear about your wishes, and I went against them.”

“I changed my mind.”

I glance at him.

“I changed it, Luc. Before you ever touched me. I did. I knew you wouldn’t believe me, but…” he trails off and nibbles his lip, squeezing my bicep in the process. “There’s no one else I would’ve wanted to help me. Okay?”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Promise.”

I blow out a relieved breath before taking his hand. “You are precious to me,” I admit softly, lifting our conjoined hands to my lips and kissing his knuckles.

“Yeah?” he rasps.

“Yes, Zan.”

“Even after? Even now that we’re…back to normal?” His shy question pierces through my chest.

“Even more.”

He lifts from his seat and presses a quick kiss to my cheek. “So it’s okay if I want to snuggle?”

I laugh, relieved. “Yes, sweet thing. Cuddle away.”

He tugs my arm over the center console, pulls his legs onto the seat, and wraps his body around my arm. “Good. I was worried you might’ve needed some space.”

That’s never going to happen.

And that realization is going to either heal me or break me beyond repair.

By the time we reach the Kato Clan territory, a quaint little town, I’m ready to pass out. But I need to hold it together until I determine if it’ll be safe to sleep.

We drive passed a diner that Zander fawns over, telling me all about how he and Gabe would meet up and gossip. Then he points in the direction of his old apartment that he shared with three vampires who are now…dead. He seems detached from that, not having had a deep connection with them.

Maybe he perceives death differently than most people. Admittedly, I’m too tired to press for more.

Eventually, after following his vague directions, we reach a gated community, and even through the rolled-up windows, I can smell the wolves who reside here.

The guard at the gate is pushy, asking to lose his tongue, but after Zander explains the situation and his connection to Gabe, the beta lets us pass.

Then we drive through the maze of houses before settling on a two-story family home.

“It’s so…domesticated,” Zander comments with a frown. “I already hate it.”

I snort and turn off the engine. “I don’t like the paint job.”

“Me either,” he agrees. “Looks like someone threw up all over the walls.”

I think it’s meant to be a mint green, but it does look more like vomit.

Sighing, he unbuckles and hardens his expression. “Let’s do this.” When he reaches for the door, I stop him. “What?”

“Let me go out first.”

“You are ready to fall over,” he points out as I fight back a yawn.

“I’ll be fine,” I insist and get out.

I can feel his eyes on my back as I push open the short fenced gate and walk up the pathway.

It comes as a shock to my senses that only a bonded pair lives within this home.

One alpha. One omega. Because I’m past the point of caring, I rub at my chest, the familiar throb returning now that I’m not close to Zander.

Before I reach the porch, the door opens, revealing a short alpha with a mane of red hair and a tattoo snaking up his neck.

He scents the air, looks past me, and I growl in warning. I spot it when his spine straightens. “Apologies,” he grunts. “You must be Lucan.”

“And you are Griffin.”

“Oh my gods!” A high-pitched squeal pierces my ears as a small omega whizzes past us, his long brown locks flowing in the breeze.

“Gabe!” Griffin bellows, eyes wide, but he doesn’t dare move.

“Zan!” I hear the door of my truck open and a muffled oomph .

“Your clan has agreed to this?” I demand, pushing more authority into my voice.

Griffin nods curtly. “For the time being, but a meeting will be held this evening to…discuss further.” He tenses, nostrils flaring, and that panicked stretch of his eyelids tells me all I need to know.

He desperately wants to run to his omega, but he can’t because of me.

“Go,” I tell him, and he doesn’t hesitate.

“Sweetheart, what have I said about just running out like that!”

I bite back a smile and spin to see Zander and Gabe embracing fiercely. Gabe is weeping. Zander buries his face in the omega’s neck and trembles. A bond like theirs runs deep, and I’m only slightly jealous. When they break apart, Gabe eagerly takes Zander’s hand and presses it to his belly.

“You knocked up my friend?” he growls at Griffin.

Not wanting to spend another second away from his side, I walk back down the path to join them. Zander is horrified but can’t seem to stop petting Gabe’s stomach. “How far along?”

“A few days,” Gabe says proudly.

Griffin nods, tugs his omega to his side, and scents him. “The shaman says it was day two of his heat cycle when our baby was conceived.”

“You mean Gabe’s weird grandmother?” Zander scoffs. “She’s still alive?”

Gabe swats at him, and I see red. “Do not touch him!” Gabe whines loudly, and Griffin tries to snarl, but it turns into a whimper when my eyes land on him. “No one touches him.”

Zander’s eyes round. “What the hell, Luc?”

I shake my head to clear some of the rage from it. “I apologize. I’m—”

“You didn’t tell me he was a Prime Alpha ,” Gabe hisses.

Zander stares at me, waiting for an explanation. “Later, sweet.”

Gabe whips his head between the two of us. “Oh my gods! Zander! He called you sweet. ”

“At least it isn’t love of my life ,” he says hotly, trying and failing to hide his blush.

Griffin looks to me for orders, and I scrub a hand down my face. I’m not used to this. I haven’t had this kind of authority over anyone since I was still a damn pup—back when my sire was alive. “I need to rest,” I confess. “Where can I do that and Zan will be safe?”

“We have a spare bedroom,” Griffin offers. “It’s yours, Prime Alpha.”

“Do not call me that,” I warn, and he ducks his head.

“Oh, we are so having a long conversation about this,” Zander comments, flicking two fingers from his eyes and pointing them at me. “You sneaky fucker.”