Page 5 of Advocate Omega (Unforeseen Paths #1)

Lucan

It’s their howls that let me know something went wrong.

After the meeting a week ago, Ryker came to my home and had much to say about how I left. Like I told him then, I want no part of this. It’s why I’ve been labeled a sigma.

In every way, I am an alpha. I was born to lead, to protect, and to bond with an omega. But that’s not the way it went. So why Ryker expects me to help in any way is beyond me.

Even if I wanted to—I don’t—I couldn’t.

No.

I’m content to stay here and deal with what fate has planned for me.

One day, he and Ulric will see it. They might miss the dynamic we all had, but they don’t miss me.

Why would they? After what I did? How badly I reacted?

It goes well beyond my temporary insanity.

I allowed love to shatter our friendship.

But that’s just the beginning of it. The way I think doesn’t fit with our way of life.

It never has. Ulric and I haven't seen eye to eye in years.

He thinks I'm completely unaware of the power imbalance, that I'm willfully bending the knee to him.

That isn't the case, and if he took a moment to see past his own arrogance, he'd realize I'm simply… wounded .

And so, I’m better off alone.

If the time comes and they truly need me, of course, I’ll be there.

We are a clan, and I was part of their pack.

When my parents left for the afterlife, Ulric and Ryker accepted me as one of their own.

I cared about them. And when it all eventually led to being part of their pod, I thought that was fate intervening.

I’d be there forever. Intimate doesn’t even begin to brush the surface of how deep that life ruins you for all else. And it has.

I’m fucking ruined.

But their howls…those howls of warning, the call for help is hard to ignore. They don’t really need me, not for this. No one is attacking us, no one has died; it’s just a warning. I don’t fucking care regardless of what it's for.

I’ll stay alert just in case, but… I sigh and return to whittling.

It’s late, and I should already be drunk and asleep.

Something about this whole plan of theirs has me restless, though.

Whenever they follow through with it, I’ll make sure to stay right where I am.

I’ll have to stock up on some stuff before that.

The idea that a Sorrel wolf will be able to fix nature’s way of pushing our kind out isn’t something that can be fought against. The time of the Great Wolves ended a long time ago…

But still, I’m unsettled. I’m not able to go about my usual routine, so I’m stuck shaping this piece of wood into a fish for Thalira’s birthday.

She loves fish and all things related to them. She’s also only three.

I know what some might say about my doting on her. It’s inappropriate. But she should’ve been mine. And since she’s so young, she doesn’t have our clan’s societal norms etched into her yet. She can still see me as kin, even if we aren’t.

Frustrated because I can’t seem to get the scales even, I toss it aside and scrub at my face. I need to shave. The hair is wild and ridiculous. Might as well live in my true form at this point with how much hair is on my chin and head.

Leaning back in my rocking chair, the one I built for…

it doesn’t matter, I close my eyes and listen to the night.

The creek rushes over rocks a quarter mile away, and woodland animals emerge from their dens for their supper.

Owls hoot and coo at each other from the heights of the trees.

It should be peaceful, serene, but all it does is feed into the emptiness.

We used to run to these very sounds—all four of us.

Ulric, Ryker, me, and…

My back door opens and shuts with an almost silent click.

I stay exactly where I am, listening intently as someone moves around inside my house.

All the lights are off except the one above me.

There’s rustling, an abrupt thump followed by a whispered curse.

Whoever it is moves around with unpracticed stealth.

Or what would be if they could see. I know how dark it is inside my home.

I like it that way. No point in shining a light on everything I’m missing.

Sighing to myself, I stand and move toward the front door. I’ll catch whoever is lurking around in there. It’s not even a question.

The biggest and the fastest of my clan, there’s no escaping me when I mean to catch you.

But when I grab the door handle, I falter.

All those howls, all that warning should’ve told me sooner.

I should’ve known that they’d handle this poorly—that they actually did it.

Fucking Ulric and Ryker think they know what’s best, but if my sire were still living, he’d have them whipped to the bone for such carelessness.

There’s a terrified omega in my house.I can smell him even from out here.

Angrier than I’ve been in a long time, I go inside and spot him instantly.

Cowering by my fireplace, wielding a sharp poker, he snarls at me and bares his tiny canines.

A pair of piercing sky-blue eyes lit up like twin flames lock onto me. Framing a young face, probably in his early twenties, are long platinum locks falling past his collarbone. Attractive, young, fertile, he’ll have his pick of alphas once he calms down.

“You are a big fucker, aren’t you?” he snaps, all venom and spitfire.

I glance down at myself. “Hadn’t noticed.”

“Oh, he’s got jokes.” There is nothing funny about this.

An omega is in my fucking home. A sweet-smelling, beautiful omega that has no business being anywhere in my vicinity.

The urge to rub my chest is strong, but I resist. “If you cross the creek to the north of here, it’ll lead you out of our territory.

They won’t follow you.” Was that wrong of me to have told him? Sure. Do I care? Not really.

“Like I’d trust a single word out of your mouth.”

So he’s angry about this. I figured as much. If I had to suspect, Ulric sent Warren and Uriah to fetch him, which means Cyan and Victor went with them. Fucking ridiculous. No wonder he’s ready to impale me with that fire poker.

I lean against the archway leading into my living room and cross my arms. He sizes me up, no doubt plotting how he can take me down. We both know he can’t, but I can acknowledge it’s endearing that he’d try.

“You should,” I say. “Because I’m the only one here who won’t stop you.”

He scoffs and then adjusts his stance. “Is this how your clan rolls, then? Kidnapping? Hostages?”

“Wouldn’t know. I haven’t been involved in clan activities for years.” I shrug and then leave my spot to seek out my whiskey.

Entering my kitchen, I bend to grab the bottle from under my sink. When I straighten, my home invader is in the doorway. He looks confused, scared, and pissed off all at once. I continue to ignore him and pour myself two fingers.

“You aren’t going to stop me? For real?”

“Nope. Better get going.” I swallow the liquor down, then refill it. “They’ll eventually make their way out here, though.”

He shifts his feet. I can hear how hard his heart is beating, smell the sweat seeping from his pores. Little puffs of exhausted breath slip past his lips. He’s running on fumes. Gods, how long has he been running?

It won’t be long before the search party realizes he didn’t go through the north sector of our territory—the way off our land. It’s odd that they haven’t already tracked him here. Before I think too hard about it, I take a sip and face him fully.

Frowning and nibbling his bottom lip, the hand holding the fire poker shakes. “They have my stuff. All my money, my phone, everything I need to get away safely. And…” he blows out another breath, “I don’t know where the fuck I am.”

Typically, even an omega can use their sense of smell to find their way, no matter where they go. But something about the frustration in his tone and his nervous posture tells me he hasn’t had to utilize that basic instinct in some time. Maybe ever.

“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that.” Because that would be a step too far, ruining my clan’s plans of living out a delusional fantasy where our fertility issues are resolved is one thing. Revealing where our territory resides is another. That’s treason.

“They killed my roommates,” he blurts. “My roommates. The girls were so nice to me, you know? Never once tried to drink my pretend human blood.”

I chug the rest of my whiskey.

He’s a talker. Fanfuckingtastic.

“And it isn’t like I was close to them, because I’m not close to anyone except Gabe, but you know, it was…

wrong. Then that fucking not-blue-blue-man touched me everywhere.

I can still smell his alpha funk all over me.

” He swats at his cheek with his free hand.

“I really have to pee. Can I use your restroom?”

“Knock yourself out,” I say dryly and refill my glass for a third time.

He studies me, then. Long seconds of his pretty eyes traveling up and down my body before he snorts.

“You know, I thought you were an alpha at first, but you don’t smell right.

You just smell…sad.” Then he turns on his heel and wanders through my house, tripping as he goes and cursing under his breath.