Page 9 of Advocate Omega (Unforeseen Paths #1)

Zander

Lucan isn’t so bad.

Sure, he’s a drunk, but overall, he proves to be decent at dealing with random strangers in his home.

I’ve been watching him nod off for the past twenty minutes.

I don’t know what I am meant to do with myself, so between counting how many times his mouth pops open before snapping shut and watching the fire dance, I’ve been content.

Hell, I’ve been relaxed.

I shouldn’t be feeling relaxed given my current situation.

After another ten minutes, and his mouth stays open, I decide he’s asleep and get up. A shower sounds fantastic right now. Since I don’t have any clothes with me, I tiptoe into his bedroom and rummage through his clothes until I find something to change into.

I'll be showering first, obviously.

We’ll ignore how I’ll be washing off his scent, only to replace it with his soap, his clothes, and more of his scent. I feel…oddly protective of it for some reason. Like having it on me is better armor than anything I’ve got currently.

I find a plain black t-shirt and some boxer briefs that might fit as shorts. Snatching them, I hug them to my chest and take a discreet sniff. Okay, it’s not discreet. I inhale those bitches like they’re a drug and I need a fix.

It’s impolite to sniff strangers, so this is the next best thing.

He already fed me three sandwiches, listened to me yap about my recently deceased roommates and their shenanigans, and then fell asleep while I was getting to the best part.

I can’t possibly demand he feed me again and let me burrow into his neck so I can use it as my own personal tap.

Fuck. What is wrong with me?

My skin is itchy and tight. I’m…flustered for no reason. I bring my palm to my cheek, and it’s burning hot. Am I getting sick? This would be pisspoor timing to catch one of the few bugs we wolves can get. But I’m also cold now that I’m away from the fire.

My teeth are even chattering.

Disgusting.

I hurry into the restroom and lock the door.

It takes me a few minutes to figure out where the fuck his hot water is located on the unmarked dial, but once I get it nice and steamy in there, I strip down. When my underwear hit the floor, though, I pause.

“What?” I grab them and bring the ass of my briefs to my face. Don’t judge me. This is for science.

There, right along the seam that rests between my asscheeks, is a teeny speck of moisture.

I smell it, naturally. Sweet and heady, definitely not sweat, and definitely not precum, I frown.

Hard. Deciding that I don’t want to know, I toss the underwear back into my pile of dirty clothes and hop in the shower.

I must be kissed by the damn gods today because when I finally muster up the courage to leave the restroom dressed in Lucan’s clothes, he’s still asleep.

Keeping light on my feet, I approach him slowly and search for a blanket.

It’s chilly in here, and he might be cold.

There’s a wicker basket wedged behind the half-crib, and I peek inside.

Score. The blankets are all…floral and quilted, but they’ll do.

With the blanket in hand, I creep back over to his side.

There’s just so much of him. This blanket seems more suitable for someone of my size.

Nibbling my lip in thought, wondering if I should get another or five so that way he’s fully covered, I say fuck it and lay the blanket over him.

It covers precisely his torso and upper thighs.

One of his arms hangs out, so I pluck the edge of the quilt and stretch it over him. There. At least he’s mostly covered.

Gods, his legs are so long and thick, even through his jeans, I can tell. I sneak a peek at his bulge again, purely for curiosity’s sake. It’s a good-sized bulge. Then I let my eyes travel up to his face. I’d love to see more of it, but alas, I’m blocked by endless, coarse black hair.

Is he forty? Or just really fucking hairy? Does that hair go anywhere else? I lean forward, trying to see if I can peer down his shirt collar, but I get too close and bump his leg with mine. I go still as a statue, hovering over him, but he doesn’t stir.

How long has it been since he brushed his hair? He doesn’t…stink, but he is pretty potent, so I’m guessing showers aren’t a regular occurrence for him either.

What happened to him? A male like this shouldn’t be this sad. This…alone.

Oh, what the fuck am I saying?

I rear back, clutching my thumping chest, and shake my head. Without looking back at him, I snatch up two more blankets and go over to the armchair, where I make a nice little nest and go to sleep.

“Boop.”

I swat my hand out.

“Boop. Boop.”

What the hell is poking my nose? Again, I try to push it off me.

“ Boop. Boop. Boop. ” Someone…giggles. My eyes fly open, and I scream bloody murder when they land on a little girl with giant brown eyes.

Lucan, who had been sleeping peacefully just moments ago, jerks awake. Half crawling up the damn chair to escape the tiny girl, I go up too far, and the entire chair tips back, nearly missing her by an inch.

“Thalira!” Lucan scolds, staggering over to the little girl and scooping her up in his arms.

She laughs loudly and takes two fistfuls of his beard. “Lulu, I missed you.”

“Where is your father?” he demands, eyes wide as I right the damn chair, which, yes, everyone, I’m fine. No broken bones here.

Thalira, the child, nuzzles into his face.

“I run fast.” Her twin braided pigtails are frazzled and coming undone.

Wearing a little blue dress with ruffles, she lifts her right foot and points.

“My shoe is gone.” Then, because she’s a kid and kids are little monsters, she squeals when she sees something and wiggles in his arms. “Down. Down. I want down.”

He puts her on the ground and rushes to the front door. Popping his head out, he looks left, then right. Thalira, the small demon, crawls between my legs to get to the hallway, which leads to Lucan’s bedroom and bathroom. I’m mortified.

Whose baby is this?

“Fuck,” Lucan rumbles and slams his front door. With his back pressed against it, he scans the scene, takes one look at me, and growls. “What are you wearing?”

“Um, clothes?” I squeak and shrug helplessly. “It went that way.” I point down the hall.

“Her name is Thalira, and her father is mere feet from my porch. Come here,” he growls, and my cock tingles.

“Why?”

“Come here, Zander. Now. ”

“Fine, since you seem so put off.” Honestly, I was going to come the first time, but I just wanted him to say it again.

I walk over to him, and he grabs my hips with both hands, lifts me clear off the ground, and bites my throat.

It’s hot, fast, and animalistic. His tongue swipes over the painful bite, soothing and setting my blood on fucking fire.

I’m trembling, biting my cheek so I don’t moan, and then he sets me down. “My bed. Now.”

“I—”

Lucan stares at me, really stares at me, before leaning down to smell my neck. “Damn it.”

“W-what?”

“Lulu!” Thalira squeals, barreling through the house holding a wooden…fish? “You make fishy for Lira?”

He glares at me. “Bed.” Then he looks down at the little girl, and his entire face lights up.

“Yes, sweet girl. But it’s not quite finished.

” He picks her up, and I still haven’t moved.

This big, furry, non-alpha-alpha nuzzles the child like she’s precious and walks them to the door.

Just before he closes it behind them, I hear him say, “Let Uncle Lulu finish it first, m’kay? ”

Oh, right. Someone is coming, and I am not supposed to be here. I haul ass to hide in his bed.

The bedroom, oddly enough, has a window facing the front yard. And because I’m curious who that child belongs to, I’m perched on the side of it, peering through the curtains to watch.

Lucan is stiff, but clearly trying to hide it. There’s an omega lecturing him about the child, and all my new roommate does is nod along and grunt occasionally.

“You can’t keep doing this to her. She doesn’t understand.”

Thalira has no clue what’s being discussed; she’s too busy gnawing on the wooden fish.

“Do you know how hard it is to keep her from asking questions? Why are you doing this?”

Lucan stares at the ground.

“Say something, Lucan. Please.”

He doesn’t.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Just because I—”

“Don’t say it.”

“Someone has to—”

“I said,” he growls , “don’t say it, Ian.”

Ian sighs and beckons the girl. “At some point, you’re going to have to let us go or come home. But you can’t stay stuck in between.”

I watch the pair walk away, the smaller of the two looking over her shoulder and waving madly at Lucan, who holds his chest. He waves back, blows a kiss, and then a broken sob explodes out of his mouth.

Fuck, what the hell happened?

The crying lasts only a few moments before he wipes his face aggressively and stalks back towards the house, out of my line of sight. I scramble away from the window and plop onto his hard as fuck bed.

The front door slams, echoing through the house.

To my surprise, I don’t flinch. There’s this restless urge to check on him.

The sound he made—the kind of ugly, guttural cry—only comes from a place of deep anguish.

I know because I’ve made that sound before.

Back when I was weaker, and vulnerable. Back when my parents sacrificed themselves so I could get away.

I chew my lip until I taste blood before I decide I’ve waited enough.

I open the bedroom door, and it creaks loudly. Cringing, I open it fully and step through the threshold. It’s deathly silent inside Lucan’s house. There’s no sign of life. I creep down the hall, a bit on edge for some reason.

What if he shifts due to the distress? It can happen; it’s not unheard of. If he shifts, though, he’ll be all animal and no man. He’ll be…not him. He could view me as an intruder or worse… prey.

All wolves recognize their own, but I’m not one of them.

“Lucan?” I call out.