Page 37 of An Omega for the Lycan Prince

“I already did.”

He laughs. “Sucks being an adult, huh?”

I can only roll my eyes at his amusement. “Very funny.” He is right, though. I show him a lopsided smile. “I think I sounded like my father,” I joke.

“With the way he scolded them, I doubt it,” Dante grins. His green eyes give me a once over. He smiles. “You had a good evening?”

I smile. “Yes. I will introduce you to her soon.”

“I can’t wait to meet her,” he says, genuinely happy for me. His friendship and sincere joy means a lot to me. Dante lost his mate and unborn child a few years ago. They were killed during a rogue attack. The loss and pain almost broke him. He has only recovered somewhat recently… as much as you can ever recover from such a loss. Which is why it means so much that he is supportive of me now. “Liam,” he pauses to look at me insistently as if he just read my thoughts. “You don’t need to hide your happiness from me. You know that, don’t you? You have my whole-hearted support. I will never forget your respect and kindness after Jacky passed away, and it fills me with relief and joy that you have finally found what you were looking for. You deserve it.”

“Thank you, Dante,” I say quietly.

He nods contentedly.

I let his previous words pass through my mind again. “You heard about a rumor?” I pick up our previous talk.

“Yes, about the Red Claw pack.” Dante scrunches his nose a bit. “You remember the poor kid I found?”

“The boy who was killed?” I mutter. “Did you find out where he belonged?”

“Our pack doctor provided me with details about his age and how he lived. Seems like he didn’t see much sunlight.” Dante’s voice sounds rough, angry.

“Wait.” I pause. “You mean he was kept locked up?”

“Seems like it. And he was only a child. It’s so…” Dante’s voice trails off, his voice hoarse with suppressed anger. He has always been very protective of the children of our pack, more so after he lost his own child.

It pisses me off too. “Yes,” I agree, my eyes flashing in anger. “It’s disgusting and atrocious. You didn’t find out where the boy came from?”

“No,” Dante shakes his head. “But while digging further, I stumbled upon some rumors about Red Claw. Take it with a grain of salt, though. I have not verified them yet.”

“And what did you hear?”

“Their Alpha rules over the pack like a dictator, it seems. He and his closest warriors have apparently lost their sense of what’s wrong and right. There are rumors of forced matings, even forced marking, abuse.” He pauses. “I think you get the image.”

I listen, horrified. Forced marking? Rape? Red Claw is one of our neighbor packs. Their pack is thought to be a rough bunch who mostly stay to themselves. I vaguely remember Annalise telling me her friend Ella is from that pack. But it’s one thing to stay secluded and not mingle with other packs… and another to abuse your power like that. “Do you think the kid was from there?”

“It’s possible because he was found close to their borders, but I am not sure. We shouldn’t jump to any conclusions.”

He is right. “Can you look into it?”

Dante nods. “I will keep you updated!”

“Thank you.”

“Where are you heading to now?” he asks.

“Catching up with my father. After everything that went down here tonight, I feel like we should talk. He seems to still be in his office.”

“You think you can calm his anger?” he grins.

I smile slightly. “I have my ways.”

“And what’s that?”

“Bourbon whisky.” I chuckle.

“I see,” Dante bows slightly towards me and leaves me before I enter my father’s office. I can hear him pacing around before I even enter.