Page 15 of Lost Wolf (Exiled Omegas #2)

Fifteen

Ollie

With all the ups and downs of the morning—the dream, the tears, the conversation, the intimacy—my emotions are already all over the place, and the thought that there’s something inside me, something the humans put there… ugh. That just makes everything worse.

A quiet, distressed whine builds in my throat, and I plaster myself to Luke’s chest, brushing my nose over his arm and taking comfort from his scent. He curls his body around me protectively and rubs his cheek over my hair. I burrow in closer, wanting nothing more than to hide, using his arms as a shelter from the sudden onslaught of anxiety caused by those humans.

And, well, everything else.

“Don’t worry,” he says, his voice soft. “We’ll get rid of it.”

He swings me into a bridal carry, then yells something to Macy about going to pack, before carrying me upstairs to the bedroom and kicking the door shut behind us. Placing me on my feet, he tugs at the hem of my shirt with a single-minded intensity, his brow furrowed and lips pressed into a thin line.

“I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe I didn’t think about the fact they might have put a tracker in you,” he says, voice tight with frustration.

My initial panic has faded enough that I’m able to recognize that he’s blaming himself for this mess. And that’s simply not the case.

Grabbing one of his hands, I wait for him to meet my eyes before speaking. “It’s not your fault. I didn’t think of it either.”

“But I’m the Alpha. I should be paying more attention to shit like this.” He goes back to tugging at my clothes, and I allow him to pull my shirt over my head. Next, he picks at the knot holding the sweatpants up and after a few moments, they fall to the floor leaving me completely naked in the middle of the room.

But Luke barely seems to notice, too intent on finding the tracker.

He runs his hands up and down my arms, his touch almost businesslike. After doing the same to my legs, he shakes his head and mumbles something to himself before beginning to strip out of his own clothes.

“What are you doing?” I ask, shivering a little.

He glances up to catch my eye. “I’m going to shift. My wolf’s senses are better than my human ones and I think I can probably sniff it out.”

“Okay, but—”

Luke takes a step backward, then allows the shift to wash over him. His shift is a thing of beauty, a flowing from one form to another with barely a sound. For some reason, that strikes me as odd, as if most shifts aren’t that easy, but without any memories to link that thought to, I ignore it.

Luke pads forward, his snout nudging at my toes as he sniffs first one foot, then the other. His inspection continues from my ankles up my right leg, his breath tickling across my skin as he attempts to sniff out the tracker. He reaches the crease of my thigh and pauses, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before nuzzling my leg.

I crack a smile.

Somehow, I don’t think that particular action had anything to do with the tracker. My dick doesn’t think so either and begins to harden. Luke glances up at me, wolf eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief, and I cup my hands over my semi-hard cock.

“What?” I say. “It’s not like I can help it.”

Luke makes a chuffing noise that sounds like a laugh and continues his search with my other leg, then I sit down so he can check my stomach, my chest, my arms… but there’s nothing.

At least my inconvenient erection appears to have broken him out of his self-flagellation.

He walks around behind me, sniffing at the arch of my lower back. Nudging me backward to sit on the bed, he jumps up behind me and runs his nose up my back until he reaches my neck. He pauses, pressing his cold nose harder into my skin and taking a few deeper breaths, then makes a whining noise and steps back, quickly shifting back into his human form.

Running a hand over the back of my neck, he searches out whatever his wolf found, his thumb brushing across a spot by my hairline and slightly to the left.

“Here,” he says, brushing over the spot again. “There’s a metallic scent, and I can feel something under your skin.” His other hand comes up to cup my cheek. “This is going to be uncomfortable, but I’ll make it quick.”

Before I have a chance to ask him what he means, there’s a sharp stab of pain from the area he indicated the tracker was. It’s nothing more than a quick flash and by the time it really registers, it’s over, Luke lifting his hand away from my back, his claws slowly retreating.

There’s a small silver cylinder speckled with blood lying in his palm. It’s such a small thing, but I hate what it stands for. They took my name, my past, and everything that made me human. They really did treat me like a dog.

Not that I ever thought any differently, but still… that stupid tiny thing is a physical manifestation of how little they thought of me.

Luke tosses the tracker onto the nightstand and pulls me into his lap, pressing his lips to mine, his tongue pushing into my mouth. He devours me, his touch almost frantic as he kisses me.

After a few moments, he pulls back, resting his forehead against mine. “They’re never taking you back. I won’t let that happen,” he says, eyes closed and half-panting. “Never. You’re mine now. No one is ever going to hurt you again.”

The urgency to his words and the force of the emotion behind them make it clear I’m not the only one with some anxiety—and trauma. I don’t know enough about Luke’s past to know where this is coming from, but that doesn’t mean his pain is any less valid than my own.

I wrap my arms around him, running my hands up and down his back in a soothing motion, as his body gradually relaxes. He buries his face against my neck and lets out a long, slow breath.

“Sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to make this about me.”

I press a kiss to the side of his head. “If I get to have an occasional breakdown, you do too. Neither one of us gets to have the monopoly on being overwhelmed.”

“But—”

“Nope,” I say, covering his mouth with my hand.

His lips curl into a smile and his tongue darts out to lick my palm. I laugh, snatching my hand back. Eyes shining with warmth and affection, he reaches up to cup my face then pulls me forward into a kiss.

A loud knock on the bedroom door makes me jolt in surprise. Luke’s arms tighten around my waist and he scowls in the direction of the offending noise.

“We’re busy,” he says, the words laced with a hint of petulance. “Go away.”

Macy coughs out a laugh on the other side of the door. “Whenever you’re done… packing, I threw together a couple sandwiches so you can eat on the road.”

Luke’s scowl deepens and I can’t help the giggle that escapes my mouth at how put out he looks about being interrupted. I can’t say I’m happy about it either, but now probably isn’t the best time for us to get distracted anyway.

“We’ll be there in a minute,” I call out. Luke tightens his hold for a second, then reluctantly releases me so I can stand and begin pulling the sweatpants back on. The movement of my muscles pulls at the small wound on my neck and I wince.

Luke rests his hand against my back, his brows pulled together. “I’m sorry I had to do that. Your healing should be quicker than this, though.”

I shrug as I pull on a shirt. “Of course something’s wrong with me. If—”

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with you,” says Luke, pulling me back against his chest. He’s still naked so I can feel the press of his semi against the fabric covering my ass.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” I say. “I just meant… I’m not surprised whatever they did to me messed up my shifter abilities or whatever.”

Luke rubs his face over my hair, scenting me. “You’re amazing. Surviving all that.”

“If you say so…”

He grabs my chin and tilts my head up so I meet his gaze. “I do say so.”

I give him a quick peck on the lips, my cheeks heating when he grins back at me. The fated mate thing still feels sudden, but also inevitable. My past might still be a mystery, but my future seems pretty clear.

And that future, wherever it might lead, is with Luke.

Part of me thinks I shouldn’t accept that so easily, that I should be more wary since nothing is ever that easy, but I can’t deny how steady and anchored the fated mate bond makes me feel. I’m not going to pretend I’m not happy about it.

Once both of us are dressed, Luke packs up what little stuff he brought with him into the duffel bag he pulled out yesterday. He slings the bag over one shoulder, then loosely wraps an arm around my waist as we make our way back downstairs.

Macy and Doc are sitting on the couch in the living room. Macy hops to her feet, quickly moving to stand next to Luke. She smirks and nudges him in the side with her elbow.

“All packed up?” she asks.

Luke gives her a tiny half-smile. “Yeah.”

Her brows pull together and her gaze darts to me. “Everything okay?”

“It is now,” says Luke. “They put a tracking chip in Ollie. It’s how they knew he was here. I took it out.”

“I see,” says Macy, frowning.

“It’s upstairs on the nightstand,” I say. “Someone should probably…”

“I’ll take care of it after you guys leave,” says Macy. She reaches over and takes the duffel bag from Luke, then jerks her chin toward the front door. “I’ll get this loaded up for you.”

“Thanks, Mace,” says Luke.

She dips her chin and heads outside with Luke’s bag and a small cooler she grabs off a side table on her way.

Luke moves toward Doc, who stands, tilting his head to the side to bare his neck. “Thank you, Alpha.”

“What exactly are you thanking me for?” asks Luke.

Doc’s eyes dart up to meet Luke’s for a split second then return to the floor. “You came when I called. You’re leaving your second behind to protect me. It’s more than my brother ever did for me.”

Luke shrugs one shoulder. “Not all Alphas are like your brother and Randall. I’m trying to be one of the good ones.”

“Then you’re succeeding,” he says softly. “From what I’ve seen, only the good ones get fated mates.”

Luke’s brows rise and his lips curl into a pleased smile. He claps the older beta on the shoulder. “Thanks, Doc.” He glances back at me. “You ready to get out of here?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I reply.

He returns to my side and leads me outside to the gray SUV sitting in the driveway, then opens the passenger door, gesturing for me to get inside. I slide into the seat and Luke closes the door behind me before making his way around to the other side of the vehicle where Macy is waiting for him.

She put a hand on her hip and pokes him in the chest, saying something I can’t hear from here. Luke chuckles and grabs her finger, using it to pull her into an awkward hug. She pats him on the back a couple times and pulls away, giving Luke a mock salute with two fingers before turning and going back into the house.

Luke jogs back to the driver’s side door and gets behind the wheel, shooting me a small smile as he starts the engine.

“What was that all about?” I ask.

“She’s still kind of pissed about being left behind,” he says. “We’ve known each other since we were kids, and I kind of saved her from a life she didn’t want. She hates it when I go off somewhere without her to watch my back, but she understands why I asked her to stay behind.”

“Sounds like she’s a good friend to have,” I say, returning his smile.

“Yeah,” he replies. “She is.”