Page 24 of Lost Wolf (Exiled Omegas #2)

Twenty-Four

Ollie

The beta on his knees in front of me—Clay—looks a lot like Luke, but that’s the only reason any of his features are familiar to me. He clearly knows me, though, and I have no idea who he is beyond Luke’s half-brother and Wanda’s and Earl’s son.

Beside me, Luke lets out a low growl, and I kind of want to do the same. Despite how thrilled this guy appears to see me, something about his whole demeanor seems off, his reaction too over the top to be real.

Luke’s growl gradually rises in volume, but Clay completely ignores him. He does finally release me though, leaning back to stare into my eyes. He blinks quickly and sniffs, his hand rising to his chest as if he’s overcome by emotion.

But, as before, the whole thing seems downright theatrical.

Wanda watches the interaction closely, her gaze focused mostly on my face as if looking to see if I’m buying this crap.

“Oliver, say something,” says Clay, the words close to pleading. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

I blink at him, unsure what exactly he expects from me. “I’m sorry,” I say finally. “I, uh, there’s an issue with my memory and…” I spread my hands in a “what can you do” gesture and shrug. “I don’t remember who you are.”

There’s a flash of something in Clay’s eyes and the barest twitch at the corner of his mouth as if he’s smothering a satisfied smile. Just like his mother’s reaction to that information.

“That must be so awful,” he finally says, the words not quite matching the tone. “No matter. You’re home now, and I’ll take care of you.”

“No. You won’t,” says Luke, his voice barely controlled as he stares at Clay. “Ollie is mine.”

Clay blinks at Luke like he’s just noticing his half-brother is sitting there. “Who are you?”

“This is the Alpha I was telling you about,” says Wanda, both her smile and her voice kind of strained. “He’s the one who took dear Oliver in.”

“He’s also your brother and an alpha, so show some respect,” says Earl. “Turns out Emily’s boy wasn’t dead after all.”

“Isn’t that wonderful?” asks Wanda, the words spoken through her teeth.

Clay and his mother share a look, and then Clay breaks out into a grin, standing and holding a hand out to Luke. “Great to meet you. Thanks for bringing Oliver home.”

The young man from earlier returns, interrupting any response from Luke. He’s carrying a tray with some cups and what looks like a coffee carafe balanced on one arm. He sets the tray on the side table and begins to serve everyone, starting with his Alpha. He pauses, his gaze darting to Wanda, before reaching across to hand me a cup as well.

I take the cup, whispering a quick thanks, and Earl’s eyes narrow in on the young shifter. He catches the Alpha looking at him and his body goes tense, his shoulders hunching up near his ears. His movements become jerky under Earl’s glare, and when he goes to hand cup to Macy with shaking fingers, a small splash of coffee lands on the rug under the table.

The young man freezes in place, his eyes slowly coming up to look at Earl’s face, then quickly darting back to the floor. Earl’s upper lip is curled back, eyes hard and angry as he stares down the young man.

“Why are you just standing there?” asks Earl in a low voice laced with anger.

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” he stammers. “I’ll clean it up.”

“Damn right you will,” he snaps. He jerks his chin. “Get to it.”

“Yes, Alpha.” He ducks his head and hurries out of the room, returning with a towel to soak up the minuscule puddle on the floor. He pours a new cup for Macy, this time handing it to her without spilling a drop, and the last cup goes to Clay, who’s moved to sit next to me on the couch. Then the young man practically runs out of the room, disappearing through a doorway in the kitchen.

Wanda makes a tsking noise and turns to Macy. “I’m so sorry about that. It’s hard to find good help sometimes.”

Macy blinks and opens her mouth as if to speak before shaking her head and closing it again. “It’s fine,” she finally says. “No harm done.”

“Stupid clumsy beta,” mutters Earl, either not realizing—or not caring—that he’s insulting Macy with the comment as well.

Conversation stalls and the six of us sit there, sipping at our drinks. After a few minutes, Earl sets his cup aside and leans back in his chair.

“Now,” he says, clasping his hands over his stomach as he leans back in his chair. “I think Jon—Luke—and I have some things to discuss.” His cold gaze lands on me. “Like how we’re going to handle the fact that Oliver is a member of the Rockcastle pack and no mating was agreed upon.”

Clay makes a noise and his eyes dart to his mother. She gives him a slight shake of her head.

Luke narrows his eyes on Earl. “If you think—”

“Clay, why don’t you take Oliver and show him around a little while dinner is being prepared? Maybe it will help jog his memory,” says Wanda with forced cheer.

“Of course, Mother,” says Clay, jumping up from his seat. He motions to me. “Come on, Oliver.”

Luke flashes his teeth and grabs my hand. “No,” he says firmly. “Ollie and I stay together.”

Earl smirks. “How sweet.” A calculating look enters his eyes. “But you don’t want to insult my hospitality by implying Oliver won’t be perfectly safe in my territory, right?”

Luke looks like he still wants to refuse, but I squeeze his hand. Sure, I don’t want to wander around with Clay as a tour guide either, but this is the perfect opportunity to get information for the triumvirate.

And, as much as I hate to say it, Earl is right. If Luke insults Earl by refusing, that might create more problems than we’re ready to deal with.

Earl plasters a wide smile on his face and glances at Wanda. “In fact, why don’t my mate and your beta go along too? That way it’s just us, Alpha to Alpha.”

Luke looks even less likely to agree now, but I squeeze his hand again. Antagonizing Earl won’t do us any favors, and it’s not like anything’s actually going to happen to me just because I’m out of Luke’s sight. Plus, if it comes down to it, Macy is perfectly capable of protecting me.

“That sounds… like a plan,” I say, not able to be any more positive than that. “I wanted to get a look around anyway.”

Luke’s gaze darts to my face and he raises his brows. I give him a pointed look, willing him to understand what I’m trying to say. His jaw tenses, but he nods and tilts his head toward Macy in a silent command to stick with her.

As if I would do anything else.

I stand and Clay tries to take my arm, but I pretend I don’t notice and quickly move to Macy’s side. Wanda pushes out of her seat, not looking particularly happy, but she follows us as Clay leads the way through the kitchen to a back door.

Wanda pauses in the doorway. “Y’all go on ahead,” she says, staring directly at Clay. “I’m going to go pick out some wine to go with dinner.”

Clay turns a wide smile on me and Macy. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of our guests.”

Macy and I share a look. She raises her brows and I shrug. I’m not sure what Wanda’s deal is, but I don’t think we can back out of this now. Macy moves closer to me, her shoulder bumping against mine, and we step outside behind Clay.

He walks around the side of the house to a large fenced-in area. Precise rows of plants stretch out across the area with a few raised beds in the center.

“This is our household garden,” says Clay proudly. “Most of the vegetables we eat come from here.”

Macy frowns. “That doesn’t look big enough to support a pack.”

“Oh, no. This garden is just for the Alpha’s house,” says Clay.

“And it looks a little too big for that.”

Clay gives her a tight smile. “Don’t worry. Anything we don’t use gets canned for storage. Nothing goes to waste.”

I’m not quite sure if he’s that dumb or if he’s purposely ignoring Macy’s point. Macy scoffs under her breath, but doesn’t say anything, motioning for Clay to continue.

He leads us past a building at the edge of the clearing. I wouldn’t call it a shed—it’s way too big for that—but it isn’t living quarters either. There aren’t any windows, and there’s a large lock on the door.

Macy points to the building. “What’s in there?”

“Nothing much.” Clay chuckles. “At one point, the pack tried to keep horses, but they didn’t do well with wolves. Plus, if we need to get around that badly, we just shift.” He gestures to the space around us. “There’s no one else around for miles, so this place is a shifter paradise.”

The funny thing is, the building doesn’t look like a barn either. Macy’s gaze slides to me and I nod. There’s definitely something they’re trying to hide in there.

Clay keeps walking and Macy and I hurry to catch up.

“Where are we going?” asks Macy.

“The chicken coops are right up here and—”

“What about where I used to live?” I break in. “Can we see that?”

Clay flashes me a forced smile. “Sorry, but there’s someone else living there now. We wouldn’t want to disturb them.”

Macy’s brows pull together. “But if you’re really hoping to jog Ollie’s memories…”

Clay shrugs, his expression one of forced nonchalance. “I can ask my mom about setting up something for later. Or maybe tomorrow.”

We end up following Clay as he takes us around to see the chicken coops—the birds and their eggs also solely for the Alpha’s house. Then he shows us an actual barn where he says they keep a fleet of UTVs, a few snowmobiles, and a couple dirt bikes before leading us back toward the main house.

A delicious smell fills the air as we enter and Clay takes a deep breath. “You guys are in for a treat,” he says. “Smells like she had them roast a few chickens.”

Earl and Luke are still sitting where they were when we left, having a bit of a staring contest. Luke’s gaze finds me and he jumps up from his seat, moving to my side. He doesn’t get a chance to say anything before Wanda calls everyone to the dining room.

We all take seats at the long table, Earl at one end with Luke and Clay on either side of him, and Wanda at the opposite end. I take the seat next to Luke, and Macy sits down across from me. Once we’re all seated, Wanda snaps her fingers and betas move into the room, carefully setting down a plate in front of each person and filling their wine glasses.

Like the young man from earlier, two of these betas wear metal bands around their necks, and the sight sets off an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Nothing outside might have jogged my memories, but there’s still something about those collars that’s setting alarm bells off in my head.

The beta filling my wine glass glances up at my face and her eyes widen. Her gaze darts to Wanda and then back to me.

“Would you like—”

“Jessie,” snaps Earl. “Don’t disturb my guests.”

There’s a thread of command in his words, and Jessie clamps her mouth shut, topping off my glass and leaving the room without another word.

Once everyone has some wine, Earl raises his glass. “A toast,” he says. “To the return of the prodigal son.”