Page 5 of Lost Wolf (Exiled Omegas #2)

Five

Luke

I drag my hand over my face, hoping to clear some of the sleep from my head, then shoot my second, Macy, a text telling her I need her to come up to the house. By the time I shower, get dressed, toss some extra clothes in a duffel bag, and make my way downstairs, I find Macy already sitting in my kitchen and her mother, Linda, fussing with the coffee maker.

Macy meets my gaze and raises her brows in silent question. Glancing at Linda, I mouth, “Later.” As much as I want to trust Linda, she’s still mated to John—Randall’s former second—and I don’t want anything about this situation getting back to him.

At least not until after I’m back.

As a beta, John could never challenge me for the position of Alpha, but he’s heavily implied that he knows the truth about me not being Randall’s “real” son. I was kidnapped as a toddler and somehow ended up here with Randall calling me his son and heir. I didn’t know any different until everything went down with Keir up in Chicago and Madison.

Though John hasn’t used the information about my past against me—yet—he’s a persuasive asshole and enough of the older pack members listen to him that, if he wanted, he could create some real problems for me.

And I can’t help thinking he’s only waiting for the perfect moment. Like when I’m not around to defend myself.

John’s made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t like me, and the only decision I’ve made since becoming Alpha that he hasn’t complained about is the fact that I named Macy as my second. He’d prefer I took his daughter as a mate, but she and I have been friends since we were kids, and she confided in me a long time ago that she didn’t want a mate. It’s simply something she’s not interested in at all.

Naming her as my second not only got her out of her parents’ house and away from her father’s fists, but it solidified our friendship and gave me at least one person in this pack I can depend on. She might not be as physically imposing as most seconds, but she’s fast and can easily hold her own against anyone else in the pack.

Plus, her brains more than make up for her lack of brawn. If circumstances were different, she'd be my procurator, a kind of diplomatic agent for the pack and me as the Alpha, but I needed a second more. The Sweet Water pack doesn’t really have much need for diplomats at the moment.

I drop my duffel bag to the floor next to Macy’s chair and Linda turns around, smiling brightly. “Good morning, Alpha. Would you like me to prepare you some breakfast?”

“I’ll just make myself some toast or something,” I reply, forcing myself to return the older woman’s smile. “I’m not that hungry.”

Linda frowns, but doesn’t argue, instead reaching up for a mug and pouring me a cup of coffee, something she knows I definitely won’t turn down.

Since Randall had no mate—and was an absolute slob—Linda acted as his housekeeper for decades and has taken it upon herself to run my household until I, in her words, “find a suitable mate to do these sorts of things.”

I hate to break it to her, but that’s not happening any time soon. I have enough on my plate that I don't need to be worrying about finding a mate. In fact, that might be the last thing I need.

Sure, I envy the connection Keir and Julien share, but I saw a lot of the hell they went through to be together. As soon as they met, their lives became one drama after another after another, which is why I understand very well why Keir has no interest in researching our possibly shared past.

My cousin has had enough upheaval in his life to last a lifetime.

I don't need that kind of stress. Not now, not when my control of the pack is still so new and I’m not entirely sure how the pack feels about me as Alpha. Plus, I’m not so anxious to find out what kind of mate John and his cronies would approve of—the pickings are sure to be slim on that front.

And it’s not an issue I’m willing to press.

Yet.

I damn sure don’t plan to spend the rest of my life alone, but although I haven’t had much opportunity to explore my sexuality—almost none, actually—I know it will take more time before the pack will be willing to accept the fact that I’d prefer a male mate.

Humans don’t exactly have a monopoly on homophobia.

Linda places the now full mug on the table, then pulls out a loaf of bread and moves toward the toaster. She’s basically ignoring what I said about making toast for myself, but I can’t exactly shove her out of the way without turning this into a huge issue.

I sit down and sip at the coffee, and a few minutes later, Linda sets a plate in front of me. Macy catches my gaze and rolls her eyes. I shrug as Linda refills my mug then moves to stand next to the counter, looking at me as if waiting for a new command.

“Mom, why don’t you take the morning off?” asks Macy. “I think Luke and I can handle putting a couple plates and cups in the dishwasher.”

“But I still have some dusting to do,” she replies. “I didn’t get to the guest bedroom yesterday.”

I open my mouth to argue that’s not necessary, but immediately shut it again. Linda has flinched enough times in my presence that I don’t like to come across like I’m angry with her. I mostly just let her do her thing, which is probably how I ended up in this rather awkward situation where she spends more time at my house than her own.

“Thank you, Linda,” I say.

She beams at me, and Macy chuckles under her breath, nudging me with her elbow. “Big bad Alpha can’t tell my mom no.”

“Shut up.”

After Macy and I chug down a couple cups of coffee, and I somehow end up with a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon to go along with the toast I didn’t really want, the two of us make our way outside.

Macy leans against the one decent vehicle that belongs to the pack, a dark gray SUV, and crosses her arms over her chest. “Now, how about you tell me what the hell is going on and why you texted me before five a.m. telling me to pack a bag and get down here?”

I chuckle. “Let’s load up and I’ll explain once we’re moving.”

“Fine,” she says with an exaggerated sigh. She jumps into the driver’s seat, and I walk around to the passenger seat. Making a quick three-point turn, she takes us out of the pack compound, and once we hit the main road, she glances at me from the corner of her eye. “Okay, explain.”

I give her a quick rundown of where we’re headed and what’s going on.

“That… sounds complicated,” she says, brow furrowing.

“Yeah,” I say. “Tell me about it.”

“How much do you actually know about this Doc guy? Are you sure we can trust him?”

“No,” I say. “But he’s right about needing to know if this shifter represents some sort of threat.”

She makes a humming noise, lips pressed together. “Keir’s met him, right? Could you ask him about this so we have a better idea of what we might be walking into?”

“Good idea.” I do some quick mental math to calculate the time difference. “But it’s a little early yet. I’ll wait till we’re closer.”

“How nice for Keir,” she deadpans. “He gets to sleep in.”

I laugh and the two of us relax into a comfortable silence, the radio playing softly in the background as the GPS’s robotic voice directs her onto the highway. An hour into the five-hour or so drive, I pull out my phone and bring up my cousin’s number.

Keir answers on the second ring. “Hey, Luke,” he says, the sound of a baby babbling in the background. “How’s it going?”

“Eh, not too bad. How about you?”

“Really?” He snorts. “I’m sure you’re not calling at ass o’clock in the morning to make small talk. What’s going on?”

I sigh. “I got a weird phone call a couple hours ago and I wanted to run some stuff by you.”

“Of course,” he replies. “How can I help?”

“You interacted with Zachariah's brother, right? What were your impressions of him?”

“Interacted with?” Keir chuckles. “Don’t you mean kidnapped by?”

I huff out a soft laugh. “That sound accurate.”

Keir’s voice goes serious. “I guess I’d say Doc is… odd? Why?”

“Apparently, I'm the Alpha of another pack,” I say dryly. “The pack formerly run by Zachariah.”

“That's…” Keir's voice trails off and he makes a shushing noise, presumably at one of the twins. “Unexpected,” he finally adds with a hint of amusement.

“Yeah, that's what I said. He called me at four a.m. and I had no idea who he was.”

“Four a.m.? What did he want?”

“He came across some shifter stuck in wolf form and needs my help to force a shift so we can figure out who the shifter is and where he came from.”

“I see. Most of the time I spent with Doc, I was a little hungover so I don’t how helpful my observations would be, but I didn't get the same vibe from him as I got from Zachariah. He wasn’t cruel. It seemed like he wasn't happy about following some of his brother's orders, though he was a little intense about the science stuff. He designed the drug they put in that dart based on the research he did on male omegas.”

“Any idea what I might be walking into up there? Doc said the pack was practically non-existent at this point. Do you know anything about what the pack was like before?”

“Not much,” he replies.

“But you and Zachariah…”

He lets out a harsh chuckle. “He and I didn’t exactly talk about that kind of stuff.”

A pang of guilt hits me. “Sorry.” I sigh. “I forget that even if you have more life experience than me, you aren’t that much older.”

“No worries,” says Keir. “We’re all still figuring crap out.” He pauses. “The only thing I can say for sure is that the Smyrna pack had money. Well, more than Sweet Water, anyway. I still don’t know what kind of deal they were working with Randall, but since they’re your pack now, you could find out.”

I laugh. “Why am I the one who has to investigate everything?”

“Because I paid my dues,” says Keir in a joking tone. “After all the shit Julien and I went through, it’s definitely your turn. Hell, maybe you’ll even get a fated mate out of the deal like I did.”

“Yeah, I doubt that,” I say.

“You never know.” The two of us share a laugh. “Watch your back and keep me updated, okay?”

“Definitely.” I hang up after a quick goodbye and tilt my head back against the headrest, closing my eyes.

Keir’s right. He did pay his dues.

And then some.

What happened the night he presented as an omega and got kicked out of Sweet Water alone was more than any one person deserved. Randall was already pissed about his brother—the man who raised Keir—challenging him the night before, so when Malachi, the former pack cleric, declared male omegas are an abomination, it gave Randall an excuse to take that rage out on Keir…

And I helped. Not that I had much of a choice. Randall commanded me to hold Keir in place so I got a front row seat to everything they did to him. The scent of his blood and the sound of breaking bones still haunts my dreams.

I’m just glad Keir found Julien, who not only practically worships Keir, but he’s also the perfect example of what an Alpha should be.

The Madison Alpha isn’t that much older than me, twenty-eight to my twenty, but sometimes it feels like he’s ancient and I’m nothing but a little kid playing at being in charge. Julien took over his pack young too, though not as young as I did, and as horrible as they were—are?—he had the help of a council of elders.

I don’t have anything like that. Every decision in Sweet Water is mine and mine alone.

And I feel like I’m fucking drowning ninety-nine percent of the time.

But if I don’t lead Sweet Water, who will?

I sigh and force myself to think about something else, dwelling in my inadequacies is never helpful, and I should use this time to try to relax. There’s no telling what’s really going on in Smyrna, so I need to be prepared for anything.

Hopefully the issue with the strange shifter will be easily resolved and I’ll be back in Sweet Water before I know it, but…

Famous last words, right?