Page 7 of The Alpha Grizzly’s Mate (Omegas of the Shifter Mafia #8)

Levi

“Let’s think slow, Levi,” my brother said from my right side. I had the dragon at my left. That fucker and I had bonded almost immediately in a brotherly, friend way, and he insisted on coming along with me for this mission.

Claimed the mission of finding your omega was the most important of all. He said his mate grounded him, calmed him. Centered his dragon in a way he’d never been before.

My bear just wanted my mate in my arms. In the twenty-four hours since finding my uncle and the kids here, we’d learned that this place was grand central for a crime family so deep in blood and broken laws, we were surprised the human authorities hadn’t put them away yet.

Then again, human law enforcement could be paid off to look the other way.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“What’s your plan?”

I hadn’t really done much planning. My bear had one focus. Find my omega. Immediately.

Movement on my left caught my eye. I saw a tall, lean male shutting the door to a van. He scrubbed his hand down his face, revealing worry lines.

Closing my eyes to focus more and reach for my bear, I inhaled deeply, taking in as much of his scent as I could from this distance. My bear let out a growl so loud, I almost had to cover my human ears from the power of it.

I opened my eyes to find the male had stilled. Keys still in his hands.

Eyes wide with wonder and surprise.

My breaths became short and tense as I reined in my bear. That damned beast wanted to take over my consciousness and prowl in front of my mate, needing him to see our powerful body.

The fool.

I held up my hands, showing I was harmless, at least to him. “I’m Levi.”

The male swallowed. I watched his Adam’s apple bob in his throat, wishing I could press my mouth to his skin and taste him. “I…I’m Colson. I…mate.”

Those two words undid me.

“Damn it,” Maverick cursed under his breath.

“What?” Sutton asked.

“I was really looking forward to burning these motherfuckers down.”

My mate, Colson, cracked up at Maverick’s words, so, naturally, I elbowed Mav in the ribs. Making my mate laugh before me. Bastard. “Be my guest,” Colson said, waving his arm in the direction of the houses and buildings. “But my dad can’t be killed. Trust me, a lot of people have tried.”

“Come with us,” I blurted. “Come with me. Somewhere you’ll be safe and away from this place.”

Colson walked over to me, and my heart fluttered. My cock stirred. His eyes were pale green, and his wolf communed with my bear. Seconds were all it took for my entire life to change and for my life compass to point permanently toward him. “You want me to go with you, mate? He’ll come for me, you know. I’m his son and while he hates me, he has a reputation to uphold. He pretends like I’m the accomplished one he’s proud of, my schooling making me the legit one he can show off at parties and clink champagne glasses over my degrees and merits, claiming it was him who raised me right. You’re basically stealing his prize pig.”

Now I really wanted to kill his father.

“Let him try,” I said. “Let him try and steal what’s mine.”

One of Colson’s eyebrows pulsed upward. “I like the sound of that. Let’s go, then. What are we waiting for?”

I sat in the back of the SUV the whole ride home, my omega next to me. “Are you okay?” I asked. “Do you need anything?”

He shook his head. “Who are you? I mean, I know your name and that you’re my mate but not a lot else. Who are they?” He tipped his chin upward toward Mav and Sutton.

“I’m Levi. I’m the alpha of a den of bears. Did you meet Raphael?” I asked. No. He hadn’t. I took that as a blessing. The last thing I wanted my mate to do was to judge me based on that asshole. “We came to your compound to rescue him but, when we were there, I scented you.”

Sutton snorted. “And before. In a chair.”

Colson’s eyes widened. “A chair? You scented me on a chair?”

“Shut up,” I barked at my brother. “That’s Sutton. He’s my older brother. And that’s Maverick. They belong to a team.”

Colson blushed. I had taken his hand somewhere in introducing my brother and my new friend. “Explain the chair?”

Sutton chimed in for me. He was really getting a kick out of this. Hadn’t he picked on me enough when we were cubs? Apparently not. “We have some used chair at the farmhouse we’re redoing. No one knows where it came from. But he scented you on it days ago. I thought he was going to dry hump the damned thing.”

I let them all have their laugh. “I did no such thing.”

“Of course not.”

We got back to the farmhouse and, even though we’d only been gone less than a day, there had been major improvements. The outside of the house had a fresh coat of pale-yellow paint, happy as fuck if you asked me. The shutters had been removed, and I was sure someone, somewhere was laying a fresh coat of paint on them as well. It looked amazing. A place of light and hope. Just what these omegas needed.

“Can we talk?” I asked Colson. He hadn’t let go of my hand even when we exited the SUV. “In private?”

He nodded, blushing again. Damn, he was beautiful when he did that. Even though we’d only met just hours ago, his wolf and my bear already shared a feather of a bond. One that would grow stronger with time.

“You’ve got the same room,” Sutton said. “Supper’s at six. Don’t be late.”

I pulled my omega with me as we took the stairs to the second floor. I had slept on an air mattress but someone had deflated it and painted the room while I was gone. “I’m sorry. This isn’t where I live. I only came here for my uncle. I have no bed to offer you. Only…”

When my omega let go of my hand to walk over to the worse-for-wear armchair with its tattered green velvet and unsteady legs, I wanted to die inside.

Bless and damn that chair all at the same time.

“This is the infamous chair?” he asked, laughing.

“Yes. I’m taking that chair with me when I go home. We. I mean we. I hope. I don’t even have a place for us to sit.”

“The floor is fine, Levi. Come sit next to me, big bear.”

My beast rumbled inside me for two reasons. One, my omega had said my name so nicely. And with such a beautiful fucking mouth. And two, he called to my bear. I would’ve done anything for him just because of those sweet words. I sat cross-legged in front of him. At least the floor was clean. “You came with me with no fight at all.”

“Why would I fight you? You’re my mate. I scented you around yesterday but came up empty. I was glad.”

Heart exploded. He was glad to see me. “You brought no clothes. No belongings. Nothing.”

Colson chuckled and the sound shot straight into my heart and then down to my cock. “I’m sure you have a shirt around here I can borrow. It’s my dad I’m worried about. But I wasn’t happy there. Not at all.”

“Tell me why,” I asked, reaching for his hands. It was as though my whole body had gone cold, missing the skin-to-skin contact of his hand in mine. I would be done for once we mated.

“When I was a kid, I had an inkling of who he was. He wasn’t exactly a suit-wearing, go-to-the-office kind of dad. I had bodyguards at my private school. I was driven in a luxury car. I… He wasn’t like the other dads. I figured it out quickly and then as I planned college… I learned the hard truth.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“And worse than the truth, he wanted me to be a part of it. I evaded it as long as I could and when he finally forced me to work with him, I took more legit tasks, but the other day, I delivered groceries and I heard… I scented… I couldn’t forget nor did I want to. I was planning their getaway. You came along just in time, Levi. You rescued them and me.”

We would have to talk about what he saw at a later time. Right now, I wanted him in my arms, safe and sound. “Come here, omega mine. I’ve got you.”

Colson crawled into my lap, facing me. He nuzzled his nose into the crook between my neck and shoulder, inhaling deeply. “Thanks,” he whispered.

“Of course.”

He laughed. His whole body shook with it. “I was talking to the chair.”

I groaned, tickling his sides. “My brother has such a big fucking mouth. Do you even recognize that chair.”

He laughed harder. “That’s the thing.” He pulled back and cupped my face. “I have no idea. I mean, clearly I’ve sat in it, but I don’t remember.”

Didn’t matter to me. Fate was a silly female sometimes.