“If that’s what it takes,” I offer, shrugging.
He just grunts in response.
I know what’s holding him back—his need to extend the Alpha line.
If she can’t go into a proper heat, then she can’t procreate.
Which means he has two choices: claim her and fuck another Omega to obtain an heir, or search for another eligible Omega.
The problem is, his wolf wants Clove. I can smell it. My wolf wants her, too. As does Caius’s. Which makes her ours.
And that presents a conundrum.
One Tieran appears hellbent on shouldering himself. Yet it’smehe’s worried about. A fact that pisses me the fuck off. He’s also probably worried about what it would do to Clove if he has to fuck another Omega to create an heir.
His wolf may not even allow it.
Her wolf will despise him for it.
Our clan will suffer.
And it may all end in death.
Or that’s been my experience, anyway. My father took an Omega to create an heir, yet he mated a Beta. Then he expected her—the Beta—to raise me as her own.
Mommy dearest didn’t approve.
She used me as a punching bag instead.
She loathed me.
The feeling was fucking mutual.
I dreamt of killing her so many times. But my father did the honors for me.
And my real mother, the Omega, was happily mated to a clan in another pack—the Black Mountain Pack.
Which is how I ended up on Alpha Umber’s doorstep. His Omega wasn’t my mother, but she lived in his pack. He took me in as his own, raised me with Tieran, and I maintained a very distant relationship with the female who birthed me.
A fucked up history of injustice, one that’s tainting my clan circle now.
“I’ll be fine, T,” I tell him, holding his gaze. It’s a slight change in the subject of conversation, but it’s one he immediately understands. “Clove isn’t the bitch who raised me. She’s strong. And she’s ours.”
He swallows, his gaze going to the sleeping Omega on the bed. She hasn’t stirred once during our conversation, probably because Caius and I have kept up a steady stream of purring for her. Mine faltered a bit in the last few minutes, but his didn’t.
It’s enough to keep her comfortable.
To ensure she knows she’s protected.
In a den that facilitates sleep.
The only thing missing is a nest—something she hasn’t started creating despite the ample sheets and clothes strewn around the room. We even brought her the sheets her wolf slept on in Tieran’s room. Nothing.
I brush my fingers through her hair and kiss the back of her head again. “Maybe you should try talking to her about it,” I suggest softly, my purr starting up again. “Tell her the concern and see how she reacts.”
“No Omega is going to be okay with her Alpha taking another female,” Tieran replies, a hint of pain in his voice. “And I would never want to hurt her in that way. Once I make her ours, she’ll be it for us.”
Which yields to the real issue at hand. “Your wolf won’t let you take another Omega.”
