Page 84 of The Omega

She’s never been here.

At least I’d be able to tell Jeanette I’d looked.

Loads of other shifters were here, though.

Cats and monkeys and many different canids. A few smaller prey shifters were sprinkled in among the predators. But they all moved like pack as they gathered under the canvas tent and tossed down beers, talking over one another in teasing jabs.

My nerves were a live wire as I sat on the fringes, ignoring the slightly hostile and curious looks sent my way. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

I had no doubt my shifters patrolling the borders could sweep in here if there was a real threat. It was crazy how unprotected and ignorant this pack was. They didn’t look over their shoulders or care who might be trying to sneak in.

Must be nice, my wolf grumbled.

Not that Volk Pack had enemies, but I had a duty to protect those who sought shelter behind my borders. And this here was a real concern.

Opal wasn’t safe with these shifters.

It was the reason I’d come. Not just because she’d asked me to, but because she was too precious to leave unprotected.

Watching her as she came out of her shell, surrounded by Bailey’s shifters who stole moments of her time and pulled trinkets from behind her ears, coaxing laughter from her lips…

Opal was a gift.

And I couldn’t let anything happen to her.

“You’re looking at me like I’m going to disappear.” Opal laughed as she fell onto my lap.

I inhaled her sweet scent to calm my wolf, wrapping a protective arm around her waist despite the curious glances of the Bailey Pack.

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” I said.

“Stop it.” She laced her hands behind my neck and looked up at me with those big, blue eyes. “I don’t know what made you hate them so much, but I love this pack.”

“As you should.” I rubbed the small of her back, catching Dorian’s gloating smile across the room as he undoubtedly heard Opal’s comment. He sat at the head of the table with an ear-to-ear grin, worn like a crooked crown of a foolish king.

Or maybe a pup at a birthday party.

“I’m serious.” Opal frowned. “I can’t think of any other pack that accepts all different types of shifters. They call themselves freaks, but…”

Her voice trailed off as she nibbled her bottom lip.

“But what?” I freed that lip from her teeth.

“If they’re freaks, then I’m a freak too. I belong here.”

My heart sank at her admission. “You’re not a freak.”

“Oh, really?” She giggled, rubbing her bottom suggestively across my lap as she bared the smooth skin of her neck. “Then why haven’t you claimed me?”

My eyebrow arched as that sweet breath of hers filled the air between us. “Are you drunk?”

“Maybe a little.” She lowered her voice to a dramatic whisper. “I think she spiked the rum with moonshine.”

“That’s it.” I stood, taking her with me. She fit easily in one arm and cried out with laughter as she tightened her grip around my neck.

Dorian was on his feet in an instant. The gleam of the wolf flashed in his eyes, but he held the beast in check as he asked, “Where are you going?”

I could’ve walked right out of here. Could’ve brought rain down on this parade and had the whole lot cleared in minutes.