Page 9 of Guarding the Runaway Omega

Jasper cleared his throat. “You don’t seem to be a big fan of the guys in your pack.”

Hawk clutched the wheel with both hands, staring ahead with a steely determination. “I don’t consider them my pack. I only work for them.” Hawk peered sideways at him for a second before returning his gaze to the long road stretching before them. “I was born into the Klondike River Pack. When it was determined I was a beta at puberty, my mother and father deemed it wise that I join up.” Hawk gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I was raised to respect my parents and the ways of the council, so I did as they wished.”

“But you don’t respect them anymore?”

Hawk sighed as he shifted gears around a turn. “I do… Look, it’s not that simple. I respect the council of the pack I was born into along with my parents. What I don’t appreciate is the clamoring for favor that most of the betas in the Guardians do, the willingness to shove others down to get the best, most prestigious assignments. And wolves like David are encouraged by their elders to behave that way.” Hawk chuckled. “I’m sure David’s Alpha businessman father was mortified that his only son turned out to be a beta.”

“I don’t understand.” Jasper furrowed his brow. “Betas are necessary to the pack dynamic. I mean, yeah, they’ll never be in charge, but without them, what would we all do?”

“I wasn’t aware the Yukon Deltas were that sympathetic to betas. I thought if you weren’t a delta or Alpha with them, you were second-class.”

Jasper bristled at Hawk’s insinuation that he came from a shitty pack, but it didn’t last for more than a few seconds. I do come from a shitty pack. “I don’t think like them, you know. It’s not exactly a big thrill being an omega there either.”

“I’m sorry.” Hawk’s voice held a softness Jasper hadn’t heard from him yet. “I didn’t mean to sound condescending or insult you. I suppose my opinion is colored by the events that happened between some of your packmates and the Wolf Creek Pack last winter.”

Jasper fidgeted in the bucket seat. He’d only heard bits and pieces about the deadly confrontation after the actions of the Alliance traitors had gone down, and only whisperings before that. Then he’d been thrown into captivity almost right afterward. In truth, his knowledge of his own pack was limited. His father had kept him, his sisters and his mother in the dark and under his tyranny for Jasper’s whole life. The man was the epitome of delta aggression.

“It’s all right, don’t apologize. I know my pack and my father are behind the imprisonment of me and the other omegas. Whatever they’re doing, I’m sure it’s related to whatever happened during the battle with the Wolf Creek Pack.”

Hawk let out a low growl. “Those fuckers. You’ll have to tell me everything you know.”

Jasper wiggled in his seat again, his heart beginning to race. “Uh, listen, don’t take this the wrong way, but I gotta ask. Why are you helping me? You could’ve been killed back there, you’ll be in a shitstorm of trouble and all for some strange shifter who stumbled into your territory.”

Hawk gripped the wheel tighter, his jaw ticking as the moments of silence dragged on. “It’s complicated. Like you said, not a fan of the Guardians.”

Jasper rolled his eyes. “Come on. I’m young—definitely traumatized—but I’m not clueless. There’s something going on that you’re not telling me.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

Hawk chuckled. “Okay, definitely. Do you trust me?”

“No. I don’t trust anyone anymore.” The moment he’d made his declaration, Jasper regretted the words. They had filled him with pain, the sensation strong enough that it was almost physical, and the hurt crossing Hawk’s features had created even more sadness inside him. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Yeah, you did. And that’s okay. You have no reason to trust me or any other shifter after what I’m assuming must have been a devastating ordeal.”

“I’m still sorry I said it. I don’t know why, especially since my senses are all screwed up, but… I trust you, Hawk. I’m not just saying that. But I’m so confused about everything.”

Hawk nodded, letting out a sigh. “Yes, little wolf, so am I. But together we’ll figure this out. We’re headed toward my dad’s place so we can dump this vehicle and get another one. He’s the only shifter besides you I’m willing to trust right now. Then we’ll drive to the Wolf Creek Pack, see if we can sneak in to see Asha.”

“The spirit guide?” Jasper arched his eyebrows. “Wow. Never thought I’d get to meet her.” Another thought occurred to him. “Maybe when all this is over with, I can meet Elam and his Alpha, Nic, plus their baby. That would be so cool.” He glanced at Hawk. “Unless that was all made up and not real.”

“You heard about that before you were taken?”

“Not the details. But I can be pretty sneaky. I wasn’t going to sit there and let my father order me around non-stop. Anyway, he’d told me to get out of the house one night when some shifter guy from the Wolf Creek Pack who was in cahoots with him showed up, and my father and his buddies were acting all weird and secretive. So, I pretended I was going to my aunt’s house where my mom and sisters were, but I doubled back and listened in through a window I’d left cracked open.”

Jasper sighed as he remembered that night, the shock of what the group of shifters were discussing almost causing him to give himself away by crying out. “It wasn’t easy to hear because they kept their voices low and my heartbeat was drumming in my head. Every time the smallest of breezes would come through the trees, I was afraid it would give me away by whistling through the crack.”

“I’m impressed.” Hawk’s lips had quirked into a smile. “You remind me of myself. What were they saying?”

“I guess this guy meeting with my father was related somehow to Alpha Nic and, supposedly, even though Nic had stepped down years ago, he was going to be taking over the rule of the pack again since his male mate was pregnant. Crazy, right? And Nic had turned him and everything. Turned a human! I didn’t think we did that anymore. Anyway, it wasn’t until my father had a fit when I came home later that I found out Nic’s mate’s name.”

“What was the fit about?”

Jasper flushed hot. “Well… my father had hoped for an Alpha son, or at the very least, another delta. You can imagine how pissed off he was when I hit puberty and the truth came out that I’m actually a gay omega.”

“What does that have to do with your father being upset by the meeting?”