Omega Hunter

“I’m sorry. That’s so unfair to you. I can see why you ran.”

“I just hope I can get far enough away that they never find me. I think if I can make it across the border into America, I might be able to find a way to stay there. Without papers and such, I might have to live off the grid somehow, but I’ll figure it out.”

“We’ll keep in touch. I have something I need to do up this way once we get you well, but I can give you my cell number and when I get back, I can help you hook up with some people for the right documents you’ll need to do a little better than just living on the fringe of society.”

“Really? I hate being such a charity case, but that would be a huge help.”

“I don’t view you as a charity case.”

“Thanks,” she said, looking back out the window.

He might not view her that way, but she certainly felt that way. How had she ended up at the mercy of a stranger so quickly? And all because she couldn’t handle her brother’s bike on wet pavement. She should have been long gone by now. Instead, she was stuck letting wounds heal with a wolf shifter. If it weren’t happening, she wouldn’t believe it was even possible herself. She watched as he picked up the nearby bottle of wine and poured the last of it in his glass, hardly filling the bottom.

“Another bottle?” he asked.

“Yes. I’ve always been limited to a single glass at dinner. It’s nice to indulge a bit.”

“Well, we will have to see what else we can introduce into your sheltered life while we’re stuck here,” he said, standing to retrieve another bottle from the kitchen counter on the opposite side of the room.

Coming from some men, that might have sounded suggestive, but she didn’t get the idea that he meant it that way. Autumn watched him as he walked away. It wasn’t the first time she had noticed how attractive he was, but she’d only just now embraced the fact, appreciated it. He was easily six-foot-two with broad shoulders and a slim waist, long legs. She had no doubt that if he were to strip off the old Nirvana t-shirt he was wearing, he’d be ripped beneath it. He seemed older than her, but not by a lot. Maybe late twenties, and she wondered why he wasn’t married. It occurred to her that he might be. She hadn’t asked. He wasn’t wearing a ring, but not all men did.

“What’s your story? Why aren’t you married? Or are you?”

“Nah. I’m not married. I don’t date much, honestly. There aren’t many single females in my pack. Seems we’re better at having boys than girls. We outnumber them nearly four to one. Anyway, no easy opportunities, and I’ve been too busy to put any real effort into it.”

“Sounds lonely,” she said, holding out her empty glass as he approached with the fresh bottle of wine.

“It can be, but I just don’t think about it much, I guess,” he shrugged.

Topping up each of their glasses of wine, they sat back on the sofa. It had begun to rain again outside, large drops pelting the heavy tin roof above them as they continued their conversation.

“Not in any hurry to settle down then?” she asked.

“Well, I wasn’t, but my timetable seems to have moved up on my behalf.”

“What do you mean?”

“We recently lost quite a few shifters in a fight with a rival pack. Our Alpha is eager to build our numbers back up and he’s ready to step down, so he’s decided to hand his leadership over to whoever gets married and has the biggest litter by the end of the year.”

“Wow. And you want to take his place?”

“I do. I’ve been working toward being the Alpha all my life. I’ve always assumed it would just be a matter of him choosing me over the others, deciding I was the best one for the job,” he said.

“And he decided to make a game of it instead,” she replied.

“Yeah. Something like that.”

“So, any prospects then?”

“Nope. That is where I was headed when I found you. I thought I might venture up to visit some of the more populated packs up here in Canada and see if anyone was interested in moving to America.”

“Just going to make them an offer they can’t refuse, huh?”

“If I have to. I’d prefer to marry someone for the right reasons, you know, love and all that stuff, but if I have to pay someone to marry me and have my litter, then I’ll do it. I’ve worked too hard just to walk away from it.”

“And what about her?”

“I know it must just sound horrible to you, but she wouldn’t be going into it blindly. Plenty of women out there that just want security.”