Golden Valley (Pack 3)

“Did Brian Berger bring you to Golden Valley?” As much as he hated the idea, Morgan took a deep breath and then said, “He can come in here with us.”

“Alpha Berger?” Ricky shook his head. “He doesn’t even know I’m here and I doubt he would have been willing to bring me to you.”

Considering Berger’s violent reaction to Morgan when he had been searching for Ricky, he had to agree with that assessment. “He’s not my biggest fan,” Morgan said diplomatically.

“That’s only because he doesn’t understand what happened.” Ricky bit his lip and looked down at the bed. “That’s my fault too.”

Morgan himself wasn’t very clear about what had happened when Berger and Ricky had visited Golden Valley. For that matter, he wasn’t clear on what was currently happening, but he cared more about calming Ricky than he did sating his own curiosity, so he focused on what mattered. “Please don’t be scared of me.” He slid his fingers over Ricky’s and then wove them together. “I won't hurt you.”

“I’m not afraid of that,” Ricky said quietly. As if to prove his sincerity, he finally raised his gaze to meet Morgan’s.

Relieved that he wasn’t the cause of his mate’s worry, Morgan’s shoulders relaxed. “I won’t let anyone else hurt you either,” he vowed. He wasn’t at his most powerful, not after being close to death days earlier, but he would always find the strength to protect his mate. “You’re safe in Golden Valley. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I know.”

Two words. Two very simple words. But their impact on Morgan was unparalleled. Pride and joy coursed through him, making him feel invincible. It was as if his mate’s trust alone sufficed to heal whatever injuries remained and prop Morgan up. He raised their joined palms to his lips and kissed the back of Ricky’s hand in gratitude.

With the desperation to soothe his mate’s fear resolved, he refocused on the logistics of how a young Omega had travelled to Golden Valley all the way from the far-off Blue Mountain pack.

“Did someone from Blue Mountain bring you here?”

“No.” Ricky shook his head. “Keith Iredell drove me.”

That made sense given the conversation between Ray and Ricky in what he’d thought was a dream, but it still took Morgan off guard. How did Ricky know Iredell? He had looked into Ricky’s family during his search, so he knew Ricky didn’t have any relatives in Keith’s home pack.

Alphas were a common thread when it came to Ricky. There were the three that had threatened Morgan at Blue Mountain; Brian Berger, who had attacked Morgan when he looked for Ricky at Purple Sky; Wesley Stone and Jobe Roots, the Red River Alphas, who had helped hide Ricky; and now Keith Iredell, who at one time had been the presumptive Alpha of the Green Field pack. How one shifter knew so many Alphas from so many packs let alone engendered such passionate protectiveness from them confused Morgan, but more than that, it worried him.

Had his brother been telling the truth when he said male Omegas had a unique power to draw in Alphas? Was that why they were willing to fight for him? Did the other Alphas Ricky knew feel the same pull toward him that burned in Morgan? Did they think his Omega was their mate?

“Are you mad?” Ricky leaned toward him and inhaled. “Your scent changed.”

Ricky couldn’t be the mate of all those Alphas, so if they felt the same pull toward him as Morgan felt, that meant… Morgan shook off the thought. This man was his mate. The knowledge coursed through his body, thrummed in his heart, and glowed in his soul.

Gently placing his hand against Ricky’s cheek, Morgan whispered, “What was Keith doing in Blue Mountain?”

Following Morgan’s lead, Ricky lowered his own voice, adding intimacy to the moment. “I guess he grew up in the same pack as the Blue Mountain Alphas so he knew I was there.” He pressed his lips to think that over. “Not sure how exactly, but anyway, he knew so he came there to get me and bring me to you.”

Thinking that over, Morgan moved his fingers along Ricky’s hairline. “Keith drove all the way to Blue Mountain and then all the way back here?” he eventually asked, the words slow, not because he was tired or healing from injuries, but because his brain was working overtime to process that information.

“Uh huh.” Ricky pressed his face into Morgan’s hand. “He’s annoyingly chatty, but well-meaning.”

“Do you know Keith?” What history did his Omega have with this Alpha?

“After spending hours in a car with him, I can say that—” Ricky drew in a deep breath and shook his head. “I really don’t.”

Morgan arched his eyebrows in question at the incongruent statement.

“Seriously.” Risky smiled. “The guy wouldn’t stop talking the whole way, but he was locked on the Make Amends for Almost Killing the Golden Valley Alpha channel so…” Ricky raised one shoulder.