Getting Close to the Omega (13 page)

Kane slumped in his chair. His self-righteous anger was gone,

and he knew he would far rather apologize to Dean and

Matthew, than deal with the fallout in his pack if he banished

them. And the fact of the matter was that he never actually

wanted to get rid of Dean. He really did feel protective towards

his smallest pack member and that is why he felt so weird

when Dean said he wanted Matthew to claim him. He had been

so used to being the main source of support for Dean, he felt

jealous that someone else had come along and would become

more important to the Omega. And banishing someone

because he was feeling jealous was so stupid, Kane didn’t even

want to mention it.

“I’ll apologize to Dean and Matthew, and let them know they

will always have a position here in the pack,” he said quietly to

Shawn. “But what can I do about this fight?”

“Watch and remember,” Shawn said cryptically as he waved his

hands again. There was a blur and then all of a sudden Kane

was faced with a freshly laid table, dinner was still in the oven

and there was a knock at the door. Only this time Shawn was

here, and Kane whispered “thank you,” as Shawn went to the

door to let their pack members in. Dinner meeting round two.

If Matthew was surprised to answer the door to Dean’s house

the following morning, and find Kane and Shawn standing on

the porch, he didn’t let it show on his face. “Dean’s asleep,” he

said softly, as he let the two men into the house. “I’m just

about to make him some coffee, if you want some,” he

continued.

“Thank you,” Shawn smiled. “That would be lovely.” Kane

smiled too, but didn’t say a word as they followed Matthew into

the kitchen. Setting down the mugs for Shawn and Kane,

Matthew said, “I’ll just take this in for Dean and let him know

you are here.”

“Er Matthew, have you claimed Dean yet?”

Matthew looked at Kane and then put the cup he was holding,

down on the bench. “Not yet, no,” he said quietly. “After the

day Dean had yesterday, I thought it was best that we take

things easy. I want him to get used to being close to me and I

want him to trust me. If I had claimed him yesterday, it would

have been like I was getting him to choose between me and

the pack, and I won’t do that to my mate. When I do claim

him, you will know about it because I will be wearing his bite

with pride.”

Matthew knew Kane was looking at the marks he was already

wearing proudly. Clad only in his jeans, with his long hair still

mussed from the night before, he knew he had a “just-fucked”

look and he didn’t care. Dean had been soft and gentle in most

of his explorations, but every now and then his suction had

turned almost manic, and Matthew knew that his torso was

littered with hickeys. Keeping his smirk to himself, Matthew left

the Alpha and the Alpha Mate in the kitchen and walked

through into the bedroom. Dean was still snuggled in the

covers where he had left him, and Matthew was struck again

with how gorgeous his fated mate was.

Crawling onto the bed, he gently brushed the hair out of Dean’s

eyes and kissed his forehead. “Hey little one, it’s time to wake

up. You have company.”

“Don’t wanna,” Dean mumbled, pushing closer to Matthew. Oh,

sleepy Dean was absolutely adorable. “Come on cuteness, it’s

the Alpha and Alpha Mate, I’ve given them coffee, but you’d

better get out of bed so that they can see I haven’t done away

with you in the night.”

Dean looked frustrated and Matthew wanted to kiss that pouty

mouth so badly. But he was learning to let Dean come to him,

even though restraining himself was difficult, especially when

Dean sported the most delightful bed-hair look. It was made

doubly difficult when Dean ran his hand across Matthew’s bare

chest and blatantly tweaked a hardened nipple.

“We could just stay here,” Dean suggested with a sly grin.

“Maybe they’ll go away on their own and we can deal with

them later.” His hand had found the second nipple and when

that was tweaked Matthew couldn’t help a soft moan. His shaft

was already aching in his jeans, and temptation was riding him

hard.

“Fuck little one, you are driving me crazy,” he moaned again,

as he bent and gave Dean a soft kiss. Dean opened up to him

so beautifully, and for the longest moment Matthew was

tempted to go along with Dean’s idea. But old habits die hard,

especially in an old wolf, and he knew that the sooner they

listened to what Kane had to say, the sooner they could make

plans for their own lives.

Ending the kiss was a chore, because honestly Matthew could

suck at Dean’s lips all day and half the night. But end it he did,

and then he slipped off the bed. “Come on, little one, please

don’t tempt me anymore. Let’s deal with your visitors, and

then I’ll feed you, and then we can get comfortable again.”

Dean looked like he was going to disagree, but he got out of

bed and slipped on his jeans and a shirt. Matthew decided

then and there he was going to take Dean shopping and get

him some clothes that actually fit. The baggy look his mate

seemed to go for didn’t do him any favors. As they went to

leave the room, Dean slipped his hand into Matthews’, and

damn if that didn’t make him feel ten foot tall. His mate was

trusting him more with every passing minute.

Once at the kitchen counter, Matthew helped Dean onto a stool

and then stood to the side of him, passing the coffee he had

made. Dean smiled at him, but when the little man looked at

Kane his smiled slipped and Matthew hated seeing the pain on

his mate’s face.

“Dean, I’ve come to apologize to you and Matthew. I had no

right to try and stop your mating, or influence your decision in

any way. I hope you can forgive me.”

Wow, thought Matthew. He didn’t think he had ever heard an

Alpha apologize to a pack member before, and he had to admit

that impressed him. It took a lot of strength for any man to

admit he was wrong, and say sorry for it. Alphas didn’t do it at

all.

Dean looked down at his hands, and Matthew wished that his

mate had held onto the anger he had shown the day before,

but he had to accept that as an Omega, Dean had to be more

hurt than angry by what Kane had said the day before. It was

that hurt which was showing through now. Without thinking

Matthew reached over and took Dean’s hands in his own.

“Of course I forgive you, Kane,” Dean said quietly. “I’m just a

little hurt that you didn’t trust me to make such a serious

decision on my own. But more than that – you didn’t trust

Matthew not to hurt me, even though we are fated mates. You

know true mates can’t hurt each other.”

To his credit Kane dropped his head and said, “I didn’t mean to

do that, Dean. I don’t know what came over me. It’s just I’ve

been watching out for you for so long, I guess I didn’t know

when it was time to stop.”

Matthew was watching Dean closely, and he could see a whole

host of emotions run over his mate’s face. Then Dean grinned

and said, “I would have thought you would have been glad to

hand me off to someone else. I know I didn’t make things easy

for you in the beginning.”

“You are a great pack member,” Kane assured him. “And your

work on the cars and bikes you’ve done has made my little

company one of the most in-demand places for custom paint

work. I don’t want to lose you, Dean, or your mate,” he added,

looking at Matthew. Matthew nodded but didn’t feel it was his

place to say anything. This was Dean’s decision and Matthew

would go along with anything that his mate wanted.

“That said,” Shawn broke in, “Given that you haven’t claimed

each other yet, we did think that you might want to know a bit

more about what your position in the pack will mean when

you’re mated, Dean.”

“What do you mean?” Dean said, and Matthew admitted to

himself he was a bit confused as well. Dean was an Omega

wolf, and he would still be an Omega wolf when he was

claimed, unless Matthew had his own pack, in which case, Dean

would be Alpha Mate. But apart from being immune to Alpha

power, Matthew didn’t know of anything else that would

change for his mate. The Alpha immunity was a bonus for

Dean, as far as Matthew could see.

“A long time ago,” Shawn began, “When Omegas were still

allowed to claim their true mates, the pack Alphas found that

their Omegas came into their powers after they had been

claimed.”

“Oh yes, the Alpha power thing,” Dean said with a smile on his

face, sipping his cup of coffee. “But that shouldn’t make any

difference in this pack, surely. It’s not as though anyone

throws their Alpha power around in our pack as it is.”

“And you’re probably the reason for that,” Kane said, looking at

Dean as though he was reconciling something he once knew,

with some newfound information. Dean just look puzzled.

“What Kane means,” Shawn explained. “Is that when there is

an Omega in the pack, even an unclaimed one, the Omega

becomes the heart of the pack. All the testosterone that could

be aimed at each other within a pack, is focused instead on

protecting the heart – the Omega. It’s a subtle effect, and one

that most packs wouldn’t even notice, until the Omega is

gone.”

“Why are the Omegas abused then,” Matthew said his body

tense, and his fists clenched as he thought about what he had

seen in his early life. “I’ve seen it, seen what is done to the

weaker members of a pack, and especially Omega wolves. It’s

barbaric what some Alphas would put their Omegas through.”

Matthew was so agitated, thinking of the few small men and

women he had seen over his time on earth – the abuse they

went through and how soul destroying it was to those gentle

souls. He barely felt Dean slip from his seat and put his arm

around his waist. But he did feel Dean lean on his chest,

smiling at him tentatively. Immediately he felt his anger drain

away and he smiled back, thankful his mate was such a

calming presence. That must be the type of thing Shawn was

talking about. When he looked up he saw the Shifter Guardian

nodding, as if to agree with his thoughts.

“Alphas got things wrong,” Shawn said. “When it was learned

that a claimed Omega wouldn’t submit to an Alpha’s power,

many Alphas saw sexual abuse as a way of diminishing the

Omegas and preventing them finding their fated mates. They

took that immunity as a form of threat to their own ability to

lead the pack. The practice became so commonplace that

virtually all of the packs were doing it, and eventually the Fates

decided that no more Omegas should be born. I think you are a

symbol of the Fate’s hope for a whole new future, Dean.”

When he saw that Dean and Matthew were still wearing their

puzzled faces, Shawn said, “Look a claimed Omega is so much

more than simply what you did with Matthew just now. Once

you are claimed, you Dean would be able to stop a pack war,

just by walking into a room. Your power is peace, love and

kindness, something a lot of fight hardened Alphas didn’t and

still don’t understand or have. But for the longevity of shifters

overall, Omegas are a vital part of the balance. An Alpha fights.

An Omega brings peace. An Alpha causes injuries. An Omega

heals. You Dean will be the balance to your Alpha.”

“To Matthew?” Dean asked, still looking a little stunned by

everything Shawn was saying. Matthew thought, although this

was the first time he had heard about Omegas being that

powerful, Dean’s potential was a really positive thing.

“To all Alphas. To all shifters and paranormals in positions of

power. Even in human situations – you have the power to bring

peace where there isn’t any.”

“When I’m claimed,” Dean said.

Shawn shook his head. “Look Dean, I know you don’t realize

it, but you have a lot of that power now. You keep the pack

members from fighting each other, just by being you. When