"No." Harry shook his head. "You knew they were only there temporarily while we rebuilt the Royal Guard." He waited for me to nod. "The Guard is back in place, so they are leaving for their next assignment."
"Oh." I thought for a long minute. "I appreciate the offer, Harry, and you know I love you and Spencer, but I just can't right now." I let out a shuddering breath. "I need to move on with my life."
Harry patted my knee. "I understand, but know that you are always welcome."
"Thank you." I leaned back and closed my eyes. "I'll remember that."
***
The Omega dorms were quieter now that Thane and Spencer had found mates and moved away, but there was still plenty of company and, in my single-minded attempt to force Alrick from my mind, I quickly settled into a pattern of hunting a few time a week with another of the rescued Omegas, Quinn.
For a wolf shifter, I'd always had an odd way of preferring the inside to the out of doors, but after my adventure up north, I found myself spending an increasing amount of my free time in the forest even when I wasn’t hunting.
A little over two weeks after I'd returned from Germany, I began to get a strange feeling that I was being watched. It wasn't all the time; mostly just when I was out alone, when I went running in the woods or napped in the thicket by the river. I convinced myself that it was just me reacclimating to the beta security force that watched everything in the small village and surrounding territory and tried to ignore it. I’d managed to push the odd feeling to the back of my mind until early one evening when my stalker finally showed himself.
I was half-heartedly following a chipmunk through the brush while I waited for the sentries to announce that Rafe and Colby had arrived with their daughter when a large pale gray wolf stepped out from behind a large rock outcropping and took several steps toward me. His scent tickled my nose and I rolled my eyes heavenward. An Alpha. Of course, it would be another damn Alpha. It should have scared me to be alone and facing down a strange Alpha but for whatever reason, I barely reacted beyond the irritated sigh I huffed out.
The stranger cocked his head at me, apparently confused by my behavior, and took another step forward, this one bringing him within ten or so yards of me. I raised my muzzle to howl, ready to alert the Betas who handled security of the intruder,when a sudden movement from the right alerted me to yet another intruder, this one familiar to my senses in every way there was. His scent caused an immediate thrum of arousal in my body which clashed with the hostility in my mind as Alrick launched himself into the air, landing midway betweenthe stranger and me, his hackles raised and teeth bared.He'd barely managed a snarl before the small, previously quiet clearing was overrun by the Coruscation security force. I stood for aminute and watched the drama unfold before I exhaled sharply and turned away, trotting back down to the village. It wasn't enough the damned Alphas had taken over my clearing, I lost my fucking chipmunk, too.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alrick
As I sat across the desk from the werewolf Alpha who looked more than mildly amused, I groaned to myself. Of course, it was my own fault that I was currently being interrogated by the Coruscation pack's security forces along with the punk-ass wannabe Alpha that I had caught moving in on Sebastian. If I'd just checked in with Clint when I arrived in his territory, it wouldn't have mattered but, if I'd done that, Sebastian would have known I was there. I'd served multiple tours of duty and faced down some of the scariest beings on the continent, but I was terrified of being rejected by an Omega half my size. Talk about pathetic.
Knowing I wasn't in any real danger of punishment, I'd pretty much tuned out the scolding I was receiving, so it took me by surprise when the other Alpha was prodded to stand up and escorted from the room in restraints. Clint waited until the door had closed behind them before speaking.
"So, Braun," Clint drawled, a twinkle in his eyes. "What brings you around?"
Brother-in-arms or not, Clint dressed me down thoroughly. Not for trespassing, of course – like I said earlier, I knew he would have welcomed me with open arms – but for the wayI had handled the…situation between Sebastian and myself. By the time he finished, I felt like a whipped pup.
"So what the fuck are you going to do, Braun?"
I inhaled deeply. "Is Sebastian still available?"
Clint raised a brow but didn't answer.
"C'mon, man," I pleaded. "Just tell me if I'm wasting my time here."
Clint shrugged. "He hasn't met anyone else, if that's what you're wondering." Clint narrowed his eyes at me. "In fact, he won't even entertain the idea of seeking a mate now. He told Trevor that the thought of being intimate with an Alpha again sickens him." Clint crossed his arms over his chest. "Said he's decided that Betas are safer."
Fuck.
"I am sorry for all of this, Clint," I apologized sincerely. "I never meant to hurt him."
"And?"
"And I'm here to try and convince him to give me another try," I admitted, scowling as a broad grin split Clint's face.
"That's not going to be easy," he warned, nodding out the window to where Sebastian stood in the drive with Colby. They were watching Rafe unbuckled the baby from the infant carrier in the side car attached to Colby's Harley. "By breaking the claim without talking to him, you damaged his trust."
I nodded. That was one thing I knew we could all agree on.
***
Now that Sebastian knew I was in the area, it would have been pointless for me to continue hiding from him and, much like in war, after a sneak attack, a full-frontal assault looked to be the next most promising approach.
"Hi, Seb," I brazened my way through a greeting as I walked up to an empty chair at the table he sat at in the dining hall after the evening meal bell rang. "Mind if I join you?"
