Everyone’s hackles had fallen. It seemed the pack’s instinctive reaction to danger had calmed. But now that the threat of being killed had passed, I couldn’t help notice the permeating scent of Sage’s heat lingering on him. It wasn’t as strong as last night, thank the fucking gods, but it was enough to arouse me. Unfortunately, I was naked as a man. I uncomfortably placed my hands in front of my cock in case it decided to misbehave.
“Well, it doesn’t seem fair that we know his name but he doesn’t know ours,” came a voice. It was a lithe adult man, the other smaller omega I’d seen at the stream who had gone calling for help. He had a gentle demeanor and didn’t seem afraid of me. “I’m Len. It’s nice to meet you, Xander.”
“Are we just introducing ourselves to everyone now?” the brown wolf grumbled.
The man who’d been the buck deer let out a relieved sigh and gave me a friendly glance. “I think if Xander wanted to cause problems, he would have done so by now. He was very co-operative.” He nodded. “I’m Morgan. The fawn, Ashe, is my son.”
“And mine,” the brown wolf growled. I thought he was going to keep being rude by remaining in his threatening wolf form, but then he shifted to address me. He stood close to Morgan. “My name is Dax. These two are my brothers, Hugo and Sage.”
The gray wolf, Hugo, also shifted to greet me. Though he’d been aggressive earlier, he was calmer and friendlier now. He stood close to Len, putting an arm around his waist protectively.
I remembered what Dax had said—that the fawn was his son as well as Morgan’s. So these two pairs were mates.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Hugo said with a wry smile. “That you’re surprised to see fated mates who aren’t the same species.”
I answered slowly. “I’m not surprised. My parents were two different shifter species.”
“Wow, really?” Sage cried, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “That’s so cool! I thought our pack was the only place who did stuff like that!”
I didn’t reply. I didn’t want to think about them more than I had to.
Sage bounded over to me, instantly yanking me from my cloudy thoughts. His wolf fur brushed up against my leg. His presence sent a shiver up my spine. I stepped away from him.
“So this means Xander can stay, right?” Sage asked brightly.
“Stay?” I growled. “No. I have no intention of staying. I only came because—”
Sage suddenly gasped. He popped into human form, his eyes wide in concern. “Xander, you’re bleeding!”
“What?”
I glanced down. Sure enough, a handful of gouge marks peppered my side and blood trickled from them. It must have been from when Morgan attacked me. I grunted. I’d been so distracted by Sage that I didn’t even notice the blood, but now that he pointed it out, I did feel the throb of pain.
“That’s my fault,” Morgan said somberly. “I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “Don’t apologize. You were fully in the right to attack me. You thought I was going to harm your child. Besides, I’m fine.”
“Uh, hello?” Sage cried. “You are totally not fine! You have a million bloody holes in your body!”
Why did he always refuse to listen? He was stubborn and annoying as hell.
“I can take care of it myself,” I growled. “Anyways, I apologize for causing a commotion and wasting all of your time.”
I turned to leave. But upon my first step, a jagged pain shot through my nerves. I stumbled with a grunt and landed embarrassingly on my knee. I touched my hand to my side—the exertion had caused more blood to flow.
“Damnit,” I muttered.
“Xander!”
Sage was there in a second, holding out a hand to help me. I refused it. I didn’t need anyone’s help, much less the help of an irritating omega wolf.
But standing on my own proved impossible. It was shameful to admit I was wounded worse than I thought.
“Xander’s injured,” Sage called to his pack. “We have to help him.”
“No!” I yelled, startling him. “I don’t need help.”
“You do.” Sage’s gaze turned hard. “I don’t accept your lie, Xander. You’re not fine. You’re hurt. You need to rest and heal.”
