At this, Hunter winced. “That’s a trickier one. His story is that they ambushed him while on patrol last month. Says they were gonna kill him until he made a deal to trade his life for some food. Instead of alerting his Pack, he thought he could manage it on his own. Except they kept escalating their demands on him and then threatened to rat him out for stealing once he was in deep.”
Cal’s jaw worked like he chewed a tough piece of meat. “He wasn’t too fucking stressed on patrol, lounging in the hot springs and napping in the shade. Quite a stretch to believe he was being strong-armed and blackmailed, if that’s his story.”
Cal’s jaw ticked a slow pulse, and Hunter’s shoulders turned to stone as they stared each other down in a silent stand-off. The confrontation she’d been dreading for days had arrived, setting her teeth on edge.
“I know,” Hunter finally conceded with a heavy sigh. “Silas claims he fed them as much false information as he could, and they clearly underestimated how many of us they were going up against.” Hunter rubbed an aggravated palm down his face. “I should’ve listened to you two that night. That was my fuck up. Tempers got triggered, and things got out of hand way too fast.”
Cal’s shoulder jerked in a noncommittal shrug, and the air twanged with unvoiced conflict. Della’s attention zipped between the two of them, these hulking specimens who conducted entire conversations in the angle of a brow or the thinness of a lip.
Hunter’s gaze slid to Della and back again to Cal. “But I do owe you an apology. Someone should’ve been assigned to watch you, someone who had the key. It was an oversight and, unfortunately, a very costly one, and I am very sorry.”
Cal’s cheeks tightened, and a muscle in his jaw ticked. “I understand y’all had reason to suspect my intentions, but you also ignored Della here. I’m new and maybe owed some suspicion, but she’s one of your own. She cares about this place more’n any of you give her credit for.”
Hunter winced, his brows drawn low. “You’re right. She is one of our own, so when one of our own got carried out in the middle of the night only to come back with a bloody neck, well... we all went nuts.”
“The mark was my decision,” Della warned, not liking the two Alphas discussing her like she was a piece of furniture to be moved around, “which you would’ve known if you’d listened to what I had to say.”
“So it wasyourdecision to run off with him?” He aimed a challenging glance in her direction, and Della forced herself not to look away. “We can’t have Alphas carrying women off any time they feel like it. As I recall,youwere the loudest voice advocating for Omegas having a say in the matter.”
“Of course, they have a say,” she snapped, fully aware of the double bind in her argument. If she admitted Cal hadn’t been in the wrong to take her, then what about the next Alpha who happened to take a liking to someone? It worked out in her case, but what if the next Omega wasn’t so lucky?
“Della made her choice,” Cal said, his tone low and controlled, “when she ran into a burning building.” He caught her hand with his, threading their fingers together in a reassuring tug. “Which might not have been necessary if you all had given her a chance to speak when we returned.”
Hunter scratched his beard thoughtfully. “I gotta say, now that I’ve been through finding my Omega and all that, I don’t have an easy answer. We don’t want Omegas to feel coerced here, but I admit the claiming urge is... uh... strong.”
A pregnant pause expanded in the silence.
“I’m sure something can be worked out,” Cal offered. “Maybe a trial period could be considered?” His lip quirked, and he gave Della a saucy wink. “Sometimes these Omegas take a littleconvincing.”
Tingles erupted over her skin, and somehow Cal’s smirk became evensmirkier. He raised his eyebrows in a silent invitation for her to disagree, but of course, she wouldn’t. Or couldn’t. Or whatever.
“Here’s what I don’t understand,” Hunter began, “I’ve known Della for a damn long time and never once scented her as Omega. Neither has anyone else, to my knowledge. But now, it’s faint but definitely there. I’ve never heard of anything like it.” He addressed Della. “Do you think you were some kinda latent Omega for all these years? Or do you think the mating bondmadeyou Omega?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Della said. Having asked herself the same question and never coming up with any kind of sensible answer, she’d resolved to accept the mystery of her Omega transformation. If it gave her Cal, then how could it be anything but a blessing?
Her handsome mate shook his shaggy head. “She always scented as Omega to me. From the minute I walked into your camp, I caught her on the wind, and that was it. I had to have her.” This last part he said with Della firmly in his sights, and her belly flip-flopped in response.
“So it’s not faint to you,” Hunter mused. “Interesting.”
“And Della here got her sense of smell back, too,” Cal added innocently, “which seems to be related.”
The reference to her olfactory awakening in the cave had Della’s lungs expanding to savor Cal’s deep, rich scent, her eyelids fighting a flutter in response. Interestingly, she also picked up on Hunter’s Alpha spice, but it took a backseat to that of her mate, which suited her fine.
Hunter stared off into space, his voice taking on a wistful, dreamy tone. “This Alpha -Omega shit is strange. Just when I think it’s making some kinda sense... some new weirdness pops up,” he ended, more to himself than anyone in particular. “At any rate,”—he snapped his head back up as he shook off those existential questions and addressed Cal—“you were right about Silas. Maybe you weren’t so right about taking our Della away the way you did, but I understand why you did it. For my part, I apologize to both of you for losing my temper in the mess hall. I should’ve slowed down and got the whole story. That was on me. And I apologize for not making provisions to keep you safe in the cellar, brother. I understand nothing can bring your foot back, but for what it’s worth, I regret it, and I hope you can find a way to stay a part of the community here.”
Cal dipped his chin to accept the Alpha of Alpha’s apology, and the anxiety stew trickled out of Della’s belly. She didn’t need Hunter’s apologies (she could read the remorse all over him), but she knew Cal did. With this simple acknowledgment, her mate indicated a willingness to put the past behind them and move forward. Grateful tears welling, Della couldn’t help but beam a bright grin at her mate, warmth stealing up her chest when he returned it, his green-gray-gold eyes lush with affection.
Alpha is happy. Alpha loves you, that inner voice singsonged like a smug child, and for once, she didn’t feel like arguing.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Cal
“All right then.” Hunter slapped his thighs, breaking up the quiet moment. “Should we talk about your injury?”
Cal forced himself to acknowledge his lower body, where a blanket hid the full evidence of his disfigurement. Maybe his injury hadn’t been foremost in his mind upon returning from his extended vacation in the land of recurrent nightmares, but it definitely crouched in the corner, biding its time. All the fledgling peace he’d achieved setting his issues with Hunter aside dwindled down to nothing.
“Tell me the truth.” He squeezed the words past the ball crammed in his throat. “How bad is it?”