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  Darren had the presence of mind to shake his head at that.

  “No. I’m not going home. I have to stay.”

  Alicia gave him a look that said she was going to chop him into little pieces and ship him home that way if he didn’t cooperate. She was really scary for a 5-foot nothing little English major. Darren had a good 7 inches on her, but he still shrank a little under her stare, tugging his lower lip between his teeth and looking up through his lashes. She made a sound through her nose that was somewhere between amused and fed up.

  “Really, Darren. You’re cute, but I’m not giving in. We’re going to take to the shift manager.”

  Again Darren shook his head, but the gesture was weak, and she pulled him forward with an arm hooked through his. Darren made himself walk with her. He really didn’t want to talk to the shift manager. He hated asking the managers for anything, because they looked at him with these frowns that said he’d just completely fucked up, and he hated the disappointment in their expressions. Hated making them angry.

  The shift manager that day was Jenny, who was probably the nicest person who had ever worked at a Walmart in the history of Walmart, but even so Darren was surprised when she took one look at him and told him to go home. They’d get someone else to cover the rest of his shift. Did he look that sick? On his way out, he stopped in the bathroom, and stared at himself in the mirror.

  He really did look that sick. His cheeks were flushed pink in an otherwise white face, his hair sticking to his skin with sweat. His hands were shaking. God. No wonder they’d all but chased him out the door. He looked like he had something that would wipe out half the employee population, and it didn’t help that it felt like his insides were twisting themselves into knots. None of which explained the fact that he was really, really horny all of a sudden. Like, point out a person on the street who looks likely to say yes, because I need to get laid right now kind of horny. Which was ridiculous. Because he felt like shit.

  Moving slowly and carefully to keep from tripping over himself again, Darren made his way over to the sliding doors and out into the heat of a July afternoon. There were 5 blocks and 7 flights of stairs between him and his bed, and just the thought of them was enough to make him nearly give up. He sank down to sit on one of the benches outside the door, dropping his aching head into his hands, and tried to convince himself he was going to make it.

  Chapter Three

  If someone had told Blake Marrock that he would find his omega in a Walmart in the middle of Iowa he would have laughed. The very idea of it was absolutely absurd. He hadn’t even been to Iowa in 6 years, never went at all except when he was passing through on his way to somewhere else. And he hated Walmart, hated all those big, bright box stores that reeked of human and cheap plastic. But when he’d broken down on the side of the road in some middle-of-nowhere town in Iowa that had nothing but a Walmart for several miles, he’d given in and gone inside.

  It had been meant to be a quick stop, in and out again and back on his way north, but when he’d made it to the front of the checkout line he had smelled omega, this sweet, warm scent like maple sugar and the wind off the lake, and he’d found himself staring at the kid, who had met his gaze with an expression that was a dare more than an acknowledgment. Lloyd had almost said something to him right there, except that they were in a public place full of humans, and if the kid wanted to take that chance to be a disrespectful little shit then Blake was going to let him. It wasn’t any of his problem.

  Still, he’d found himself turning the kid over in his mind, and as he’d stepped back out into the almost fresh air, he’d found himself wondering what an omega was doing in a sleepy little town like this, in a state where wolves were endangered. It wasn’t exactly a safe place for a pack, and as Blake considered it, he hadn’t been able to think of a single one that he knew lived in the state. So what was the kid doing here, alone? Omegas were too valuable to banish from a pack, and while the boy had been less than respectful, he hadn’t exactly had the look of a criminal, with those big brown eyes under the fall of brown hair. So Blake fixed his truck up, but he didn’t get back into it and pull out onto the highway. He laid claim to one of the benches just outside the store, and waited for the kid to come out.

  Though he had known the boy’s shift could be hours more, Blake hadn’t been long waiting. Less than a half hour after he’d walked sat down with his book, the kid had stumbled out of the store, looking like hell and reeking of heat. Which made absolutely no sense. The boy was young, yeah, but he didn’t look young enough that he hadn’t had his first heat, and if he’d known he was going into heat, why hadn’t he stayed home? Except that he hadn’t smelled a bit like heat when Blake had gone through his line at the checkout, and so he shouldn’t smell anything like it now, but all Blake could smell was that maple-sweet scent, so thick he could almost taste it, and the kid was slumped onto a bench, his hair curling against his face where sweat had plastered it to his skin. Blake made a decision and stood.

  “Kid. Hey.” He kept his voice gentle as he laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder, didn’t put any of the Alpha into it.

  The kid startled under his touch, and looked up at him with dazed eyes. His carefully styled hair had been shoved back by the hands he’d had over his face, and Blake’s eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of the scar that cut from eyebrow to cheekbone along the edge of the boy’s eye socket, thick and raised. There weren’t a lot of things that could scar a shifter like that, and Blake’s concern redoubled.

  “Alright, kid, I’m going to get you somewhere safe.”

  He slipped a shoulder under the boy’s and carefully lifted him, helping him get to his feet. His arm wrapped around the kid’s waist. The omega seemed too out of it to know what he was doing, but after a couple steps the boy suddenly tried to jerk out of his arms, succeeding only in throwing himself completely off balance. If it hadn’t been for Blake’s arm around him, he would have definitely fallen.

  “Chill, would you?”

  “Get the fuck off of me.”

  The snappish answer surprised Blake, and he looked down at the boy, who was glaring up at him through the heat haze, and trying to push him away.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” Blake promised, but the kid shook his head.

  “Not going anywhere with you,” he said stubbornly. “Fuck off.”

  “Your vocabulary leaves a lot to be desired, you know that?”

  Blake hauled the kid half off his feet, because the boy kept tripping over them, and he was going to knock them both over if he didn’t quit it. The omega abruptly stopped fighting, his nose against the place where Blake’s neck met his jaw, and was breathing in his scent, making little whimpering noises that were going straight to Blake’s cock. At least he wasn’t drawing the attention of the humans around them any longer, so that was something.

  “Alright, kid,” Blake said as he got the boy into the seat of his truck and managed to pry the clinging hands off him so he could get in the driver’s seat. “Where am I taking you?”

  The omega had immediately snuggled up against his side, head on his shoulder, and he was panting, his eyes half-lidded. The scent of him filled Blake’s track, and he rolled down the windows so that he could get a little fresh air, so that he wouldn’t jump the kid in the Walmart parking lot.

  “Your home,” he said, catching boy’s chin and tipping his head up so that the kid looked him in the eye, allowing the Alpha out into his tone, a low growled command. “I’m taking you home. Where?”

  He felt the boy shudder. “Oh. Sorry. Sorry. Um. That way.” The kid pointed straight down the street. “Just a bit. Five blocks. Big ugly stucco building. Can’t miss it.”

  His words were slurring together, but at least the kid had managed a coherent sentence. It seemed to bring him back to himself somewhat, and he was suddenly halfway across the truck. And what was with the mood swings? Didn’t he get that Blake was trying to help him? He was just doing what any decent Alpha would do if
he found an omega alone and in heat without a secure place to be. But apparently the kid didn’t get that, because he was trying to open the door, only his fingers kept sliding over the handle, and he’d ended up just pressing himself as close to it as he could get.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Home,” Blake said. “I told you that. You even told me where it is. There’s no way you’re going to make it there on your own, kid. You can pick up your car later.”

  “Stop calling me that. Not a kid.”

  “No?” Blake snorted a laugh. “You’re barely out of puppyhood.”

  “’M not a puppy either. I’m 22. And if you think I’m going to, like, say I owe you for driving me back to my apartment, I’m not. And I don’t. And it was nice of you, but you can let me out here.”

  Blake looked dubiously at the building they’d pulled up to. It really was ugly. And stucco.

  “Are you sure you can walk up there by yourself? Do you have supplies?”

  He didn’t like to think of leaving the boy to it on his own. Didn’t like to think of leaving the omega at all, if he was honest.

  “Walk up there all the time.” The kid blinked at him. “Supplies?”

  Blake’s eyebrows lifted. “Yeah. Supplies. You know…”

  “If you’re asking if I’ve got chicken soup, I’m sure I’ve got some somewhere. They did a canned food drive for summer a little while back at one of the churches. Got some stuff.”

  “Chicken soup?” Blake echoed incredulously. “What exactly is it you think is going on?”

  Those brown eyes lifted to his face, and the kid was obviously trying to arrange his features into an expression of belligerence.

  “’M sick. Obviously. Idiot.”

  A growl vibrated low in Blake’s throat, and the boy shrank back against the window, eyes wide.

  “Look,” Blake said, pulling some of the anger out of his voice, though the Alpha remained, looking across at the boy with narrowed eyes. “I get that you’re clearly off your head right now. And I know that you’re having a rough time of it. But that is not an excuse for you to disrespect me. I put up with it until now, but I will not allow you to call me names. Are you clear, omega?”

  The boy nodded a little too eagerly. “Yes,” he said. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”

  How was he supposed to stay angry with that? Blake sighed, and reached out to lay a hand against the boy’s shoulder.

  “It’s okay. I know it’s hard, sweetheart.” He hadn’t meant for the endearment to slip out, but once it was spoken there was no taking it back. “And I’m beginning to think you’re very confused and maybe a little lost. Where is your pack?”

  Shockingly, his big eyes filled with tears. Blake’s own eyes widened. The heat and the need and the scent of omega begging for a knot receded into the background beneath that teary-eyed look and the burnt-sugar, salt-sea smell of an omega in distress. Every instinct screamed at him to gather the crying omega into his arms and hold him until he was safe and okay.

  “Whoa,” Blake said. “Kid. What’s wrong?”

  The book shook his head, a hand pressed over his mouth to muffle the sob that tried to escape. Blake was going to get emotional whiplash if this kind of stuff kept up, but he reached out, slowly, and curled his hand around the boy’s wrist, drawing him out of his corner until Blake could wrap an arm around him, could pull him in.

  “Don’t have a pack,” the boy said against his shoulder. “No pack. All alone.”

  He was trembling against Blake, caught between the need and his own sorrow, and that was enough of that. Blake gathered the kid into his arms and slid out of the car, not sure whether he was gratified or just glad when a pair of arms wrapped around his neck in return, the boy holding on like if he let go he would be all alone again, but Blake wasn’t going to let that happen. Whatever had left the kid on his own, he wasn’t going to stay that way, not any more.

  “Which apartment is yours?” he asked as he stepped into the building, feeling the blast of air conditioning against his skin.

  “Seventh floor,” the kid mumbled. “725. Please…”

  He didn’t sound like he knew what he was asking for. Could have been slipping back into the heat, or just being polite. Maybe he was asking not to be left alone, but if that was it he didn’t need to worry about it. Blake carried the too-small weight of the omega up the seven flights of stairs, and found the door he’d mentioned.

  “Is it locked?”

  Blake nodded, fumbled around his neck to pull up an apartment key on a chain, which Blake took from him and used to unlock the door. With the kid still in his arms, Blake stepped inside, and the door shut behind him.

  Chapter Four

  The apartment was tiny; a single room with a mattress shoved into one corner and covered with jumbled blankets and a pillow that looked like it was on its last legs. Sitting next to it was a laptop, closed and unplugged, and an alarm clock. The only other furniture was a set of warped wooden shelves that held a few meager stacks of clothing and, on the very top level, a half a dozen books. There was a closed door just beyond the foot of it. On the other side of the room was a door that he could see led through to a kitchen about the size of a closet. The first door, then, must be the bathroom. Blake swore under his breath. What the hell was the boy doing living in a place like this?

  Carefully, he laid the plaint body down on the mattress, then sat down on the edge of it himself.

  “Listen, kid,” he said, gentle as he could be. “You’re going to need to try and listen to me.”

  Dazed eyes lifted to his face, but the kid was very clearly moving behind the listening stage, starting to writhe a little as he registered the soft bed beneath him, the presence of a compatible Alpha. He tugged his lower lip between his teeth and let it drag between them to slip free in a way that made Blake swallow a groan. God. Why did he have to be the one to find an omega in heat who apparently hated him? What sin had he committed in a past life that he had to sit and look at the kid and not touch him while he moaned like that?

  “My name is Blake Marrock. And I’m a member of a shifter pack in Minnesota. I can help you, if you want my help. I can get you through your heat. But I need to know if you’re okay with that.”

  “Please,” the boy said, looking up at him with those wide brown eyes, and Blake wasn’t sure what the question was. There was a moment of silence, the kid staring up at him, and he seemed to register that Blake had given his name, because he said “Darren. Name’s Darren.”

  “Darren,” Blake said, relieved to know it. He reached out and stroked the sweaty hair back off the boy’s forehead, and Darren leaned into the touch like he was starving for it. Heat had hit him fast and hit him hard. Poor thing. “Do you want me to help you, sweetheart?”

  “Yes,” Darren answered, voice rough. His hands were reaching down for the fastenings of his khakis. “Please. Fuck. Yeah. Please.”

  Blake reached down and unfastened them, because the boy’s shaking hands kept slipping off the button, and he pulled them down the kid’s legs and threw them aside. With a little help from Darren, his shirt followed.

  Without the too-large uniform top, Darren could see the boy was too thin, his ribs just visible under the skin, but he looked sturdy enough to make it through his heat at least, and with Blake here he wouldn’t have to worry about feeding himself. Wouldn’t have to get through it alone. Blake hooked his fingers under the waistband of Darren’s underwear, and looked down at him again.

  “This okay, darling?”

  Darren nodded, too fast and too eager, said, “Please, please.”

  Blake stripped them off.

  Darren was already hard, slender omega cock almost as slick as his thighs. Blake made a low, hungry noise that he hadn’t meant to let escape, and reached between them to slide his fingers up the cleft of the omega’s ass, the other hand pressing his thighs open. The pretty omega underneath him bucked and sobbed, his lips parted and his hands clutching at the blankets. The a
rch of his spine was the best thing Blake had ever seen. He wanted to lick him open, taste him and fill him and claim him. And that was dangerous kind of thinking. There were protocols to follow, and pack rules. He hadn’t even introduced the boy to his own pack. You didn’t just bring in some omega you’d met at a Walmart in Iowa and mated and tell them ‘Oh, by the way, this is my new mate.’ That kind of shit didn’t fly.

  So he kept his own pants on, despite the discomfort of his very insistent erection pressing against the zipper of his jeans, and just slid his fingers into the omega, listening to him gasp with the sudden stretch of them. Darren was tight around him, and Blake couldn’t help thinking how the boy would feel around his cock, around his knot. God, he wanted the omega.

  “Please,” Darren kept saying. “God. Fuck. Please.”

  “Alpha,” Blake said, correcting him even though he probably shouldn’t. “Please, Alpha.”

  “Please,” Darren echoed. “Alpha, please.”

  He definitely shouldn’t have gotten him to say that, because the sound of that sweet, wrecked voice calling him Alpha, begging for him, was almost more than he could take.

  “I need,” Darren pleaded, voice hitching as Blake’s fingers slid over his prostate. “I need… Alpha. Please. Fuck me.”

  Goddamn. He was going to be in so much trouble. Blake slid another finger into the omega, his omega, and stroked over his prostate with slow, firm little strokes until he was sobbing helplessly, trying to make words that his tongue kept tripping over. Until he spilled all over his stomach with a cut-off little cry, his body spasming around Blake’s fingers and his thighs shaking.

  Blake couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and licked the omega’s sweet spill from his skin, licked over his still-hard cock and tight balls while Darren writhed and gasped and clutched at the blankets beneath him. While he made noises like he was in an agony of pleasure. One slim hand caught at Blake’s hair, fingers curling there but not pulling, like Darren didn’t dare force him closer but couldn’t help reaching out and touching him, couldn’t help begging for more with every motion and line of his body.