Loving the Omega by Carrie Ann Ryan Read Free Book Online

but still want to care for this Duncan, Maddox had a feeling things weren’t what they seemed at first glance when it came to the Centrals. Really, though, nothing was ever as it seemed when it came to the rival Pack of wolves.
    What worried Maddox most, though, was that this Pack wasn’t supposed to be a Pack at all. No, it shouldn’t even exist at this point.
    “Ellie, take Charlotte back to the den,” he said, his voice as smooth as possible.
    “Please not yet, Dad.”
    Maddox barely resisted the urge to close his eyes at his daughter’s pleas. “ Stay behind me, Ellie. ”
    “I’m staying for only as long as I feel relative safety. Then we’re all leaving. The enforcers are here, and I can feel Kade coming. They can take care of it. It’s their jobs. We need to be selfish for once. We need to get our baby home.”
    “I know, Ellie mine. But these people…they’re something to her. We need to feel it out.”
    He heard her inward sigh and broke for her. “I know. I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
    His mate went behind him anyway, and he loved her all the more for it. Logan and Kade, who had come up when he and Ellie had been sending their thoughts to one another, flanked him, their chins held high.
    Duncan bared his throat, a clear sign of submission.
    “I mean you no harm. I mean the child no harm. She was Martha’s. I wouldn’t hurt her.”
    Martha.
    Maddox had never known Charlotte’s mother’s name. The little girl never spoke about her, even though they’d given the open space and comfort she’d needed to feel free in order to do so. She’d come into their lives on the wave of panic and torment, but they’d done all they could for her. Or at least he thought he had.
    They hadn’t known of this Duncan.
    What else hadn’t they known?
    What kind of parent did that make him?
    Yes, it made no sense. Charlotte hadn’t told him so he couldn’t have known. But the irrational father part of his brain wanted him to know everything. Even the things he could not possibly have known.
    Duncan looked toward Kade, the power radiating off their Alpha clear and vibrant. There was no missing who was the dominant wolf in this situation, even with Logan, another strong fighter on his other side.
    “You’re dangerously close to encroaching on Redwood Pack land.” Kade’s voice fell over them all like a curtain, the power beneath the words so potent that Maddox wanted to bare his throat just like the stranger in front of them.
    “We meant no harm.”
    “I’m Kade Jamenson, Alpha of the Redwood Pack. Who are you? We don’t take kindly to our children running away to wolves we don’t know. If that is indeed what happened. You didn’t break the wards. Our Enforcer is sure of that. So tell me, who are you?”
    “I’m Duncan Leeland. I’m a Central wolf.” The wolf raised his chin, though his eyes were still downcast, not able to meet Kade’s gaze. This one’s power wasn’t as strong as any of the Redwoods that had come into the clearing. That much was evident. But that didn’t mean they would take that for granted.
    “The Centrals are dead, yet you smell of them.”
    “The Centrals that stayed with Hector and the demon they summoned into our realm are dead. Those of us who broke off are in hiding.” Duncan met Kade’s gaze for a moment then lowered his lashes, the action shocking in its bravery.
    “How many more of you are there?” Maddox asked, unable to hold back his questions for Kade. Though the man was his brother and he’d roughhoused and played with him as a child, right then, he was his Alpha, not of his blood. Kade didn’t seem to mind though.
    Duncan shook his head. “I believe forty or so. We spread out as much as we could when we ran away.”
    “You still smell of the Centrals. How is that possible?” Ellie asked. Since they did smell of them, that meant they still had to have some connection to each other or the old Pack. But if they did, they should have been