Omega (6 page)

The last thing Cole wanted to know was where Katy lived. Sure,
finding out would be easy enough, but he knew he wouldn’t. Just like he knew
that if he did know he’d be tempted to check on her. To drive by her place from
time to time. Hades help him but he’d want to watch her. Pure torture when he
couldn’t have her. That was why it was a good thing that Janice and her husband
Roger would be taking Katy back home.

“We’ll go and wait out front. Whenever you’re ready Katy,” Doctor
Janice smiled first at Katy and then at him.

“Thanks Doc,” Katy said.

“Take all the time you need sweetie,” the doctor winked and Katy
nodded.

It had been three days since his narrow escape. He felt almost whole
again. Still weak and a little tender, but nearly his old self. Just a few more
days and he’d be able to put his ring back on. The funny thing was that it had
almost cost him his life. Janice had told him more than once that if he hadn’t
taken it off, he would be dead. She had spoken to Katy about taking her
necklace off as well. The woman was sweet, only trying to help but she really
didn’t know what she was talking about all the same. What kind of a life would
this be for Katy? To be a half breed, not fully accepted by humans or wolves.
Cole clenched his jaw holding back the words he longed to say.

Katy had held him close after they had made love. He was sure she
had cried.
Did she regret what had happened?
If so, he couldn’t blame
her. Firstly he was a wolf and he still wasn’t sure how she felt about that
even though she was one herself, and then secondly she probably thought that he
was taking advantage of her – for a second time. The third was almost too bad
to contemplate, maybe she thought that he was so out of his mind, he didn’t
know what he was doing. Hades help him, maybe she felt guilty. He sure as hell
hoped not.

Still weak from blood loss and with Katy tucked in his arms, he had
fallen asleep only to wake up hours later with his room dark and Katy sitting
fully dressed in the chair next to his bed. Fast asleep and snoring softly.
He’d been so tempted to reach out and touch her. Wanting to acknowledge what
had happened between them, but he cared for her too deeply to subject her to
how life would be if she stayed with him. The lonely unforgiving life of a
Chaser. Cole had always loved being a Demon Chaser. The sense of duty and pride
it instilled in him. It made him belong and gave him purpose. When he’d heard
others complaining about it being a sacrifice and a burden, he’d never
understood until now.

By hades, he wished he didn’t but he understood full well.

Just looking into Katy’s wide eyes made him feel like the biggest schmuck
alive. Neither of them had acknowledged what had happened that night. It was
almost as if it hadn’t happened at all. Cole had tried to convince himself that
it had just been a dream but he knew better. No matter, nothing had changed.
Katy was about to walk out of that door and his life and he’d be the worst kind
of selfish coward if he tried to stop her. Being a worthless schmuck was better
than being a selfish bastard and he needed to stick to his guns. For her.

“Thank-you…” They both said at once and laughed before lapsing back
into awkward silence.

“Cole I…,” she started.

He put up his hand. There was no way he could listen to what she had
to say. If she made any sort of reference to feelings for him he’d be screwed,
he wouldn’t be able to let her go. If she didn’t, he’d be hurt. It would be
better if he took control, a clean easy break. As seamless as possible.

“Just for the record, you’re going to have an amazing life. Your
company will take you back even though you’ve been AWOL for a couple of days.”

She pulled in a breath and he could tell that she wanted to jump in.

“Let me finish please,” he continued.

She sucked in her bottom lip, clenching it between her teeth.
Something she did when she was trying to keep from talking. For the gazillienth
time since he’d woken up that night listening to her soft snoring, he wished he
could find out all of her quirks and everything else about her. Especially how
his name would sound on her lips when she came. How her blood would taste on
his lips during that precious moment…
Oh hell…

Not now. Not ever.

He knocked the thought down before it could do more damage. “Now
that you know who…what you are, you’ll do better. Remember I told you that a demon
would be the best…partner for you.” For the Mother of Hades, he had to look
away because she held her breath in…
expectancy?
“…I was wrong. There are
humans out there that actually prefer demons. They may not know that demons
exist but they are drawn to what previous males in your life…” Cole paused,
trying to stop himself from growling as he spoke of the puny, stupid humans who
didn’t realize what a treasure they had in Katy, “They’re drawn to that
overwhelming, raw, baser side of demons.” He kept his eyes on the window
overlooking the manicured gardens. “You’ll find the right person…one that will
accept you…a human. A normal life. The whole nine yards and you can have it
all. You can even have children, as long as you never take the silver off and
take a human you’ll be able to conceive normally.”

He could picture a little dark haired cherub with bright blue eyes,
just like her mommy. Couldn’t help but wish it was his future too. His hand
lifted, he wanted to touch her, to run the pad of his thumb down the side of
her cheek just one last time but he stopped himself.

A clean easy break
.

No touching.

Cole raked his fingers through his hair before jamming both hands
into his pockets.

“Thank-you Cole. You saved me. Took off your ring…for me,” her eyes
were filling.

 Damn it, she was going to cry. He couldn’t handle that. If she did
he’d have to hug her which might lead to him confessing his love for her.

Love.

At least he was finally able to admit to himself that he loved her.
It wasn’t lust or pheromones or a fever muggled brain, he loved the woman
standing in front of him. So much so that he had to do the right thing by her
and let her go. Her lip quivered.

“I’m no hero Katy. I’m a Chaser and all I was doing was my duty. I
would have done the same for anyone…”
Liar.
“I mostly did it to save
myself…”
Liar.

He knew he would never have taken the ring off for anything or
anyone else. Cole had lain there feeling his blood drain from his body feeling
himself weaken with each passing second and had known that if he stayed human,
he would die. He wasn’t afraid of death but Katy…Bain was going to rape and
then kill his beautiful Katy and he couldn’t let that happen. His wolf was half
mad with rage…still strong and so he’d slipped the ring from his finger.

“I knew that I would die if I stayed human so I took the ring off.”

 Her face clouded and her sadness seemed to grow and then she looked
as if she had reached a decision. Standing more upright, she squared her
shoulders. Her lip stopped quivering and her eyes grew determined.

Damn himself to hell but he couldn’t leave it like this, “but I’m
glad it worked out the way it did. I couldn’t let him…,” Cole shook his head
dispelling the memory. He let just the tip of his finger brush the side of her
arm before jamming his hand back into his pocket. “I just wish I’d been the one
to rip out Bain’s throat.”

“How is Gray doing?” she asked.

“I don’t know, he can’t be having an easy time of it. The pack will
not be happy with an Omega as Alpha. He has a lot of challenges to look forward
to.”

“He’s strong enough, he should be okay.”

“Yeah except the challenges I’m referring to are often to the
death.”

Katy gasped.

“He’ll be fine. He’s a tough wolf. Ashlyn is with the pack. It looks
as if Bain had nothing to do with the murders after all. The latest victim was
left for dead but somehow managed to survive.” Cole caught the look of first
horror and then relief on Katy’s face. “She’s not in the clear yet. She did
manage to say two words before lapsing into a coma…woman and wolf…so, it’s most
likely a female demon wolf that murdered the other women. Your…incident with
Bain was unrelated, so there is no more reason to worry. It’s over.” The right
hand in his pocket twitched, he wanted to touch her, reassure her.

“I never told you but Bain looked shocked when I mentioned the
murdered women. He told me he had nothing to do with the murders and since he
was going to kill me there is no reason to believe that he was lying. I don’t
think he had any idea about the murders. Bain would have boasted if he’d killed
those women.”

“Well that confirms it then. Thanks, I’ll let Ash know. Whoever is
doing this needs to be stopped before anyone else dies. The good news is that
my sister is just the right person for the job.”

“But she’s so small, so…” she seemed to struggle to come up with the
right word.

“Fragile?…as the saying goes, dynamite comes in small packages. It’s
particularly true when it comes to Ash. She is so often underestimated. It gives
her the upper hand.” He smiled while saying that last part. Just thinking about
Ash in action made him proud.

Katy’s whole demeanor changed, it softened. She stepped forward
leaning into him, sliding her hands around his waist and he’d be damned if he
could stop himself from hugging her back. Hades hounds, he pulled her in
closer, taking in her scent. Before he was ready, she was letting him go,
refusing to look him in the eye which suited him just fine. It was better this
way.

They said their stilted good-byes, those baby blues looked up at him
one last time before she turned to leave. Yup, it was all true. All those wolves’
tales he’d heard, tales he’d always believed to be myths. Soul mate, wolf mate,
one true love. Katy was all of those things and more. He would never feel this
way about anyone ever again. Which made his choice all the more the right one.

Katy threw her keys on the entrance table. The last step in moving
on with her life complete, she’d tendered her immediate resignation this
morning. Her apartment had been on the market since yesterday and she still didn’t
feel any better. There was only one thing she knew for sure after getting back
home just over a week ago, she didn’t want her old life. Her boring, mundane,
same old life. It didn’t do it for her any more.

Despite Cole’s advice, she hankered to take the necklace off. Every
time she saw the silver glinting between her breasts, it felt like a lie. She
was a demon wolf. An Omega. She wasn’t normal. She didn’t want a normal life or
a human mate. She wanted Cole. Why had she ever let him walk out of her life?
Why hadn’t she told him how she felt about him when she had the chance?

The oath
.

She’d made the oath and she wasn’t sorry. Cole was alive and well.
Maybe making the promise had helped and maybe it hadn’t, but she couldn’t very
well take it back now could she? Even if she wanted to there was no way of
finding him. Surely though if he had wanted her, he would have said something.
It dawned on her that she had been counting on just that. She had practically
held her breath during most of their good-bye waiting for him to make the first
move. But it never happened.

The first time they had made love it had been him helping her to
break the curse. The second time had been her taking advantage of a delirious
man. Why then had she felt such a connection? For that magical moment she had
almost felt one with him. They had been so very close to that…indescribable,
intangible thing. So very nearly…
How could she have been so very wrong?

There was a knock at the door and she realized that she was still in
the entrance hall. It was probably her mom. That was at least one area of her
life where she’d made progress. Katy had told her mother everything. Well,
almost everything and her mom in return had told her all about her father, said
she had known deep down that this day would come.

Katy’s father was her first love, her forbidden love. It was strictly
against the rules of her father’s pack for two different species to breed. Katy
could well understand why. The Chernov pack, was an ancient pack more set in
their ways than most. Her father’s pack would never have understood nor have
accepted the union, and that was why when her mother fell pregnant they were
forced to part ways. Her pendant was a gift from her father who passed away
when she was just a little girl. That part, however sad, had been true.

God, how had her life changed so irrevocably in such a short space
of time? What truly mattered was that she couldn’t go back to how things were.

Katy opened the door, she gasped when she found a man standing
there. She couldn’t help but to launch herself into his arms. He at least had
the decency to put a hand up to her back. The rest of him remained still and
formal.

“Aren’t you supposed to be leading a pack of wolves or something?” she
asked playfully.

Gray sort of smiled. It made him look tired rather than happy, “I
came to check up on you. Ash mentioned you and Cole had parted ways.”

“Come in…please. Can I get you something? I know, I’ll put some
coffee on.”

Gray’s eyes narrowed a little.

 “Nothing beats a strong cup of decent coffee,” Katy added and his
eyes narrowed some more. They walked to her small kitchen.

Katy went through the motions of setting up the coffee machine.
First the filter, followed by a couple of scoops of ground coffee, then, she
added the water and switched the machine on. When she turned back, Gray was
still leaning against the counter where she’d left him. Waiting.

“Spit it out already. What happened?” A man of few words, he folded
his arms across his broad chest.

Were all wolves so generously proportioned?
He waited and managed to look so comfortable it made her worry he
was ready to settle in for the day if it took her that long to answer.

“With what?” There was always the slight chance he wasn’t referring
to her and Cole. It wasn’t something she felt like talking about.

“You two are right for one another. Even a wolf with his eyes gouged
out would sense the connection. What happened?”

There was a trickle sound and the scent of coffee permeated the air.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Sorry to say this but you’re both either really chicken shit or
really stupid.”

She busied herself by getting two mugs from the cupboard and setting
them on the counter. “You have it wrong Gray.”

“Stupid then,” his words remained calm and evenly delivered.

Anger rose up in her.

“What happened?” Still composed, he unfolded his arms, placing
splayed fingers on the counter top on either side of himself.

“He doesn’t love me Gray so leave it alone please.” It hurt her to
say the words out loud and she was horrified to feel tears roll down her face
so she wiped them away moving back to the mugs.

“Cream? Sugar?”

“Don’t you see?” Gray paused. “Cole doesn’t think he’s good enough
for you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more chemistry between two people.”

“It’s just sexual attraction. We only knew each other for a few
measly days.”

“It was way more than just sexual attraction and you know it. Time
is not a factor.”

“God Gray even if I wanted to I couldn’t act on it because I made an
oath that if Cole lived I’d give him up…I can’t go back on my word.”

Gray laughed. A bend over the middle kind of laugh that both
irritated and charmed her because he wasn’t the type to give in to displays of
emotion very often. Maybe ever.

“Here’s the thing. Once Cole removed that ring, he was never in any
danger of dying so your oath – sweet though the sentiment - is moot.”

Could it be true? She wanted so badly to believe him. Instead of
answering she picked up a mug of coffee she didn’t remember fixing and handed
it to Gray with shaking hands. Something welled up deep inside of her, it made
her heart beat and her cheeks flush, it made her hands clammy and her feet itch
to be mobile.

“How will I find him?”

“Easy”—he gazed deep into her eyes daring her to argue—“take off the
necklace.”