When Alpha Meets Omega.Chapter 34: can a dog be that big and furry? . Clyde didn’t call Nathaniel in the morning, but Nathaniel did call him.“Hey, just wanted to check up on your highway rescue situation. He still kicking?” Nathaniel asked, and he sounded a little distracted, like he had his hands busy while he spoke.Clyde was well into his morning routine, halfway between feeding chickens and mucking out the barn when his cell phone had started going off. He didn’t get many calls, but his internet router helped boost the cell phone signal. He kept it on him and charged, in case of emergency. When you lived alone near the woods and did labor for a living, you never knew what could happen.Cookie was miraculously even better that morning. Clyde had managed to coax him into taking off the bandages at least, though he left the splint itself alone. He’d sat flabbergasted for long minutes, searching the fur for evidence of the deep gashes he’d counted and described to Nathaniel onl
When Alpha Meets Omega.Chapter 35: leaving the pack has consequences . The rest of the week passed uneventfully. By the fourth day, the dog’s leg was so healed that he was stepping through the brace of the splint and jumping up and down on his own, every time. It worried Clyde, but also comforted him that he clearly wasn’t in pain. He’d convinced himself that second night that he’d simply overblown the level of injury. Maybe a blood vessel had been nicked, or some other explanation for the truly horrible amount of gore that still flashed behind closed eyes when he wasn’t paying attention.Clyde’s attachment to the dog grew steadily by the day. Between sleeping in the bed next to him, keeping him company while he worked in the yard or the kitchen, and the occasional act of service Cookie provided, Clyde was dreading the vet visit. Not only would he have to admit to Nathaniel that he’d gotten jumpy about the injuries- which were clearly surface wounds, if a week’s care cleared t
When Alpha Meets Omega.Chapter 36: We found you..The rest of the week was companionable and refreshing, and with each passing day, Lance became more and more attached to this human who’d saved him on the side of the road. Before leaving the Pack, he hadn’t interacted much with humans. Jorge and Erik tended to deal with their human contacts himself- people like Nathaniel, who supplied medical equipment and medicine, as well as others who could purchase goods on behalf of the Pack.Some of the older Wolves could travel into a human town and buy things themselves, though they rarely did so anymore. Modern technology made interacting with humans risky and best done on pack terms instead of in the middle of a bunch of humans. At least, that’s what Jorge usually told them. Lance was a headstrong, curious person and he’d often asked about their hairless neighbors, who didn’t change forms with the moon or hunt their own prey.Now that he’d started living with Clyde, he couldn’t help but
When Alpha Meets Omega.Chapter 37: yet another fight .The next day Clyde finished his morning animal routine and then loaded himself into his truck. It was his usual trip into town for supplies as well as his typical lunch date with Jeremy, he’d explained to Cookie, who spent the morning shadowing his human more closely than usual. If they were bold enough to show themselves directly to him, he wasn’t convinced the enemy Pack would stick to the night time either. Attacking a human was strictly forbidden, but then, typically so was crossing Pack territory unless you wanted to start a major conflict.Lance knew this presented the perfect opportunity to reveal himself to Clyde. The Change, as they called it among the Wolves, was a rare vulnerable state for the otherwise quickly healing and incredibly strong beings. Caught between forms, they couldn’t easily defend themselves or move quickly, muscles and bones halfway between two disparate forms. Doing so in front of Clyde would onl
When Alpha Meets Omega.Chapter 38: secrets, secrets, secrets .A startled yell jolted Lance awake, and he was on his feet and spinning to find the danger before he even became fully conscious. He bared his teeth and growled, though the sound came out soft and wimpy. Right, he was in his human skin. His eyes locked on the source of the yelling and subsequent shuffle, a terrified Clyde had dropped the bag of groceries and was wielding a broom like a club, brush side out.“What are you doing in my house!? The door was locked, how did you even get in here?” Clyde demanded, face flushed red and chest heaving with his panic. His eyes kept darting down, then back up to Lance’s face, and then back down again, like they were being tugged by a magnet. Right- people wore clothes, he’d forgotten that part.Before Lance could form a response, Clyde’s head whipped around frantically, then snapped back to Lance.The farmer’s face hardened and he took a threatening step forward, broom reeling back
When Alpha Meets Omega.Chapter 39: cast out yet again .“Wait! You can’t tell Nathaniel about-” Clyde spun on him and jabbed a finger into Lance’s bare chest.“I’ve had about enough of you telling me what I can and can’t do. I’ve known Nathaniel a long ass time and he let me take you home with me. I let you sleep in my bed. He owes me this explanation, and I don’t care about your little ‘Pack’ or its secrets or whatever kind of fucked up werewolf ‘Code’ you’ve got going on. I’m calling him, and he’s going to tell me the truth or I'll go over there and wring it out of him the old fashioned way. Now sit down and be quiet.” Clyde was breathless as he finished, and Lance backed up helplessly into the seat as he watched the human dial the number.The conversation went predictably, as Lance could hear both Clyde’s near-shouting tone as well as the din of Nathaniel’s voice on the other end of the line, even from this side of the kitchen. Clyde demanded to know why Nathaniel had hidden t
When Alpha Meets Omega.Chapter 39: tomorrow is not promised .“Wait! You can’t tell Nathaniel about-” Clyde spun on him and jabbed a finger into Lance’s bare chest.“I’ve had about enough of you telling me what I can and can’t do. I’ve known Nathaniel a long ass time and he let me take you home with me. I let you sleep in my bed. He owes me this explanation, and I don’t care about your little ‘Pack’ or its secrets or whatever kind of fucked up werewolf ‘Code’ you’ve got going on. I’m calling him, and he’s going to tell me the truth or I'll go over there and wring it out of him the old fashioned way. Now sit down and be quiet.” Clyde was breathless as he finished, and Lance backed up helplessly into the seat as he watched the human dial the number.The conversation went predictably, as Lance could hear both Clyde’s near-shouting tone as well as the din of Nathaniel’s voice on the other end of the line, even from this side of the kitchen. Clyde demanded to know why Nathaniel had hi
When Alpha meets Omega.Chapter 40: claimed by the silly alpha . He woke to the sizzle of bacon frying in the kitchen, and Lance jolted upright. He rolled off the couch and onto four paws just in time to keep himself from eating carpet. Looking around warily, he took in what his senses were telling him- Clyde’s soap, the faint smell of animals tracked into the house, and the overwhelming bacon scent. Dishes in the kitchen and the bleating of sheep outside the back door. The human was already awake and had taken care of the animals’ morning routine, and was now making breakfast.Lance hesitated, trying to decide if he wanted to face this morning in his Wolf skin or his human one. The coward in him wanted to stay a Wolf, but… Memories of Clyde’s hurt face from the previous night rushed back, and he was hurrying on the Change before he even really thought about it. He needed his words, needed to explain why he did what he did in a way Clyde would understand.Once his knees no longer