The Omega's Heart (Wilde Creek Four) Read Free Page B

off the
engine. Resting her head on the steering wheel, she yawned loudly,
wondering what her next step would be.
    She’d been sleeping in the car for a few
hours here and there, but she really needed a place to stay. As a
precaution, she hadn’t used her credit cards and had brought only
the cash she’d been able to get out of the ATM in town before she
left. That wouldn’t last long.
    “You’re an idiot,” she groaned out loud,
annoyed at herself for not planning her escape very well. Hell, she
didn’t even know what she was escaping from. Her father could have
been planning a party for her, not something nefarious.
    Snorting, she rubbed her eyes and said,
“You’re also hallucinating.” As if her father would do anything
nice for her that didn’t directly benefit him. He’d never been the
fatherly type; he was all alpha authority, all the time.
    She twisted the key in the ignition to turn
on the battery and looked at the GPS screen. Zooming out, she poked
around on the screen until a town name about three hours away came
up. Wilde Creek. Zooming in, she noticed lots of green areas, which
probably meant woods. That was good news for her with the upcoming
full moon. Maybe there was a pack in town, and she could pretend to
be a road-weary traveler and crash with a single female for a few
days until she figured out her next steps. Not that she’d be
pretending too much. She really was weary.
    If she drove to Wilde Creek and just waltzed
into town, they’d probably be suspicious of her. But if she was in
distress, they’d be more inclined to help her – at least she hoped.
She looked out the windshield at the fast-falling snow, not
relishing the idea of making herself relatively helpless and
reliant on the kindness of strangers, especially not when the sun
would be setting soon and the already frigid temperatures continued
to fall. But if she wanted to be able to hunt on the full moon, she
knew she needed to strand herself to buy some time. Then she could
keep moving on. Or who knows, maybe she’d find something in Wilde
Creek worth staying for.
    She snorted loudly as she turned off the
battery and extracted the key. “Now I know you’re really
hallucinating. You’re not that lucky.”
     
    * * * * *
     
    Acksel watched from the kitchen at Luna’s as
his mate and several omegas packed up the bridal shower gifts.
She’d told him that males weren’t allowed, but of course that was
only until she needed someone to schlep the gifts out to the truck.
Then she was very happy to see him and the males he’d brought to
help.
    “She got quite a haul,” Zander, one of the
pack protectors, and son of the owners of Luna’s, said as he
refilled Acksel’s coffee.
    “The females really came out in force for
her,” Acksel agreed, nodding.
    “I’m patrolling in town tonight,” Zander
said, leaning against the metal counter.
    “Why did Sam take you off guarding our
house?” Acksel used the pack protectors to keep watch over his own
house and Brynn, his mate. He trusted himself to be able to keep
her safe at all times, but she had been kidnapped by his enemies
before they mated, and with her pregnancy, he’d become a little
more nuts about her safety.
    “He said he wants to try everyone at all the
protector jobs for a while and then figure out where our strengths
are so we can be utilized effectively. I like guarding your house;
patrols have to deal with humans.”
    The protectors who patrolled in town looked
out for pack members to ensure their safety. That meant keeping an
eye on Poke’s, among other things. Some protectors enjoyed the
patrols, while some preferred to be stationed in one place,
guarding a home. It wasn’t only Acksel’s home that had guards, the
elders did as well, and anytime a mated male was away from his
female overnight, guards watched their home for him.
    Acksel knew that Sam was feeling out the
protectors for specific jobs. “I’m sure that Sam will put you where
you’re most