My heart sank as Jeremiah stared at the unbelievably beautiful omega that had just walked in. His scent was overwhelming, and I braced myself on the table as it hit me full force. Jeremiah curled an index finger at him, and he started this way. The closer he got, the more intense the feelings inside me grew. It was all I could do to maintain any sort of composure as he brushed past me.

He stepped up to Jeremiah, looking like a frightened puppy, but by the way he was glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, I knew he felt it too.

Could it be possible? I thought, feeling my emotions threaten to overwhelm me. Could it be my fated mate?

It was one of those things you heard people talk about but never believed, and I’d smelled alphas that got me excited before, but I’d never felt anything like this. Our eyes locked and I knew from the look on his face that he was thinking the exact same thing, but before either of us could react, Jeremiah shouted out, “Woo wee! If that isn’t the finest piece of omega tail I’ve seen in a while! Get your ass over here, boyo!”

My heart sank as my pack leader asserted himself, not even bothered by the attention he drew from the rest of the men seated around him. The beautiful boy’s eyes darted from mine to Jeremiah, then back again. I hoped he would just turn around and race out the door so I could follow.

I’d snatch him up in my arms and carry him away from Jeremiah and the Pine Boys and make him mine forever. No one else would ever be able to touch him. But of course that didn’t happen. He took one step forward, then another and another on his way toward Jeremiah.

As he passed me, he brushed up against me and I felt the heat from his body hit me like a cyclone, knocking my brain around like a rubber ball in a blender. I whipped around, chasing his scent with my nose as he rounded the table and came to stand before Jeremiah at its head.

“What’s your name, sweet thing?” He asked, sniffing the air like a hungry dog.

“C-Clarence,” he said with a voice that went right through me. Normally, it’s a guy’s body I notice first, just like everybody, but with Clarence, there was something beneath the surface, drawing me in, tugging at my insides like a fish hook in my soul.

He was beautiful though, there was no denying that.

His body was fit, but slender and his skin was pale white and flawless like double cream. He had the face of a cherub, with silky green eyes and his hair was strawberry blond, with mounds of curls like a doll. I’d never seen anyone like him. I wanted to ravish him – bury my dick inside his ass, nibble his supple skin and devour him while I shot my seed deep inside him.

It took everything in me not to leap out of my chair and snatch him.

“C-C-Clarence?” Jeremiah asked, mocking him like the high school bully. “You got a s-s-stutter problem, boy?”

I felt a ball of rage forming in my chest as Clarence nervously shook his head.

“N-no,” he replied, clearing his throat in an effort to save face. The poor boy was almost pissing himself. I’d never seen him before, so this was obviously his first day, and he didn’t look a day over twenty. “Just had something in my throat.”

“Mmmm,” Jeremiah smiled, licking his chops. “I’ll give you something for your throat.”

The Pine Boys betas laughed at their leader’s wisecrack and I felt my fists ball up beneath the table. There was a war going on inside me – my pure lust fighting my protective anger, and I wasn’t sure right now that I could afford to let either of them win out.

“Anyone claim you yet, boyo?” Jeremiah asked, getting straight to the point. Clarence looked like a kid who’d just learned his father was an alien.

“Claimed me!?” He asked. If he wasn’t already white, I’m sure he would have just gone whiter. “Uh, no.”

“You had your heat yet?”

“I don’t think – no, I haven’t.”

Clarence’s words had the same effect on me as they had on Jeremiah. An omega as cute as Clarence who hadn’t had his first heat yet meant he was untouched, unclaimed and no one else had ever had him. Jeremiah liked that, because he wanted to be the first one to break a new boy in – purely for territorial reasons and stroking his own ego.

But me, I wanted to be his first and last. He was my fated mate. That’s how it should be.

“Mmmm, good,” Jeremiah said, reaching out and taking Clarence’s hand. The betas around the table giggled like a pack of hyenas. “Real good.”

As he stroked the hand of my fated mate, Clarence exhaled, causing his scent to spill across the room. It tumbled over me like a dream, swimming upstream through my nostrils and into the animal part of me. I felt my wolf stir as Jeremiah held his hand, and on the verge of losing control, felt myself growl.

Instantly, Jeremiah swung his eyes to me. There was danger behind those brown irises, and I knew this could get ugly fast. We couldn’t shift here in front of the humans – that would be a disaster for all of us – but when we got back to the motel, that would be another matter. If Jeremiah felt threatened by me, he’d waste no time establishing his dominance to remind everyone he was the boss.

I had two choices: either avert my eyes now and play submissive, or stare him down and let him know we would be settling this later. And I only had a second to act.

I brought my eyes back to my meatloaf and pretended to get another bite ready on my fork. Jeremiah turned back to Clarence.

“I’m gonna come see you later,” he told him. “You’re gonna need a pack. And I think you just found yourself an alpha.”

I wanted to turn to see Clarence’s reaction, but it was too dangerous right now. An eye fight with Jeremiah over this was not what anyone needed right now. It was better to play it safe and smart and deal with things later.

I heard Clarence go, and felt the loss course through me as his scent wafted away from me. Unable to take it any longer, I grabbed my tray and stood up, but as I turned around, I found myself face to face with Jeremiah.

“Let’s talk,” he said simply, walking past me and out the door.

Fuck!

I tossed my tray on the conveyer belt to the kitchen and followed him, stepping outside onto the porch. Before I could even get my bearings, Jeremiah snatched me by the collar and slammed me up against the wall.

“Ah! Shit! What are you doing, Jeremiah!?” I gasped, grabbing his hands and pulling them back the best I could.

“You think I’m stupid!?” He spat. “You think I didn’t see the way you were eye-fucking that sweet, prime piece of ass back there? You think I don’t know what you were thinking?”

“Jeremiah, listen—”

“No, you listen, you sorry sack of shit. I’m the pack leader, and you listen to me. You understand that!? Now you may think that boy is yours, but you need to think again. That sweet little omega belongs to me. That’s the end of it. I’m gonna take him back with us tonight and lay my claim and you’re gonna have to deal with it. Understand!?”

My wolf was howling within me, pressing to be released. I wanted nothing more than to shift and tear his fucking throat out and leave him here to die in the wood chips and sawdust, but I simply brought my eyes to his.

“Yes,” I told him simply. “I understand.”

He grinned like the bastard he was.

“Good.”