The Lycan King's Outcast Omega (by Cara Anderson) novel Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Then it’s just us. Alaric approaches slowly, hands raised like I’m a wounded animal he’s trying not to spook. The gesture is so familiar it hurts – just like that day in my cottage when I thought he was just an injured wolf seeking help. But he wasn’t just a wolf then. And I’m not sure what I am to him now.

–

“Sweetling,” he breathes, and something in my chest cracks at the gentle word.

He reaches for my chains, power rolling off him in waves. But I have to know.

“Did you really mean to send me away?!

His hands freeze. In the darkness of the dungeon, his steel–gray eyes seem to glow with unnamed emotions. And I wait, heart in my throat, to learn if I’ve been wrong about everything once again.

His hands hover over my chains, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “Send you away?” The words come out rough, almost wounded. “Sweetling, I’ve been going out of my mind trying to find you.”

The gentleness in his voice makes it harder, somehow. “I heard you… in your study. About making decisions. About me being a liability.”

Understanding dawns in his eyes, followed quickly by something that looks like self–directed fury. “Those conversations weren’t what you think.”

“Then what were they?” My voice cracks. “Because Eris said-”

“Eris lies.” The chains snap under his hands like they’re made of paper. “She’s been lying since the day you arrived.”

He helps me stand, but my legs are weak from hours on the cold stone. I stumble, and his arms come around me automatically. The warmth of him after the dungeon’s chill makes me shiver harder.

“You’re freezing.” He shrugs off his jacket, wrapping it around my shoulders. His scent envelops me – winter wind and safety I’m afraid to trust.

pine and

“Why did you come looking for me?” I hate how small my voice sounds. “I’m just a wolfless omega. A liability to the pack.”

His hands tighten on my shoulders. “Is that what you think? That I see you as a liability?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore.” The words tumble out before I can stop them. “Everyone keeps telling me what I am, what I’m not, where I belong. Cassius, Eris, your father… I thought I could trust you, but you have secrets too. Things you won’t tell me.”

Something flashes across his face – pain? guilt? – before he masters it. “There are things I need to explain. But

not here. Not like this.”

As if to emphasize his point, a cold draft whistles through the dungeon. I sway slightly, exhaustion and emotional upheaval taking their toll.

He makes a sound low in his throat and suddenly I’m in his arms, cradled against his chest like I weigh nothing. “Put me down,” 1 protest weakly. “I can walk.”

“Humor me” His heart thunders under my ear. “I spent hours thinking I’d lost you.”

Lost me? The word choice seems odd for someone who’s just a charity case. But I’m too tired to puzzle it out, my body betraying me by curling closer to his warmth.

Chapter 34

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As he carries me up from the dungeons, his voice rumbles through his chest: “I’m going to deal with Eris. She won’t hurt you again.”

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