Page 11 of Guarding the Runaway Omega

“Can I help with anything?” Jasper regarded him hopefully.

“Thanks. But this will just take a sec.”

After he’d covered their tracks the best he could, Hawk jumped back in the Charger then continued up the road far enough so they couldn’t be spotted from the highway. He cut the engine and headlights, then dug in his leather jacket for his phone.

“I’m going to set things up with my dad. If he meets us halfway, we can get out of here quicker and be headed to the Wolf Creek Pack in a couple hours.”

“How far is your home pack from here? I’m so turned around and lost.”

That’s what I was afraid of. “Based on what you’ve told me, it’s unlikely you were being kept in your pack’s village, considering the Guardian Pack and the Yukon Deltas are about three hundred and fifty miles apart. I seriously doubt you ran that far. Right now, we’re driving on a back road that’s not on the map. My mother’s people have been using it for centuries. It was once only a path used for trading, but they began maintaining it so we could travel from village to village, even during the winter if we had either dog sleds or, in recent times, snowmobiles.”

“Your mom’s people?”

Hawk flushed hot. How many times had he distanced himself from his heritage by voicing it that way? He wasn’t ashamed of her, yet the way he behaved was as if he was ashamed of himself. For too long, he’d allowed the digs and mockery of many of the Guardians he worked with get under his skin. No more.

“She was Yup’ik.” He sighed in aggravation. “I’m Yup’ik. Well, half anyway.”

“Your dad never turned her though, right? That’s why it was such a big deal when Nic turned Elam, because it hadn’t been done in over a hundred years.” Jasper ducked his head. “At least that’s what my friend Sascha told me. I hope I get to see for myself.”

The fact that his mate hadn’t reacted to him being half-native struck a chord. Hawk had been teased by the other shifters his whole life, had hidden the jabs from his parents so they wouldn’t be hurt by the slurs, had absorbed the barbs so they wouldn’t have to. After they got through whatever they needed to so that Jasper could be free without fear, Hawk was done with the Guardians. Although, after the stunt he’d pulled, he might end up getting his wish a different way by being imprisoned for his crimes.

As long as Jasper is safe, I don’t care what happens to me.

“No, my dad never turned her and I’m sure you’ll get your wish to meet Elam.”

Jasper smiled. “And the baby.”

Hawk gazed over at the pale, thin, adorable man drowning in the jacket he’d lent him and couldn’t hold back a smile. His honey brown hair that was almost as long as Hawk’s hung in damp waves and his large, round eyes of hazel stared back at him as if he were offering himself over to Hawk’s care. Hawk found the idea more than agreeable—he deemed it necessary. He hadn’t realized how deep inside he’d buried his need for a mate. It was as if his true self was finally emerging. Between his heritage, his suspicions about being an Alpha and finding the one who was fated to be his—the real Hawk had arrived.

“So, where are we exactly?”

Hawk grinned. “Right. Got distracted. We’re about four hundred miles north of your pack and the Wolf Creek Pack. Sort of the top of the triangle, although I don’t think the Deltas and Wolf Creek are as far apart from each other. My home village is even farther north, which is why I’m hoping my dad can at least meet us halfway.”

“Maybe we should wait for him then—if he doesn’t mind coming all the way.”

Hawk shook his head. “I don’t like sitting still, want to keep on the move. And the sooner we dump this Charger, the better. I’d travel to him, but that means more time for them to discover I’m gone and look for me there.”

Jasper tilted his head. “Shouldn’t they know that already, like, the minute we got away?”

“I don’t think they realized it was me, they certainly wouldn’t have expected it. Even when they got close to us there at the end, I kept my head down. And my friend Cam is covering for me by saying I was searching for the rogue wolves, so I’m sure that’ll buy us some time.”

Jasper wriggled in his seat, his gaze traveling around but not landing on Hawk. “Cam? Who’s he? A childhood buddy or something?”

Hawk drew his eyebrows together. Is that jealousy I’m hearing? “Something like that, yeah.”

He wanted to explain, to make sure Jasper understood that he wasn’t interested in Cameron or any other man, but the timing wasn’t right. Hawk wasn’t sure when that time would be—especially when there was so much more he needed to learn about Jasper’s circumstances.

Such as making sure he’s even legal. Hawk still wasn’t convinced.

* * * *

Jasper waited in the Charger while Hawk went and called his dad. The adrenaline of his adventure over the past day or so was beginning to wane and he could barely keep his eyes open. Plus, he’d been truthful when he’d told Hawk he trusted him. Being with Hawk made him feel as though he was being protected. No one except his friend Sascha knew how much he longed for an Alpha mate, how much he wanted to find the one he was meant to be with.

Part of his dream was to finally escape the clutches of his father, but more than that, he wanted love. A true, all-encompassing love that would allow him to build his own life and be cared for by his Alpha. And I would care for him too, give him a good home, make him happy. Of course, his father had only cared that he got something out of the deal, not whether Jasper was content or not.

What if something could happen between me and Hawk?

He sighed and laid his head against the cold pane of the car window. It was rather doubtful. Even without the specter of Mr. Boyfriend, if he was meant to be Hawk’s mate, the moment Hawk had seen him he would’ve gone all crazy, possessive Alpha on him. Because of the way his father had kept them sequestered from everyone else, he’d had to pick up his info about mating in bits and pieces where he could. But that’s what he’d always heard would happen from his friends, and when his oldest sister’s Alpha had spotted her, the guy had about had a seizure.