Omega Mine
Chapter 36

Josie woke sometime in the evening, feeling refreshed and sated, with a delicious ache between her thighs that had everything to do with her mate. The sun was just dipping over the horizon, casting the setting sky in hues of orange and red, along with a muted purple.

Stretching in their bedroll, Josie yawned, turning over onto her stomach. Grayson wasn’t in bed with her, though his side was still warm to the touch.

“I was beginning to worry that you’d sleep all night,” Grayson commented lightly from somewhere in front of her.

Lifting her head, she smiled when she spotted her mate a few feet away, sitting on a downed log. His red eyes lingered over her face and mouth, a dark look in his gaze that had her stomach clenching with need, and her heart beating hard in anticipation.

Sitting up, Josie gave him an ample display of her naked chest, smirking when he focused his attention on the swell of her breasts. They were tender, and swollen, with her pebbled nipples clearly begging for his touch.

“It’s your fault I slept so long,” she teased. “If you wanted me up at a reasonable time, you shouldn’t have fucked me for hours.”

Even now, she could still feel the echo of him buried inside her. Not just in her pussy, but down her throat, too. She’d never participated in a blowjob quite like last night, where she’d been held still while he’d fucked her mouth so passionately while straddling her. But she’d loved every second of it, especially when she’d looked up and seen the devotion and savage possessiveness written all over Grayson’s face as he watched her suck his cock.

It had been exhilarating, seeing the effect she had on her mate in such stark clarity.

Grayson stood, prowling to her. Then he was crouching down in front of her, a hand snaking into her hair and fisting the strands at the back of her head. He tugged and she looked up at him curiously.

Leaning down, he murmured against her lips, “You were begging to be fucked and knotted, little mate. How could I resist such pretty pleading?”

“Mm.” Josie licked the seam of his lips, giving him a tender kiss a moment later. “I’ll need to do it more often then.”

Grayson growled, his arousal flooding their bond and drawing a gasp from her lungs. Collaring her throat, he held her head still as he kissed her back, sliding his tongue into her mouth and devouring her whole.

Josie moaned, desire pooling low in her belly as her tongue danced with his, meeting him stroke for stroke. Her hands fisted in his shirt, wrinkling the material as she tugged him closer. She pulled harder, nearly toppling them over and back into bed, but Grayson pulled away with a chuckle, kissing her forehead tenderly. He pulled away, replaceing a set of clean clothes in a duffel bag beside their bedroll.

“It’s time to get up, little Omega. We’ve got people to tend to, and plans to make before the rebellion arrives.”

Josie sighed, biting back the comment that he definitely had an Omega to tend to right in front of him.

He was completely right, they’d taken enough of a reprieve from the outside world.

Grayson unfolded a shirt meant for her, holding it up expectantly. It was a little big, but she was more than happy to take whatever she could get. She lifted her arms, letting him slide the material up and over her head and hands. Next, he reached for a pair of panties and jeans.

“Up, baby girl. Let me finish dressing you.”

It was on the verge of her tongue to tell him she was more than capable of dressing herself, but she’d noticed the odd fascination he had with clothing her. He was always dressing and undressing her. Taking care of her. It was an extremely sweet and endearing trait for such a dominant male like Grayson.

Plus, it kept his hands on her body, and she wasn’t about to argue that. He nipped her hip playfully as he slid the panties up her legs, growling when she snorted at his antics.

As Grayson was sliding her jeans up her hips, she asked, “Weren’t you wanting to talk with me about something this morning?”

He grunted in response, zipping up her jeans and fastening the button before he stood to his full height. He glanced around them before his attention returned to her, his eyes cool and calculating.

“It’s about my mother.”

Josie’s lips pursed at the mention of Bethany. “Oh. Did something happen when you made contact with the rebellion?”

Josie distinctly remembered Grayson saying that she hadn’t been on the call, but…

“I’m beginning to remember more and more. Not a lot,” Grayson added when her eyes widened in surprise, “But what I remember of my mother doesn’t match up with the woman leading this rebellion. My mother was compassionate and brave. She loved her pups, Josie. She’d have done anything for them.”

Josie’s heart nearly broke at the despair lingering in Grayson’s voice. “What are you saying?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “What if the woman leading the rebellion isn’t my mother?”

Josie blinked, taken aback by the suggestion. She’d seen the old family portraits of the previous Alpha Prime and his family. Bethany had looked almost identical back then as she did now, aside from the scars she now bore on her neck and a bit of graying in her hair.

Josie shook her head. “Unless she’s got a doppelganger wandering around, then it’s definitely your mother.”

Grayson’s eyebrows furrowed, his mouth turning down into a severe frown as a note of confusion crept down their bond. He was quiet for so long, so lost in thought that Josie spoke again, wanting to reassure him.

“A long time has passed, Grayson. What your entire family went through was a tragedy. Trauma like that changes people. It was a miracle Bethany survived her wounds, let alone the passing of your father.”

It was nearly impossible for a mated Omega to survive the death of their Alpha and vice versa. That Bethany had managed it after suffering such loss was a true testament to her strength of will. It had been one of the reasons Josie had looked up to her for creating the rebellion after enduring such loss, even though she’d only met her a handful of times while she’d gone through training.

“That’s just it. I remember her sightless eyes staring up at the ceiling, Josie. Vividly.” Grayson looked up from the ground, meeting her gaze. “My mother is dead.”

Josie bit her lower lip as she struggled to reason with her mate.

Sighing, she placed her hands on Grayson’s forearms, squeezing gently. “You also thought Wyatt was dead. And yet he’s here with us now. Alive,” she said softly, hating the way his nostrils flared in irritation. “While I love that you’re beginning to remember your past, it’s possible that some of what you remember is faulty, Grayson. Maybe she was dying, and you were taken from her side, and what you recall is believing she died right in front of you.”

Grayson’s eyes narrowed on Josie, fury simmering in his gaze that she hadn’t seen directed at her since the first night they’d met. Bewildered, she dropped her hands to her sides.

“Don’t do that,” he bit out gruffly, wrapping a possessive arm around her waist. He pulled her into the warmth of his body, his torso a wall of steel from how tense he’d become. “Don’t shy away from me when I’m angry.”

“Then don’t look at me like I’m your enemy,” Josie snapped back, her hackles raising defensively. “I’m your mate. All I want is to help you.”

Grayson dropped his head to her shoulder as he pulled her into a fierce hug, his nose teasing her neck as he inhaled her scent. A few seconds passed before the stiffness drained from his body, and he relaxed into her. Almost immediately, she relaxed too, her hands circling his waist to keep him just as close.

“I know. You’ve never been my enemy,” Grayson murmured quietly, kissing her skin. “And I’m not upset with you, little mate. I’m frustrated with myself for not being able to rationalize this. My mother would never abandon her sons to such miserable fates, and yet everyone is telling me she did.”

“I know.” Josie exhaled roughly, torn between giving her own opinion or remaining silent. “Like I said, trauma changes people. The death of her mate would have come at a cost, and maybe that cost was her heart. Our kind has survived because of her ruthlessness and her efforts to lead. And as much as I hate her for what she put you through, we don’t know if she was aware of Wyatt’s condition.”

Although…if she could replace Grayson after years of being locked away in one of the arenas scattered across the country, it stood to reason that Wyatt was just as capable of being discovered.

Josie wanted to tug on her hair in exasperation, to help Grayson make sense of this. It was all confusing. All jumbled. And unfortunately, they weren’t going to discover anything until they spoke with Bethany, as much as she dreaded it.

The infatuation she once held for the other woman had quickly dwindled, and the more Grayson struggled to accept that his mother wasn’t the same doting Omega he loved, the more she wanted to smack said Omega upside the head.

“We only need to wait another day until the rebellion comes for us, alright?” Grayson nodded. “And then when we meet up with Bethany, we’ll interrogate the shit out of her. About that night. Her choices. Anything and everything. She has a lot to answer for.”

And Josie wanted Grayson to experience whatever closure he could when it came to his family, even if the answers he received were less than ideal.

One thing Josie could guarantee was that his mother, whether through circumstance or not, was a piece of shit manipulator.

“What if I still feel the same after we meet?” Grayson asked quietly, his shoulders slumping with uncertainty. “What if I look at her and she’s just a stranger to me?”

“Then we keep our distance, thank her for maintaining the rebellion, and then you take over. She’ll fade into the background eventually, and you won’t need to see her anymore after that if that’s your wish.” Josie cupped his face, staring up at him fiercely. “You don’t owe her anything, do you hear me?”

“Grayson!” Jameson called, his voice faint.

Their conversations stalled out as they turned toward the sound of the Omega’s voice, his hurried footsteps increasing in volume until he was near them.

“We’ve got a problem.”

“What?” Grayson asked gruffly, reluctantly turning away from Josie to stare at the Omega.

“A few of the men have been spreading out in groups of two to monitor our surroundings. They come back every few hours to check in and switch guards.”

“And?”

Jameson let out a deep breath. “This last rotation, the men guarding the west perimeter never checked in. It’s been half an hour.”

“What are you thinking?”

Jameson hesitated. “It could be anything. Maybe they wandered too deep into the woods and got lost. Maybe one fell and broke an ankle, and the other didn’t want to leave his side, so they’re waiting for us. A wild animal could have attacked them.”

“Or you’re thinking it’s an ambush,” Grayson tacked on darkly. “You think the humans might have found us?”

Jameson swallowed thickly. “I hope not.”