Cassia: The Alpha King's Outcast Omega

Whatever it is Orion wants to say, he needs to get to it, and soon. Because maintaining my focus like this? I have a couple of minutes before this headache gets so bad it'll force me to stop.

"Orion?" Lucian repeats, making me grateful enough I could kiss him for doing what I need him to.

I feel myself warming at the thought of his lips on mine. My headache becomes a stabbing pain, and it forces me back to the here and now. I can't afford to lose my focus because I can only do this one time. I could try again, but by the time I've recovered enough to attempt it, Lucian and Orion's conversation could well be over.

"Just… I don't trust her. Someone is eventually going to come looking for her. There's no way a shifter is going to let his pregnant mate disappear without trying to find her. Especially her."

I freeze at Orion's words. What does he mean, especially me? Does he know who I am? Does he know my father?

"What do you mean, especially her?" Lucian asks the very question I'm desperate to know the answer to.

"I just mean she's going to be missed. She doesn't give the impression of being a lone wolf, and she doesn't look like someone who's had to take care of themselves before."

Although Orion sounds convincing, I know he's lying. He knows something.

At least he doesn't know I'm an omega because if he did, there would be no way he'd be pushing at Lucian to ditch me. Not with his vague warnings. No. He knows something.

Something he's trying to keep hidden from Lucian. But what?

"Hmm," is Lucian's response, and something about it, and the way his emotions shift from open interest to coolness tells me he suspects Orion of lying.

I wait for him to push for answers. As beta, he's the only one in the pack who can question an alpha on a decision without it being taken as a leadership challenge.

"We're not going to agree on this," Lucian says, his voice mild. I tense in expectation for Orion to order Lucian to force me to leave, because as alpha, Lucian would have to.

"I can see that," Orion says, surprising the hell out of me. "But tell me, what's going to happen if you convince her to stay? What happens when her mate comes looking for his mate and his child? What's going to happen when your mate finds you?"

Yes, Lucian, what will happen?

"You mean, if," Lucian says. "If my mate appears."

Orion doesn't respond.

I wait for Lucian's answer along with him because you can bet I'm more interested in his response than Orion is.

Lucian sighs. "I know she's not mine. That she belongs with someone else. That the universe has given her to someone else. Someone not me."

His voice is pitched low, so low, that with my pounding head, it takes every bit of effort, and every bit of concentration to focus on him. "But that doesn't stop me from wanting her anyway."

Orion speaks, but by that point, I'm out of juice. I blink my eyes open as Orion and Lucian's conversation falls away, struggling to process how I feel about what Lucian just said. I should leave, because Orion is right, I am nothing but trouble to this pack.

Kieran could come and kill Lucian. My father could believe they kidnapped me and wipe out the entire pack. And Kieran's father is not going to let me walk away if he learns I'm pregnant, not with all his hopes for the future of the Frost pack.

A future built on mine and Kieran's child. I place my hand over my flat belly as my head continues to pound. Everything in me tells me the smart thing to do would be to run, but all I keep hearing is Lucian's words echoing in my head. It doesn't stop me from wanting her anyway.

How do I walk away from that?

"Cassia!" Lucian's voice startles me enough that my book falls from the lounger as I struggle to sit up. The moment I do, the pain in my head forces me to stop.

"Oh!" I lay back down and squeeze my eyes shut.

"What happened? Is it the baby?"

Why would he think…? I realize where I still have my hand and yank it away from my belly before peeling my eyes open.

Lucian hovers over me, the naked concern in his eyes making me feel guilty as hell for having eavesdropped on what was a private conversation.

"No. No, I'm fine. I think I've been in the sun too long."

I mentally wince when the concern increases rather than decreases. Great, Cassia, make the guy feel even worse why don't you?

His gaze goes to my forehead, and he presses a hand to my sweat dampened brow. "You are hot. Come on, let's get you inside. I think I have ice cream in the freezer. And water. You need to drink more water."

Before I can tell him I'm okay, Lucian has me in his arms and is striding purposefully toward the house. I drape my arm around his shoulder and rest my head against his neck.

"Thanks, Lucian," I murmur.

It's impossible to miss the surprise flickering in his eyes when he glances down at me since this is the first time I'm leaning toward him with no fear or wariness.

"What for? Not complaining about you putting on weight?" he jokes. I smile briefly.

"Yeah." For defending me against Orion. For fighting to keep me. For telling me you want me when no one else ever has. "That."