Buried and Shadowed (Branded Packs #3) (2 page)

He didn’t have the mating mark and knew it might never come. Matings were few and far between within the compound. There just weren’t enough people for each person to find someone they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with. And while it might have been a bit easier to…settle if they were human, their inner beasts would never allow that.

So while Gibson might have wanted another, unless his wolf agreed, it would never happen. Of course, in Gibson’s case, it was a little more complicated than that.

For Gibson, it always was.

Owen patted his knee with his little paw, his claws sheathed, and Gibson smiled. He loved these two cubs like his own, and since he was their honorary uncle, his wolf felt like they were family. In fact, his wolf stretched out, giving a big yawn before bumping up against his skin, wanting contact.

Soon
, Gibson thought. He’d shift to his wolf and go on a run in one of the few areas the SAU allowed him to hunt within the compound. One day soon, he had a feeling their kind would be able to hunt and roam in any of the forested areas around here, free and on their own four paws.

The time was coming for a revolution, though Gibson wasn’t sure it would be from tooth and claw, but maybe mental ability and policy instead. That was so unlike the past they’d grown up in, the histories they’d been taught. But as long as his Pack could live, he would do anything for them.

Gibson sighed and roughed up the fur on the top of Owen’s head before stretching. “Okay, let’s get this last part done and I can work on Anya’s. It’ll be quicker with hers because I already have the design done and it’s always easier the second time.”

Cole blinked at him, and Gibson was aware he’d spoken more then than usual, but he was trying to get out of his funk and get his mind on the task at hand. He could brood on his own later. It was what he was best at.

“Thanks for doing this,” Anya said softly, Lucas snuggled in her arms.

“It’s what I do,” Gibson said just as softly. And that was true. He wasn’t the kind of fighter Cole was, even if he could hold his own. So he did his best to be a master at the one thing no one else wanted to do.

A scent hit him straight on, and he gripped his machine harder before forcing himself to relax. Thankful the needle hadn’t been in Cole’s skin. But it was damn close. He hated that scent. Hated it as much as he craved it.

Though they were inside his little studio, he had the door open to let out some of the intense heat. It wasn’t as if they had air conditioning or heating within their little homes. They took whatever offerings the SAU gave them and built what they could. There were some genius carpenters and builders within the Packs, but even they couldn’t magically produce equipment that didn’t exist.

And because he had the door open, Oliver’s scent filled the home quickly as the large grizzly bear in human form lumbered inside to watch his sister get her mating tattoo.

“Oliver!” Anya called out with a smile. Still carrying Lucas, she left her lazy cat mate to Gibson’s devices and moved toward her brother. “You came. I didn’t think you would.” She cupped her brother’s face and that big bushy beard of his, and though Gibson couldn’t see her features, he knew she would look worried.

She always looked worried when it came to Oliver.

“I just needed a nap, Anya,” Oliver growled. And though Gibson’s attention was on Cole’s arm, he could still watch out of his periphery as Oliver picked Lucas from Anya’s arms and lifted Owen up from the floor. The large man held both bear cubs in his embrace and looked like he did it every day.

Of course, he probably did.

Since there weren’t that many buildings to house every new member of the compound, people were forced to double up on families. However, since Oliver was the Foreseer—a member of great distinction and sacrifice—he had a house for his family alone.

Gibson also lived alone since he resided in his tiny studio. It was hard enough to do tattoos for people who might not want them without other people looking on. Though he hated when others came in with their newly healed brands and looks of defeat in their eyes. Thankfully, it had been a while since he’d seen that since the adults had been branded years ago. Now those that came in had been born into a world where it was part of their rites of passage.

One day, things would be different. They had to be.

Gibson finished up Cole’s ink and went through aftercare instructions. Though they were different than the instructions he’d give to a human since they were shifters and could heal quickly. Oddly enough, the only human he’d ever had to tattoo was Holden’s mate, Ariel, and she hadn’t been fully human at the time. She’d been the first human transformed into a shifter since the Verona Virus had hit the world and the shifters’ secrets had become paramount. Claire, a wolf who had wanted Holden for her own, had broken the Pack’s trust when she’d told the SAU of their ability to create shifters, not just birth them.

Her betrayal had started the path to redemption and fundamental change they were on. His Pack had changed dramatically in the past few months, and Gibson could only hope it was for the better.

When Anya sat down in his chair after Gibson had cleaned up the area, his wolf was on edge. Oliver hadn’t left his spot near the door as the cubs napped in his large arms. There was something soothing and yet off-putting for Gibson in the sight of such a large man in a flannel shirt even in this heat, decently tight jeans, and two cubs in his arms. He carried them as if they weighed nothing, and yet Gibson knew the two kids were heavier than they looked in that form.

He hated that he couldn’t keep his focus when Oliver was in the room. Of course, if he were truly honest with himself, it wasn’t just Oliver who did that to him. There was another, as well.

There was truly something wrong with his line of thinking if the two people who couldn’t be more wrong for him were the ones that finally let his wolf come out of hiding.

Without another word, he did Anya’s tattoo. This was about her connection and mating to Cole, not about the fact that Gibson couldn’t keep his mind off Anya’s brother and another soul out there who he couldn’t have. This should have been something a little more special than his needing to find a hole to hide in.

Which was just like him these days apparently.

He just needed to run, to let his wolf out. And once he did that, maybe he’d get a clue and remember that Oliver was the Foreseer and not for him. The Foreseer didn’t mate, and even if they did, it was to another bear, not to a wolf with no family or title. As for the other? Well, she was already taken, wasn’t she? Gibson had been too late for her and was too wrong for Oliver.

He finished up Anya’s ink, knowing there were more important things out there than his needs. He didn’t
need
anything. As long as he kept his Pack happy, he’d figure out his own happiness.

And it wouldn’t be with Oliver or
her
.

With one last look at the new family of bears and cat, he patted Cole on the shoulder and gave the others a chin lift. The cubs were still napping, or he’d have said goodbye to them, at least. But as they were out of it, he left his studio and home without another word and jogged toward the den center. It was still too light for him to shift and change with the SAU guards on high alert, so he’d find something to do in order to get rid of this excess energy of his.

“Gibson!”

He turned at the sound of his Alpha’s voice and jogged toward where Ariel and Holden stood. The big wolf had his arm draped casually around Ariel’s shoulders while she leaned into him, her wolf in her eyes as she smiled. She was still new at learning to control her base instincts, but Gibson thought she had a better handle on it than some of the adolescents learning their place in the dominance structure. He figured the only reason he could feel her wolf just then was because the pair had just come back from their home, scenting of a mating of their own. Between that and the fact that Holden seemed to have missed a button while getting dressed quickly, Gibson had a fair idea what they had been up to.

If he’d been any other wolf, he’d have called them on it, jokingly or not. But that wasn’t who he was.

“Holden,” Gibson said softly as he made his way to their sides. He nodded at Ariel. “Ariel.”

“Hello, Gibson,” Ariel said sweetly. She smiled up at him, and he had to blink quickly. Not many people smiled at him. In fact, not many noticed him at all. He was there when he was needed, but people tended to forget he existed any other time.

“We’re going to work on some of the new builds,” Holden explained. It was getting later in the day, though they tended to work at night anyway. It kept the SAU off their backs and allowed them to work faster. It wasn’t as if the darkness was an issue for them.

They were predators, after all.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

Holden studied his face. “Is something wrong?” he asked, his wolf in his tone. There was a reason Holden was Alpha, and this was only part of it. The other man knew when his wolves needed him, knew when something was off. Yet Gibson wasn’t about to lay his needs at his Alpha’s feet. They were for him and him alone.

Gibson shook his head. “I’m fine. I just finished Anya’s and Cole’s mating tattoos.” It wasn’t a lie, but Holden would be able to take what he needed from that.

Ariel put her hand on Gibson’s forearm over his brand and studied his face. “You’ll let us know if you need us? If you just want to talk?”

Gibson slowly removed his arm, her touch too much for him. Unless he was working on someone’s tattoo, he tended to keep to himself. He might be a wolf, but he’d always known he was different.

“Okay,” he lied. “Tell me where you need me,” he asked Holden.

His Alpha let out a sigh. “On the building next to us. We’re working on a few new housing units for the bears, though it’s going to be a snug fit.”

“We just don’t have the room,” Ariel said sadly. “We didn’t have the room before the bears and cats arrived, and now it’s that much worse.”

Gibson studied her face as she frowned. Holden brought her close. “It’s not your fault.”

Ariel gave him a sad smile. “It kind of is, but the more I wallow, the more annoying I get. So how about we work on what we can fix and let me sulk later.”

Gibson sighed but followed the Alpha pair as they made their way to the job site. Since the heat started to suffocate, seeping into his pores, he stripped off his shirt and began to work. He needed the release of tension, and beating his body into tiredness would have to be the thing that did it.

He was well into an hour of hard work when the sweet scent of wolf and sugar filled his senses. He tensed and did his best not to look over his shoulder.

Of course, he failed.

He turned as Mandy made her way to Ariel’s side, her best friend and future mate, Theo, close by. The other wolf always watched her, cared for her, did everything a mate should do except mark her.

As Mandy was submissive, her wolf required more time and care than other wolves would. She was an integral part of the health of the Pack, even if not everyone understood that.

And she wasn’t his.

He swallowed hard and forced his gaze away. She wasn’t his. Same as Oliver.

He was alone, right where he should be. He couldn’t do what he had to do for his Pack if he had others, if he had someone to share the burden. They wouldn’t understand, and he didn’t
want
them to have his burden. It was what he had to do.

And Mandy would be happy with Theo.

And Oliver…Oliver would find his peace one day with his role as Foreseer.

He felt Mandy’s gaze on him, as well as Theo’s glare. He pushed himself into his work, lifting and hammering until sweat coated his body and his lungs burned. By the time he looked around again, they were gone, and he could finally breathe once more.

Gibson bent down to reach for his bottle of water and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He rose slowly, ready to lash out at whoever had put his wolf on edge. Yet as soon as he turned, claws out, someone else came from the other side.

The last thing he remembered before something smashed into the back of his head was a sharp pain radiating from his skull, pulling all thoughts of matings and confusion from his mind.

“Gibson,” a voice growled. “Wake up, wolf. The bleeding’s stopped, but you need to wake
up
.”

Gibson blinked his eyes open and promptly shut them at the blinding light. He growled, trying to remember what had happened, but could only focus on the fact that his wolf couldn’t stay still.

It prowled within him, lashing out and nudging at him. It wanted something, but he couldn’t quite figure it out. Rage filled him, followed by relief, and an overwhelming sense of unease and responsibility. Before he could navigate through the emotions, his wolf howled within and he opened his eyes.

“What happened?” he gasped.

Holden knelt over him, his eyes wide, though not his own. Rather his wolf’s. “Omega,” he whispered.

Gibson swallowed, trying to catch his breath, but the emotions assaulting him wouldn’t let him do anything except lie there and try to remember how to be
him
. “What?”

“You’re our
Omega
,” Holden whispered. “I have no idea how it happened, but, Gibson, we’ve been waiting for you for a lifetime.”

Gibson looked into his Alpha’s eyes, then around him at the other wolves who knelt in a semi circle, awe in their gazes. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

He couldn’t be the Omega. That was a place of power and great pride. They were the ones who helped heal the Pack from within and brought them together while the Alpha and Beta protected.

He couldn’t be the lost wolf Omega.

Yet as rage, happiness, awe, fear, sadness, angst, and nervousness assailed him, he knew it had to be true.

He was the Omega.

Gibson blinked.

His Pack was screwed.

“Who hit me?” he asked, his voice raspy.

Holden’s eyes narrowed. “That is something we’re going to figure out, Omega,” he growled.