Page 94 of An Omega for the Lycan Prince
I nod. “In a way, I feel at home,” I blush a bit. “I… I love my pack too, don’t get me wrong, but I’m developing a sense of belonging here.”
“That’s because I marked you, I think,” Liam muses. His eyes shine brightly, though. “It makes me happy that you like my pack.” He pauses, looking at me guiltily. “Please forgive me, Annalise. For earlier. For what Marius said.”
“But you didn’t do anything wrong,” I say in surprise.
He shakes his head. “He wanted to hurt me, not you,” he explains. “You just happened to be my mate. I don’t know what’s going on with him. I have tried asking him in a friendly way. I have given him space and time. I’ve tried to be patient, then impatient, tried to force him to tell me, but nothing worked. Now he has even started lashing out against Finn.”
I frown. It seems like Marius has issues with the older siblings. Finn is going to college now; he is doing well. Even I notice that he is acting a bit more mature now compared to when we first met. Liam is living his life. He does well with everything. He found his mate. Is it jealousy? Envy? But Marius is beautiful in his own way. He has all the chances and options as they do. Also, I noticed that there are paintings all over the packhouse. Flora told me Marius painted them. Is it insecurity? I’m sure he doesn’t hate his siblings. For a split moment, when Liam was ready to punch him, he looked shocked. He probably didn’t mean to push him that far.
There is a certain air around Marius that I can’t quite read or understand. Like he is bottling up something deep inside him.
“What are you thinking?” Liam wants to know.
I explain my thoughts to him, minus the part about him probably hiding something. “You know him better than I do,” I point out warily. “It’s just assumptions.”
Liam furrows his brows. “You think he compares himself to Finn and me? Finn had a lot of issues with Dad growing up, though,” he muses. “He was always a bit rebellious. He has grown up a lot.”
“Maybe it’s a call for help?” I muse. “Maybe he wants your attention?”
It’s not just envy or jealousy, I think. There is more to it, but I can’t put my finger on it yet. I also don’t understand why he is angry with me. Is it really because I’m an Omega, or is there more to it?
Liam blinks in surprise. “You think so? What for?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “It’s just a feeling. But I don’t know him well enough.”
“I like how you think,” Liam says suddenly. “And how much empathy you have. The Moon Goddess really chose the perfect mate for me. I will need your help often in the future to help me see the bigger picture and understand what drives others, their motivation.”
I flush slightly. He has never voiced his feelings quite like that before. It’s one thing to say he loves me, but he just explained how he appreciates my qualities as a wolf, as his partner, and as future Luna. That’s… a lot.
For a moment, we stay silent before I chuckle softly. “You know, I like your family,” I tell him. Saying it out loud makes me realize I really do. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but definitely not that warm welcome. Sure, Marius lashed out at me, but everyone else was nothing but kind,respectful and surprisingly fun to be around.
“You do?” Liam asks, his eyes shining slightly. “They like you too. Mom already told me not to mess it up with you. Dad inquired about where we wanted to live and wanted to know if you had special preferences. I think they were both impressed by how you handled the situation with Marius.”
“Say, how do your parents keep track of such a huge pack? I thought Moon Blood is big, but Silverlake has how many wolves? Almost three thousand?”
Liam nods. “My parents know everyone,” he explains. “They know all their names. We all do. My parents pride themselves on knowing what’s going on in the pack. The pack is big, but that’s not an excuse to be ignorant.”
I beam at him. “That’s fantastic. I like this approach.”
“You do?” He sounds happy.
“Absolutely. Alpha Cedric also always makes sure to know what’s going on. I really respect that in an Alpha and Luna. I was hoping I could do the same, although… as an outsider it might take me a while.”
He smiles warmly at me. “I will support you as much as possible.”
“Okay.” I smile brightly. “Now, show me everything!”
The next few hours, Liam leads me around the pack grounds. We visit the nursery of the packhouse first. I admit I’m not overly obsessed with little kids, but the pups there are adorable. We come right on time for them to sing a song. Liam stands back a bit while I approach the group.
“Look who comes to visit us,” their teacher, a young Beta she-wolf, smiles. “Alpha Liam and his mate, the future Luna Annalise.”
The kids surround me, eyes wide with curiosity and awe. “What does that mean? Mate?” one tiny guy demands.
“That’s someone you wrestle with,” another boy says proudly. “Papa says so.”
“Ah,” some of the kids nod their heads.
A girl tilts her head. “Mommy said it’s also someone who always distracts you with games while you are supposed to do your work.”
