If You Can't Stand The Heat Read online

  If You Can’t Stand the Heat

  (A short Alpha and Omega Story )

  Written by Lisa Oliver

  If You Can’t Stand The Heat (Alpha and Omega Series #5)

  Copyright © Lisa Oliver, 2018

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Cover Design by Lisa Oliver

  Cover pictures courtesy of Shutterstock subscription purchases

  First Edition August 2017 – printed in the SuMMer Heat Anthology (Various authors taken out of print January 2018)

  Revised and re-edited Second Edition – February 2018

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, Lisa Oliver. [email protected]

  No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the internet or any other means, electronic or print, without permission from Lisa Oliver. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights and livelihood is appreciated.

  If You Can’t Stand The Heat is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Blurb

  Stone, alpha wolf and tracker for the council, was on an unusual but easily completed job; all he had to do was pick up a runaway omega and return him to his home pack. Sounded simple enough but when Stone catches sight of Wyatt, living in a derelict cabin in the middle of nowhere, he knows his life is about to change.

  Wyatt, omega wolf, has been on the run from a forced mating for three years; living hand to mouth, doing his best to raise his four-year-old sister, Maddie. Always watching over his shoulder, scared to interact with anyone, he has no idea how much his life will change when a stranger knocks on his door during a summer storm.

  But Wyatt’s past isn’t about to let him go and when the council gets involved, Stone must do his best to protect the man who stole his heart and the sweet little girl who calls him Uncle. After all, if you can’t stand the heat….

  M/M true mate romance. Heat level 4.

  Dedication

  No story, regardless of length, is written without the help of friends and the people around me. I want to send a huge thank you to all my lovely readers who let me know how excited they are about my new stories. Thanks as well to my lovely friends in my teaser group who send me inspiring videos and pictures, and special hugs go to Pat for my editing, Mary for being the admin in my new group, and Phil for his down-to-earth advice.You guys make me smile every day☺

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  Author Bio

  Also By Lisa Oliver

  Chapter One

  Stone twitched as a steady stream of raindrops dripped down his back. He’d been holding his position for over four hours and while the weather was warm, heralding the start of summer, the persistent rain made his perch on the tree damned uncomfortable. As did the nagging sensation in his gut that something wasn’t right.

  His keen eyes swept over the tiny house again. Ramshackle was the word that came to mind. Not the sort of place a slutty omega used to the finer things in life would hole up in. Yet he’d been given this specific address and he wouldn’t leave until he’d knew who was living there. Stone cursed the dark curtains preventing him from seeing inside the building.

  His phone vibrated against his leg. “What?” Stone kept his voice low.

  “Why aren’t you on your way back yet? You got the address hours ago.” No alpha wolf liked being yelled at and Alpha Horridge of the Mason Wolf Pack was one of the worst offenders. Stone cursed the day he took the job.

  “There’s no evidence your omega is here.” Stone did another sweep of the building. “It doesn’t look like anyone lives here.” Horridge couldn’t detect a lie over the phone.

  “His tracking chip shows he’s in the area. Get him. I want him back by tomorrow noon or I’ll send someone else to do the job.” Stone’s ears were assaulted by the dial tone and he shoved his phone back in his pocket.

  His sense of unease grew. Stone knew omegas got a bum rap in a lot of packs, but a tracking chip was a step too far. Everything about the job was wrong, from the way Horridge got in touch with him, to the instructions he’d received. Stone was a tracker, one of the best in the country. He had no trouble chasing down rogues and thieves. But being sent to an address to pick up an omega who, according to the information he’d been given, caused trouble among Horridge’s betas for being a cock-tease…why did the guy run in the first place?

  “Not going to find my answers sitting here.” Stone jumped from the tree and headed to the porch. He had his orders but Horridge should have done his homework. He wasn’t about to drag an unwilling omega back to a pack, simply because Horridge paid him to do it. His gut told him there was more to the story than Horridge let on and the answers were behind a door that had seen better days.

  Laying his ear against the wood, all Stone could hear was the canned sound of a television. Cartoons were playing. Sniffing around the door handle, Stone stepped back in surprise as his cock filled. Things just got a whole lot more interesting, he thought as he pounded on the door.

  ****

  Wyatt froze. Someone was trying to take his door off its hinges. He looked down at Maddie and put his finger over his lips. Her eyes widened and she scrunched down under the blankets. “Not a sound,” Wyatt warned as he got up, making sure the bedroom door was firmly closed before he took the two steps towards the front door.

  “We don’t want anything, thank you.” He called through the door, praying it was a lost salesman.

  “My car broke down and my phone’s dead.” The rough voice didn’t sound reassuring. “I wondered if I could use yours?”

  “I don’t have a phone, sorry. If you go about five miles down the road, the store will have one you can use.” Wyatt leaned closer to the door. The man’s voice sent tingles down his spine and his wolf wanted to jump out and meet him. Not a sensible thing to do.

  “It’s pissing down. Can I at least come in and get dry? I’d love a cup of coffee if you had one spare.”

  What’s he think this is, a coffee house? But the visitor was right; the rain had been pounding his old tin roof for more than an hour which was why he was late getting Maddie to bed. Wyatt’s hand hesitated over the door latch. There’s no chance someone could find me here. It’s just a stranded traveler. Geeze, where’s your sense of compassion? Besides, he could hold his own with most humans…it was only other shifters he had problems with. “Hang on,” Wyatt said as he wrestled with the door. The frame was warped and the damp weather caused it to stick. “I’ve just got to…oh.” Wyatt fell back as the door was s
hoved open. “You…you…no, I won’t go back! I won’t got back. Get away from me.”

  Scuttling backwards on the floor, Wyatt tried to get his lungs under control. The alpha sauntered in like he owned the place, a half grin visible through his dark goatee, droplets of water sliding down his bare arms and hitting the floor. “I don’t know who you are,” Wyatt struggled to his feet, thinking of Maddie probably cowering in her bed. “You’ve got no right barging in here. I want you to leave.” He pointed at the door praying his arm wouldn’t tremble.

  “I think we’ve got a lot to talk about, omega.” The alpha took in his surroundings. Wyatt was painfully conscious of what he’d see. A tattered couch that doubled as his bed. A tiny kitchenette with a rusted gas cooker that barely worked half the time. His old laptop sat on the two-person dining table. The only new item was the television. Maddie begged and pleaded for it and while Wyatt could ill afford the expense, it helped keep Maddie occupied while he tried to keep up with his online work. Wyatt’s eyes flicked to Maddie’s bedroom door. Don’t come out. Please don’t come out.

  “Something important in that closed room?” The alpha moved towards Maddie’s door, and Wyatt gasped.

  “A lover perhaps? Your alpha tells me you’re quite the cock-tease. Wolves not good enough for you anymore? I don’t smell any humans in here but then maybe they came in a back way?” The man’s hand hovered over the bedroom door handle.

  “No. It’s not what you think.” Wyatt knew his face was bright red, but he’d deal with his alpha’s wild accusations later. For now, he just had to keep the pushy alpha out of Maddie’s room. “Why don’t you sit down?” He suggested. “I’ll make that coffee you wanted. Please.” Wyatt didn’t want to add the last word but it had the desired effect. His unwanted visitor moved away from the door and plunked his considerable mass on the couch. The springs whined in protest. Wyatt busied himself making the man a coffee. He only had two mugs and he didn’t think his visitor would want his drink in a Sesame Street mug featuring Oscar the Grouch and the Cookie Monster. Unsure he could stomach anything anyway Wyatt stuck to making a single cup.

  “Here you go.” Unwilling to get too close, Wyatt held out the mug over the back of the couch, standing as far away as he was able. He caught a whiff of the stranger’s scent. Aged oak, mulled wine, and the unmistakable musk of wet wolf. To his horror, Wyatt felt his cock harden and he hurried to one of the dining chairs, tugging his shirt over his lap.

  For a long moment, the two men just stared at each other. Wyatt knew this game. Horridge used to play it frequently. As soon as Wyatt spoke, he’d be hit. Wyatt swallowed the lump threatening to choke him. His visitor, for the want of a better word, was a lot bigger than Horridge. One punch and he’d be dead. He sat patiently, waiting the man out, trying not to fidget with the edge of his shirt.

  “Alpha Horridge sent me,” the big man said at last, putting his empty cup on the floor and then leaning back on the couch. “He claims you’ve caused dissent among his betas with your sexual advances and you’re to be brought back for punishment.”

  “That’s an outright lie,” Wyatt jumped to his feet, horrified by what Horridge had said. “I’ve never, I would never….” Shut up now. “That’s not true.” His mouth didn’t get the message. “The only reason Horridge wants me back is because of Maddie and my virginity and he wants to take that away from me too.” Please open up and swallow me now, Wyatt begged the harsh floor as he sank back into his chair covering his face with his hands. I’ve ruined everything. Why couldn’t I just shut up?

  Chapter Two

  Stone wasn’t sure who was more surprised at the omega’s outburst but he didn’t like the shame and horror that distorted the man’s beautiful face as he spoke, or the way his face was now hidden behind hands that spoke of a hard life. All omega wolves were pretty, even the males, but this one had the face of an angel and the voice to match. His shaggy blond hair hung low over darker eyebrows, brilliant blue eyes and a cute straight nose Stone longed to stroke with his tongue. Pale lips and a well-defined chin combined to create the most perfect face Stone ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on.

  The alpha was also wrestling with a huge slab of guilt. Stone hadn’t believed Horridge’s story but he took the job anyway. To think how his callous words about the omega’s sexual conquest would have hurt the young man wasn’t something that sat right with him. “What’s your name?” He asked gently.

  “Wyatt.”

  “Last name?” Horridge hadn’t been big on details.

  “Horridge.” The quiet whisper echoed around the room.

  “You’re related to the Mason Pack alpha?” Stone’s unease at his assignment grew.

  “He’s my uncle. My father’s brother.”

  “And he wants to mate with you?”

  Wyatt gulped but said nothing. He didn’t need to. The despair in his shoulders said it all.

  “Fucking hell,” Stone hated that his curse made Wyatt flinch, but honestly? “You’re telling me your uncle is trying to force you into a mating with him? Doesn’t he know that’s illegal?”

  “An alpha is stronger when mated with an omega.” Wyatt’s flat recitation was bad enough but now the young man wouldn’t even look at him. “I’m the pack’s only omega.”

  “And that’s why you ran away. To prevent the forced mating?”

  Wyatt’s eyes flickered to the closed door. It wasn’t more than a blink, but Stone caught it and now he was even more curious about what was behind it. “I didn’t want to stay in the pack anymore.”

  I’m not surprised. “Wyatt. Horridge has you chipped. He knows where you are. That’s why he sent me here.”

  “Chipped?” Wyatt didn’t seem surprised. “How? I never let him near me.” He fiddled with the leather bands around his wrist. “There couldn’t be…oh no!” His eyes wide, Wyatt ran to the closed door, flinging it open. Stone got up slowly and edged towards the room. His guilty feelings worsened as he looked inside.

  Unlike the rest of the shabby cottage, someone had put a lot of love into what was obviously a little girl’s bedroom. The walls were freshly painted a soft pink. The bed was clearly new; the decorator was going for a princess theme. Soft toys lined the floor and the dresser which was overflowing with clothes of all colors. Flicking his eyes back to the bed, Stone realized he’d been noticed.

  “Who’s that?” The little girl whispered as only a child could, loud enough for everyone to hear.

  “He came to warn me about Horridge. He won’t hurt you.” Wyatt’s glare dared Stone to call him a liar.

  “He smells nice,” the little girl smiled, and Stone was captivated. It was clear she and Wyatt were related; sharing the same hair color, eyes, and chin.

  “What’s your name, little one?” He asked, carefully easing himself into the room. He had a tendency to intimidate and he didn’t want to frighten a child.

  “I’m Maddie and I’m almost five.”

  “My name is Stone. Nice to meet you.” Stone’s hand dwarfed the little one held out to him. “You have a really pretty room.”

  “Wyatt did it,” Maddie blushed. “I was sad because I had to leave all my things behind. But I didn’t want the bad men to catch us. You’re not bad, are you, Mr. Stone?”

  Fuck, felled by a four-year-old. Stone shook his head. “No, sweetness. I’m here to help your…Wyatt.”

  “Maddie,” Wyatt said urgently. “I need you to think. Have you had any falls or scrapes, boo-boos you don’t remember how you got?”

  “From before?”

  Wyatt nodded. Stone ran his hand over his mouth to hide his grin. Maddie’s thinking face, with her scrunched up nose was adorable.

  “I haven’t been to the doctors since mommy and daddy went to heaven when their car broke,” she said at last. “He stuck needles in me but Uncle Horridge said it was to make sure I didn’t have any bad blood. I don’t have bad blood, do I Wyatt?”

  “No, sweetie,” Wyatt shook his head. “Your blood is all soft and
red and smells so sweet. Can you show me where the doctor put the needle in?”

  “There was two, I remember,” Maddie said, pulling up the sleeve of her nightgown. “He stuck one in here,” she pointed to the top of her arm and Stone watched as Wyatt stroked over the area, “And one here, but I can’t reach it.” Maddie’s arm was bent trying to get to the back of her neck. “That one hurt really bad, but I didn’t cry.”

  “You’re a very brave girl,” Stone said gravely as he watched Wyatt feel cautiously around the back of Maddie’s neck. “I don’t like needles at all.”

  “Do they make you cry? Ouch.” Maddie pulled away from Wyatt, pouting.

  “Sorry, Maddie, I accidentally caught you with my claw.” Wyatt pulled his hand away, something clenched in his thumb and finger. “Let me clean my hand and then I’ll come back and tuck you in, okay?”

  Wyatt hurried out of the room and Stone found himself the focus of Maddie’s attention. “Are we going to have to move again?” She whispered sadly. Stone wondered how long the two had been on the run. Horridge made it sound like a recent thing, but now Stone wasn’t so sure.

  “I thought you might like to come and visit with me,” Stone said, attempting to soften his features. “I have a lovely big house with a swimming pool.”

  Maddie’s eyes lit up and then her face fell again. “I’d love a pool,” she said, plucking at her bedclothes. “But Wyatt says we can’t live with a pack anymore. It’s not safe.”

  “I don’t live in a pack either,” Stone said firmly, “so you will both be perfectly safe with me. Now, why don’t you snuggle down and get some sleep and I’ll talk to Wyatt about coming to visit. Is there one of your toys you’d especially like to sleep with you?”

  “Can I have Jimmy?” Maddie pointed to a large, fluffy white wolf. “He reminds me of Wyatt when he’s furry.” Stone handed it over and after making sure both of them were covered with blankets, quietly left the room, pulling the door closed.

  Full night had fallen, and Wyatt had lit a candle. Sitting at the table, his shoulder’s slumped, Stone realized, to his horror, Wyatt was crying. Without thinking of the consequences, he quickly covered the short distance between them and pulled Wyatt into his arms, settling them both on the couch.