The Bear Essentials (Siren Publishing: The Stormy Glenn ManLove Collection) by Stormy Glenn Page B

over the bite mark Rob had given him. It felt wrong for anyone else to be touching him there.
    Hell, it felt wrong for anyone else to be touching him period.
    “Damn it.” The alpha’s eyes snapped to Rob. He nodded his head to the far side of the clearing away from everyone else. “Why wasn’t this reported to me?" he asked once they got there. "I should have been informed the moment you mated Casey.”
    “Why?” Rob asked. “Because he’s human?”
    “Casey’s not human!” the alpha spit out on a growl so low Casey almost missed it.
    Another one of those heavy silences filled the small meadow. Casey stared at the alpha, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the man never meant so say that. He wondered if he didn’t want others to know or if he didn’t want Casey to know.
    “I’m not human?” Casey asked.
    The alpha’s voice was just above a whisper when he spoke, as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear what he had to say. “You’re a bear shifter, Casey.”
    “But I don’t shift.” He was pretty sure he would have remembered that.
    “And you won’t.”
    Casey’s forehead wrinkled as he frowned. “But, you just said—”
    “You’re an omega,” the alpha said. “While you are a bear, you will never shift.”
    Casey felt like he had been sucker punched. There was a growing ache in the pit of his stomach. “How come no one ever told me?”
    “When your mother died, it was decided that it was best if you never knew of your bear heritage. It wasn’t like you were going to shift anyway so it was better if you grew up believing you were human. No one would be able to smell that you were a bear and you wouldn’t feel the needs that a real bear shifter goes through.”
    “Who decided this?”
    “I did,” the alpha replied. “I had you placed with bear foster families in case there was an issue. When one never developed, I decided to let you believe you were human.”
    “Why?”
    “Because you’re an omega, damn it.” The alpha’s voice was growing sharper but not louder. He was still speaking in a quiet tone. “If others learn what you are, it puts everyone in danger.”
    “Why?” Casey felt like a parrot repeating his question over and over again. He just had so many questions and so few answers.
    “Omegas are always gay and they always mate alpha bears.”
    Casey blinked in bewilderment. “I’m sorry, did you just say omegas always mate alpha bears?” Casey felt like sticking his fingers in his ears to get out whatever had messed up his hearing because there was no way in hell he had heard the alpha right.
    “I did.”
    This man was just as insane as his son. “But Rob’s not an alpha.”
    “He is now.” The alpha sighed, a resigned expression darkening his face. “You’re an omega, Casey. Now that you’ve mated, your scent is changing. Other bears are going to be able to tell what you are by your scent. They are going to want to mate with you. That’s why omegas are only mated to alpha bears. They need someone strong enough to fight off any challengers.”
    “This is insane.” Casey shook his head. The man had to be feeding him a line of crap. He didn’t feel any different.
    “Under the circumstances, Rob, I will rescind your punishment for attacking my son,” the man said. “But you will leave my territory by dawn.”
    “But…that’s like in two hours,” Casey insisted.
    “Then you had better hurry.” The alpha turned and walked back over to stand by his son, who was looking just about as confused as everyone else. “Go now before I change my mind.”
    “You’re kicking Rob out of your clan because he defended me when Raymond attacked me?”
    “I didn’t attack you!” Raymond shouted. “You threw yourself at me and then went crying to your boyfriend to get him to attack me when I wouldn’t go along with your little plan to mate with the next alpha.”
    “Do you ever listen to yourself speak?” Rob asked. “Casey is my mate. He would never