Omega Outfoxed Read online

  OMEGA OUTFOXED

  By Nika Lucas

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  1st Edition

  v1.0

  Copyright © 2018 Nika Lucas

  Published by Nika Lucas

  All rights reserved.

  Cover Design by Jennifer Pack at Black Cat Studios Design and Photography. https://www.facebook.com/blackcatstudios

  Kindle Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 2 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 3 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 4 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 5 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 6 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 7 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 8 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 9 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 10 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 11 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 12 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 13 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 14 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 15 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 16 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 17 – YUKIO

  CHAPTER 18 – ALEX

  CHAPTER 19 – YUKIO

  About the Author

  CHAPTER 1 – YUKIO

  We take our bow. My group, my pack, we bow as one. The crowd is insane, a fury of screaming, adoring fans chanting our name. I return briefly to the mic and say, “Thank you, Portland! We are Urban Howl! Goodnight!”

  I savor the moment. I close my eyes and lose myself to the roar. In moments like these, I am king of the world. The audience is unified as a single entity, screaming its love for us.

  For me.

  The world has never seen a male vocal group like us, before. All five members, are young, sexy, and most importantly, shifters.

  We are the only all shifter group in the world, three wolves and two foxes, combined with amazing voices and talent. We do a partial shift, showing only our animal ears and long furry tails, taking our sex appeal to a whole other level of cuddliness.

  The stadium is packed. It looks like the entire northwest is here tonight, and they scream “Urban Howl”, and sometimes just my name, Yukio, along with “I love you!”

  I could stand here all night, worshiped by both females and males. I would remain until they tire of me, until the venue kicks me out.

  Kody, however, is better at keeping the show going, especially the ass end of it. He slaps me on the back, laughing. “C’mon man, let’s go.”

  I turn, grinning like a fool. He’s sweaty and almost out of breath after a solid two-hour performance. We could go for another hour.

  I give one final wave, meeting the eyes of as many of the audience that I can, the same people whom I reached out to during the show, making each and every one feel as though I were singing to them and them alone.

  Hand in hand we bow one last time, and leave, stage left.

  Kody and I are fox shifters, the only two in the pack, with our black-tipped ears rising above our shaggy orange hair, long fox tails behind us.

  The other three, Mark, Liam, and Reggie, have wolf ears and bushy tails.

  Sure, it’s a gimmick, but we are the best at what we do, the most successful, and only mainstream all omega group in the country.

  Often imitated, never achieved.

  As we leave the stage, we’re greeted by our cheering crew and our manager, Garret. His eyes are a vibrant green, the color of cold, hard cash. He grins like the wolf in his blood. He’s the alpha of our large pack, and the vision behind what we do. He’s an asshole, but a genius asshole.

  As he run by, he slaps each of us on the ass. I’m last behind the curtain. He grabs my arm, holding me back. “Amazing performance tonight, Yukio. Fucking amazing.”

  I smile, using the moment to catch my breath. “Thank you.”

  He leers at me, as though he expects something else. I force the smile to stay on my face. I force myself not to shudder from his touch. I’m a toy to him, worth my weight in gold.

  “Fucking amazing,” he says again. He lets go, and I rush to our dressing room that the five of us share.

  I know he desires me. Most do. My career has elevated my attractiveness to a whole other level. I’m used to it, and as an omega, I have to put up with it.

  But my celebrity status also makes it easier to pull away. Like it or not, I’m untouchable. He can’t kill me while I’m making golden eggs.

  Garret is an alpha I could never love. He’s personality is greasy, as though he’s entitled to everything, but always leaves you feeling dirty afterward. He’s made us into super-stars, and made himself just as rich as the rest of us. Like it or not, as long as we want to keep doing this, our scene, he owns us.

  As I enter, Reggie slams the door behind me “Damn, that crowd was electric. Holy shit.” His gray wolf tail swishes back and forth. Reggie keeps his dark hair short and wears a well-trimmed goatee. He’s the tallest of the group. If you’re a sheep around Reggie, you should be nervous, because he’s got an insatiable appetite for both men and women.

  In a sexy way… we’re not monsters.

  Kody embraces me. I breathe in the peppermint smell of my best friend. We briefly touch foreheads. He’s as sweaty as I am. “You’re a god on stage.” he says.

  I look away, embarrassed. “Oh, so were you. You all were.”

  Liam peels off his shirt. He wears his dark blond hair long, and it’s plastered to his cheeks. “No, Kody’s right,” he says, “You draw the audience. You know what it’s like when you’re on a date and all they want to know is about Yukio? If you ever leave, I’m going solo.”

  I grab a towel and wipe my forehead. “No, Urban Howl will last forever, with or without me. Besides, I’m not going anywhere. Nothing would make me give this up. Nothing.”

  Mark, with his startling white mane of hair seizes me from behind, arms tight around my chest. He kisses my neck, in a friendly way, and says, “Well, you’re going somewhere tonight. We’ve got party invitations. Or did you forget?”

  I bust out of his arms and crash into a chair. I’m seriously out of breath. I open the mini-fridge that’s conveniently in reach and pull out a bottle of Tennessee whiskey. I’m starting my party early.

  It’s hard to be a pop god.

  We live this, we breathe it. It’s all any of us have ever wanted. The pop and rock magazines always focus on my Japanese-American ancestry, as if combined with being a fox shifter makes me the most exotic being in the world. Yet I’m still an omega.

  In fact, we all are.

  And no omega has ever reached the status that we have.

  Every day is a new city. We’re all only in our early twenties, and life is a party. We live it, we breathe it. I’m omega, and I could have my choice of just about any alpha in the world.

  I take a long pull straight from the bottle, feeling it burn like liquid fire. It’s become familiar. It takes the edge off of the pent-up energy, both before and after a show.

  There is one thing I miss, and I would like to love. But being omega, another alpha in my life would mean giving up control, having to answer to him. And how would I know if he truly loved me, anyway, or just the celebrity? How can you love someone who you don’t’ really know? Who you have created your own stylized image of? That I w
ould have to live up to, every single day?

  The only answer is to remain single, to keep my freedom, so I can keep doing what I love.

  I should be happy. I am happy. And booze can drown the loneliness.

  Kody frowns at the bottle in my hand. He’s an American red fox, and the closest to a brother I’ve ever had. I’m an only child, and my father is on the other side of America, in New York.

  Kody kneels between my legs and takes my hands in his. He takes the bottle away. I let him, though I stare longingly after it.

  “You’ve been drinking a lot lately. You okay?”

  “Yeah, sure.” I don’t look at him. I stare at the kid in the mirror. I should see a man, but I see a lost boy. I’m drowning. I see it in my eyes, my golden eyes that reveal my soul. When I’m not on stage, when I’m not performing, I don’t know who I am.

  “You can’t lie to me. You know I’m there for you, right? We all are.”

  “Man, you’re making a big deal out of nothing,” I say, but I squeeze his fingers. See? Everything’s all right.

  He studies my face, and then stands. “Get a shower,” he says, “You stink.”

  “Fuck you,” I say, but he’s right. It was a hot show. They always are. Our performance is heavily choreographed. We dance almost two hours straight, singing at the same time, no lip-syncing. We give the audience what they pay for. The humans love us, they love our anthropomorphic appearance, our gimmick. No shifters have ever been so bold, so flagrantly flamboyant with our bloodlines.

  I get up, too, and sneak up behind Kody as he walks off, snagging the bottle from his hand. One last swig. The alcohol hits me like a brick to the head. I make sure I ‘m drunkenly swaggering as I make my way to the shower.

  As I strip out of my clothes, letting them fall into a pile at my feet, I think that the one thing I don’t want, ever, is to be possessed by anyone.

  What Omega has what I have?

  “None,” I say out loud, but why does it feel like something’s missing? Why does it feel like there’s a void that I cannot fill, no matter how many parties I attend? No matter how many beautiful people that want to bed me?

  Tonight, I think I might take someone to bed, someone to fill the void for one night.

  A night of liquor, drugs, and cock.

  The rock star’s life.

  CHAPTER 2 – ALEX

  Lunar Pub isn’t anything special, just a dark hole in the corner of downtown Portland for a fox to disappear into. The counter holds my shot of snake bite, the second one for the evening, and not the last.

  I’m not here looking for anything, except a place to disappear, and certainly not a one-night stand.

  I like Lunar for the atmosphere, not quite dive bar enough for the hipsters, yet not sporty for the college crowd. Lunar’s selection of beers and whiskeys is adequate, and low-light enough I can almost disappear.

  The dim light hides me well, as long as I keep my head down and avoid eye contact to keep anyone from starting a conversation.

  Most of the Lunar’s clientele are shifters. In fact, it’s one of the few shifter-oriented bars in the city. The humans who do come here often aren’t aware of who they’re sitting next to, but the scent of a human stands out.

  There’s live music tonight, some cover band singing nineties alternative hits. I have my back to them.

  Most of the room is drawn to the band, except for one omega down the bar from me. He’s a wolf, and a pretty one at that, and I can tell by his shoes he’s worth a lot.

  He’s attractive and a little drunk, and he's had his eye on me for the last half hour. I don’t have time nor the inclination for him. But the first snake bite has taken some of the edge off and I'm not adverse to maybe a little company tonight.

  When I meet his eyes, he smiles big – wolfishly – and damn, if the man doesn't have the most perfect white teeth. I can't tell his scent with all of the cigarette smoke and bodies, but I don't really care. I'm not looking for a relationship.

  Just a good time– that's not so much to ask.

  I know why he’s staring, and it’s not because of my manly good looks. It’s my wild, blueish gray hair. I’m a silver fox shifter.

  He takes my eye contact as an invitation. As he saunters over, I know he’s not what I'm looking for, but he's got a lithe body that could make me forget how much I enjoy being alone for one night. He takes the stool next to me, resting on the bar with one elbow facing me.

  He has long dark hair with streaks of gray. He's not old, by any means, it's his wolf coat influencing his human appearance. He's a cute twink of an omega. And it appears that he’s done well for himself, or at least, his family has money.

  "What's a fox like you doing in a place like this?" he asks. He shuffles a little, with his crooked grin, tells me the alcohol has given him a little more confidence than he normally has.

  I reply with a grunt and nod my head toward the second shot. I throw it back and return the smile, about as lasciviously as I can manage. "That the best pick-up line you got?"

  He chuckles. "No, I've got about a dozen of them. I thought the fox angle was the best one to run with. You here alone?"

  I look around, as though surprised that my imaginary pack has left me. "Damn, I guess so."

  He snorts. "Foxes."

  ""What about you? Where's your pack?"

  "I'll see them in a bit," he replies, "I just stopped in for a quick appetizer. Going to crash a party."

  He sips his cocktail, and eyes me up and down. He thinks I’m the appetizer.

  "I didn’t catch your name," I say.

  "Felix."

  "I’m Alex."

  "Nice to meet you, Alex, and I'm a little drunk already. Maybe too drunk to be on the streets. How about I get you into a party, and you be my plus one? My wingman?"

  "I don't know," I reply, "I'm not really in the mood for a party."

  "Ah c'mon, I hate being a lone wolf at these things."

  "What about your pack?"

  He laughs a little too loud. "Those guys? They don't do parties, at least not like this. To tell the truth, I'm kind of scared going. I'm only getting in because my uncle is in the music industry and he told me of this private party. You ever heard of the band, Urban Howl? They're going to be there.”

  He stares at me as though I should be impressed.

  "Never heard of them."

  "Whaaaat?!" He lets out a long drawn out howl of disbelief. "Everyone's heard of Urban Howl, unless you've been living in a cave."

  "I guess I keep busy. Maybe too much."

  "Huh. Then you really need to come with me, my friend. Haven't heard of Urban Howl. We'll change that."

  "I don't know."

  "Seriously? I mean you could hang out in this black cesspit of human decay and rot," (This earned a glare from the bartender), "Or you could join me in a night of the high life, with maybe a little depravity on the side. At least come check out the scene. It might be fun. If it sucks, I'll buy you a drink at the bar of your choice."

  "Oh, what the hell."

  I pay and tip the bartender, and my new wolf companion and I exit out into the night.

  Felix is a little drunk, and as we walk, I picked up his omega scent, that of lilacs and oak. Not unpleasant, especially when combined with the alcohol on his breath. As we walk, he breaks into his life story.

  "I grew up on the edge of Portland,” he says, “Playing in the woods. Been here my whole life. I knew my pack before we ever became a family, you know? It's just that we always knew we'd be together."

  "Sounds nice."

  "What about you? You have a pack?"

  I laughed, maybe the bitterness a little too poignant in the sound. "No, I'm not much for group dynamics."

  "Hmm. You know, you could maybe join my pack."

  "That's nice." And it is a nice gesture. I won’t tell him no, because I want to enjoy this night, for what it’s worth, a little companionship until the sun rises. I can see his attraction for me in his eyes, which is
a little strange. I mean, as a wolf, he towers over me by six inches. The omega has to be six-foot-two. I, on the other hand, and if you do the math, stand five-foot-eight. From a distance, we must look like quite the couple, and I'm sure others would confuse our roles, just because of size. At least until they catch our scents.

  But it's not like different species of shifters don’t date. I mean, it is the twenty-first century, right? And it's not like wolves aren’t attractive.

  "Should we catch a cab?" I ask.

  "Oh no, it's not far. But if you're in a hurry, we could shift?"

  "No." I don’t feel like it tonight. I just want to walk and forget about life, the real world, for a while.

  What the hell, right? I deserve a good time. And looking at Felix, he might just be the good time I need.

  CHAPTER 3 – YUKIO

  The party's in a penthouse suite in downtown Portland, the lair of some rich human wanting to party with the animals. He's a handsome human, well-groomed and wearing an expensive suit. I and the rest of Urban Howl are a little more casual, dressed in our white band t-shirts and jeans. Because of who we are, we can't shift completely into human appearance. They want us in our mixed form, and that's what they get.

  So I strut around with my fox tail out from the slit in the back of my jeans, and my two ears poking up from the top of my head.

  The thing about humans is that they like to touch. I'm an omega anyway, which means I'm the lowest of shifters, though I'm in a different league from humans. But they expect me to let them touch. The human women, in particular, are just fascinated.

  "Ooh, can I touch?" a middle aged woman says.

  I don't even get to answer before she scoops my tail up in her arms and cuddles it like a stuffed animal.

  "Oh my lord," she continues, "You're so fluffy. I just want to snuggle you."

  I see it in her eyes that if she gets her way, that's exactly what will happen to me.

  I smile politely and excuse myself, sliding my tail from her arms. If she had her way, I'd be shot and skinned and worn around her neck as a stole. I try to hide my revulsion of her perfume that she's left on my tail.