Page 14 of The Feisty Omega

Thank fuck, I was outta there!

I got to my feet before anyone could say anything to stop me.

“Sure. Thanks for lunch,” I added, bowing my head respectfully to Alpha and the Alpha Mate. I even gave Mack a smile, though it was kind of through gritted teeth.

I was beside Tal so fast, his eyes flared wide and the eyebrows came up.

“Hey, I’m sorry about that. I hope it wasn’t too tiresome,” he murmured as we walked outside together.

“Nah. It was okay. What’s with that guy though? He kept putting food on my plate. Weird, huh?”

“Yeah,” Tal said gruffly. He looked like he was going to say something more, but we’d caught up with his buddies by then, and it seemed the moment had passed.

“Hey, Irian,” Dar stepped up to us, “Gonna hang with us this arvo?”

My eyes darted quickly to Tal, but he looked relaxed now, so I replied, “Yeah, sounds good. What do you guys do after Christmas lunch?”

Dar shrugged. “Just walk round. Keep an eye on the pups. Nothing special.”

“Ah, okay. Sure. Thanks.”

Dar huffed softly but smiled.

“Tal, when are you going on camp?” Tal turned to the tall blond guy who’d called out to him from across the group. I thought his name was Yuri, though I wasn’t entirely sure.

“Haven’t booked it yet,” Tal admitted. He glanced at me, then said, “Probably after the holidays.”

“Cool. I might go with you. My parents are hassling me to go but I’d rather go with someone I know.”

“What camp are you going on?” I was genuinely curious. I never went on camps, even school camps. But this couldn’t be a school camp if they had a choice of when they went.

“Ah… it’s alpha camp.” Tal’s cheeks turned a cute pink as he admitted, “It’s to teach us to be good alphas and all the shit that’s specific to being an alpha. Physiology, psychology, all that crap.”

“Mmm. I didn’t know you guys had to actually learn all that. Omegas don’t go on camp.”

“That’s because omegas just need to do what they’re fucking told!” Ooh, that voice was familiar.Luke. Luke had already made it clear he didn’t want me hanging around, but I wasn’t the sort of omega to just take his bullshit attitude.

My chest expanded with a mighty breath, but before I could start my tirade, Tal deftly interceded. “You’ve got some very outdated opinions, Luke. Maybe you need to go to camp sooner rather than later. Things aren’t like that anymore.”

“Oh yeah, says who?”

“Goddess, Luke,” another one of the guys chimed in, “Everyone knows omegas have rights these days. Just ‘cause your family lives in the dark ages.”

Luke pushed him backwards. “Shut the fuck up, Kal. What would you know about it? Your parents are always away.”

“Guys, calm down,” Tal intervened, one hand pressing on each guy’s chest, keeping them apart even as they strained to get to each other. “It’s Christmas. Let’s not fight. And,” he added, “Alpha has guests, we don’t want to embarrass him.”

That last seemed to do the trick. Kal and Luke pulled away from each other, glowering, and moved back into their respective subgroups. An uneasy peace was restored by the time we reached the big tree in the center of the yard, and the guys stood or lounged around at the base of the tree, talking. Phew, adolescent alphas entering majority were unstable as hell. I knew I was safe with Tal there, but even so I watched the group warily.

They did a lot of talking.

For a long time.

I got restless.

I got bored.

Across the courtyard, I saw the younger pups running around. They seemed to be having a lot more fun than these adolescents who were lounging around acting disinterested. Guess they were too cool to have fun. I didn’t really want to leave Tal, but he was deep in a conversation with one of his mates about… something. I had tuned out a while ago.

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