Page 17 of The Feisty Omega

My gut clenched, squeezing painfully. My heart rate spiked, literally jumping into my mouth.

Oh Goddess, don’t take him away from me!

We’d been getting along so well… he was… he was… well, a friend, but… something told me…. It felt like it would be wrong for himnotto be in my life.

But… I didn’t want him in trouble with his Alpha.

Maybe I should walk away.

I didn’t want to.

In the end, I followed him back to his house, unsure what to do. Had his dad drawn the same conclusion about what was going on at lunch? If so, he was probably not gonna welcome me into the house this time. He wouldn’t want Tal to risk angering their Alpha by disrupting the Alpha’s plans.

Maybe I needed to say something.

Maybe I’d do it later.

We were back at his house before I could decide what to do. I held my breath as we entered the room, my pulse throbbing in my wrist, a nervous tic twitching above one eye. A high-pitched noise sung in my inner ear, and yet… Tal’s dad seemed welcoming and even pointed us towards food in the kitchen.

I hoped Tal didn’t hear thewhooshof air escaping as I relaxed slightly behind him.

“Wanna grab plates and eat watching movies in my room? Or are you expected to join your parents tonight?” Tal seemed to expect me to stay. He wasn’t sending me away, not yet.

I told him I wasn’t expected at home. Truth is, my presence or absence probably wouldn’t normally be noted.

If I hadn’t been watching so intently, I would have missed the way Tal’s body relaxed with my words. Maybe he was afraidI’dbe the one to leave.

The scent of roasted meats smacked me right in the nostrils as we entered the kitchen, and instantly saliva began pooling in my mouth. Dinner was leftovers from our Christmas lunch.

“Help yourself,” said Tal, passing me a plate.

“Mmm, thanks. I’m starving.”

The residue of heat from the oven suggested the food had been reheated, though the platter itself was cool to touch as I helped myself to a pile of venison (yippee!) and some of everything else. Mainly venison, though.

Tal’s intense blue eyes pinned me.

“I thought you didn’t like venison,” he said, eyebrows drawing down in a puzzled ‘V’.

“Pfft!” I retorted. “Of course, I like venison. Ilovevenison. I just wasn’t having that guy telling me what I was gonna eat.”

Tal huffed but the corner of his mouth was twitching. Those mesmerizing blue eyes dazzled me. I couldn’t help my lips curving at the corners too. I sidled up to him.

“You’re not gonna tell me what I can and can’t eat, are you?”

“I would not even think about it.”

Tal laughed.

He understood me. I didn’t think he even really saw me as an omega. He just saw me as me. I liked that.

Chapter 09

TAL

That year the Christmas holidays were way more fun than usual. Irian continued to hang out with me and my friends, most of whom quickly came to accept him as one of us. It helped that he was mature for his age, and that he had a generally friendly and fun nature. Somehow, he'd broken the ice and most days all the young shifters were now hanging out together or playing games, regardless of age.

Some nights we all bunked down in the dormitories with the younger shifters. My friends and I took the top bunks, talking well past the time the younger ones had dropped off to sleep.

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