Page 19 of The Feisty Omega

When the time comes, I told myself, I’ll leave and start my own pack.

Suddenly, I bolted upright.

Rushing out of my room, I made it to the front door in seconds, and threw it open. A white vehicle was parked beside Alpha’s house, engine running. Several people were standing around it, their backs to me as luggage was stowed in the boot, and hands shaken in farewell.

A lone figure with blonde hair stood quietly beside the vehicle, his shoulders slumped. His hand reached for the doorhandle, when he stopped still. Almost as if he felt the weight of my gaze on him, he raised his head… and for a brief moment, our eyes locked on each other. I nodded. He dipped his head, and angled his head away slightly, exposing his neck. It was the faintest of movements, a very subtle gesture, but I recognized it for what it was.

An admission. An acknowledgement. A promise.

Chapter 10

IRIAN

The year passed fast enough, I guess.

I was absorbed in my studies, occasionally helping out my mother with Council projects - fund-raisers and the like. I saw my school friends, ran a few cross-countries, and also spent a lot of my time alone. As usual.

My parents were always so busy with their careers, they weren't around a lot. We didn’t speak about what had happened at Christmas, maybe because of my age, which kind of made it irrelevant for now, and maybe because they just assumed because I was an omega I’d meekly go along with their plans.

I’d never really stood up to them, but then again, I’d never had a reason to. Until now.

The reality was, they didn’t actually spend enough time with me to know the kind of omega I was. My parents might be liberal in some respects but they were quite traditional in others – easy enough to be that way if you’re an alpha - but traditionalIcertainly was not.

And I refused to be anyone's strategic chess piece.

But I was prepared to bide my time. There was no need to rock the boat yet. Ultimately, though, I would do exactly what I wanted, whether my parents approved or not.

Lying in my bed at night, I wrapped myself in the comforting warmth of certainty. I knew what I wanted, though I didn’t quite understand it. But that was okay. I was where I was meant to be right now. I also knew where I was supposed to be in the future and had absolute faith that things would all fall out as they were supposed to. I didn’t need to worry about a thing. The Goddess had everything in hand, and if not, well, I was perfectly capable of organizing my own future.

???

As the months passed, and the Christmas holidays grew closer, a sense of anticipation started to rule my days. I was waiting.

School finished for the year, and my parents still hadn’t mentioned holiday plans. I grew impatient. Finally, I took matters into my own hands. I couldn’t wait any more.

“What are we doing for the holidays?” I asked over dinner one night.

“We’ll be staying with Alpha Moray again,” replied my mother, helping herself to more steak. “Same as last year.”

“Good. That was fun. I liked having all those shifters around.”

“Thought you might,” inserted my dad, gruffly. “Seeing as you go to that human school. It’s good to spend time with our own kind.”

I shrugged. I had human friends, and for sure it wasn’t the same thing. For one thing, they’d think it was really weird if I sniffed them, right? But we could still hang out, still have fun.

“I like my friends.”

“You’ll like the shifters more. You just need to spend more time with them.”

To tell the truth, I was a little shocked at my dad’s attitude. Had something changed, or was it just that I hadn’t spent enough time around him to catch on to some of his prejudices? The Goddess knew, he didn’t spend a lot of time getting to know me.

Or maybe it was about knowing and appreciating where I’d come from. Or maybe it was about knowing what – in their minds – I wassupposedto do.

Hmm.

“You’ll be staying in the main house with us this year,” my mother announced.

“What? No!” I exclaimed, rising from my seat, already seeing the problems this would cause.

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