Page 27 of The Feisty Omega

“Pfft, like that’s gonna happen,” I retorted with the amount of sass they’d come to expect from me. We were friends now, and they knew I had a particular connection with Tal (I guess he’s Talius now). There was no way they would dream of using their alpha compulsion on me or even order me around.

“We didn’t know if you’d come this year,” Darius told me, and I frowned, but he didn’t elaborate.

I was afraid to ask. But I had to.

“Oh, why was that?”

“Talius isn’t here. He went to Alpha Camp. You didn’t know?”

“Uh, no. I just assumed he’d be here.”

“I was surprised he went now, with Christmas coming up and all, but, yeah…” Darius shrugged.

“Maybe he’ll be back for Christmas…” I offered, hopefully.

“Nah, the final camp always goes for four weeks.”

“Talius told me this one was different, it’s concentrated into two weeks. He said he’d be back for Christmas Eve,” Kalius said. “We were talking about it before he left.”

“I’ve never heard of final camp being less than a month,” insisted Luke, now Lucius.

“Neither,” agreed Darius. “You must have heard wrong. It’s always four weeks. I’m sorry, Irian, but there’s no way he’ll be back. I don’t know why he went on this one. There’s another one at the end of January.”

“Oh well, that’s okay, you guys are here.” I tried for an upbeat tone, but my cheeriness felt as fake as my smile. Of course, I loved spending time with the guys – they were part of my unofficial pack and they always looked after me like brothers – but none of them was Tal… Talius.

Why had he chosen to go away now? He knew I’d be here. We hadn't really talked about it when we'd spoken during the year but it was kind of understood that I’d be here at Christmas… but maybe this year hehadgrown tired of me. He'd passed into his full majority and was a full alpha now. Maybe he was moving on.

Maybe this was the easy way to let me down. I tried not to think about it.

I hung on to my hope that he’d be back in time, but by Christmas Eve, Talius still hadn’t shown up. There remained one last hope. At 11.45pm, I shifted into my wolf and slipped out of the dormitory. The shadows were stark, cast by a three-quarter moon. Its unworldly light bathed the yard, the buildings and the tree in the center of the yard standing out in sharp relief. A few puffs of fluffy whiteness skipped across the sky, mostly unobserved. I slunk towards Tal’s house, keeping to the shadows. I felt foolish, but I had to do this, it was my last hope.

The house was bathed in moonlight, rendering it with an eerie glow, but behind the windows it was dark except for the twinkling of the fairy lights in the Christmas tree. It was a comfortingly familiar sight, which eased the ache I felt inside.

Maybe I’d get inside, and Talius would be waiting for me, just like he had been last year.

With that hopeful thought, I squeezed through the wolf-door, the acrylic flap pressing uncomfortably on my back. Clearly my wolf had grown since last year.

Inside, all was quiet, apart from the faint buzz of the lights, and the mechanical candle cycling through its rainbow colors like it did every year. I shouldered my way between the presents, making a space for myself, and curled up on the floor, eyes facing the door.

Midnight came and went. In the early hours, as the dark in the room was starting to fade, I accepted my friend was not coming. I was grateful to be in my wolf form right then. It was my most healing form, and the way my chest felt cracked and empty, that was what I needed. I dragged myself up onto my paws. The children would be coming soon and I needed to be gone when they arrived. I couldn’t fake a happy face for them and I didn’t want to spoil their fun.

The acrylic flap refused to budge, and for a horrible moment I thought I was going to be stuck inside. But then it jerked open with aslap, and I slunk through. I made my way to the dormitory, tail drooping and dragging in the dirt, head down. I had never felt so low.

I shifted, climbed into my bunk, and pulled the covers over my head. Thank the Goddess there was no-one on the lower bunk to feel the shaking of the bedframe.

Chapter 13

TALIUS

I was frantic.

I’d been at this fucking alpha camp for two weeks, and I’d just learned they were running it for another two weeks. What the almighty fuck?

It was supposed to be a concentrated curriculum, doing the four weeks in two, and finishing up in time for Christmas. At least, that’s what Alpha told me when he insisted I attend this one because there were no places available for the February camp. I’d figured I’d be home in time for Christmas, and it’d give me the weeks after Christmas free… the weeks my friend Irian would be there. We only saw each other once a year around Christmas time, so this was really important to me.

“Do you know when they decided to run this camp for the full four weeks?” I asked one of the other alphas in the classroom, just after the lecturer set out the schedulefor the next two weeks.A horrible chill had run down my spine at the announcement. Irian was going to be expecting me. What would he think when I didn’t show?

The alpha looked at me, a faint frown across his brows. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t it?” he sounded puzzled.

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