Page 36 of The Feisty Omega

“Wh-what?”

“Yeah. I was never going to be home by Christmas. Alpha would have known. And he was most persuasive about me going. Well, actually, he insisted I go.”

“F-u-c-k.” Irian’s soft growl was oddly cute, despite the seriousness of the conversation. He’d reached the same conclusion I had.

“Has Marius been bothering you?”

“No. He’s been hanging around, but your friends made sure he couldn’t get near me.”

Of course they did. I huffed in appreciation. I must remember to thank the boys for taking care of him.

“Good. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. I didn’t stop thinking about you.”

“So… we’re good then?” Irian asked, still seeming that little bit unsure.

“Yes,of course.” I approached the edge of the bed where he was still sitting, though he’d stopped hugging himself so tightly. I grabbed him and pulled him up into a hug. He buried his face in my shirt and gulped.

“I thought… I thought… you know, that… you’d gone… that maybe you’d left to start your own pack…”

“Sssh,” I soothed. “Why would you think that? You have to trust me… I’m not gonna start my own pack until you can come with me…”

The fingers that had been clutching my shirt gradually unwound themselves. His body shuddered against mine as he took a couple of steadying breaths. He sighed and stepped away.

“That was the shittiest Christmas ever,” he said emphatically, and I had to laugh.

“It was, wasn’t it? Mine totally sucked too. I kept thinking about you and wondering what you were thinking about me not being here, and whether I’d get back in time to see you.”

Irian shrugged. “We were supposed to leave today…” he cocked his head, “…yesterday. Actually, I don’t know how come I’m still here. I don’t know why no-one’s come to get me.”

I let out a long, low whistle, “I barely made it… I wasn’t supposed to get back until Saturday.”

“What do you mean?” Irian’s big questioning eyes peered up at me.

“Well, when I realized the camp was gonna last ‘til the end of the holidays, I went and spoke to the admin officer about it. I explained the situation, but he just confirmed the camp had always been scheduled as a four-week camp, and that I couldn’t leave or my majority would be canceled for at least a year. But then a few days before the end, he suddenly told me I’d completed the compulsory requirements and I could leave if I could get myself home. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to do that, but he said he’d fix the paperwork for me. There was no transport, so I shifted and ran all the way here. Ran into a little trouble on the way, but… I made it.”

Irian stared at me, eyes wide.

“If you’d stayed the full time, you would never have made it,” he murmured, almost to himself. Then he scowled, “I wondered why we were heading home earlier than usual. That must have been so we wouldn’t run into each other.”

“Your family really don’t want us to hang out with each other. I’m almost certain they hope you’ll come around to accepting Marius when he - or they - suggest a union.

Irian gagged. “Like that’s gonna happen.”

I shrugged. “They’re gonna try. Why else would your parents keep bringing you back here every year and then try to make opportunities for you to be with Marius? And why all the stupid plans to keep us separated? Remember, last year I got sent out with my mates on a stupid fucking waste of time errand that didn’t need to be done, and the only alpha that stayed home and was conveniently here when you arrived, was Marius. And now the bullshit this year!”

“I wouldn’t accept Marius if he was the last alpha on the planet,” Irian snapped. “And no-one tells me who I get to mate.”

My lips twisted into a fond half-smile. Irian sure was a feisty omega. Whoever formed a union with him was in for a wild time.

Of course, I was almost certain that someone would be me, but there were procedures to follow. The timing wasn’t right yet.

Knock! Knock!

The harsh rap of knuckles against the door startled me out of my musings.

“Come in,” I called out. “Door’s open.”

The door cracked open and my dad came inside. He nodded at Irian, “ ‘Morning Irian.” Then he addressed me, “Good to see you home, son, and looking a lot better than when you came in last night. I’m sure you’ve got a story to tell, but for now…” and here he looked across at Irian again “your folks are downstairs wanting you to go home with them. We held ‘em off overnight so you two could have some time together, but I don’t think we can keep them away much longer.”

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