Page 12 of Unsubmissive Omega
Darius swore and moved to cover me from sight.
“What the fuck, Zendius? Can’t you knock?”
“Ah, sorry, Darius. They need you down at the omega house. It’s urgent.”
“You handle it. I’m busy.”
“No. They need you. Said it’s urgent.”
“Fuck!” Darius swore again. “Give me a minute. I’ll be right there.”
Zendius disappeared, the door closing behind him.
“I’m sorry,” Darius sighed, helping me up from the desk. He placed a soft kiss on my lips. “We’ll get back to this later. Let me get you settled. I’ll sort out this problem and be back as quick as I can.”
Silently, I tried to pull myself into some semblance of decency. I didn’t want to walk down the corridors half-naked and smelling of slick. Any shifter I met would know what had been going on and I didn’t want to be the laughingstock of the pack.
Darius grimaced. “I think I owe you new shirt,” he said. “Here.” He stripped off his own shirt and held it out to me. “You can wear this for now.”
My mate, shirtless, was a sight to see, firm pecs glistening under the overhead light, the skin a dark golden-chocolate color but not as dark as the hairs that disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. I whimpered, my cock trying to come back to life after the shock of the interruption.
I pulled off my jacket and the destroyed shirt, and slipped the polo-neck shirt on, inhaling deeply as it slipped over my head, the powerful scent of alpha rich in the material. The shirt hung loosely on my smaller frame, of course, but the scent was so delicious I didn’t mind. The omega side of my nature loved being covered in my future mate’s scent. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
Darius smiled softly at me, the corners of his mouth curving upwards, his jawline softening, and his cheeks thickening. His eyes roved over me and my body trembled in response. There was heat in his gaze and I watched as his Adam’s apple gave away how difficult he was finding this.
“Let me take you to our room and you can settle in while I see to this problem.”
He licked his lips. They glistened distractingly. A flash of pain and taste of iron - my teeth had sunk into my own lip. My breathing began to speed up, short and shallow. I was aware of my heart thudding in my chest.
Darius swallowed again, hard.
“Darius – it’s urgent, you really need to get down there immediately! I can take him to your room,” Zendius' voice traveled through the door, interrupting the little moment we were having.
Darius dragged in a shuddering breath, his head snapping up. He’d been as distracted as I.
“If it’s that urgent, you should be down there yourself!” he snapped, anger lacing his tone. The rise and fall of his chest betrayed how affected he was.
Setting his jaw, Darius picked up my case. A firm but gentle hand wrapped itself around my elbow and guided me towards the door. I was still half-dazed so I took no objection to it… I needed the direction.
“Come on, I’ll take you there now,” Darius said, eyes never leaving me. He seemed reluctant to take his eyes off me, but he was becoming agitated - minutes had passed since Zendius had asked him to attend to this ‘emergency’. Once we were out thedoor, he strode rapidly down the corridor, and I had to hurry to keep pace. I heard the rustle of clothes behind us, as Zendius followed us, but all my senses were attuned to the large alpha striding by my side.
Darius led us down the corridor, back past the entranceway and further down the same corridor which passed a kitchen, dog-legged and continued on. The chilly, dark atmosphere wrapped itself around us, cooling any remaining ardor I might have felt. We continued striding rapidly to the end, the walls dark around us, the atmosphere calm and quiet down here. I guessed these might be private quarters because there was no-one at all down here. A door at the end blocked our path, but Darius turned the handle, and the door opened noiselessly into a very large room. An enormous bed rested against the back wall.
“This is our room,” Darius told me, finally letting go of my elbow. I missed the contact immediately. A flutter of unease disturbed my insides. The alpha,myalpha, placed my suitcase along the inside wall and exhaled heavily. “I’m sorry to have to leave you so soon after meeting you, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, settle in here. You can rearrange things however you want.”
“Come on, Alpha, you need to move,” insisted Zendius, from the doorway. A fleeting look of annoyance crossed Darius’ face, but he schooled his expression.
“I’m coming.”
Darius hesitated, his lips parted. For a brief instant, I thought he was going to kiss me. But he didn’t. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” was all he said, before turning on his heel, the sound of his footsteps ringing on the hard floors as he took off down the corridor.
I looked around the room. It was sparse and masculine with just the basics - a chest of drawers with no ornaments other than a photo frame, a chair against the side wall, and the bed. But the bed looked soft, luxurious even, with its navy-blue coverlet and plump pillows stacked against the headboard. A small stack of neatly-folded towels on one side of the bed told me Darius – or someone – had at least prepared a little for my arrival. And that Darius slept on the right side of the bed. I was used to the middle, so there’d be some adjustment there.
Zendius cleared his throat from the doorway, startling me. I hadn’t realized he was still there, and it surprised me. Darius was already out of sight, the sound of his footfalls now only a faint drumming on the floor.
“Um, Xander. You’re my friend’s nephew, so I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Zendius started softly. “I know Darius can be very … charming – he certainly has all the local omegas twisted around his little finger. But, please, don’t imagine for a second that this is anything but a business arrangement for him.” He paused, a sympathetic look creasing his face, before continuing, “I don’t know if your uncle explained this to you, but Darius needs to show the Council that the pack has an Alpha Mate, because of a new regulation they’ve brought in. That’s the only reason he’s doing this. He’s not interested in having a mate. He doesn’t have the time for one.”
Dismay was a cold hard slap across the face and I struggled to keep my expression neutral. For a few minutes in the office, I’d thought maybe this would work out. That we could be true mates – Goddess knew I found himveryattractive – that maybe we’d actually learn to like each other, have a real relationship. And he'd seemed interested…
