Page 14 of Unsubmissive Omega
“Come this way,” Corinne ushered us smoothly towards a table for two set in a secluded alcove of the restaurant. “I recognized your name on the booking sheet,” she admitted. “When I saw you weren’t coming alone, I thought you’d like this table.”
“Thank you, Corinne. You’re as thoughtful as always,” I bowed my head to her.
“I’ll leave you two gentlemen to settle in. Your server will be across shortly.”
We seated ourselves and Xander watched as Corinne made her way to the front desk to greet the next group of arrivals. As soon as she was out of earshot, he spoke.
“Did I get that right? Is she… does she own this place? She’s an omega, right?”
I laughed. The expression of disbelief on his face was something to behold.
“Yes, and yes. This is her restaurant. She started it herself a couple of years ago.”
Xander looked stunned. “I’ve never heard of an omega running a business before. I’m certain that isn’t allowed back where I came from.”
“Yeah, well things are a bit different in the major cities,” I told him. “There the Council has a much bigger stranglehold over things. In the city, money talks. But out here, where it’s all pack lands and small towns, not so much. The packs are a bit more open-minded and as much as we can, we set our own rules. If an omega wants to be independent, they can. Well, not every pack thinks like that, of course, but the majority do. And while technically this restaurant isn’t on pack lands, we’d still jump in and defend her if anyone tried to mess with Corinne’s business.”
“So, is that what she meant about you being good to omegas? I… I had the impression you were a… player.” The last word came out as a half-mumble. A touch of pink colored his cheeks.
I laughed. I wasn’t, had never been, a player. And I was pretty sure I had more of a reputation as a recluse than as someone who enjoyed the favors of the local omega population.
“I don’t know where you got that idea. I really don’t date often. Ever since taking over the pack, I haven’t had time to put mucheffort into relationships.” I cringed as I said that, because I knew it didn’t sound promising. The truth was, though, that until now I’d also never met anyone who inspired me to make the time. I owed him the truth. “I never met anyone who I really wanted to make it work with either, so… I didn’t,” I shrugged. “But I am willing now.”
Xander looked at me skeptically, but before I could insist or attempt to convince him, our server arrived to take our drinks order.
Once he was gone, Xander turned to me again, veering away from the more personal topic of my dating habits.
“Tell me more about the ways you’re helping omegas.”
“Well, I’m not doing as much as I’d like to,” I replied, thinking of the numerous constraints imposed by the Council. “But I ensure all our pack omegas get an education, including supporting them while they attend university, if that’s what they want, and we help them find jobs. We’ve also introduced a number of programs to support those omegas that want to live independently, provide heat suppressants, and when needed, find appropriate alphas to take unmated omegas through their heats – if that’s what they want, of course.”
That last program was something I was particularly proud of. Omegas could only take heat-suppressants for so long before they risked damaging their health and future reproductive capacity, and toys could only go so far in easing an omega through heat. Omegas were mating older, these days, or even not at all, so heats were becoming more of an issue. Omegas often wanted a trusted alpha to help them through their heatsbut sometimes they didn’t have anyone close to them that they felt comfortable sharing such intimacy with. We had severalunattached alphas in the pack who were exceptionally kind and discreet and could be trusted to help out when required. They were very well regarded, and their services were pretty popular within the pack.
Using one of our own alphas for this service did mean the omegas would run into them from time to time as part of normal pack life, however, and some omegas felt uncomfortable about this. Therefore, I had made arrangements with another pack whose Alpha I knew well, and they provided us with a couple of trusted alphas when required. All the alphas had been carefully vetted and we’d never had any complaints about them, quite the opposite. The pack provided accommodation in a secluded section of our pack lands where the omega could see out their heat with the alpha without embarrassment or feeling self-conscious.
Of course, that was the ideal. Omega heats could be brutal and humiliating, and I couldn’t guarantee no omega ever felt embarrassed. But we tried to create an environment where whatever happened during an omega heat was considered natural and normal, and from information relayed back to me from my sister, the omegas were extremely pleased with arrangements.
“As Alpha Mate you’d be able to introduce your own programs to help omegas.”
That was when I saw the first bit of genuine interest in those stormy green eyes. Butof courseit came with a challenge.
“Yeah? Even though I have no education myself?”
“Um. Firstly, you don’t need a formal education to have good ideas about what needs to be done. Betas and alphas are usuallythe ones that create the programs, but as an omega you’re better placed than most to understand what really matters.”
Xander acknowledged that, nodding his head gravely. “And second?”
“Secondly… well, I’m pretty damn surprised your uncle didn’t give you an education. Goddess knows, he’s got the money…”
Xander scoffed, interrupting. “My uncle doesn’t give two fucks about omegas. All his kids are alphas. Living in his house was… unpleasant.” The disdainful curl of his lip suggested this was an understatement.
My hackles rose. “Did he… did he hit you?” My voice dropped to a low growl. My wolf was possessive and he didnotlike this.
The silence was telling. Xander dropped his eyes. In a low voice, he mumbled, “Not often. I locked myself in my room, to keep out of his way. My cousins were no better so it was best to stay away from the whole family.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, placing my hand over his where it picked at the tablecloth.
“I’m fine,” he said sharply, withdrawing his hand. “I survived it. Now I’ll just survive this.”
