Page 46 of Unsubmissive Omega
The day after Darius had shown me the vacation houses, I was heading for the omega house, when footsteps behind me alerted me that I was being followed.
“Hey, Zendius,” I greeted the alpha as I looked over my shoulder and saw him hurrying to catch up. This was the first chance we’d had to talk since my ‘reunion’ with Darius.
“Oh, hey, Xander, how’re things?”
“They’re good. I’m on my way to the omega house to talk about some ideas I had.”
“Oh, good, good.”
I cocked my head at him, wondering why he’d come after me, since he wasn’t really saying much now.
“Was there something…?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, right. There’s a pack run scheduled for Thursday. Do you want to run?”
“Uh. Well...” I was caught a bit off guard. Surely it was up to my mate to invite me. Humpf. I made surethatthought didn’t make it into the link. I didn’t want Darius thinking I was too precious to have his second handle some of the pack matters with me.
“Sounds like fun,” I kept my response non-committal and decided to bring up the subject with Darius later. Zendius chatted a bit about how enjoyable the runs always were. There was no trace of the strange attitude he'd had the previous day and I had to wonder if I'd imagined it. When he left to do some errands, I continued on to the omega house.
The opportunity to discuss the pack run with Darius didn’t arise until that evening, when we were lounging around in our room after a private dinner brought to us by Marta. Although I was attending pack lunches now, we kept dinner as private time for ourselves. It was part celebration of our renewed union and part substitute for the dates we’d never had.
“Zendius mentioned a pack run tomorrow night,” I began, casually.
“Oh! He’s right! I’d totally forgotten about it with everything else that’s been happening. I should have noticed my blood quickening, but with everything we were doing, I just put it down to lust,” he admitted, looking a little embarrassed. “Do you want to run?”
“Everyone goes, right?”
“Usually. Unless they’re injured or about to whelp. But you don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”
“No, I’d like to. I’ve never been on one.”
Darius grinned, a dimple appearing in his chin, the thought of running together seemed to please him. My mate looked gorgeous anytime and he had a sunny demeanor, but when he wasreallyhappy his face glowed, his eyes shone and his face literally became the face of an angel. Though, truth was, he was a devil in the bedroom. Heat flooded my cheeks at the thought.
I was relieved Darius didn’t seem to notice. I was getting better at only letting those thoughts I wanted pass through the link.
Chapter 21
DARIUS
The pack had assembled in the yard as it always did. This month there was a different atmosphere, a heightened sense of excitement. It felt like there was electricity in the air, the atmosphere crackling in the way it did ahead of a violent storm. The buzz of multiple conversations filled the mustering area, and as I tuned my ears to different locations around the group, I caught the words ‘Alpha Mate’ and ‘running with us’ and ‘he’s coming with us’.
I understood the eagerness of the pack, the building anticipation. After the initial thrill of the pack acquiring an Alpha Mate, had followed days of uncertainty and unease. Now they knew all was well between their Alpha and his mate – either by word-of-mouth from those who had observed us coupling enthusiastically during our makeup sex, or from the way both of us were covered with the scent of the other. To a shifter’s sensitive nose, with all the sex we’d been having, we must have reeked.
When the Alpha Mate joined the pack run for the very first time, it was a special occasion. No wonder every single packmember had assembled here tonight, from the eldest down to the smallest of those capable of running.
As I made my way through the crowd, Xander at my side, I was thrilled to see how the pack members greeted him. Although he’d only been moving freely around the compound for a handful of days, he appeared to have already found the respect of many, especially the omegas who had taken to following him around like an entourage.
I generally used a small grass-covered mound in the middle of the gathering place as a kind of podium, and as I strode onto it, Xander stepping up beside me, a hush fell over the pack.
I looked across the sea of heads, black, blonde and all shades of brown with the occasional russet, restlessly waiting below me. Normally at this stage of proceedings, there would be a chaotic mix of wolves and people, all in various stages of shift, or deshabille. But tonight was special, and everyone had remained in their human form so they wouldn’t miss what was, for the pack, an historic moment.
“Everyone, time for another run. And I can see from the turnout you know it’s going to be a special one. By the grace of the Goddess, tonight our own Alpha Mate runs with us!”
I lifted our joined hands, and the cheers and catcalls from the assembled shifters were deafening. Xander smiled and waved, the pink flush creeping into his cheeks invisible to anyone except myself, standing close beside him. I admired the way he projected confidence to the pack, although from the tremble of his hand, I could tell he was nervous. No-one else would have known. I smiled quietly to myself. He knew how to conduct himself for the benefit of the pack. He was going to be a great Alpha Mate.
After minutes of this commotion, silence began to fall in a wave, starting at the back of the pack and making its way forward until the last of the cheers fell silent. The crowd drew apart leaving a pathway down the middle and the cowl-shrouded figure of Xeres silently made its way towards where I stood with Xander. Xeres was slight of form, and not particularly tall, but he projected an imposing aura of powerful magic that had those on the edge of the pathway stepping back.
It was fitting for the mage to join us on such an auspicious night, and though he wouldn’t run with us, he had come to bless the run.
