Page 24 of Carmichael's Omega

I walk to her and enfold her in my arms. Hugging her tight, I tell her, "I'm fine. What areyougoing to do?"

She hugs me back for a moment while the other girls whisper back and forth. When she pulls away, the light is back in her eyes.

"We're going to get those Alpha-holes back for this." Her phone dings with an incoming text. She ignores it. And the next, and the next.

When she turns away and starts plotting, I see the texts coming from someone labeled "Douchebag" on the phone.

Douchebag: Please buenota u know i love u

Douchebag: I didn't know buenota

Douchebag: answer buenota

Douchebag: Please buenota. Ill see u tomorrow. Love u

I smile. Douchebag must be the Veep.

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Mattie

My shoulders slump a little when I see Dylan lurking by the entrance to the hallway. I shouldn't have gone to the bathroom. I didn't want to come to this party, anyway, but I wanted to be with other people for once.

He's definitely stalking me. I should tell Teague and let him handle it, but I just can't stomach watching my brother rip Dylan's arms out.

He would, too. I've heard stories.

I'm an idiot. If I went to another school closer to ClearHowl, everyone would know who my big brother-by-mating is. They would know that the Alpha and Gamma of ClearHowl are practically my uncles. Dylan wouldn't even look twice at me.

"You know, Matthew," he croons as soon as I'm within earshot, "gay wolves get rejected a lot." He twists the bottle in his hands, smirking at me. There's a keg, but some of the students brought their own beers. I'm guessing whatever's in the bottle is more potent than what a human might drink.

I swallow. It's hard to say what bothers me more, Dylan's constant, unwelcome come-ons or his reminders of how hard it is to be a gay wolf.

"I can be with you. You'll never survive a rejection, baby."

I snarl a little when his hand rests on my arm. He just laughs, condescending. He's a bigger wolf, and he knows that there's nothing behind my growl. My threats are empty.

When his hand falls to my ass, I inhale. This is it. I'm breaking apart, all alone in that monstrosity of an apartment, with Dylan sexually harassing me every day.

"My brother-by-mating is Teague Grim, the Beta of ClearHowl," I announce.

Dylan scoffs. "Nice try, baby."

I swallow. "It's true."

"And?" he presses closer. "Even if that's true, you won't tell him about us," he croons.

I go pale. Did Dylan just cross into the realm of delusion? "There is no 'us!'" I say, horrified.

"No?" Dylan says quietly. "Kenneth has spread rumors all over campus about you, about us. I cheated on him with you, did you know?"

I wince. "Sorry," I immediately apologize. "I didn't mean to break you-"

Dylan cuts me off with a harsh, sarcastic laugh. "Matt, I was using Kenneth because he takes a good cock. He's an ugly, nasty little fucker, and we weren't dating."

I fall silent. Why do I always apologize? Goddess, I'm dumb.

"Point being, everyone thinks we're together. And you," Dylan shudders slightly, moving closer. "You smell so good, Mattie. You're sexy as fuck. As far as I'm concerned, you're mine."

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