Page 19 of The Sad Omega

I was relieved when this statement didn't seem to bother him, he just hugged me closer. There was a long moment while he appeared to turn things over in his mind.I could almost hear his brain working. Finally, Irian took in a deep breath and released a great shuddering sigh.

“So... what do we do about this?”

My heart clenched at the hope I could hear in his voice. I knew him well enough to guess what he was thinking with that sweet pure heart of his. I hated to be the one to disappointhim.

“Nothing,” I told him. “He belongs to Zarbius. There’s nothing we can do.”

“He doesn’t appreciate him,” Irian snapped, angrily. “He’s not even nice to him.”

I stroked Irian’s face with my hand, running my fingers through his short hair. “I know,” I said sadly, “But they’re mated. Isca belongs with him. He has to make the best of it.”

It sounded callous even to my own ears, but there was no way around it. Mating was for life. In the worst-case scenario, if Zarbius was assaulting him and ended up imprisoned for it, Isca would still never be free.

“All we can do is give him a place he can come to when he feels unsafe. And ignore any other feelings we might have.”

Irian was not happy, and he let me know it in the way he stomped off, but at least we’d cleared the air about our mutual attraction to the young omega. And things would just have to continue on as before. Our hands were tied, regardless of where our hearts were heading.

Chapter 07

TALIUS

A knock at the office door was a welcome interruption. I was back at the farm after several days in the city, and now I was catching up on my paperwork. Ugh! I much preferred the hard physical work of farming or even better, engaging with the rest of the pack, suppliers and customers, rather than annoying administrative tasks. However, as pack Alpha those mundane but essential tasks fell to me and were critical to keeping us financially afloat. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t jump at any excuse to be distracted from them.

This was the first chance Johnson, my reliable second-in-command, had to talk to me since my return. Johnson was a beta, one of the more mature ones of the pack, with a good head for farming and business. We had a regular weekly meeting where we caught up on farm business, but if he wanted to speak with me now, it meant something urgent had come up.

“Come in,” I told him, standing up and opening the door. “It’s almost morning tea time. Want some?”

“I wouldn’t mind a coffee,” he replied, rubbing his forearm over his face, leaving a dirty streak over his forehead. “It’s been a busy morning and I feel I haven’t caught up with myself yet.”

I went to step past him to go to the kitchen to make us hot drinks, but found Irian was already here, a tray in his hands.

“We’ve been baking again. It’s a new recipe,” he grinned at the two of us. “We saw Johnson come in, and we needed someone to sample it for us...”

He offered me the tray with two steaming coffees and a plate piled high with a chocolatey-looking slice. He winked at me and sauntered off. I paused a moment, admiring his fine ass as he sashayed down the corridor.

Johnson caught me perving, and I shrugged and went back inside. It was good for an alpha to appreciate his mate, wasn't it?

As we drank our coffees and sampled the slice - which had me moaning as the explosion of chocolate hit my taste-buds and Johnson hurriedly reaching for a second slice - Johnson asked, “Who’s the ‘we’ Irian was talking about?”

“Oh, that’s his friend, Isca, from the pack up in the mountains. He spends a bit of time here with Irian.”

“Oh, I think I’ve seen him. He’s an omega, isn’t he? Sort of the same build as Irian?”

“Yeah, that’s right. His pack was the one responsible for all that stealing that was going on a while back. He’s not like the rest of them though.”

Johnson shook his head.

“I’ve seen some of that lot in town.” He shuddered. “Seems to me they’re trouble. Doesn’t surprise me they were responsible for all the stealing.”

Then I remembered Johnson wanted to speak to me about something.

“Was there something on your mind, or did you just come for coffee and cake?” I teased.

“Oh, right. Yes, I got distracted by all this sweetness here. While you were away, we had a young alpha turn up looking for work and a place to stay. I was gonna turn him away, being an alpha and all, but the poor guy was so skinny and dirty. I think he'd been sleeping rough. Seems a decent kid, but it’s hard to be sure, of course. Anyway, I felt sorry for him, so I let him stay in the beta house until I could see what you wanted to do about him. He’s been getting fed and helping out around the farm where he can. And he’s supervised all the time, never by himself,” he assured me.

“Mm, guess I better meet him then,” I said, thoughtfully. Many packs were reluctant to take in an extra alpha, mainly because of the risk to the authority of the pack leader. But it was a problem for the young alphas. Sometimes they got turned out of their packs and had nowhere to go. I’d have a look at this guy and see if I thought he was a decent sort. I wasn’t too worried about an authority challenge – our pack was as loyal as they came – but I didn’t want to introduce anyone who didn’t hold the same values.

“Let’s go meet him now, shall we?” I suggested.

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