Page 83 of The Omega's Alpha
“I don’t,” Quin told him with a glance in the mirror.
Bax’s gaze met his. “Yes, you do.” A small frown creased the skin between his eyebrows and his mouth tightened.
It felt like something brushed against Quin’s skin, except it wasn’t his skin but a part of him inside. Like Bax had touched the piece of Quin that was his wolf.
Out of instinct, he slammed on the brakes, startling everyone, and the phantom touch was gone. “Shit.” He sat there with his hands clenched around the steering wheel and justbreatheduntil he could stop the wild hammering of his heart. “Shit, shit, shit.” He turned to look at Holland. “Is that what you were doing there?”
Holland nodded and reached out to him, as timid as he’d been when they’d first met. Quin grabbed awkwardly for his hand and pulled it to his lips to kiss it, the rich scent of the man he loved soothing some of the panic out of his bounding pulse. Not all, though.
“It was an experiment,” Holland said quietly. “I can’t even give you evidence for why we thought it would work—a little of it is from the stories passed down by the old ones, but a lot of it is just from talking to Bax and Jason and comparing what they’ve done or seen or been told they’ve done with my own experience.” His fingers trembled in Quin’s grip and realization bloomed inside Quin, through that strange connection of theirs, that Holland wished, at least a little, that he’d been born True Omega too. And knowing Holland, he wanted it because of Quin, not for any gain for himself. Because everyone wanted a True Omega.
Oh, Lysoon help me.
He let go of Holland’s hand to reach out and stroke his cheek. “I couldn’t care less, and it’s less dangerous for you if you aren’t.”
Holland smiled at him. It made his heart pound again, but for an entirely different reason. Damn, but he loved this man—strong, stubborn, determined. Unbreakable. But he was going to scare Quin to death.
“Can we go to Bax’s and talk about this?” Holland glanced into the back seat. “Jason should be there too. And Bram as well, I think. We need to plan.”
“Yes,” Bax said, and nodded.
Quin looked over his shoulder at his brother. “Do you want to call them while I drive?”
Abel still looked exasperated. “Sure. That way I can yell at all of them at once.”
“Only once I’m done,” Quin advised him and caught Holland’s startled expression. “Don’t think I’m not still pissed. I love you, but that was foolish. If you’d asked, we could have worked something out.” He had to stop, or he’d work himself into a rage again. Holland’s energy came sneaking out in response to his leaking emotions, tentative and worried. Quin stroked it with his and let Holland feel his anger and the root of it, his fear. Though he doubted Holland had realized yet why Quin was still afraid.
What he’d felt from Bax just now had been very much like what he’d come to call his and Holland’s little games. He’d thought it was just a pleasant side-effect of having an omega mate that no one talked about because it was so weird. But if Holland was a True Omega like his cousin, the fight would be on for sure with the other packs.
And if anyone tried to take him from Quin, Bernard the Bloody would be a kitten compared to what Quin would do.
He wasn’t going to tell Holland, though. That would be another blow in a place where Holland still hurt, no matter how much he tried to convince Quin he wasn’t bothered by it. To hear that Quin suspected he was as True an omega as his cousin would just open that wound again, when they’d only just managed to close it. And if Holland was a True Omega, then his responsibilities to the pack suddenly went far beyond those of Alpha’s Mate and Quin saw little enough of him as it was. It was pure jealousy and selfishness, but the fear of losing Holland to whatever this meant drove him forward regardless.
They met Duke, Bram, Mac, and Jason at Abel’s and ended up having a rip-roaring argument standing around in the back yard. Nothing got solved. While Quin had to admit, if only to himself, that part of the problem was the secret he was keeping, it wasn’t all of it. The alphas were in agreement that if the omegas wanted to practice, they should practice on their mates first. To which the omegas began to argue, culminating in Jason kicking a ball across the yard and yelling, “Do you think I haven’t been since we’ve been mated? I just didn’t know I was doing it!”
“It’s time to move on to the next stage and see what can be done with it,” Holland said, and Bax backed him up. Abel’s mate seemed excited by this new direction in his life, and while he was still Bax, still charming and sweet and curled in against Abel’s side in devotion, he reminded them all that he’d been Alpha’s Mate twice, and it would be shameful to back away from this challenge.
“Who’s going to look after your pups if you put yourself in a situation you can’t handle yet?” Quin spat out without thinking. “No.” And he rolled his power out over them, because he was Alpha and the pack was his responsibility.
They all fell silent, even Abel and Mac, and then Holland gasped. “I can’t talk to you when you’re like this,” he said and began to strip. “I’m going for a run.” He threw his jacket and t-shirt on the ground.
“Holland,” Quin said quietly. “I just need you to listen and not go haring off—”
“I’m not one of your soldiers,” Holland spat at him. He undid the waistband of his pants and began to shove them off.
Out of the corner of his eye, Quin saw the rest cautiously drifting away around the side of the house, giving them privacy to sort this out between them—and probably escaping the line of fire. He reached for Holland’s hands to stop him, but Holland slapped him away, then turned on him.
“No. You might be my mate and I might be your property according to pack law, but no. You don’t get to try to force me and then just touch me like nothing happened!” He shoved at Quin’s chest, pushing him back a step and off balance.
“That’s not what I was trying to do. I just wanted you to listen.”
Holland shoved him again, then bent to untie his sneakers. “And you don’t think that was what I was trying to get you to do?” He stood up, and the setting sun glistened gold and russet off the tracks of tears on his cheeks. “I love you, Quin. I see what you want to do for the pack. But right now, I don’t like you much, and I need some space.” Before Quin could say anything, Holland changed and ran off.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Quin reachedafter the silver wolf as it raced past him, but he was too slow, his brain still reeling from how badly he was fucking this up, his body frozen with shock. Holland disappeared along the wall, heading for the woods at the north end of the enclave. Leaving Quin behind.
Shit. You idiot.He bent to pick up Holland’s clothing, folding it neatly because that was what Holland would do and making a neat pile to take home.
