Page 27 of Mating the Omega
I suspected I knew the reason for that. Maybe it was just as well to have witnesses to my deflowering. I snickered a little in juvenile humor at word, then sobered. Today was going to be a shitstorm of epic proportions.
Mac held his hand out to help me up. I paused and waited to see if the omega thing would kick in and force me to take his hand. It didn’t, but what did happen was that Mac’s expression went from happy to worried. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Just trying to figure something out.” I took his hand, because I really wanted to, and let him help me up. He led me over to his shirt and held it out so I could slip my arms into the sleeves. Most of the buttons were gone and I couldn’t help smiling as I fastened the two that were left.
Mac stepped up behind me and ran his hands down my arms. “I’ll carry you so you don’t have to walk through the wet grass.”
I stepped away from him, though my body didn’t want me to. “I’m omega, not weak.” A small spark of annoyance made my words sharper than I meant.
He put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me before I could take another step. “That’s not what I meant. I have shoes, you don’t.”
This was a poor start. I was a shittier omega than I’d realized. “Oh.” I turned around and hugged him. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into me.”
“You’re worried.”
Yeah, I was. Though that wasn’t it. “I promise I won’t take it out on you anymore.” I stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his chin, the human version of wolf submission. It felt right, and my body stirred at the thought of being his. All my omega fantasies made flesh—it was exhilarating and disturbing at the same time. I wondered what his fantasies, if he’d had any, had been like. Maybe, after we knew each other better, I would ask him. Right now, it was enough to know that his body warmed to mine, and that awareness was sweet on my tongue.
We stumbled out of the trees in the gray dawn light, laughing at our missteps because we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. The rest of his team bolted out the door when we came into sight, but stopped dead when they realized what they were seeing.
The first to approach us was Duke, the dark man from my first night. He worked his jaw and frowned in a way that made me creep back in underneath Mac’s arm, but didn’t seem to bother Mac at all. After what seemed like forever, he cracked a grin and stepped forward to slap Mac on the shoulder.
“I’m guessing congratulations are in order. I didn’t think his pack would give him up.”
Mac smiled grimly. “They didn’t. I took him.”
The words “Oh shit,” came from behind Duke. A man stepped up beside Duke, shorter than him, but broader. “You better let Abel know. There’s gonna be hell to pay.” His expression, if not his words, said, “and for an omega?”, like I was worthless. A cheap lay that would have been better left alone. He confirmed my suspicion when he added, “I hope he was worth it.”
Mac let go of me with such speed that I staggered and completely missed him picking the man up by the shirt front, although I did have the satisfaction of watching him shake the guy until his head flopped. Then he set my detractor carefully on his feet andloomedover him.
“You’re forgetting who you’re talking to. That’s my mate, the future bearer of my pups, and the person I’m planning on spending my life with. I don’t care what stories you’ve been told about omegas, you’ll watch your attitude around me, and around him, from now on.” He held out his hand to me and led me into the security building, Duke trailing behind us.
“That was a hell of a scene,” Duke drawled. He leaned on the wall behind us while Mac went through his locker for clothing and I did my best to be invisible.
“We can’t have that kind of prejudice in our ranks,” he muttered as he handed me a pair of pants and pulled out a shirt for himself. “I’m sorry,” he said to me. “I don’t have anything smaller.”
“That’s okay.” I took the pants and held them awkwardly in front of me, avoiding Duke’s gaze.
Mac glanced at me, then at Duke, then back at me again. “My office is around the corner. Why don’t you go wait for me there, put those pants on, then I’ll take you home. I’m going to sort some stuff out here.”
And now it starts.The stupid omega, too dumb or too emotional to handle anything important or intense. I won’t deny being disappointed, but there’s a certain security in knowing that the bad thing has happened. At least now I wouldn’t be always watching for it. Obediently, like the good omega I was, I toddled off to his office and climbed into the pants. They were about four sizes too big for me, so I poked around in drawers until I found a ball of twine—why would he have twine in his office?—and was able to tie them tight around my waist. The bottoms of the legs, though, covered my feet. Like socks, only attached to the pants.
Fuck. Well, what had I really thought would happen? I’d been expecting worse, hadn’t I? At least Mac still seemed to treat me like a person. Some of the omegas back home weren’t any better than slaves to their mates. And, like most omegas, I could be a pretty decent judge of character. Admittedly, it looked like I’d missed the mark by a bit with Mac, but I didn’t think I’d missed it completely. It was all in the details.
The door opened and there was Mac. He wore a shirt now, which I thought was kind of a shame, and there was a new bruise on his face, which I didn’t like at all.
“What happened to you?” I hurried over to hiss at the dark swelling, then spun on my heel, looking for a first aid kit. “Ice, we should put ice on it. Or a cold pack.”
“It’s fine.” He folded me in his arms. “I want to know what you meant by that look you gave me before you came in here. What did I do?”
“Nothing,” I hurried to assure him. “It was just me. Silly omega stuff.” The practiced phrase tripped off my tongue as easily now as it had back in Montana.
“There’s nothing silly about you. Don’t hide things from me. I want to know what I’m doing wrong, so I don’t do it again. We’re mated—it’s not all going to be easy, but I don’t want the whole load to land on you.” He rubbed his nose over mine in wolfy kisses and I chuckled. Okay, no, it was a giggle, but Mac didn’t seem to mind. And the feeling of having someone I could bring my worries to was the greatest luxury ever. So when he asked, “What’s bothering you?” as we walked home, well, I felt I had to answer, even if I didn’t really know how to explain it.
“I’m not a stupid omega,” I said in a rush, my opening salvo. “I’m not weak either, or a push-over.”
“I never said you were.” His arm tightened around my shoulder. “What made you think that?”
“I just… You sent me out of the room.”
