Page 9 of Mating the Omega
All the confidence that the young omega had been showing slipped away. “I…my dad didn’t know much, beyond what was in the history books. I think Mom knew more.” There was an impliedbutat the end of the sentence, one that Mac couldn’t help repeating.
“But?”
Jason shrugged, and a hard look came down over his face. “They killed her.” He turned back to Abel. “Do we have a deal?”
“Tell me your pack name.”
Jason looked mutinous and Abel’s power rolled out again, forcing the words out of the omega. “Montana Border.”
Abel stood up. “I need to think about it.” He turned toward the door.
Mac started to follow him, wondering what Abel was up to.
Jason jumped to his feet. “What do you mean, you need to think about it? Isn’t it every alpha’s dream, to have someone at their beck and call, to wait on them hand and foot, and never have to worry they’ll leave, no matter how bad you treat them? You have a bad day at the office and you can come home and take it out on me, no questions asked. Hell, I’ll probably apologize. What’s there to think about?”
“Is that what you think happens in an omega’s mating?”
“I know it is.” Jason stared at them defiantly, but Mac could smell the fear and despair coming off of him, almost choking in its strength.
Abel grimaced and opened the door. “I’ll be back in a while. Ask Mac for anything you need.” And he left.
CHAPTER TEN
Well, shit, fuck, shit, fuck.I didn’t have enough swear words to adequately express my frustration with the whole situation. Maybe it had been a stupid plan in the first place. Maybe we should have gone north. Canada. Alaska. The North Pole.
Fuck you, hindsight.
I sat back down and tried to ignore Red, whose name appeared to be Mac. I was hungry, and worried about Dad. If I asked nicely enough, would he give me my phone back and let me call him? I looked over to where he was brooding against the wall. Maybe not.
Fuck.
I slumped back in the chair and closed my eyes.
Red spoke. “You hungry?”
Was I? I checked my stomach, wondering how long it would be before it started making noise. Not long enough. “Yeah.”
“You going to freak out if I lock you in here while I get some food?”
Fucker. “I’m omega. I’m used to being chained in the yard.” No I wasn’t, but only because we’d been running for what felt like half my life. The memory of all those tiny apartments came back to me, being trapped in the house during my heats.
Okay, maybe I was used to it.
I felt more than heard him move and when I opened my eyes, he was crouched beside me, a hurt look in his eyes. “I’m trying to help. I don’t like the way people act around omegas any more than you do.” One side of his mouth twisted up in a crooked smile. “But I’ve never seen one like you either.”
“Yeah, I’m just a treat,” I snarled, the words dripping with sarcasm.
He stood up and backed off a step. “Fine. Be an ass. But if you’re determined to mate Abel, you should know—he’s a better man than you deserve, if this is how you treat your suitors.”
That stung, and I was going to say something, but then he was gone, and I was left with my aching limbs and my sense of looming doom. My imagination was already painting pictures of what my future would be like. I looked around the room, checking out the neat workmanship, the square corners, the smooth paint on the walls. The land seemed well cared for, lots of trees and open space. This was a rich pack. If I had to belly up, maybe this was the place to do it. I didn’t think I was asking for much, considering what I was giving up—my life, my independence, my very personality.
And seeing that I was going to be at the mercy of these people for the rest of my life, maybe I’d better smarten up and play nice. No one cared how much I resented my lot in life, except Dad. It was time I accepted that.
The thought made me want to cry, and then I was, the tears rolling down my face as the fear and exhaustion and hopelessness, years of it, finally broke through the walls I’d built around them. I didn’t want to run anymore and, while I suspected I might regret this decision later when I was rested and fed, I was too tired, too scared, too lacking in hope to make any other. I buried my head in my arms and just let it come. I didn’t even care if Red came back and caught me—after all, I was just an omega right? Emotional, dependent, needs an alpha to tell them how to get out of bed in the morning.
I was about cried out, though, by the time Red came back. Instead of the sandwich I’d expected, he brought me a real, hot meal. Nothing fancy, spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread on the side, and a bargain cola so cold that water had condensed on its sides. I wiped my face quickly while he set everything down on the table and hoped that the pleasantly neutral expression on his face meant he hadn’t noticed.
“Thank you,” I said, remembering my decision to play nice. “You didn’t need to go to this much trouble.” I reached toward the cutlery, rolled up nicely in a napkin like it had come from a restaurant, but then I hesitated, uncertain of the rules here. He nodded, then I dug in. My stomach gurgled and made some embarrassing noises, but I didn’t care. It was real food, good food, and I hadn’t eaten anything more than cheap cold cuts and stuff that could be microwaved in weeks.
