Page 6 of Sanctuary
"It was a host gift to the alpha, but it didn't fit Graham, so he gave it to me." Ori twirled in front of Patton, at once entirely familiar and utterly foreign. "Ma got some chocolate and I made dipped cookies," he said. "What did you bring?"
"Pork meatballs with plum sauce from the yellow plums we picked last year."
"That sounds delicious. I'm starving, I hope they'll let us start eating soon." Ori bounced in place and the strangeness between them seemed to fade into the background. "Come on, let's stake out a good spot to hit the tables from. I bet those meatballs will go fast. I remember when she made them for Midwinter Moon, they were gone almost before anyone knew about them. Do you think she'd give me the recipe?"
"I can ask her," Patton said, laughing when Ori hugged him.
"Ori!" someone yelled in a disapproving tone."
"Oh, stop, Amelia," Ori replied in a dismissive tone. "It's just Patton."
And some of the excitement went out of the night.
Ori's chaperon trotted over. "You need to think about your reputation," she scolded. "Hugging random betas is going to set tongues wagging."
"Amelia, you know who Patton is," Ori said deliberately, as if talking to a particularly slow pup. "We've been friends forever. There's nothing wrong with a hug."
She shook her head and grabbed Ori by the arm. "The two of you are getting to an age now where you have to stop acting like pups. Now come along." She started to walk off, but stumbled when Ori pulled his arm out of her grip.
"No! This is my friend. We're going to go make sure we're ready when dinner starts," Ori announce mutinously. "Come on," he hissed to Patton, and dragged him off to the other side of the tables.
But, as they left, Patton heard one of the other chaperons say to Ori's, "Relax, Amelia. Neither of them are old enough to be a risk to the other. And it's not like they're out of sight. The dangerous time is while they're running. That's when you'll really have to guard that omega."
Patton wanted to feel offended, but he was too excited to have Ori's undivided attention. He hoped they wouldn't be constantly interrupted tonight.
Ori came alert and his gaze followed a tall, dark-haired omega as he strolled across the clearing on the arm of his mate. “What I wouldn’t give to look like him,” he breathed, watching the other omega hungrily.
“Holland?” Patton asked, confused. “Why?”
“You don’t think he’s handsome?” Ori leaned away from Patton, trying to keep Holland in his view. “I can see why Hunter mated him, even if his pack is poor.”
“Our pack is poor.” Why was Ori so obsessed with Holland? Sure he was pretty and exotic, but everyone in Perseguir had dark hair pretty much, ‘cept for Ori and a few others. Patton liked Ori’s sandy curls way better than the black waves of Holland’s anyway.
“Yeah, but you know what I mean.” Ori bit his lower lip and sat straight again. “His Da is Alpha at Buffalo Gap, too. Some omegas have all the luck. Though I heard—” His voice broke off. “Never mind.”
“Okay.” Eventually Ori would tell him whatever it was. That was just the way they were with each other. He could tell by the tension in the arm that brushed against his that it was something Ori was uncomfortable with.
Not long after, the Alpha’s Mate called the pack up to grab plates and start eating. Ori grabbed Patton and hustled him into line when it was the teenagers’ turn at the food tables, then they went back to the seats they’d claimed and sat down together to eat. Patton enjoyed sitting there with Ori, but it was hard to get a mouthful in between all the polite greeting and chatting going on. There sure were a lot of people who wanted to come by and talk to Ori. Not just the young alphas, but their parents. Ori was polite to all of them, but as soon as they were out of earshot, he made the most scathing comments about them and Patton had to be careful not to choke on his food because he was laughing so much.
"I'm glad you're running with us tonight," Ori told him. "It was fun last time, but I don't think it would be as fun this year if you weren't going to be there."
“I'm really excited." Patton craned his neck and looked around, trying to find the Alpha to see if it looked like they would be going running soon. "Do you think they'll hide a rabbit again this time?"
"I heard," Ori said importantly, "that it was a pheasant. I hope I find it, I want the feathers."
"What are you going to do with the feathers?" Patton asked, curious.
"There's a special shirt I’m fixin’ to make," Ori told him, keeping his tone mysterious. "For someone special."
"Oh?" Was it, maybe, for him? No, that was ridiculous. Omegas only made clothing for people in their family, or people they were thinking romantically about. Ori didn't give any sign that he thought about Patton that way. It would have been nice if the shirt was for him, though.
Ori winked, then he looked up. "They're collecting the plates." He snatched Patton's dirty plate out of his hand and raced away with it, leaving Patton open-mouthed in the middle of the crowd.
"Hey, Pat, you hittin' that?" someone said behind him. He turned and saw Colin, a young alpha who'd been born two seasons before Patton, which made him fifteen and two years taller and heavier than Patton. His tone was friendly enough, but his voice held an undertone of threat, as if Ori was his property, or he was thinking of making Ori his.
"We're just friends," Patton said diffidently. He knew better than to get into a pissing-match with an alpha, even a young one.
Ori came running back over. "Oh, hi Colin. I think I saw Angie looking for you." He grabbed Patton by the arm. "Come on, I put my jacket on a crate under the cherry tree to hold our spot. The dancing's going to start in a couple of minutes." He waved a merry good-bye to Colin and then they were whirling away through the crowd at the speed of Ori's dancing feet. "Ugh, he's such a creep," Ori said. "Come on. Are you going to dance?"
