Page 4 of The Feisty Omega
“They’re all part of the pack, but we have four families living in the house. My omega dad’s sister’s family lives here too, and my alpha dad’s sister and brother and their families. There’s probably about thirty of us all up. It’s going to be crazy here today with all the Christmas stuff going on.”
I dug my teeth into my lower lip while I thought about this. I wasn’t used to so many people all at once, but I liked making new friends. It was a change from the rather quiet existence I had at home. I didn’t have any siblings, my parents having stopped at one when my birth proved dangerous to my alpha mother. Both my parents came from small families themselves, so they were perfectly content to have a small nuclear family, and once the decision was taken, they’d immersed themselves in other pursuits. That meant they were often out of the house and I was left to my own devices. I was studying, so it suited me, but I couldn’t say it didn’t leave me feeling a little lonely sometimes. My basic nature was quite gregarious, and I was a wolf – a pack creature – at heart, so I often sought out companionship, wandering around our district, talking to anyone I could find.
“What were you doing there last night…curled up under the tree with the Christmas presents?” Tal’s deep voice scattered my errant thoughts.
“Santa left me there,” I joked. Then I began to elaborate, “We arrived last night…”
Tal held up a hand and I stopped mid-sentence. I felt compelled – no, that’s not what it was, he wasn’t using his alpha tone to compel me – Iwantedto obey him.
“Don’t say anymore. I like it. Santa left you there. You’re a Christmas present. It’s perfect.”
A huge grin split his gorgeous face and he looked as though all his Christmases had come at once. That was fine by me. I wasn’t sure what crazy ideas he had running through his brain, but while they were, he wasn’t shoo-ing me away like most guys his age would.
Tal sprawled out on his bed, head supported on his forearms as he peered at me from under his floppy fringe. His bare feet clacked softly as they restlessly tapped together in the air behind him.
He patted the mattress again.
“Sit down,” he grinned, blue eyes twinkling, “and tell me about yourself. I haven’t seen you around here before. Have you just joined the pack or something?”
“Or something,” I said, sitting cautiously on the edge of the mattress. Tal was friendly but hewasan alpha. I wasn’t sure how familiar I could get without overstepping. Alphas could be unpredictable, especially with the hormone fluctuations that hit them as they transitioned into their majority.
“You look nervous. Seriously, I don’t bite. Not yet, anyway. I’m too young for that,” Tal chuckled at his own joke. “C’mon, make yourself comfortable. If we’re going to be friends, you need to relax around me.”
Friends? I could do that. Iwantedto do that.
His dark hair flicked, motioning towards the headboard, and I climbed onto the bed and shuffled up until I was leaning up against it.
“Better?”
“Sure.”
“Now tell me why you’re here.” It wasn’t exactly a command, and he definitely didn’t use his alpha voice, but the urge to comply was irresistible.
“We’re just visiting for the holidays,” I told him. “My parents know your Alpha and his family and they invited us to stay for a few weeks.”
“Your parents must be important people then. Our Alpha doesn’t invite many people here.”
I shrugged. “I guess, in their circles. My mum is on the Council and my dad’s in the diplomatic corps. They do their own stuff, and I do mine. They don’t really talk about their work with me.”
This was usually the point at which new acquaintances started to ask all sorts of questions about my parents and have all sorts of opinions on all the ‘privileges’ I must have on account of them. I’d even been accused of being born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Nobody ever thought to consider me as a separate person, a whole person with my own wants and desires. With a little internal sigh, I looked away, waiting for it to start. I studied a small tear in the wallpaper as I steeled myself. This is where my fun little Christmas fantasy would turn to shit. Oh well, it had been fun while it lasted.
“So, what’s your stuff?” Tal’s deep voice cut through my internal struggle.
“Huh?”
“You said you do your stuff,” he explained patiently, completely ignoring what I’d said about my parents. I totally gave him 100 points and a mental high five for that on my internal scale of character assessment. “So, tell me about it… what sort of stuff do you do?”
“Oh,” I blushed. As much as I was sociable and loved talking to people, because everyone was always so much more interested in hearing about my parents, I wasn’t used to talking about myself. “I, er, well I’m still at school. I’m taking electives in advanced maths and science,” I hesitated. My family was academic, and in our circles it was expected that I would follow through on my education, but not everybody agreed omegas should be allowed to obtain tertiary qualifications. I didn’t know anything about Tal or his family, and I wasn’t sure if he was the kind of alpha that thought omegas should know their place. Somehow, I didn’t think so, given how he’d behaved with me so far, so I continued. “I hope to do a science degree later on.”
I lifted my head, straightening my back and eyeing him challengingly, daring him to say something disparaging.
Tal’s eyes widened, and the corners of his lips curled upwards revealing perfect white teeth.
“That’s so cool!” he exclaimed, enthusiastically. “Science is fun.”
I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard anyone else describe science as fun before, so I hoped he wasn’t mocking me, but hey, he hadn’t said anything against omegas studying, so this was still going great. He didn’t give the impression that he was humoring me either. Maybe he did genuinely have an interest in science?
“That’s not the typical reaction I get when I tell people what I plan on doing. Nobody tells me it’s fun or cool or anything like that.”