The omegas mate

Chapter 8: Time to grow up

When things felt awkward I had a really good way of making it even more awkward, so, of course, the first thing I asked Mason was, “so, are you going to talk to Rachel today?”

He frowned at me, and I knew that was my cue to be quiet about it now.

I jumped up from the bed and hugged Mason. I hugged him as tight as I could and said, “don’t be awkward, Mason, we only slept together.”

Then I left the room laughing inside my head at his face.

I was finishing up with breakfast when Mason walked into the kitchen, almost getting knocked aside from Samara running in front and grabbing her cereal before anyone else could steal the last of it.

I don’t know why she did this every morning because the cereal was always full or refilled before it ever became empty. I mentally rolled my eyes at her and then mentally slapped myself too because I did the same thing every morning, hence why we both raced each other most mornings.

Mason made himself some scrambled eggs and bacon and I looked down at my bowl, frowning. I had just finished my lucky charms cereal, and now I was debating whether I should start eating more grown up appropriate food…nah.

Mason sat at the end of the table and Samara left us alone, she always left when Mason entered the room, for some reason he scared her. Now that I thought about, it a lot of the pack members were afraid of him.

I’d only recently really taken notice of how they avoided him and didn’t make eye contact, and in the five months he’d been here no one had dared even challenged him to a fight yet.

I didn’t know why they were afraid, knowing mom and Markus, they had left the details of his history out to me but filled everyone else in.

He seemed harmless to me, so I got up and went around the table, collapsing heavily into the chair next him, and grinned.

Sighing he gave me a suspicious look and asked, “what do you want?”

I linked my arm through his and asked, “what do you want to do today then, bestie?”

He rolled his eyes at me and didn’t answer.

“We could go to the movies, or we could go for a walk in town, or we could train in the woods or—“

he cut me off saying, “whatever you want as long as you stop with the never-ending monologue of choices.”

I grinned wider. “Ok, we can walk to town together and afterward go for a run in the woods.”

He looked at me properly then and asked, “you mean in wolf form?”

When I nodded, his eyebrows rose in surprise.

“What?,” I asked.

“I’m just not used to anyone willingly wanting to change to their wolf form unless it’s the full moon, and we don’t have the choice.”

I frowned at that. “Your old pack sounds boring. We change in this pack sometimes, I probably change the most because I love the feel of running in wolf form, It’s the one time I feel completely at peace and at one with nature, the rest of the world and all its problems disappear in that time.”

He nodded and said, “yeah, that’s true. Ok, we can do that.”

“Yesss!” I scraped back my chair, making Mason cringe from the loud noise it made.

I jumped up and ran out of the kitchen and up to my bedroom to change. I grabbed some dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt.

I couldn’t be bothered with the beast that was my hair, so I pulled it back into a ponytail like I always did.

I went to the bathroom and washed my face and did my teeth, and then I ran down the stairs and put my shoe trainers on.

I could hear voices in the kitchen, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. I knew it was a private conversation not meant for anyone else’s ears because if I couldn’t make out what they were saying, then that was because they were purposely talking low enough that my wolf hearing wouldn’t pick it up.

When Markus walked out of the kitchen, he smiled at me and carried on past. I went into the kitchen to see Mason finishing up washing his plate.

“You ready?” I asked.

He turned to face me and answered, “It’s still only eight in the morning, don’t shops open at around nine or ten?”

I nodded and noticed his face didn’t look quite as eager to go as I was.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing, I just, well, actually I was thinking of trying to sort things out with Rachel. Maybe we could go another time?”

The sudden change of mind and his mood let me know something wasn’t right. He was fine when I left him.

I thought for a minute and then realized the low talking I heard and Markus walking out, he must have been talking to Mason about me.

I crossed my arms and asked, “what did he say?”

Mason tried to feign innocence, but he wasn’t any good at it. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. You were fine when I left you and as soon as Markus walks out after you two whispering and s**t, suddenly you can’t hang out with me. What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

He went to walk by me, but I placed my hand against his chest, his lovely muscular chest and had to snap myself back to reality.

It was hard trying to be firm with a gorgeous hunk standing in front of you with the most amazing blue eyes I’d ever seen, I didn’t know how he got flecks of gold in them and I wanted to ask. No, no Hazel, concentrate.

I pulled myself back together and said, “let me guess, he warned you not to get too close to me, that even though I’m a grown a*s woman I’m vulnerable and incapable of dating anyone because I have the mind of a child, so to try anything with me would be taking advantage of me. Something like that?”

When he didn’t say anything, I knew I was right. I put my hand to my forehead in frustration. “Fine, go.”

I didn’t even wait for him to leave, I stormed off to find Markus.

I found him in the garage, where he had turned it into a training room.

He was with another wolf sparring with him, but the look on my face let him know I wasn’t going to wait around.

He called someone else to take over and then walked over towards me.

“What’s up?” He asked.

“You! You’re what’s up! Why did you tell Mason to stay away from me, I’m not a baby, I’m a twenty-five-year old grown woman, and you need to start treating me as such.”

I don’t think Markus had ever heard me sound so assertive before because he just looked at me and didn’t say anything.

Finally he said, “I know you’re not a baby, but until we can understand this whole omega thing, I don’t want anyone becoming involved with you.”

I looked at him, incredulous. “You’re basically saying I’m not allowed to date anyone? I could be alone for my whole life, it could take a lifetime and longer, and you might not ever understand why I’m an omega and why I’m here. I’m not dating Mason either, he’s with Rachel.”

“I’m sorry Hazel, but I don’t want anyone taking advantage of you. Being an omega could mean your way of thinking is very different from ours—“

I cut him off and yelled, “just say it, you think I have a child’s mind because I’m always happy and playful.”

He shrugged his shoulders and I stormed out of the room.

I realized as I left I couldn’t have sounded more like a child having a tantrum than I did just then, something had to change.

I went and found mom in the garden relaxing in a chair.

“Oh, hey sweetie, what are you doing out here?”

I dropped myself into a chair opposite, realized how childish that looked, and quickly sat up straight. “I’m fed up looking so scruffy and plain, I want to—“

I didn’t even get the rest of the words out before she was up, running to her shoes to slip on and then grabbing me by the hand and pulling me back inside through the house.

To say mom was ecstatic would be an understatement. She had been waiting years for this day.