The Orphaned Omega

Chapter 11

[Dorothea’s POV]

The final week of school went by in a blur of studying and final exams. I managed to pull off decent enough grades. I was by no means a straight-A student, but I only had a C in math. Everything else I pulled off at least a B, with my best subject being an A+ in Supernatural Studies. By now, the mate-pull toward Ian had lessened considerably, but it wasn’t gone entirely. I was hopeful that now that we didn’t have to be cramped in a room together a few times a day, I’d fully stop getting the rush of the bond every time I saw him. I hated that even after a rejection, I still felt the remnants of being his mate. It seemed cruel to still feel pain every time I caught a whiff of his scent. I guess that’s why they said that a rejected bond could drive you to insanity. It started to seem like the ache would never go away, and I had to actively work to tell myself the opposite if even just to cope.

I showed up at Moonlight the first morning of summer break in a good mood, even despite all of that. School was out, and I could spend more time at the café, save up more money, and I didn’t have to see my classmates often, if at all. It always felt like freedom when summer came about. I gathered my apron as I walked in the back door then walked out into the main café to find Lori. She was already getting the drawer prepped and starting on some pastries for the morning.

“Hi, Thea,” she waved. “Happy summer!”

“Thanks,” I grinned. “I’m happy to finally be out of school.”

Lori chuckled. “I always tended to like school.”

“Yeah, well, people liked you,” I reminded her.

She frowned at me. “You have Bailey and Mallory, do you not?”

“True. I do. Now. It wasn’t always that way.” I nodded, trailing a finger along the edge of the counter as I walked. I did wonder how our relationship may change now that summer was here. I was pretty sure Alpha Harry wouldn’t take kindly to his daughter slumming it with an omega like me. I had a feeling I’d see a lot less of the two now that we didn’t have school.

“I know, sweetie,” she said softly. “I wish I could do more to help you that way.”

I shrugged, looking up at her. “It’s not your fault. I’m doing alright.”

Her blue eyes met mine and held my gaze for a moment. She seemed to be searching my face for some kind of deception. Finally, she nodded. “Well, can you get the tables set?”

“Absolutely,” I nodded, turning to get the room ready for guests.

A few minutes later, my coworker, Paige, came in. Paige was a nice girl – she was human, so sometimes it could be hard to talk to her. I never felt like I could be totally transparent with her, and I knew I could never invite her to my home and get that close as friends. Humans couldn’t enter the pack territory unless they were the mate of a pack member. Francesca was currently the only one, and even she avoided going if possible. Paige was a few years older than me anyway and was finishing her freshman year in college. I think she saw me more as a little-sister type than a friend. While we may not be able to be friends outside of work, at least we could be friendly while working together.

“Hey, Paige!” I called, waving to her.

“Hey girlie!” Paige said, pulling the apron over her head. She flipped her platinum locks out from under the strap. She got started on brewing the first batches of coffee for the day. “Are you out of school for the summer?”

“I am!” I nodded.

“Nice! I still have finals week next week, so forgive me if I have my nose in books today.”

I laughed. “Sure, no worries.”

She grinned, preparing herself a latte. “Want a cup?”

“Sure,” I said. “Bla—”

“Black, two sugars. Yeah, I know,” she said.

“Thanks,” I laughed.

By the time I was done taking chairs down and wiping down tables, it was time to open the café. I took my place at the cash register while Lori headed to work on paperwork. Paige was usually the one to work on drinks while she was here. She was definitely much better at latte art than I was. The first few hours of the day were relatively slow, as Saturdays so often were. Paige mostly studied between drink orders, and I busied myself with cleaning bookshelves or restocking things. Things picked up by 9 am and we were suddenly quite busy. I was surprised when Bailey flounced in through the front door, and even more surprised to see Alpha Ian trailing behind her.

I tried (and failed) to keep myself from studying Ian as he walked into Moonlight. He was wearing a dark blue tee shirt that hugged across his chest perfectly, and his black jeans embraced his hips and thighs. His blonde hair looked tousled in a perfect just-out-of-bed look. He managed to make casual look so damn sexy. I hated him for it. He followed his sister with a sour expression on his face, hands shoved in his pockets. He seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at the front counter.

I managed to pry my eyes off of him by the time Bailey reached the counter. I slapped a smile on my face for her. “Hey,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re on the way to the lake house,” she said. She smacked her own forehead. “O.M.G. Thea! I am such an asshole. I forgot to invite you!”

“Invite me?” I rose an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” she said. “It’s Girls’ Weekend! You totally have to come.”

“Oh,” I said. “Uh…I’m not sure about that.”

Girls’ Weekend was quite possibly the most anticipated event of the year. It was a very exclusive event, hosted by Bailey, on the first weekend of summer every year. It was a glorified sleepover – the guests went with Bailey to the lake house, and they spent the weekend there. No parents, no boys. She only invited her closest friends, but everyone who was anyone still desperately wanted to be invited. If you were invited, you definitely had some social perks and status the next year. As far I knew, it had been the same few girls every year. Bailey kept her friends close, and she didn’t really subscribe to the whole social status of it all. She didn’t try to flaunt invitations or make people feel bad. And yet, every girl in our grade hoped to be invited.

The Weller family owned a gorgeous lake property on the south side of our territory – it was a place that only the Wellers ever went to or knew how to find. Except for Girls’ Weekend. I think part of the allure of Girls’ Weekend was less about being acknowledged as a friend of Bailey’s, and more about getting to see the illustrious property. It was supposedly a fortress – even if you managed to find it, you couldn’t get in without the reining Alpha’s access. So that explained why Ian was standing like a surly storm cloud behind his sister. He had to go with them to even let them onto the property.

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” she said. “What time do you get off?”

“Like, four,” I said. “But I have...” I glanced over my shoulder briefly at Paige and then back at Bailey. “Chores later.”

Bailey looked at Ian behind her. She pouted and gave him puppy-dog eyes. “Can Thea have the weekend off? Pretty pleaaaaaase, with a cherry on top?”

Ian looked at his sister and rolled his eyes. “No.”

Bailey frowned deeply. “You owe her.”

He said, ‘I owe her nothing’ at the same time that I said, ‘He doesn’t owe me anything’. His words had enough bite to them that I flinched.

Bailey rolled her eyes. She stomped her foot at him. “Fine, then I’ll tell Daddy about—”

Ian let out a short growl, stopping Bailey from going further. “Fine. Goddess. You are such a pain in my ass.”

She beamed, whirling back around to me. “Great! Ian will pick you up at your house at 5!”

“I will not,” he huffed.

“Well how else is she gonna get there?”

Ian ground his teeth together. I realized he had still not looked my way once. “She will meet me, ready to go, at the pack entrance at 5:00. If she is any later, she is not going.”

Bailey clapped her hands together. “Eee! It’s settled! Be sure to pack a bathing suit, T!”

I looked between them, at a loss for words. How had I suddenly found myself invited to Girls’ Weekend? And how was I possibly going to survive a car ride alone with Ian later? Even just standing here in front of him was a nightmare. I chewed on the inside of my cheek but nodded. “Okay, uh…great. Thanks.”

“I’m so excited!” she said. “Okay, anyway. We better order before we hold up your line.”

I nodded, feeling a numbness creep in as I began punching in their order and the orders for whoever was waiting out in the car. I knew Mallory would be going, but I didn’t know who else would be invited. Some of the other girls Bailey knew were not my biggest fan. How would this weekend go? Would I even survive it? I’d be trapped in a house with no way out if anything did go wrong, and that worried me. Even more daunting than that was the idea of several hours in a small, enclosed space with Ian. Alone. I felt a knot grow in my stomach and knew I’d be a bundle of nerves for the rest of the day.

Paige came up to the end of the counter to give them their drinks. Bailey waved again and headed out after her brother. I let out a small sigh of relief to be out of vision from Ian. As much as I was actually thrilled that Bailey invited me, I couldn’t shake the anxiety I had about spending time with her brother. I couldn’t focus on much else for the rest of the day. The hours of the day simultaneously dragged by and flew by. When it came to clock out, I felt like I was going to be sick. I stopped by Lori’s office to tell her I was going to Bailey’s for the weekend. Part of me hoped she wouldn’t let me go because I was scheduled to work tomorrow.

“Hey, uh, Lori?” I peeked into her office.

She looked up from a pile of paperwork. “Hi, Thea. What’s up?”

“Uh, well, Bailey invited me to her lake house for the weekend. I was wondering if I could maybe have tomorrow off?” I bit my inner cheek, silently hoping she would say no, and I’d have a reasonable excuse to bail.

“Oh, my Goddess!” Lori beamed at me. My heart sank. “Of course. That is so exciting.”

I smiled softly. “Yeah, definitely. Thank you so much.”

She nodded. “Absolutely. Do you need anything?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m good. I gotta go pack a bag though and meet Ian at the front gates.”

Maybe if someone else knew I was alone with Ian, someone would go looking for me if he decided to kill me and throw me into the woods instead. I waved to Lori and went out the back door to grab my bike. I pedaled quickly home and took a short shower before packing a bag for the weekend. I had no idea what to expect, so I packed a few different outfits and a bathing suit like Bailey had said to. I was pretty sure we wouldn’t leave the lake house premises, so I didn’t think I needed anything other than casual clothes. I finished shoving flip-flops into my bag and hurried to pull tennis shoes on. I tucked the backpack onto my back and ran out the door after checking the clock. I didn’t have much time since I’d have to walk to the front gates on foot. I locked the door behind me and took off down the main path that would lead toward the pack house and then the gates to the territory. I came running up to the front gates with three minutes to spare. I was glad to find that Ian wasn’t there yet. It gave me time to catch my breath.

He came up to the gates ten minutes late. I should have expected that if I was honest. Why would he bother to be on time, even if he had threatened me if I wasn’t? He pulled up in a black Land Rover, the windows all tinted a dark color. He paused and rolled the window down to look at me. “Get in.”

I nodded, scrambling around the vehicle, and throwing open the front passenger door. A wall of his scent smacked me in the face, and I tightened my hand on the door to steady myself. I swallowed hard, steeling myself against whatever may come. If I could survive this ride, I could survive the weekend. I climbed in, buckling myself into my seat. “Thank you,” I said. “For taking me.”

“I have no choice. If I don’t take you, you can’t get in.” His voice was hard and unforgiving.

“Right…” I said quietly. I decided I would just stay quiet for the rest of the drive. It would be worse if I forced small talk between us. I settled my hands between my knees and kept my eyes on my lap or out the passenger window. I did everything I could not to look at him. I felt like my entire body was a livewire, static electricity darting over my skin. I felt my heartrate pick up despite my efforts to remain cool-headed. Being this close to him, everything in my body screamed at me to move closer. I rebelled against it, sickened that I still felt this way. I should hate Ian. I did hate Ian. He had slept with me and discarded me, and he had attacked me in front of half the school. There should be absolutely nothing attractive about him anymore, and yet…that stupid, stupid mate bond persisted. It was much less than the day after sleeping with him, by the grace of the Goddess, but I just wanted it gone entirely. I wondered if he felt the way that I did, or if he somehow felt nothing at all.

The first twenty or thirty minutes went by in awkward silence. The forest had thickened here, and we were traveling on a narrow dirt road that cut through the trees. I had never been this far out of the main pack territory. The sun filtered through the leaves, and it made the world glow with a golden hue. I had to admit that this part of the territory was quite gorgeous. It seemed to only get more picturesque the further we got away from the packhouse. Vines wrapped around trees and disappeared into the tallest branches, and bright flowers bloomed in the sunniest patches on the forest floor. I saw every color of the rainbow, from the deepest reds to the brightest blues and violets. I watched butterflies flutter through the wind and when the sun hit the air just right I could see the dust dancing in the air like tiny, suspended sparkles. All the while, I felt like my heart was in my throat and I couldn’t breathe properly. I tried to concentrate on the road, tried to memorize the patterns of the turns or watch for any particular change in the forest that may act as a marker. I couldn’t keep track of the turns for very long, and the forest – as beautiful as it was – did not have any unique spots in it that I could see from the car. I found it hard to concentrate on anything other than Ian’s scent and the fact that my hand itched to reach out and touch him. I had to keep my hands shoved between my knees or under my legs to keep myself from acting on that instinct.

Ian’s hand reached out and touched my leg just above my knee, gripping it slightly. I jolted, heart beating erratically at the sudden feel of his skin on mine. I had changed into a pair of cut-off denim shorts before getting into the car, and I felt way too exposed all of a sudden. I wished I at least had on yoga pants like usual, so I didn’t have to feel the connection of skin-to-skin contact. I looked over at him with wide eyes, throat feeling scratchy and dry as I tried to formulate words to say. What was he doing?

“You smell so tempting, little mate,” Ian said, his voice gravelly and full of l**t.

“I’m not your mate,” I blurted out, scooting my knee away so his hand fell off of my leg. “You rejected me.”

He growled lowly, and I couldn’t help but flinch. He pulled to the side of the road; his knuckles strained white as he gripped the steering wheel. He released the wheel when we were at a standstill, his hands forming fists. He took a long, slow breath before looking at me again. He released his hands, and I noticed claw marks embedded in the skin of his palms. “I did no such thing,” he stated.

I had never been afraid of any of my pack, even Alpha Harry. But being in this enclosed of a space with a full-grown Alpha Lycan was not something I had had to encounter, and the fact that I had angered him made it worse. I couldn’t help but feel he was about to throw me out of the car and kill me here, leaving my body for the animals to pick at. I felt a prickle of fear trickle down my spine, and I knew he could probably smell my fear scent. When I looked up at Ian, I realized that the eyes that bore into mine were a dark, charcoal gray. Thorin had taken over again, and he was using this time to speak to me directly.

Thorin sighed deeply, running his hand through his hair. “Do not fear me. I would never hurt you, Dorothea,” he said. “Ian has poisoned you against me.”

“Please…” I whispered. “Yo-he…he rejected me. I accepted it. That’s all there is.”

He swiveled in his seat to face me, reaching over to touch my chin and tilt my face up to look at him. I couldn’t help but flinch again and press myself into the door to make space between us. A part of me still wanted to lean into that touch and savor the sparks that developed where his skin touched mine, but the more logical part knew that this was wrong. This was all wrong. “Ian should never have rejected you,” he said. “I will continue to fight him on this.”

I shook my head and looked away. “Ian was right.”

Thorin growled again. “Excuse me?”

“We-we would never work,” I said, trying hard to keep the wobble out of my voice. I seemed to just be angering him more. “I’m an omega, you are an Alpha.”

He snorted. “So?”

“So, it is unacceptable.”

“You think the Moon Goddess made a mistake?”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what to think.”

I wasn’t lying when I said that. I had never thought that the Moon Goddess made mistakes, but clearly She had messed up something when She paired me with Ian. Maybe it was a cruel trick, and I had done something to piss Her off in another life. Maybe if Ian had given me a chance, or if my father hadn’t done what he had, then we could have worked. Maybe in another life. All I did know was that despite the mate bond begging me to be near Ian, the rest of me violently protested that and wanted to get away. It was agonizing living with these conflicting feelings every day.

Thorin moved my chin, so I had to look at him again, and he kept his hand on my chin, so it was hard to look away. His eyes met mine, and I saw hurt swirling in their gray depths. He leaned toward me like he was going to kiss me. My heart hammered in my chest, and I considered opening the door behind me and throwing myself onto the ground to avoid it. Another part of me started to lean in to meet him. I had a sudden, very vivid vision of me in his lap, riding his c**k while he sucked on my n*****s. I could almost hear him groan in pleasure against my ear. Despite myself, desire coiled in my gut. Whether the Moon Goddess had made a mistake or not, She very clearly made this bond quite potent.

Abruptly, just before his lips pressed into mine, Thorin wrenched himself back away from me. I blinked, realizing his eyes were back to golden and Ian was back in control. I swallowed and looked away from him again. Anxiety crept over me. Thorin may have a soft spot for me, but clearly Ian did not. I feared punishment for what had just happened. Ian, however, didn’t say a word to me. He just put the SUV back into drive and got back onto the road. I could see his knuckles were white against the steering wheel again and his jaw was set in a hard line. I had a feeling he was arguing with Thorin in his mind now, and it was not a pleasant conversation.

I shifted in my seat, so I was angled toward the window, not daring to look at him again. I desperately needed to get out of this car. I needed fresh air, to smell anything but the cinnamon apple scent that surrounded me. My brain felt foggy, and I chastised myself for the pulse of desire I had when his lips were nearly on mine. I shouldn’t feel like that. I couldn’t feel like that. I also couldn’t believe what Thorin had said. He was still arguing with Ian against the rejection? If Thorin felt that strongly, then how was it possible for Ian to have hurt me like he had? Was Ian’s hatred toward me so strong that it overrode the mate bond? If Thorin did somehow manage to convince Ian that he had made a wrong decision, what could even be done about it now? Ian could Mark me, but it wouldn’t make the original bond come back. That ship had sailed, so what did it matter?

All of these questions gave me a headache, and I wished I could just shut my eyes and take a nap. I stifled a sigh. The end of this car ride could not come fast enough.