The Orphaned Omega

Chapter 10

[Dorothea’s POV]

True to their word, Bailey and Mallory stuck by me at school for the next week. It was a struggle to make it through my normal chores and work at the café. I was sore all the time and I was more than exhausted by the end of the day. My entire back had become spotted with bruises, and I had developed handprints on my shoulders from Ian. It was easy enough to cover up the wounds, but it took all of my energy to try to come off like I wasn’t in pain. I know I moved slower than normal, and I took a lashing for being less productive during omega duties. I was grateful when I woke up one morning with only minimal pain in my back.

One week rolled into the next, and still the girls stuck around. I told them they didn’t have to, that our classmates hadn’t made a move to touch me, and I didn’t need bodyguards. Bailey had been downright offended. Apparently, she was my friend and she wanted to hang out with me. I guess I’d never really known what having a friend was like, so this was new to me. But the next couple of weeks of school went by without much drama, and the three of us spent a good amount of time together.

It was nice to have people to talk to in class for once. It was nice to have people to sit with at lunch, or swap homework pointers with. I hadn’t realized how much I was missing until Bailey and Mallory started to hang out with me. I didn’t dread going to school every day. In fact, I think I secretly looked forward to it now. After the horrible events following the Alpha Ceremony, I finally felt like things were beginning to look up again. The final few weeks of school seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, it was my sixteenth birthday. It landed on the Saturday before the last week of school this year.

My birthday was never a big affair. Rosie and I usually spent the day together, often baking some confectionary, spending time at Moonlight and seeing a movie. Fran and Lorelai would join us for dinner and Rosie would cook my favorite – chicken alfredo with extra-cheesy garlic bread. Then she’d let me open my gifts, which were never extravagant but always heartfelt. It would be the first year without her in 4 years, and part of me wanted to even ignore the day entirely. Of course, Lori and Fran wouldn’t allow that.

The pair showed up at my house at 10 am with grocery bags under their arms. As soon as I opened the door, they breezed right in and ushered me toward the kitchen.

“Come on, birthday girl!” Lori said. “We’ve got pancakes to make!”

I laughed, trailing after them. “You guys didn’t have to dedicate an entire day to spend with me. Did you close down Moonlight?”

Lori nodded. “We did, because you are worth it.”

I sat down at one of the bar stools that lined the small kitchen counter. “Lori…”

“Not a word!” Lori said. “It is your birthday. Your sixteenth birthday.”

“That’s a big deal!” Fran chimed in, agreeing with her mate. “In both human and werewolf worlds.”

Lori nodded, already mixing up the pancake batter. “Exactly. Now, do you want blueberries, chocolate chips or sprinkles?”

“Mmmm….sprinkles and chocolate chips,” I decided. I smiled at both of them. “Thank you for doing all this.”

Lori and Fran smiled back at me. “It’s our pleasure, dear,” Lori said.

Fran got to work making eggs and bacon and sausage while Lori finished with the pancakes. By the time they were done, we had quite the feast laid out in front of us. I stacked a plate high with both the sprinkle and chocolate chip pancakes and covered them in syrup. As we ate, I filled them in on the past few weeks of school and told them how I’d grown pretty close to Bailey and Mallory.

“I always have liked Bailey Weller,” Lori nodded her head. “She certainly takes more after Evelyn than Harry, which is a blessing.”

“Yeah, she’s a good friend,” I said. “I’m happy we’ve gotten a chance to get to know each other.”

Sometimes, I did worry that the other shoe was going to drop. I mean, Bailey was of Alpha blood. I knew Alpha Harry didn’t like me – I was the last remaining werewolf in his otherwise pure Lycan pack, and apparently my father had been partially responsible for the death of his brother. I wondered if he found out that his daughter and I were friends if he’d find a way to put a stop to it. I looked at Lori and decided to change the topic. “When did you get your Lycan, Lori?”

“When I met Travis and he Marked me,” she said. “So, I was an early-bloomer.”

“Right, that makes sense,” I said. “You know, I’ve never seen her. Can I see her?”

Lori chuckled. “Sure. We can go take a walk out in the woods and I can introduce you. She’ll be happy to finally meet you!”

“What’s her name?”

“It’s Willow,” Lori said.

“That’s a pretty name!” I said. “I hope my wolf has a cool name.”

Lori laughed softly. “I guess I never really thought about a wolf having an uncool name.”

“Does she like to spend time with Fran?” I asked. It must have been different to have a Lycan and have a human mate. Lycan mates liked to spend time with each other in their Lycan forms a lot, which helped to strengthen their bond together.

Fran laughed. “Oh, yes,” she said. “When we first met, it was sometimes difficult to keep Lorelai in her human body. I’d wake up next to Willow almost constantly. Sometimes, we go for walks around the neighborhood or down the road. Humans just think she is a giant dog.”

I couldn’t help but laugh too. “I can’t imagine a Lycan walking down the road like a pet dog!”

Fran grinned and leaned in closer to me to whisper conspiratorially. “I think she likes getting all the head scritches.”

I burst out into a full-on belly laugh, and when I looked over at Lori her normally blue eyes were a golden-yellow, indicating that Willow had taken over. “They feel nice! Plus, it’s funny to see the look of terror on their faces sometimes.”

Fran and I doubled over laughing, and soon Lori started too, her eyes back to blue.

“Come on,” Lori said. “She’s pushing to get out now with all this talk about her.”

I hopped up off my stool and went to find my shoes. The three of us left the cottage and took the short walk to the forest’s edge. The sun was shining brightly today, but there was a nice breeze that whispered through the trees and brought the smell of leaf litter and wildflowers with it. We walked along the trail for a few minutes before finding a decent sized clearing to stop in. Fran and I stayed on the edge of the clearing and Lori headed a few paces away from us to shift.

Willow was a beautiful Lycan – she was a smokey gray color with yellow-gold eyes. She was on the smaller side for a Lycan, but I knew Lori had been trained in combat and also had been a skilled tracker at one point in time. Just because she was small didn’t mean she was weak. Willow shook out her fur and stretched in a downward dog motion before trotting over to us. Without my own wolf, I couldn’t mind-link with her yet, so I’d have to just do my best to communicate while she was in this form. I walked up to her to meet her, reaching out to gently pat her neck.

“You’re so soft!” I said, kind of surprised.

Willow turned to touch her nose to my shoulder, giving me a playful nudge.

“One day, we’ll run together,” I told her. “I can’t wait for that day.”

She barked, tail waving in approval.

I looked over at Fran. “You know, you never told me the story of when you two met. Like…how did you take learning about Lycans?”

Fran laughed. “Well, it was certainly a shock. We met at a bar in the city. I remember feeling an intense pull to her. I thought maybe I was just really drunk, and I found her really attractive. But when she came over to me, it was a feeling I had never experienced before. I needed to know her. We spent the entire night talking, and I kept feeling like maybe when I sobered up, I’d feel less strongly. That it would level out. But it didn’t. By the next morning, I couldn’t imagine my life without her. I blurted out over breakfast that I thought I may love her, and she laughed. She came clean then and explained the concept of mates. Honestly, I felt…relief, in a way. Realizing that I hadn’t been crazy in how I was feeling about her.”

“That’s so cute,” I smiled. I continued to run my fingers through Willow’s fur. “Did she show you Willow right away?”

Fran shook her head. “She didn’t want to, but Willow wouldn’t allow that. Like I said earlier, we’d go to bed together and by the next morning, Willow would be in her place. The first time was definitely frightening, but then it just became a running joke.”

“I’m glad you two found each other,” I said.

“Me too, Thea,” Fran smiled. “And I’m sure you’ll find your mate soon too.”

My stomach plummeted, and I looked away from her. I didn’t like lying to them. I’d never had to. But I wasn’t about to tell them the truth. So, I just nodded and tried to brush past that conversation. “Yeah. Maybe.”

The three of us spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon hanging out in the clearing but headed back to the cottage when our stomachs started to rumble with hunger again. Lori and Fran made their best impression of Rosemary’s chicken alfredo (it was pretty dang close) and we all cuddled up on the couch to watch a movie on the old TV set. The day turned out to be better than I could have hoped for, and I was grateful for these women and all they did for me. When the credits started to roll, Lori suddenly jumped up.

“I almost forgot!” she cried.

I jumped, startled by her sudden movement. “You scared the crap out of me,” I laughed.

“I nearly forgot your present,” she explained, running over to the bag on the counter.

“I wouldn’t have let you forget,” Fran chuckled.

Lori came back into the room, sticking her tongue out at Fran. Her mate just grinned at her. Lori handed me a small box.

“You really didn’t have to get me anything,” I said, taking the box from her.

“I know that,” she said. “But we wanted to.”

I looked between the two of them. “Thank you. Not just for the gift. But…for everything. For today. For looking out for me.”

Fran scooted over to wrap an arm around me. “You’re our family, honey,” she said.

Lori nodded, coming over to sit on my other side and give me a hug too. “Exactly.”

I smiled at them both, shifting to be able to give them a hug back. We stayed in a group hug for a minute before Lori broke the hug to clap her hands together.

“Open it!” she said.

“Okay, okay,” I laughed. I tore open the glittery blue wrapping paper to find a white cardboard box inside it. I popped that open and found a dark, navy blue velvet jewelry box settled inside. I pulled it out, popping open the lid of the box. Inside, nestled on black, crushed velvet was a beautiful white gold pendant. It was about the size of a quarter, and it was a white gold crescent moon embedded with alternating diamonds and sapphires. There were three stars along the chain on the concave side of the moon. It was beautiful.

I looked up at them, unsure what to say. This was a stunning gift. “I…wow,” I whispered. “This is so beautiful.”

Lori smiled. “It’s tradition on my family to receive a piece of moon jewelry when you turn sixteen. It’s supposed to be good luck. You’re the closest I have to a daughter, so I wanted to get you one.”

I threw my arms around her again, hugging her tight. “Thank you.”

She kissed my cheek. “You’re more than welcome.”

I moved to hug Fran too and she hugged me back tightly. She helped to put the necklace on me, and the pendant fell just above my cleavage. Long enough to tuck under a normal t-shirt, but not too long. It was perfect.

I truly felt at peace in this moment, a feeling I don’t think I’d had much before or since Rosie. I was hopeful that the worst was truly behind me now, and I could look forward to carving out my corner in this pack. I didn’t need much – just these two women, and maybe Bailey and Mallory, at my side. After saying goodbye to Lorelai and Francesca, I settled into bed and fell asleep without much worry for the first time in a long time.