The Omega Secret (Book Four of the Omega Game Series)

Chapter 17

Didoka

Somewhere inside the Amateran Forest.

One year and six months ago…

The laughter of the three Alphas dueling against each other reached my ears from my place at the side of my tent. I looked from over the scroll I’d been trying to translate for the past hour and felt a familiar awareness rising at the pit of my stomach. Against my best judgment I followed Kun’s movements while he battled Noctis. Kun was shirtless but Noctis hadn’t taken his shirt off, choosing to also keep his gloves on. I didn’t even notice Noctis though. My heart skipped a beat when I looked at Kun.

Tanned and muscular, with a wide, chiseled torso covered in muscles and perfectly strong shoulders. His dark hair had started to grow and was now longer, reaching his forehead. I knew I liked what I was seeing. I wasn’t entirely blind, regardless of what Nuna and my other sisters liked to say about me behind my back. I’d never liked any boy before, but at times, whenever Kotani asked me to come see him fight other Alphas I’ve caught myself watching some of the boys dueling around and I’d found them...easy on the eyes. The other boys had nothing on Kun though. All the girls at the Yellow Islands would have agreed with me on that at once.

There was just something about him that made me smile every single time I saw him. Maybe it was the way he walked, always so sure about everything, like nothing could stop him. Or maybe it was how he did masculine things that were small and still so fascinating. Like drying the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and then cracking his neck at the next moment. Or controlling my horse’s bridles with one hand while he guided his own horse with the movement of his legs. And that some nights he preferred to sleep out in the open. I would watch him secretly then, studying his profile while he looked at the stars with his arms crossed underneath his head, lost in his own thoughts.

I wasn’t the only girl that found him attractive. Wherever we went there were always girls following Kun with their eyes. It killed me a little bit inside every time he smiled back. A couple of weeks ago he had even accepted the company of two Betas to spend the night together inside his tent. I’d been so disgusted by the scent of those Betas hanging over his clothes that I hadn’t been able to be around him, afraid that my face would somehow reveal what I was really feeling. 

Not for the first time I tried to imagine how this entire situation could possibly end. Would my true identity be revealed to them tomorrow or would it be next week? Will my father’s men reach us tonight and demand that I should return with them back to the Yellow Islands? And if that was the case, will my friends ever forgive me for lying to them? Would Kun forgive me? All my rehearsed justifications and explanations turned pointless. They would be mad. They would have every right to be mad, but I hadn’t exactly planned to end with them in this adventure. I didn’t regret meeting them, I only regretted meeting them as the Monk Didoka and not as the Omega I truly was.

Maybe if Kun would have met me like an Omega he would have smiled at me like he smiled at all those other girls. Maybe I would have a true chance to win his trust. The Gods knew I would never be deserving of his trust after he finally realized who I was...what I was. And still, after knowing all this, after accounting for every single of my transgressions and every single of my mistakes I knew that I would have done it all over again.

I’d never been happier than traveling the world with my new friends. I’d been of help, I’d assisted them on finding the shrines and translating this stupidly long scroll that refused to be understood at once. I smirked, shaking my head at myself. Even the challenge of translating the scroll was a welcomed change. After years of living in fear and hiding myself inside libraries I was experiencing the actual world. I was happy. I was at peace. 

I just couldn’t shake the fear away from my mind. I didn’t want to lose them all. I didn’t want to lose Kun. I could even ignore my feelings for him. I could accept being only his friend or little brother to the end of the times if that meant I got to see him smiling trustingly at me. Nobody- except for Kotani - had ever been so kind to me, treated me with so much respect and care. Kun cared for me. He really did. Sometimes he would take the scroll out of my hands and force me to eat something. Or he would order me to sleep when it was too late and the rest of our friends had excused themselves for the night. Kun paid attention to me and I’d never experienced such an incredible act of tenderness. 

Just then Katala and Nira emerged from the path that connected with the nearest river. They had been bathing together, their laughter and easy conversation had been easy to hear all the way from our camp. I realized the Alphas had been dueling between the camp and the river, choosing that spot to be close to Nira and Katala but also close to me. They had been guarding us. The realization warmed my heart. 

It took only one look from Katala, walking with her long hair still wet and a big smile on her lips to make Noctis pause in the middle of his fight. Kun threw his fist about then and punched his brother’s chest, but the hit wasn’t even registered. Noctis only had eyes for Katala. From the three Alphas, Noctis was the one I found scarier. There was just something about his eyes that made shivers run down my spine. The only reason I wasn’t terrified by him was because whenever he looked at Katala his permanent scowl disappeared and his feral eyes turned softer in the corners, as if he couldn’t help but to show how irremediable in love he was with his Omega. 

With a growl Noctis walked away from the fight and in three wide steps reached Katala. She gasped and then laughed happily when Noctis threw her over his shoulder, taking her back to the river she had just come from. Her giggles made me smile while I watched the couple disappear through the trees. Nira, who had been right at Katala’s side, was shaking her head in irritation. Her blue eyes connected with Aros, making him growl in irritation back at her. Those two hadn’t stopped fighting today. Their bicker had gone on and on while we made our way through the Amateran Forest. I was sure even the trees were tired of listening to them by now.

“You Alphas are beasts. Beasts!” exclaimed Nira, making wild gestures with her hands while she tried to walk past Aros. Her red hair bounced up and down with every step she took, “All you think about is fighting, hunting and mating! Is there any space in your little minds to respect us? Or gives us space? Or just let us be?”

“Say that back to me during your next Heat, squirrel,” rebuked Aros, standing closer to Nira and looking down at her with a sneer in his lips, “Last time I checked, Alphas seem pretty acceptable to Omegas right around that time.”

Nira rolled her eyes at him, “In your dreams. I told you before, the day I decide to spend one of my Heats with you is the day I spit fire from my mouth.”

Aros smiled despite how irritated he looked, “You are saying there is a chance?”

“Do you even listen to me?”

A large shadow towered over me, making me look up and up and...there. Kun. He was covered in sweat, his body tense and ready for a fight. My eyes followed two drops of sweat that were slowly descending down the deep lines of his abdomen, making his powerful body look edible. My heart skipped a beat and mortified I returned my eyes back to the scroll, giving it time to my poor heart to resume its normal rhythm.  It took me by surprise when Kun offered me a hand, making me frown and look back at his gray eyes. He was smiling at me, one of his easy smiles, the ones he reserved for his friends and not for the pretty girls. The thought made me feel sad and proud at the same time. Sad because I would never be one of those pretty girls and proud because I've earned that smile. I was her friend and that...that was enough for me.

“Come on,” he said, his white teeth showing while he moved closer, still offering me his hand, “It’s time for you to learn some defensive techniques.”

I wanted to roll my eyes so badly. Kotani had been trying to teach me defensive techniques since I could remember. What was it about Alphas always wanting to make me learn how to defend myself? Did I seriously look so weak? I pointed at the scroll resting over my legs and Kun raised his eyebrows, not understanding.

“I should be translating this scroll,” I explained to him and Kun only pushed the scroll to the side, taking my arm and lifting me easily. 

“You need a break. You haven’t eaten and you are still growing. You shouldn’t skip meals, boy” he shook his head at me and then positioned me in a defensive stance, moving my arms this way and the other until I was standing with my fists up and my legs wide. Kun smirked, shaking his head at me again, “we have a lot of work to do, little monk. The good news is that you are not completely hopeless.”

“I’m not?” I asked him and Kun laughed, ruffling my very short hair with a hand. His touch threw my heart into a wild staccato but he seemed too happy to pay any attention to the sound.

“Of course not, you have me,” he gave me one of his easy smiles and then started teaching me the best way to duck and change my footing. Through it all I kept repeating the same words inside of my head. I was her friend and that would have to be enough for me. Yes, I was her friend. That’s what I would always be.