Chapter 49
Mr. Shaggbutt is annoyed as hell when we get home.
He seemed to take it as a personal affront that I left him alone with toys and a huge run area and food instead of being here to personally cater to his every whim.
He thumps at me when I walk in, giving me a bunny death glare that doesn’t stop him from hopping over and head-butting my leg in a needy demand for attention, though.
What can I say? It’s nice to be wanted, even if it is by a demanding fluffball.
I carry him over to the bed and flop down on the floor next to it.
I don’t want to risk him making a mad leap off the edge if he decides he’s still angry at me.
He cuddles his face into the crook of my arm and bruxes quietly.
Maybe he was stressed at being alone in a strange place.
More likely that freak of a cat was scratching at the door while we were gone.
I know Steve loves that thing, but it really is hideous.
Of course, Teddy said it looks about a thousand times better than it did when Steve first brought it home, and I can’t even imagine.
When we left, it was sauntering up the stairs, wearing a pink onesie with the word Queen written across the back.
Thankfully, they leave the butt end open for her, but with such short hair and waving its tail around, it was basically like a damned exclamation point of cat asshole every time it walked away.
Which cats—that’s what they do—shun people. Fuzzy little shit.
It’s not like I can talk, with Shaggy in my lap right now.
I swear to god, if this little bastard was a girl, I would have named him Karen.
Still, I love him, even when he’s demanding, and his happy little bruxing sounds tell me that he really just missed me and wants snuggles.
Or he’s trying to butter me up for extra treats.
Never trust a bunny—they will play with your emotions for the promise of watermelon.
..not that it’s in season right now, but he doesn’t know that.
He looks up at me, big black eyes staring into my soul as if he can read my mind and knows that treats are not forthcoming.
He shuffles down off my lap, gives an annoyed little kick of his back legs, and hops back to his temporary home for the week, leaving me wondering exactly how much the little gremlin really knows.
While I’m contemplating the mysteries of the rabbit mind, Greg comes in.
Teddy picked me up some sample books at the store; they were pretty cheap and will help me figure out ideas for my nest so I can order stuff, even if I have to wait until I get back to the omega center.
While our plans went totally sideways, I can’t say I’m upset with the outcome.
Being able to just talk to the big alpha without the pretense of what I’m supposed to be.
It was nice to be myself. I love Greg—he’s one of the few people who accept me for me, even though I can be a lot sometimes.
Teddy was the same way, and apparently so is Spencer, Spence, Moose.
I don’t know what I should call him. Everybody else calls him by his name or a short version, but I kind of like the nickname. It’s mine, even if he isn’t.
But he’s so damned sweet, and I haven’t had an alpha purr for me in forever.
Even if it seemed to embarrass him. He was so earnest too, and excited to be talking about what he’s doing with that nest. The room was bare-bones, but seeing it through his eyes…
the potential to be more, to be important to someone.
It almost made me weepy as fuck, and I don’t do weepy if I can avoid it.
It happens sometimes. My poor Pretty Boy has seen it—multiple times over the holiday—but it’s still embarrassing.
I’m supposed to be the strong one who takes care of shit.
People aren’t supposed to have to take care of me.
It’s hard to suddenly have to do a one-eighty from what I knew growing up.
Love your parents. Don’t be a burden. Help out when you can.
Keep quiet. Don’t ask for anything because your siblings are already enough work.
Take charge and do stuff for yourself when you can.
Suddenly my designation hit and I had to do all of those, plus bend over backwards to make myself appealing to a pack of strangers so that they would take me off my parents’ hands since omegas are too “emotional and needy” to take care of themselves.
I’m still the same as I always was; I just get heats and smell like a fucking dessert.
Fuck me sideways, they even have heat services to help you through them if you don’t have alphas.
I thought about trying one early on, but it just felt too weird to be stuck together with a stranger for half an hour waiting for his knot to go down.
I’d much rather use suppressants and toys to ride it out alone.
Though now I have Greg, I’m sure he’ll help.
Most guys seem to love the idea of helping an omega through heat.
I don’t know if they realize that their nuts are gonna feel like fucking raisins afterwards, or they just don’t care.
Honestly, I’ve been fine on my own for years; I’ll be fine, regardless.
I resent the fuck out of the regulations that say I need a pack or an alpha to take care of my ass.
It would be nice if I had the option of setting some sort of challenge, at least. Be like Atalanta and demand a pack best me before they could claim me.
Not a foot race, not with my height, but wrestling?
I’m sure I could choke some big motherfucker out if it came to it…
ok, not Moose, I’m not even sure if my arms would fit around his neck enough to get a good lock going on.
I miss him already. He tried to hide from me after what happened in the nest, but Paul made him come sit at the table and eat lunch, and I was able to catch up to him afterwards when he tried to bolt.
We had to leave shortly after so Sam could get home and let Jake out, but I hope I can see the big guy again.
Paul was super sweet too, in a friendly but detached kind of way.
No talk about wanting an omega or overt flirtation the way that some unmated alphas do.
He was polite, respectful, and a bit distant, but still kind.
The only one I have a lot of reservations about was Al, but I barely talked to him; he seemed to slide out of any room as soon as I walked in. Is he shy, or does he just not like me?
Regardless, I think I’m going to check out Moose’s schedule for this week at the gym. My best friend is the owner, so it would be weird not to hang out there with him while I’m visiting, and if I happen to run into the big alpha…oh no, how terrible. Something about him just makes me smile.
Greg settles behind me, lying stretched out on the bed.
His hand rubs through my hair as we both watch Shaggy hop around his enclosure, giving happy little honks of excitement when he finds the bundle of mint that my beta dropped in his food bowl.
I’ll need to thank Sam again for grabbing that stuff at the store.
I planned on doing it myself, but then it flew out of my head when I broke Moose’s nose.
He was so sweet about it, too. How the hell can you be that nice to somebody else when you’re bleeding from the face?
I don’t want to think it’s all an act, but if it’s not, then this guy is unlike anything I’ve seen before.