Chapter 17 Master
Master
Ondine
The woman’s stature may be slight, but her aura radiates everywhere, like a radioactive isotope.
I assume the reason the room is warm and agitated is from her.
I also assume Freddie and Shadow’s submissive, mirrored poses are because of this woman.
She’s impeccably dressed. She’s wearing a lilac cashmere sweater and a burgundy cashmere beret on her shiny black hair.
She has these high-waisted plaid pants that have a shimmer woven in the material.
Her designer black shiny boots are flawless.
I can see a stunning plum duster lying across a stool by the kitchen, next to a Hermes handbag.
Standing before her wearing my oversized blue jeans, Jake’s button down, and Sabbies’s suit jacket—I look like a homeless person who scored big in the last dumpster she was in. I also smell like chlorine. Her nose twitches in disgust. I resist the urge to fix my hair.
I’m in no position to face this powerful omega, the mother of two of the alphas in this room. Shadow. He left me there after professing his feelings for me. I thought…I thought…
I mean, fuck Shadow.
But that kiss felt like one of those pivotal life-changing kisses.
He kissed me like I’ve never been kissed before, and then he left. I thought something different was happening. But after he left, I realized I was wrong. It wasn’t just him telling me he had feelings for me, it was also him telling me he doesn’t want to have feelings for me.
‘I want you, and I don’t like that I want you.’
That’s why I didn’t go after him. I couldn’t decide if it would be fair to ask him to be with me, knowing I might just leave him after all in the end.
He left me first.
I clear my throat. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wong.”
My voice, normally soft and small, cracks. I look at Sabbies and point to my throat. He jumps away to get me a bottle of water.
“Ondine, is it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She waves her hand. “Call me Tina.”
“Tina,” I repeat to make sure she means it.
Sabbies returns with my water, and I drink the whole thing in one go and then hand him the empty bottle. Jake pushes him, a silent command to get me a second one.
“How long have you been with my son?”
What kind of question is that? I look at Shadow, whose eyes are fixed on the carpet. I then look at Freddie, who is staring holes into my face.
Jake answers for me. “We’ve had her for a few weeks now.”
“Oh, good, so only a little bit. How did you acquire her?”
No one answers her. I certainly won’t.
I’m not about to tell this woman I’m a stray omega Jake found on a train with some other man’s cum running down my leg.
She pivots to Shadow. “Yin, explain everything now.”
Shadow takes a deep breath, “Yes, Mom. It’s just new. We’d been considering an omega for various reasons. Jake found her. It was an advantageous decision. Her contract is up after her next heat.”
“I’m so confused, Yin. If you were looking for an omega, why didn’t you come to me? I have already vetted many wonderful choices for you. And for Freddie.”
Shadow stands up straight. “This was a pack decision. It didn’t concern you. If I needed your help, I would have gone to you. I’m perfectly aware of the support you can offer.”
Tina clicks her tongue. “Yin, I don’t want to argue with you tonight. I didn’t come here for that. But this is unacceptable. I’m completely thrown. But I don’t know why I expected anything less. This is just like when you put in the papers for your pack with Jake.”
Why does she hate Jake? Just because he’s young and a bit psychotic? Her son is just as eccentric, honestly.
I’m not listening exactly, but I catch the gist of it while they argue: Jake, Shadow, and Sebastian registered as a pack without the Wongs’ approval.
And they registered with Jake’s surname, Meier.
Double insult. The Wongs believe their son should be pack leader.
He’s bigger, older, and has a more important family legacy.
Triple insult. And now the pack is trialing an omega that the Wongs have no control over. Quadruple insult.
This poor woman has never been more insulted.
My stomach chooses this moment to rumble. Why does this pack always fight before a meal? It’s literally the worst timing.
“We have dinner arriving any minute,” Jake interrupts the family dispute. “Tina, are you joining us?”
She waves her hand and turns away. It’s a yes, I think.
Thankfully, there’s a ring at the door. Sebastian goes to let in the staff with dinner.
It smells amazing. They lay it on the long dining room table and leave.
I am bouncing on my feet in anticipation.
I can’t even look at anyone. My eyes are zeroed in on the food.
The little cat finally makes an appearance, jumping on the table. I pick her up and sit down, placing her on my lap. She sits down and peeks over the table with her little Batman ears. Jake chuckles at me and comes over. “I’ll make you a plate, baby. Just sit tight.”
Tina sits at the head of the table, and Freddie takes it upon himself to make her a plate. Once we have our food, the rest of the alphas take theirs. Jake last. He sits at the other head of the table, to my right. The little cat keeps meowing at pretty steady intervals.
Tina says, “So you came with a cat?”
It takes me a second to realize she’s talking to me.
“The cat’s mine, Mom. Her name is Princess.
” Freddie says over his food. It’s Italian.
Pasta with red sauce, pesto, and clam sauce.
Garlic bread. Salad with salami and peppers.
And some really good soup with kale in it.
I give Princess some clams from my pasta, which she gratefully scarfs down.
She’s polite, though, and doesn’t ask for seconds.
Tina mutters something for only Freddie to hear, but we can all guess it’s something like, “At least a cat isn’t an omega.”
God, she is so rude.
Well, I can be rude too. And since I’m temporary, I say, fuck it.
“Where are your alphas, Miss Tina? Do they have a free night tonight?”
She drops her fork. I am so happy I can control my face because I’m absolutely laughing inside. She sighs like she has to explain something to an idiot.
“My alphas,” she says tightly, “do not have a free night. Yin’s father is just finishing work at the courthouse. He’ll be by soon. Freddie’s father is meeting with some officials here at the hotel.”
“Why do you call him Yin?”
She lowers her gaze at me. Oh, I guess only she can ask me questions?
“Because that’s his name.”
Shadow explains, “Freddie always called me Yin Yin, which sounds like ‘shadow’ in Mandarin.”
He resumes eating and not making eye contact with me.
“Would you let me call you Yin Yin?” I ask, and Shadow chokes on his salad. I guess that’s a no.
“You want to call him by his real name and yet you didn’t even know it…” Tina says quietly and cruelly.
I’m about to retort something good but devastating, but I don’t get the chance because Shadow says, “It’s not my real name. Shadow is my real name.”
Alphas traditionally change their name when they register in a pack. It’s very common for them to legally change their name to a nickname. Like Blaze or Canon or something. Yin was his birth name, but it’s no longer his real name.
He’s so serious it makes me stop asking questions.
But at least it frees my mouth up to start eating.
Well, I’m too tired and hungry to be a bitch.
I’m conceding. Omegas are hungry things.
I need food. And water. And vitamins. Oh shit.
One thing I was told hundreds of times by the staff at the Heat Clinic is to take daily multivitamins specifically designed for me.
They prevent my heats from getting too long. And they prevent so many other issues an unbonded omega may have. I haven’t had a bond issue since I started taking them.
I’ve honestly been avoiding them. They taste like crap, and there are so many that they make me swallow. I didn’t get them when Sebastian and I went to my place, but I can’t go any longer.
I turn to Sabbies and say just to him, “Can you take me to my apartment here soon?”
He stops chewing and looks at Jake. So I look at Jake.
He asks, “Why do you need to go to your apartment?”
I steal a quick glance at Madame Stick-up-her-ass, but she doesn’t appear to be paying attention to us. She’s talking to Shadow and Freddie.
“I need some things. And also,” I lower my voice, “I think the contract is void.”
“On what fucking grounds?”
“Shadow…” I hiss. Jake waits for me to finish my sentence. I could keep this a secret, but I want to wield this information like a weapon, so I say, “He used his alpha voice on me.”
Jake looks at me for three beats. I see it happen like this: he doubts me, then he tries to justify it, and then finally, on the third beat, he gets angry.
At first, I think he is angry at me because he’s looking me in the eyes, but that isn’t the case.
He grips his fork tight, turns to Shadow on his left, and flings himself on the man.
Tina screams. Like an old Hollywood scream. Sabbies grabs me and yanks me out of the seat, holding me to his chest, and hits the wall behind us. Freddie grabs his mom and starts guiding her to the door. She rakes her hands over her face in horror.
Oh no, no, no.
Jake straddles Shadow. He’s on his side, and his leg on the ground gets pinned by Jake’s knee.
Jake slams down on his torso, twisting it so Shadow’s chest is to the ground.
He’s contorted and completely trapped. I see the fork sticking out of the back of Shadow’s neck, blood oozing out onto the white carpet.
“You violated the contract!” Jake screams into Shadow’s ear. “Answer me!” Jake dips down and bites Shadow on his shoulder. This makes both me and Tina scream. Sebastian tightens his arms around me as my knees give out.
It’s so violent.