Chapter 55 Zack
Chapter fifty-five
Zack
I stroke one hand over my leash as I watch my omega get ready to act.
It’s my old, familiar collar, smelling like me and Ri-ckon.
He smiled as he clipped it in place, and we both know it means something important.
People stare as we walk through the busy set, but I get several waves and a few welcomes.
“They missed you,” Ri-ckon whispers from the other end of my leash.
I can’t say I missed the crowded space full of other alphas, but I don’t mind people smiling at my mates anymore.
“Zack,” White Mine says, pressing my arm until I face him.
“Today’s a big day for acting. Red and others will ride horses in a race, and lots of people have come to act as a crowd.
” He moves forward, gently towing me with him to point out the tall steps covered in seats.
Way more than five people gather there, voices bubbling in the air like soap froth. Sounds like fight day in the arena.
I scan the crowd, filtering the mess of scents.
Some come from staff who help Red. Others are foreign.
I frown as another familiar odor reaches me, belonging to the woman who made Ri-ckon cry at the courthouse.
Instinct compels me to wrap my arm around my pack mate, but as I scan the people, I can’t find the source of the scent.
“You need to stay by my side, even if you see something you don’t like,” Rickon warns.
I smile down at him and close my hands around his where he holds my leash. His entire hand disappears under my fingers. “I’ll follow the rules, Ri-ckon. I’ll be good.”
He chuckles and reaches up to cup my jaw. “You’re always good. I just wanted to warn you it’s going to get very loud and busy.”
I nod. This time I understand more about acting; the camera angles, the pretend lines that Red listens to through her headphones, and how the result shows up on a TV.
At first, I couldn’t figure out why the acting goes on the TV, but then I recalled how I get so interested watching the morning shows about words and numbers.
Of course people want to watch my beautiful ohm-ee-ga in the same way.
“Is Red good at acting?” I ask. Ri-ckon knows everything, so he’ll be able to tell me.
“Oh yes, she’s very good. Watch how all her small actions are different to Red at home. She’s playing at being a totally different person. Her character’s name is Ashana, and she rides horses for a job.”
Job. I turn the word around in my mind. “Red job to act?”
“Yes. She’s called an actress.”
I hum and nod. “What Ri-ckon job?”
“My job is to help Red so she can act. I teach her the things to say and make sure she gets to work on time, and I help spread the news that she’s an excellent actress and answer questions about her.”
“Big job,” I mutter. Seems to require not just a lot of words to explain but also keeps him on his various-sized screens a lot.
Ri-ckon laughs. “Yeah, it is.”
“And Cal-ee job to put people in prison who break law?”
“Not just to put them in prison but to get them out. His job is called a lawyer.”
Makes sense, since he got me out of prison.
“And, in case you wanted to know, Calli’s very good at his job too.” White Mine folds his arms across his chest and sighs. “You know how you won your challenges against other alphas in the fight rings?”
I nod, puffing my chest out.
“Well, Callisto has a win-streak going on right now. He has one more court case before he’s won more cases in a row than anyone else in the country.”
“That good?”
“Yes. His workplace will give him a promotion . . . um, a better job with more importance.”
A surprised noise slips through my throat. “One more? We go watch?” Surely that’s important, since we watch Red work.
Rickon shakes his head. “I wish, but that’s happening tomorrow, and this is a two-day filming at least.”
“Ah. Cal-ee be sad.”
“True. Should we do something special for dinner?”
“Eggs and toast!” I declare, and he laughs.
“That’s your favorite, huh?”
“And popping juice.”
“Definitely some champagne.”
Red emerges from her room for clothes, and I study her like Ri-ckon suggested. She looks different for sure, clothes sticking to her body like skin. She wears a silky shirt with bright colors similar to her pots with broken pieces stuck on the outside.
When she glances our way, she smiles, and the spot inside my body that belongs to her heats up. This is an ohm-ee-ga’s love, the most precious warmth in the world. I lift my hand and wave.
Ri-ckon sticks the no-scent patches under her collar, and then we follow her to a different building. Soon a man brings her a horse, and she strokes the beast’s long nose as if it were my head.
I growl softly.
Red turns and beckons me. I’m not sure what to do around those big animals, but I can’t ignore her request. “It’s okay, Zack. This is Chuckles, and he’s more scared of you than you are of him.”
An animal this big feels fear? I can’t smell it on him, but then again, he’s not an alpha.
Red takes my hand and places it on the soft brown fur, stroking my fingers down the length.
The creature snorts softly, tickling my hand with the white hairs around his nose.
Someone drops a saddle and the horse flicks his ears, head snapping up nervously.
I rest my hand on his powerful neck, feeling the strength within. His skin ticks with nerves, and yet he stands in place, held by a lead rope similar to mine. For a moment, all the noise on the set fades away.
Once, I was the same, twitching at every sound and ready to run. Now, every noise has a meaning, and few of them pose a threat.
“Be good,” I mutter, stroking his hard cheek. “Carry Red well.”
The horse settles and nudges into my chest, leaving a smattering of orange hairs on my shirt.
My ohm-ee-ga laughs and pushes the horse away. “Go easy on him,” she tells the animal.
My heart squeezes. “Zack ride horse too?” I ask.
Red throws me a dazzling smile. “One day, sure. Just not today because we’re about to start.”
Ri-ckon tugs on my leash. “They’re clearing the set now, Zack.”
I follow him, casting glances over my shoulder at my transformed omega as she listens to one of the loudest people she works with, and the big cameras roll into position.
My pack mate tucks us into the side of a building with views out to the racetrack.
Dozens of horses mill around, circling with their riders in front of a row of narrow half-cells.
Like Ri-ckon said, today’s the busiest I’ve ever seen this place, and the crowd in the rows of seats in the next building makes a massive noise, like flies buzzing in a flock.
Rickon nudges me and points, but I already spied my ohm-ee-ga, riding out from a tunnel with the cameras rolling on wheels ahead of her. She sits on the horse’s back, a dome protecting her head. She’s the only one the cameras follow.
“Why Red act?” I ask, tracking her progress onto the brown area near the line of cells.
“Good question. You know Red went through some terrible things, where she was forced to produce haze?” He taps his collarbone.
I growl, recalling the day Al explained what Ray did to her.
“Well, enduring those things was really hard on her mind. She used acting roles to help her get through it without losing herself completely. And she also copied actresses as a way of learning how to behave in life.”
Ah, now I understand. Acting is to Red what my ohm-ee-ga is to me—a savior. Something that taught her how to live.
I nod my head emphatically. “Good then. Let her act a lot.”
Ri-ckon chuckles. “Yeah, I agree. As much as she wants. But you know what’s even better? With us, our omega’s learning who she is without acting. That’s why the Red we see at home is a little different to the woman riding a horse out there.”
I glance down at the leash arcing from my throat to his hand. “Like leash? Red still learning?” My jaw pops open. I thought my ohm-ee-ga knew everything!
“Oh, you sweet boy,” Ri-ckon says, grinning. He reels in the leash, closing the distance between us. “I’ll let you in on a secret. Every human spends their entire life learning, right up to the day we die.”
I begin to tell him it can’t be true, but then Callisto’s words about learning to treasure his pack come into my mind. A heavy invisible pressure leaves my shoulders in a heartbeat. “So, it okay that Zack still learn, even if it takes long?”
“Oh, my love!” Ri-ckon turns and throws his arms around my neck. “Of course it’s okay. You’ll always be learning new things. That’s the joy of living life.”
I hook my arm around him and crush him to my chest, startling a sharp exhale from him. I’m not hopelessly behind everyone else, because all the people who feel so different from me are also still learning. And maybe they too feel a bit lost, the same as me.
Just not Ri-ckon. He knows everything already, but I’ll keep his secret. Others might want to steal him if they knew about his magic.
“Thanks, White Mine,” I murmur, nuzzling his face. “Means much.”
He chuckles and squeezes me back.
As I release him, ready to turn back to watch my ohm-ee-ga, a loud snapping sound booms across the field, followed by ringing bells.
I stagger, whipping around to find the danger.
All the people in the seats cheer and scream, deafening me.
My precious ohm-ee-ga flies away from me, fast as a bus travels, on the back of her horse.
She’s leaving!
Cold hands clamp onto my cheeks. Rickon jerks my face roughly toward him, our noses a finger-width apart. He calls, but I can’t hear him through the shouting and my pounding heartbeat.
I could rip away from his hold, but I hesitate.
“Zack!” A trace of his voice reaches me. Ri-ckon hauls on the leash, pressuring my neck.
Every instinct tells me to chase after my ohm-ee-ga but Ri-ckon is here, holding me tight. With the leash.
I close my eyes and sink slowly to my knees, covering my ears with my hands.
When I can’t trust the noise, the bond will guide me.
Red lives there, excitement pulsing through her in hot streams. A touch of fear, but not much.
Ri-ckon sails next to her, his presence soured by fear, but not for himself. For me.
I press my face to his chest and breathe in his cake scent, and Ri-ckon wraps his arms around my head, holding me tight. The blazing instinct fades, leaving a bitter chill in my veins and my heart thumping in my breast.
Gripping Ri-ckon’s arms tight, I glance up.
Red’s so far away, chased by the other horses and moving vehicles, but she follows a low fence that curves toward us. As I watch, her horse turns the corner, heading back in my direction. I rock onto my ass and release a long-held breath.
My omega will move away, but she’ll always return. Because we’re pack.
“Zack,” Ri-ckon calls, blocking my view. “I’m so damn proud of you! You did so well.”
I suck in a quivery breath. “Zack not fight,” I murmur.
“Exactly. Well done! It was super noisy, huh? But that’s just the acting for the beginning of the race.” He peers down into my eyes, crouching on his heels. “Thank you for trusting me, my darling.”
Trust. It’s a new word, but I know what it means. It means listening to my bond and not pulling on the leash, and it means believing what my alpha tells me. I reach for the strap between us and wind it around his hand to shorten the length, before tugging Ri-ckon down onto my lap.
He falls with a gasp, which I suck from his parted lips. “We watch our ohm-ee-ga return,” I announce.
“Okay, boss,” he says with a chuckle.
His fear fades away, and the bond vibrates with his pleasure instead. I snuggle my chin onto his shoulder and hum to shed the last of the activity surging in my veins.
With my alpha warming my lap, I turn back to watch, ready to learn something new.