Chapter 4
HART
My Sunday dinner date had been a disaster. I couldn't stop thinking about Silver the entire time, and my cousin paired me with the most petite omega elf I'd ever seen. Tinsel looked like he was part fae wood sprite, he was so tiny. No way would I choose him over my sexy take-charge omega.
My omega who was nowhere to be seen when I approached the counter to pay for my order.
"What the fudge did you say to him?" Gold asked.
Her short, no-nonsense hair the color of spun gold lay flat against the sides of her head beneath her white chef's hat.
Her blood-red nails looked longer and sharper than usual, and her eyes glowed like hot coals.
"It's all a huge misunderstanding. My cousin didn't know I'd already met someone Friday night, so he set me up with an omega at Sunday dinner."
"You sat through a Sunday dinner date with someone else without telling your date, or your family, about Silver?"
"I ..." I hadn't known what to say. Silver and I had agreed to go on a date, but that was all.
If I mentioned the word "boyfriend" at Sunday dinner, my parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins would have ganged up on me.
They would want to meet him, and then they'd know I was as weird as they all thought I was.
Fuck. This was a fucking mess.
"I'm calling Santa 30," Gold said. "The rest of his team can handle the breakfast runs from now on."
"What? No!" The thought of never seeing Silver again stung like a sharp blade through my chest. I tried to breathe, but the pain pooled behind my ribcage.
"The next time I see you in here, you'd better have a damn good reason." Smoke rolled out her nostrils as she spoke, and she pounded her fists on the countertop.
"Okay, okay. I'm going."
I trudged to the door, dreading the conversation awaiting me outside.
My cousin lounged against the brick wall beside the subway entrance next door.
He flashed me a happy-go-lucky smirk and slipped his hands out of his pockets to rest on his hips.
"What do you say? Tinsel's hot for you. He's looking for a booty call tomorrow night. What time are you off?"
"I'm not doing that."
"Why the fuck not? Aren't you into hot omegas anymore?"
My cousin had never been one to accept a simple "no," for an answer. "If I thought he was hot, I'd be interested. I'm not. He's not my type."
"What do you mean, not your type?" Bopp stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "We all have the same type! Hot petite omegas, the smaller the better."
"Not all of us."
"What are you saying?" Bopp stared at me with his mouth open. "You'd rather fuck that huge-ass dragon omega in there?"
"So what if I would?"
Bopp made a sour sound in the back of his throat and then hocked a loogie and spit it on the sidewalk at my feet. "You can't be serious. Wait until I tell the rest of the family."
The subway train to Christmas Village gave a single whistle, marking last call before leaving the station below.
"Fuck off." I marched past him, taking the stairs into the subway at a sprint. I was still the fastest alpha reindeer in my generation. I made it onto the train before the doors slid closed.
Bopp watched me on the other side of the glass with a bemused frown. I'd probably blown up my relationship with my entire family after that exchange, but I didn't care. If they were all so shallow to care more about an omega's appearance than his beautiful heart, they weren't worth my time.
On the train, I wondered what Silver and the other dragons thought of me and my family.
Most reindeer families were respected and liked.
My family, not so much. It wasn't my fault my great-great-to-the-nth-degree ancestor kicked the first Rudolph out of his flight training program.
At the time, the kid had been just another Donner, not the glow-in-the-dark savior of all Santas and reindeer.
Santa 30's Rudolph was a petite omega, and my family would swoon if I brought him home, but he was terrified of me.
I hadn't done much to encourage him, either.
He was at the front of the pack, while I was at the back of the sleigh with Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.
They were my ride-or-die teammates. Together, the four of us pulled the weight while the other five followed the turn-by-turn instructions from Santa's navigation computer.
Fuck. What would Santa say when he found out I was no longer welcome at Silver and Gold's?
Santa 30 didn't keep me waiting. When we broke for lunch, he called me into his office.
"I received a call from Gold over at Silver and Gold's," he said.
"I'm so sorry, Santa. My cousin got it all wrong."
Santa pressed his finger to the side of his nose and winked. "Bopp? That rascal's always interfering where he doesn't belong. It might be time for him to take a mandatory vacation to meet his fated mate."
"That would be wonderful," I said. "Get him out of my hair for a couple of weeks."
Santa's belly shook with his laughter. "I'm sure his Santa would appreciate that too."
My cousin was part of Santa 29's team. Friday's time trials had come down to the two of us and six other reindeer. I'd won, beating him by two seconds. I didn't like to gloat, but the win had been extra special because I'd beaten him.
"Gold asked me to stop sending you to pick up the daily order, but then we agreed to new terms." Santa looked a little maniacal when he smiled. "You're on duty until I tell you otherwise."
"What? But he—they don't want to see me again."
"I convinced her to give you another chance. She also mentioned Bopp's involvement, and we agreed that he was the obvious choice to ban for life."
"Really?" Some of the tension I'd carried in my chest since our encounter outside the bakery receded. I took a deep breath and exhaled.
"This secret of yours." Santa met my gaze, and I did my best not to flinch. "Tell your parents. You and your dad are nothing like the rest of your family."
My dad had flown for Santa 30 before me. Before that, Santa had hired two Cupids for the fourth row, and no Comets.
In the cafeteria, I pondered Santa's suggestion, barely noticing what I had for lunch. When Jax Donner nudged my arm, I was the only one still seated at the table.
"You coming?" he asked.
Out on the course, I made my decision. I couldn't tell my dad I was the type of degenerate my cousins hated worst of all, a "Large Omega Lover," or LOL, as they called them.
It had been hard enough for my dad and papa to break the stigma.
They were the same height, and while my papa was every bit the svelte omega our family demanded, the others teased him mercilessly for being the LO, or largest omega, in our family.
As much as I wanted to be with Silver, I didn't want that for him. I would feel awful if my family made fun of him for everything that made him perfect for me.
It wouldn't stop with his size. They would also make fun of him for being too sweet to pick up on some of their snarky comments. If that wasn't enough to scare him away, a few of my uncles would berate him for working when he should be home making babies and running his alpha's household.
For the record, I would never ask Silver or any other working omega to give up the career they loved to raise a family. My papa still worked at Santa 40's wood shop, building custom handmade toys, and he loved it.
Sometimes, he would tell us stories about the brief glimpses into the children's lives he got from their letters to Santa.
Their words reminded me of how important our work was.
If only for one day of the year, we showed the children of the world that they mattered, that someone thought they were worthy of gifts.
For some, ours were the only presents they received all year.
"Are you all right?" Donner asked me at dusk, when we finished our exercises for the day. He'd already wrapped his robe around his waist and tied it with his belt, while I was still petting the soft fabric sitting beside me on the locker room bench. "You seemed a little distracted."
While I shook out the robe and pulled it on, I contemplated my response. I almost blew him off with a bullshit answer. That would have been the Comet family way. Instead, I went with the truth. "Family drama."
Donner's eyes widened, and he grinned. "Yeah? Did you finally kick those assholes to the curb?"
I sighed as I tied the belt around my waist. That was the problem with having the worst reputation of all the reindeer shifter families.
Donner was my best friend on the team, but we weren't close.
I didn't even know his husband and twins' names.
I'd been to his apartment building, but he hadn't introduced me to his family.
Like most of the other reindeer, he kept me at a distance.
I hated that he thought I would hurt him, or anyone else.
Maybe he thought I couldn't help myself, since I was a Comet.
Or maybe it was because I was fairly new to the team.
This was only my second year with Santa 30, taking over when my dad moved over to the Global Logistics Unit.
"I'm not like them," I said, more to myself than to him.
He was a lot shorter than I, but his tight grip on my forearms was enough to get my attention. "You're nothing like them, but they see your silence as agreement."
For too long, that had been my intent. "I told Bopp to fuck off today."
"That's a good start." Donner grinned. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here." He released his grip and patted my arm a couple times before heading toward the showers.
I sat back on the bench, my mind drifting to another locker room, one filled only with the muffled cries of a dragon omega trying to be quiet while I blew his mind.
Silver deserved a better alpha, one who wasn't a Comet, or at least didn't act like one. I couldn't guarantee success, but I had to try.