Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Kip
“I did,” he admitted.
Then he went into great detail, telling me more than I ever would have thought possible. Including that if I betrayed them, they’d have me killed.
That was enough to shock me. I needed answers, now.
My head was still spinning when Mason’s phone buzzed.
“If that’s Jerk-rome, calling to tell you he still wants you, tell him to fuck the hell right off.”
He glanced at the screen. “It’s my parents.”
I rolled my eyes. “Dude, they just left us. Can it wait? Because you gotta know I have maybe a gazillion questions for you right now.”
He sighed. “Let me see what they want.” He got up and walked over to the window, speaking in a low voice.
I was about to protest when my own phone pinged. I glanced at the screen and groaned.
Mom. Great. Anyone else wanna call at the most worst moment ever?
I knew if I didn’t talk to her, she’d keep calling. I swiped my finger over the screen and brought the phone to my ear.
“Is there any way we can talk later? Right now we’re in the middle of some heavy conversation.”
“Which is why I’m calling. We love that you and Mason finally got together, we really do. But sweetheart, you need to talk to him now before things get… sticky.”
Which I also knew, but this wasn’t the time. “I will, I promise, but not right now. We’re figuring out our lives and things aren’t going as well as we’d hoped.”
“And that’s why you need to talk to him. Let him know—”
“Yes, I know, Mom!” I snapped. Then guilt swamped me. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. I know I’m pushing. I just don’t want there to be any misunderstandings.”
Oh, there would be. No matter what I said or when I said it, things were going to be messy.
Across the room, Mason pressed his phone to his chest and signaled to me.
“Sorry, Mom, gotta go.” I ended the call. “So what do they want?”
“They were asking if we were available for dinner.”
I have to admit, food was the last thing on my mind.
“Do you want to go to dinner with my parents?”
I stared at him. “Why are you asking me, dude? Do you wanna go?”
His lip trembled. “That’s your decision,” he said softly.
“Tell them you’ll call them back,” I growled.
He spoke quietly, then finished the call, his gaze focused on me.
What does he remind me of? Then it hit me.
Once upon a time there was a book my mom loved. It was called The Stepford Wives and she’d devoured it, even while she’d talked about it and mocked it for its implausibility.
Seeing Mase, I wasn’t so sure it was such an impossible scenario.
“Come here,” I insisted.
Mason came over and knelt at my feet, which had me swallowing down my anger once again. I drew in a deep breath.
“You have to do whatever I tell you, right?”
“Yes, that’s how it works for an Omega.”
“Fine.” I squared my shoulders and looked him in the eye. “From now on, I want you to act like my Mason. My best bud. I don’t wanna see any more of this… robotic Mason I don’t know. Because dude? That creeps me the fuck out.”
His eyes widened. “I…I can’t. I’m expected to act this way, and if we’re living back in town, we’d have to do it so the elders and my Alpha can see I’m following protocol.”
“But you already told them I’m not part of your group.”
“Pack. It’s called a pack.”
I set my jaw. “I don’t give a fuck if it’s called a Hooptie. I don’t like it and I won’t have it.”
He bared his teeth. “That’s fine for you,” he snapped. “I don’t have any goddamn choice.”
I smiled. “Now that is my Mason. The one who always stood up for himself, for others. Why can’t we show them you’re not a doormat? Why can’t you be the guy I’m seeing now?”
His shoulders sagged. “Because they follow tradition.”
I glared at him. “The hell with tradition. We make our own futures. Maybe it’s time to drag your people into the twenty-first century, so they can see how people really live in the here and now.”
He swallowed hard. “Can I admit something to you?”
Something about his demeanor deflated my irritation. “Of course. You can tell me anything.” I feared what he was about to say, because from his expression I knew it wasn’t going to be good.
Mason knelt there, staring at his clasped hands.
“I’m submissive. It’s part of who and what I am.
Like you having blue eyes, my submissiveness is the result of my DNA.
” I raised a hand, but he plowed on. “I don’t mind it, I promise.
I’ve been raised since birth knowing my place and although I rebelled against it while I was growing up, I’m not upset or angry about it.
” He raised his chin to look at me. “At least not with you being the dominant partner. Jerome? That was another matter entirely. He wanted me to be submissive to him in all things. You won’t do that to me.
” He blinked, then fixed me with a pleading stare. “Please don’t do that to me.”
I sighed. The Mason I’d known growing up?
This wasn’t him. He wasn’t the friend who’d helped me pull pranks or play jokes.
He was a completely different person, one I would have to get to know, especially if this was going to be our future for now.
It was fucked up and I hated it, but I wasn’t about to walk away from my best friend when he needed me most.
He says he can’t change how he is. So I would have to adapt to the situation, as screwed up as it was. I was still bound and determined to find a way out of this, one where Mason could run rings around everyone else, laughing while he did it.
I still had questions, however.
“Why do we have to do this?”
He expelled a breath. “Because only a Dominant can help an Omega reach his true potential.”
“But what does that mean?” He might as well have been talking Swahili for all the sense it made.
Mason regarded me with a steady gaze. “Omegas are like ultra-rare Pokémon cards. There aren’t many in the world. We’re a gift to our pack, or so they say.” He snorted. “Didn’t feel like a gift when they were trying to give me to Jerk-rome.”
“Focus, dude.”
He ducked his head, his cheeks flushed. “Sorry. Bit of a sore spot. Anyway, any pack that has an Omega is said to be blessed, because we possess traits no other wolf has. We’re faster so we can escape an enemy, we’re able to climb so we can get away when we’re chased, and we’re… .” He mumbled the last words.
My ears perked because no way did he say what I thought he did.
“Sorry, can you repeat that last part?”
He gripped my hand hard enough that it hurt. “We can give birth.”
Biology just went out the window.
“How the hell can you give birth?”
“A male Omega has both sets of reproductive organs. If our Dominant is female, they’ll give birth to our offspring.
If our Dominant is male, we give birth. Like most shifters, our packs have very low birthrates.
It’s one of the reasons we’re in so much trouble now, and the main reason they wanted to make a deal with Jerome’s family.
If they brought both packs together, they figured those of us who could have babies would have a better chance of being barefoot and pregnant. ”
This whole thing blew my mind, and I’ll be honest, now I had no idea how to proceed.
Sitting down might help me process it all.
I pulled the nearest chair to me and sat. “So, let me get this straight. You could have given birth to Jerome’s babies?”
His eyes went wide. “Oh my god, it sounds even worse when you say it. Yes, Jerome could get me pregnant.”
“How is that even possible?”
He smirked. “Do you really want a lesson in gay Omega sex?”
Ew, no.
“No, I don’t.” But if I was going to help Mason, I needed to have all the information. “Having said that, I need to.”
“Fine, but remember, you asked.” He paused for a second. “When you had sex with women, did they get wet for you?”
This time I smirked. “Like a fountain, dude.”
He scowled. “I’m supposed to gross you out, not the other way around.” He shook his head. “Like I needed to hear that. Anyway. Male Omegas, like myself, have self-lubrication as well. We can bend over for our male Dominants anytime they want so they can breed us.”
That still left one all-important question. “Okay, but where do the babies come out?”
He lifted his shirt and pointed to an area on his right side. “See this? Behind here is a sack where the babies would grow. After enough time they’d do a C-section to remove the little one and our happy family would have a new member.”
“And you’d do this willingly?”
He gave me a soft, sad smile. “I’ll be honest. Having a baby is the lifelong dream of any Omega. Something to love, to raise, to help grow. I’ve never heard of an Omega who didn’t want it.”
I gave a slow nod. “You just didn’t want it to be with Jerome.”
His shoulders slumped again. “It pains me to say this, but for a chance to have a baby, I would have accepted Jerome. Eventually. If I didn’t spike his drink with hemlock first.”
And for the first time since I’d known Mason, I stopped and looked closely at him. I could see him with a child. He’d always been kind and caring, nurturing even.
“I hope one day you’ll be able to have children,” I said, meaning every word of it. “Just with someone you don’t want to poison.”
And that finally made him laugh.
Mason
The conversation had gone a hell of a lot better than I’d thought it would.
Kip hadn’t run screaming from the room, which was a good sign.
Still, he seemed nervous and uncertain. I guess I could understand that.
Imagine finding out werewolves were real and not a concoction of Hollywood and writers’ imaginations.
What surprised me was he trusted me enough to avoid saying ‘prove it’.
That was a game changer for me.
He asked all kinds of questions about things from my being submissive to whether or not I thought we’d get away with this deception. I answered honestly, including the “I’m not sure” for pulling one over on everyone.
My parents called again and asked about dinner. I looked to Kip and he sighed and said yes, but that he needed to call his parents to invite them. I hoped they’d say no.