Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Kip
I’d hoped things would calm down during the weeks following the incident at the diner.
Nope.
Well, not exactly. Mase and I did what we had to do during the day, then after I got home we had dinner.
Once all the dishes were washed and put away, we drifted into the living room, lowered the lights, and took a seat.
I had Mase’s q, head in my lap, while I slid my fingers through his hair.
I loved watching his eyes flutter closed.
Lately, however, Mase seemed nervous, unable to rest during these times.
“And what would you like to confess today, my child?” I teased, hoping to lighten the mood.
Nope. No such luck.
“I’m worried,” he admitted.
“Okay, about what?”
A deep sigh rolled out of him. He tried to sit up, but I held him in place.
“I’m afraid we’re going to get into a hole we can’t dig ourselves out of.
We’re already getting money from your parents, and the town is behind in paying you.
What happens if something goes wrong and we’re unable to afford our bills?
” He set his jaw. “I think I should get a job.”
Hell no.
“We’ve already discussed this,” I remonstrated. “You have a job. If you go to work, your tea garden won’t get as much attention and might not produce like you’re hoping.”
“So what?” he snapped. “You’re talking tea. I’m talking having your truck repossessed or something breaking in the house that will cost an arm and a leg to fix. What would we do then?”
The easy answer was to get the money from my parents. I wasn’t kidding when I said they had it, but we weren’t kids anymore.
We should be able to stand on our own two feet.
“How about if I take this under consideration?”
His gaze narrowed. “So you’re saying no.”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all. I need to give this some serious thought. You just made very good points, and I won’t push them aside.”
“Promise?”
“I do.”
That was good enough for him.
It left me in a quandary. Part of the problem was that I still didn’t know what was expected of me as Mase’s Dominant.
The following Monday, I went into John’s office.
He smiled as I entered. “Hey, good to see you. Have a seat.”
I sat in one of the leather chairs he had near his desk. I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, so I went straight for the kill.
“How long do you think it’ll be before you can pay me?”
John tapped his pen on his desk. “That’s a good question. I can’t pin down a specific date, but I’m hoping it won’t be longer than another month or so.” He tilted his head to one side. “Can you hold out that long?”
I should probably talk to Mase about it, but I owed John a lot too. “Yeah, we should be okay.”
Fingers crossed.
He smiled. “Why do I get the feeling that’s not the only reason you’re here today?”
The man was smart, that was for certain.
“You’re right, it isn’t.” I took a deep breath. “I need to know about being a Dominant. I want to be sure I’m doing good by Mase.”
John exhaled, then leaned back in his chair, his hands laced over his stomach.
“I was wondering when you’d ask.” His brow furrowed.
“I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how to answer that.
See, when Mason was growing up, his parents’ teachings and his interactions with others were preparation for his role.
Everyone knows what an Omega wolf is, so they were told to act accordingly.
They gave him orders, taught him that his role in the pack was to bring us together.
But then something unexpected happened.”
I leaned in, eager to hear what was coming. “Yeah?”
John’s gaze locked on mine. “You showed up.”
Me?
“What do you mean?”
He scrunched up his face. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to explain this to you since you became Mason’s Dominant.
” He leaned forward, elbows on the desk, fingers steepled.
“In our society, there is one Alpha and everyone else is a Beta. However, on very rare occasions an Omega will be born. For the Betas, the Alpha is their Dominant, but they’re not expected to behave any differently than, say, working in an office and reporting to your boss.
An Omega, on the other hand, is totally different.
Seeing as how they can give birth, they’re exceedingly valued in the pack because they’re usually very fertile.
Our females usually only have one or two pups in their lifetimes.
An Omega remains able to give birth all the way up until their sixties and they don’t have the issues that women have where they can only get pregnant a few times, then that’s it, the clock stops. ”
How had I not known that? “Go on.”
“When Mason was born, we celebrated hard. We were drunk for days, because an Omega was a beacon for wolves to gather around as the pack was blessed. As I said, throughout his life, Mason was being prepped for his role, mostly by his parents, but also by all the teachers, shopkeepers… Well, pretty much everyone was taught how they needed to behave with Mason. He was to be kept safe, but also needed to learn his role in the pack. And it was working out fine… for the most part. Mason was a little more headstrong than the Omegas I’d read about.
Eventually he fell into line. John’s lips twitched. “But then you showed up.”
This was becoming a very interesting conversation.
“Your friendship with him? Thinking back, it probably wasn’t for the best in terms of teaching Mason to be an Omega, because you were constantly leading him in different directions.
” He sighed. “I admit, I should have stepped in when the two of you were getting closer, but Mason seemed happy, and I didn’t want him to be angry, so I ignored it.
When you grew up, I should have discussed it with you, but then you said you and Mason were together, and things got even more complicated. And by then it was too late.”
“What do you mean?”
“You singlehandedly undid all the things we’d taught him. It’s also why Mason is having problems now.”
“And you said nothing until now?”
“I’m telling you because you asked,” he said. “I should have said something, but like an idiot, I couldn’t come up with the words to say because....” He sighed. “Because I was afraid Mason would leave the pack.”
Yeah, and that would suck.
“So what do I do?”
“Mason’s nature is to be submissive, but you told him to question, to think for himself.”
“And that’s wrong?” What he was saying went against everything I’d been taught.
“Honestly? Yes. Look, I can understand your reasoning for it, but more than likely, it’s going to cause him more issues in the long run than it’s presently doing. He wants to argue, but his submissive side is telling him he can’t. The way you’re going? You’re setting him up for failure.”
“So I should do what? Tell him he needs to follow my rules? Not think for himself?”
John’s face fell. “Sadly, yes. You’re thinking of Mason in human terms, but he’s not human. He is a submissive Omega wolf, and he needs to be treated accordingly.”
Was I hurting Mason by treating him as an equal? My mind couldn’t comprehend living with him in any other way.
“I can’t treat him differently than I do,” I said at last.
“Then you’ll always have these problems,” John concluded. “Mason is confused about what his role in your dynamic entails and what you expect of him.” He paused. “Do you give him orders?”
“No, we talk about things and figure out what the best course of action is.”
John nodded. “And therein lies the problem. Mason needs a firm guiding hand, and you’re not giving him that.” He rested his chin on his steepled fingers. “An Omega needs direction from their Dominant, or else they won’t know how to act.” Another pause. “Have you started working on your polycule?”
I sighed and told him about what happened with Allison.
He shook his head sadly. “You’re hurting Mason. As your Omega, he should have been helping you to get your home ready for your second wife.”
My headache started then in earnest. “Allison would never be my wife. Mason will be the only one in my life. Hard period.”
“You have to stop thinking in human terms,” John said sternly.
“Uh, in case you forgot, I am human.”
He smirked. “Yeah, with your attitude I do tend to forget you’re not one of us. You would make a pretty great wolf.”
Flattery was not gonna distract me.
“So how do I fix this? How do I cherish Mason, but still give him what he needs?”
John sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know if you can. If I were you, I’d start by giving him more directives. If you’re unwilling to form a polycule, then Mason needs to learn his place in other ways.”
I hate this whole fucking situation.
Apparently my expression spoke louder than words.
John sat back. “I know you’re not happy, and I really am sorry about that. I had no idea you would become Mason’s Dominant. I figured Jerome would be able to undo what you’d done.” He grimaced. “Of course, this was before I realized he was a dick.”
“Yeah, Mason hates him.”
“And therein lies another issue. Mason isn’t meant to hate—he’s supposed to foster love. From what I can see, the only ones he loves are you and the two sets of parents. He tolerates everyone else.”
“Maybe because he feels they treated him like crap?”
“An Omega wouldn’t feel like that. They would find joy in service and submission.”
My head was swimming. “I don’t know this community at all, do I?”
“And maybe that’s the rest of the problem. In your world everyone is equal, but in this one it isn’t, and your brain is rebelling against you fully accepting being his Dominant.”
I had to own up to what was in my head if John was going to help me.
“There are times where I want to tell him what to do. To insist he get on his knees in front of me. I’ll… spare you the reasons.”
He chuckled. “Go with those thoughts. It might take some time for him to get with the program, but I can pretty much guarantee Mason would love it. Though it might be something small—”