Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
ABEL
“Axel!” I yell down the empty, freshly drywalled hallway. He stops in his tracks, slowly spinning to face me. I pick up my pace until I’m in his face. He backs up into the wall as I tower over him. I’m not much taller than him, but he sees how pissed off I am, shrinking into himself by the second.
With a clenched jaw, I grind out, “You’ve talked down to my omega one too many times, Axel.” My Alpha bark is close to making its appearance.
“I-I—”
Mocking him, I say, “I-I… I don’t want to fucking hear it. I’ve explained to all of you the meaning behind this project highlighted, and why it’s so important to August, but here you are still with your head up your ass.”
August walked into the heat servicing rooms that Axel had been working on and found he still hadn’t put the wallpaper up that had been agreed upon.
If this were the first fuck-up on Axel’s part, we wouldn’t be reacting like this, but there’s a laundry list of things he’s taken upon himself to change or just not complete during this build.
Axel happens to be good at what he does—when he follows the plans.
There’s not one thing he can’t work on when it comes to construction, or he’d no longer be employed by me.
But his attitude toward omegas is what we can never see eye to eye on.
It’s less than acceptable. We didn’t find this out until we started working on this project, and it was the worst time to learn, given how much this project means to my pack.
I should have taken him off of this project as soon as the first hateful words spilled from his lips about omegas, but we were thinking maybe he was just having a bad day…
It wasn’t just a bad day.
And now he’s responsible for the interior of a center designed for omegas, by an omega.
And not just designed for omegas, but made to put omegas in power.
To take control of their heats, profit off of them, and to never settle for less.
It was bound to cause problems with an Alpha that has no respect for omegas.
He has had the plans that August approved for the interior for over a month, and Axel continues to change small things he thinks none of us will notice.
Hell, I probably wouldn’t notice them, but August sure does. He knows the plans he made like the back of his hand, and everyday it’s a new problem that Axel creates for him.
“The velvet wallpaper has to be added to the rooms, Axel. It’s a non-negotiable. Omegas love their comfort, and that starts with the walls.”
“But it—”
I cut him off again before he goes on another tangent that I’m too tired to hear.
“Axel, who exactly cuts your checks?” I don’t give him a chance to answer.
“Yes, that’s right. Me.” I take a breath, but continue before he can speak.
“When it comes to comfort and the space that an omega is in, it has to be perfect. And putting your spin on shit, no matter how small it is, isn’t your job.
” He gets about a quarter of an eye roll in before my hand flies up, grabbing his jaw.
“You’re never going to find an omega acting like a goddamn child.
Fuck, I don’t think a beta would put up with this shit either… ”
He huffs like that wasn’t a knife to the gut, but I know for a fact it hit him right where I needed it to. He’s been on the hunt for an omega for at least a decade, and none of us knew why he couldn’t find someone. This project highlighted those exact reasons.
He treats them like they’re lesser than, never listens, and runs them off before he can even get a second date from most of the stories I’ve overheard. I always assumed the people he was going on dates with weren’t vibing together, but it seems he has a deep hatred for them.
Omegas belong nowhere but on the pedestal they truly deserve.
Reluctantly, he says, “I’ll put the fuzzy wallpaper up.”
“Velvet, you buffoon.” I let his face go and take a step back. “This is your last chance. Another fuck up, you’re gone. Understand?”
He just nods. I don’t care anymore so I spin on my heel and leave him there to fester in his thoughts.
Maybe if I weren’t trying to get home as quickly as possible to my sweet little omega, then I would care a tad more.
The ball is in his court to do his job correctly.
If he doesn’t, he’ll be gone, and I’ll be fixing everything behind him like I have been the past couple of months.
I keep telling myself maybe he’s just had a rough time, or something is going on in his family, but it’s not my job to comfort the man. That’s what therapists are for…
I yell over my shoulder as I’m walking away, “And fix that fucking mud on the wall that your back fucked up. Before you leave.”
My phone vibrates, alerting me that Kev and August just got home, the front door camera picking up their movement. I pull up the video feed and smile like the love-sick fool I am.
Kev has dark golden skin, black locks that he keeps pulled back out of his face, and hazel eyes that practically glow in the sunlight.
His towering figure stands protectively behind August, who is punching in the code to our front door.
They couldn’t be any more different from one another, and it’s what I love about our pack.
Kev and I have been together for nearly a decade, and he’s single-handedly held me together for most of that time.
He’s watched me grow my business and become the man I am today, and I wouldn’t be here without him.
Two Alphas that ended up together is very out of the norm, but our families supported us, and we had our love to lean on.
We were content for a long time, just the two of us.
We had dated and tried to find an omega here and there, but none of them were ever the right fit.
Until we saw our little sleeping beauty.
He looked out of it in the picture on the website—which should have been a big waving red flag—because they apparently found him on the street in the middle of his heat.
That was a little over a year ago, and to think of all the things we’ve accomplished since then is mind-blowing.
I’ve got to get home to my breedable little omega.