Page 9 of An Omega for Christmas

Matthew moved away from the fire and came to stand by the counter, placing his mug down and watched him cook.

"Smells good." Matthew's voice held a note of wariness, like he knew that he'd backed himself into a corner but was looking for a way out, for a way to engage Grey and start over.

"How'd you like it?" Grey examined the steak and flipped it over.

Matthew shook his head. "It's yours."

Grey added some butter to the pan. "There's another one in the fridge. This one's rare at the moment. Do you need it cooked more?"

"No, I like it bloody." Matthew looked down at the counter, pressing his lips together and Grey felt a tingle light up his body that felt way too dangerous.

Boy after my own heart. Grey swallowed hard, and then pulled a plate toward him, sliding the steak onto the plate and taking a bowl of potatoes from the microwave. He pushed the food toward Matthew and took the other steak from the fridge. Matthew looked at the food for precisely two seconds before picking up the fork and digging in. He made a noise that was pure pleasure and Grey nearly dropped his own steak on the floor. He risked a quick glance over to the younger man and smiled to himself as he watched Matthew devour the food.

Grey joined Matthew at the counter with his own plate, pulling up a stool. He heaped potatoes on his plate and finally satisfied one of his hungers. He could feel Matthew's eyes on him and looked up.

"Why are you doing this?"

Grey looked at Matthew for a moment, before returning to his food. He knew he had to tread carefully. As much as he, and his wolf, wanted to take care of Matthew, wanted to claim him and take him right there on the counter to seal the mating bond, Grey could still see the wariness in Matthew's eyes.

"Doing what?"

"This. Being nice to me, taking care of me, when you don't even know me?"

"Because you're my mate. I want to know you. I want to take care of you."

Matthew stiffened and Grey placed his fork down carefully on his plate and tried to think of something to lighten the mood.

"Besides, it's Christmas. Goodwill toward men and all that." Grey got up, his stool scraping harshly on the tiled floor and Matthew flinched.

"Kelvin didn't."

"Kelvin? What about him? What didn't he do?"

Matthew stared at him for a moment before snatching his gaze away, but Grey didn't miss the glitter of tears in the omega's eyes. He watched Matthew struggle to compose himself before he looked around at the sparsely furnished cabin.

"Don't you decorate for the holidays?" Matthew asked.

"I...usually," Grey said, his face clouding a little in confusion at the sudden subject change. He knew he couldn't force Matthew to talk until he was ready but it didn't stop the frustration he felt. "This is the first Christmas I've been on my own for a while and I don't know, I guess, I thought it wasn't worth going to the effort just for me." Grey realized that he was saying too much, and was worried that Matthew was going to think he was only looking for someone to ease his loneliness over Christmas which would no doubt only add fuel to Matthew's already bad impression of Alphas.

Matthew looked up at him and blinked rapidly as though he were trying to stop himself crying. "I'm sorry for just turning up here."

Grey stopped what he was doing. The sadness in Matthew's voice almost broke his heart and he couldn't stand it. "What happened, Matthew? Did Kelvin do something to you?" Grey clutched the edge of the counter, his fingers itching to stroke the omega's face, to soothe the tiredness and the jagged emotions he could see building in Matthew's eyes.

Matthew brought one shoulder up in a half hearted movement, veiling his gaze with thick lashes. "He's not happy about me being with you. He called me a slut and told me I couldn't stay in River Mountain. He made some threats and... Anyway, I'm unemployed and homeless and I didn't have anywhere else to go, so..."

Anger burned through Grey as he watched Matthew struggle to control himself, looking so lost and lonely, his face showing the kind of pain borne of broken trust and love that had been cruelly tossed away. Grey was finding it difficult to containhimself. His wolf whined inside him, clawing and demanding that he get closer to the omega.

"Does Kelvin know you're here?"

Matthew glanced up at him, his face contorting into a scowl. "Why, are you worried that your precious deal won't happen? I should have known, you're just like every other Alpha, you only wanted a cheap fuck, the thrill of fucking an omega, but I'm never going to be good enough for you or your pack, am I?" Matthew's voice was loaded with venom and the atmosphere between them was strained and edgy.

Grey held onto himself with the kind of iron will that only an Alpha had. He wanted Matthew, wanted to take care of him on every level but he knew that if he came on too strong then he would scare him away and lose him forever.

"That's not what I meant. I'm concerned that you got onto pack territory without my security picking you up, which is a major fucking problem. If Kelvin is so pissed about you being with me then I can't rule out him coming here, and I need to be prepared for that. I'm not going to risk your safety."

"I don't want to cause you any problems. I can probably hitch another ride and-"

"What? You're not going anywhere. Can't you just accept that I want you here and will do anything to have you, to keep you safe?"