Page 21 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Twenty-One

M is-timing his drink of water, Colton nearly choked on his water. He glanced between the two of us trying to see if we were joke. Pursing my lips, I sighed. Dad really wasn’t going about this well.

“Do you know why your pack is after you?” I asked, hoping to steer this conversation into easier to digest way.

Shaking his head, I hated that he now was not only frowning but at least one of his legs was bouncing. It was a habit that he did when he was nervous about something. I’d only seen it a couple times and I hated that we were the ones making him feel that way.

“It doesn’t make any sense. We didn’t think it was going to be that bad.”

“ We ?” Dad asked as he snagged a piece of meat off the plater.

Walking around me, he pulled out the loaf of bread Mom sent with him and grabbed one of my knives from the pulldown under my top cabinets. Slicing up some of the bread, I watched him hand Colton a slice. It was her famous fifty garlic clove bread and I really didn’t know how well it would be for him.

He still took it and nibbled on it. His eyes widened and he looked down at the bread.

“This is incredible. Is this homemade?”

“It is. All by Candice. I’ll tell her you liked it. She will be tickled.”

He nodded, nibbling more of it. “By we I mean my friend Mike and Sabrina. They are the only other two who know I am an Omega.” Colton’s eyes fell and I could see that sadness again. “We did break it through the school because Alpha Genesis has a weird obsession with me and Mike had a bad experience previously when he broke from his old pack.”

“Well, aren’t you lot a mess and a half.”

I slapped my dad’s arm and he put his hands up, mid-bite of bread.

“He’s not wrong, Marcus. We are bit of a rag tag group. Sabrina is the most put together and she lives in the city because she loathes her older sister. That wasn’t enough to break from the pack but I think if Mike gets his shit together and asks her to mate, then she will. She’d do anything for Mike and he would do the same for her.”

“Sweet. Young love. I am actually very happy to see it. Not always, if you know my family, do fated mates work out. So I’m always happy to see young ones choosing to blaze their own path.”

Colton’s glance up at me said so much and hope soared through me. Turning as to not embarrass myself with the blush on my face, I grabbed some apples from the fridge and started to peel them over the sink.

“What is the weird obsession that your Alpha has with you? It might give us a clue.” Dad asked as he chewed some meat.

“Finish your food before you talk. What are you, an animal?”

He scoffed. “No. I’m a majestic dragon who could kick your ass any day. Let me fucking eat how I want, child.”

“Then you can eat in dragon form out in the snow. In your human form, eat like a human. Talking while chewing…disgusting. No wonder Mom snaps at you so much.”

“Don’t you bring your mother into this.”

I put the apple down on a plate. “Oh, I’ll call her down and let her knock you down a peg or two herself.”

He grumbled and leaned against the counter next to me. “Fine. Sorry, Colton, you were saying?”

There was more silence and I turned around as I cut the apple into slices. My little wolf was looking down at his fingers that were tightly interlaced. Dad seemed to catch it too and he looked up at me, frowning.

“Do I need to ask Marcus to leave?” I was shocked that my dad asked him that and I was about to tell him I wasn’t going anywhere when he shook his head slowly.

“I was bullied by him most of my younger years. It’s just…when I got older the bullying turned…sexual. It didn’t make sense but he would throw really off comments. If we were alone, it just got really uncomfortable and there were a few times…” Colton glanced up at me. “He has a mate, kids, and Omegas. Sometimes I thought he knew about me but if he did, I wouldn’t have been allowed to walk around freely. Outside the pack or inside.”

Dad shook his head. “I’m sorry but fucking grounders. We don’t have the best history as dragons when it comes to Omegas but we learned our lesson. The only way these grounders are going to learn their lesson is when the Omegas are extinct and there are no more leadership Alphas.”

“One can dream.” Colton chuckled. “They all deserve it.”

I sighed. “Alright you two. Stop contemplating the end of grounders please.”

“Colton, there is another reason why Omegas are monitored so closely and we know how many are around. It’s because only leadership Omegas can birth other Omegas.”

He turned his head to the side. “But Dr. Cardiff said…”

“She was right to an extent. It does matter on the Alpha and what level you both are. But the extra factor that plays into that is you have to be a leadership Omega.”

Colton was quiet for a while, looking out at the snow from the windows. You couldn’t even see any part of my deck anymore. It was all piled with snow. Luckily, the wind still hadn’t picked back up.

“So, what you’re saying is…I don’t make sense. My existence doesn’t make sense.”

Sighing, I walked around the island and set the plate of apples in front of him before wrapping my arms around him. “No. It’s just there is a lot that we don’t know. Things that your pack or your family may know that you don’t. We thought it might be good to get some answers.”

“Plus, we can find out what level Omega you are.”

I glared at Dad, sounding far too chipper with how Colton’s mood took a nose dive. Kissing the top of his head, I lifted his chin up to look at me.

“There is a machine we can check your level and your lineage. It might help answer some questions.” His body gave him away as it went rigid. “It’s not connected to anything. No information will leave this house. You don’t have to do this either. I wanted to have this conversation with you a little more privately, but Dad brought the machine over.”

More silence filled the house as Colton took an apple slice and chewed on it slowly. Dad actually shut his mouth this time and waited. I nuzzled his cheek but let him stew. Finally, after three pieces of apples and finishing off the slice of bread Dad gave him, he sighed.

“So, it doesn’t get out? The information? It doesn’t go to the Council or anything?”

Dad shook his head. “This is a bit of a fancy one, but employers use it to check that their employees aren’t lying about their levels.”

“Really, I’m surprised the docks didn’t do that. They used to require only Alphas. It would make sense that they would test.” I put my chin on his head while holding Colton.

“Docks? What do you mean docks? Like the dock jobs in the city?”

Colton nodded, moving my head with him. “I worked there for a nine months.”

“You’re shitting me.” Dad looked up at me. “He’s lying.”

I shook my head. “Sadly, I wish he was.”

Giggling, Colton smiled. “I did. They knew I was a Beta-1 but their test to check if you can do the job pretty much weeds out any of the Beta-5’s or below. I’d just been working really hard to make sure I kept up my strength. At the time…”

“But you aren’t…by the old golds…I can’t…” Dad pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I can do it with you. It might be good to know for our hatchling any details I might not even know. Dragons tend to lose their history sometimes with how long we live.”

Dad nodded, grabbing the box and flipping through the manual. “It gives a lot of information. How much of what type of shifter you are. If there is some other shifter in your blood. What level your DNA comes from. What level you are. Blood type. All without it being attached to the database. That’s the important part.”

Colton nodded but his shoulders were still tense and his muscles tight.

“You’ll do it?” I asked him, making sure I was reading the nod right.

“Yeah…I’ll do it. If you do it with me.”

Smiling, I peaked his lips. “Of course, little wolf. I’ll be by your side this whole time.”

He relaxed a little, his hand coming up and holding my arm that was wrapped around him. Dad pulled out the machine and flipped through the manual after plugging it in. It was quiet and he frowned.

“The other plug is hooked up to the generator. Not that one.”

“Ah!”

The machine whirled to life as Dad plugged it into the wall plug and Colton munched on the apples. This was a big step for him and I couldn’t have been more proud of him. We watched my dad pull out the different vials and I sighed. The bad part was that he would need to get under my scales to get access to my blood. Reading my mind, Dad chuckled.

“You’ll need to remove a couple scales.”

Colton looked from my Dad to me. “What do you mean?”

“Come here. I’ll show you.”

Colton came over and I grabbed one of the switchblades I had in the utility drawer. Taking it, I dragged it across the palm of my hand. Crying out, Colton grabbed my hand but as he watched, no blood came forward.

“Wait…scales? You always have scales under your skin?”

Nodding, I then lifted up two of the scales and pulled them out. Wincing, I grabbed the vial and filled it up with the blood that came from where the scales had attached.

“Is that why you can see the scales under the skin when you’re about to shift?”

I tried not to smile, the curiosity shinning in Colton’s eyes. “Yes. We always have our scales. So if I were to walk through flames, it would burn my skin but my scales would be fine. I would be fine. It’s more painful though when scales get pulled off. It’s connected to a thin membrane and it has a lot more nerves than skin does.”

Handing the vial to my Dad, he capped it and put my initials on it. Taking a deep breath, Colton shifted one of his hands and sliced his finger. The blood dripped into the vial I was holding for him and once he was done, he stuck his finger in his mouth. Passing it to my dad, he also initialed it after he closed it. Placing it into the machine, he shut it and turned it on. It whirled and a timer started to flash on the screen.

“And now we wait.” Dad placed his hand on his hips.

“I’m going to melt the snow around the house and see how bad it is further out down the road. The wind died down and it should be fine. If I can help get the power back on, I don’t need to worry about running the generator overnight.” I turned and started to head towards the back door. Colton grabbed my arm though.

“Can I watch you shift? I didn’t get to see it when we drove here.”

I chuckled. “Of course.”

He looked like a kid on Christmas morning. Even my dad laughed. Opening up the back door, I was met with a wall of snow. Taking a deep breath, I let the breath out as smoke through my nostrils. Clicking my tongue, flames shot out of my mouth and melted snow at the door. Stepping out into the now wet deck, I stripped off my shirt and pants. Looking back, I winked at Colton who had his hands wrapped around the front of him to stay warm. From my feet, flames erupted and as I shifted, the flames went with me as I transformed into my dragon. I heard my dad laugh.

“If anyone is a show off when it comes to shifting in our family, it’s him.”

I roared and jumped into the air, unfurling my wings and climbing into the sky. It was a bitting cold, but it felt so good at the same time. The heat in me burst out and the cold particles in the air fell as warm rain. While I was a rare shifter that I felt more comfortable in my human form than my dragon, it didn’t mean I didn’t feel at home as a dragon. Mostly it was because my dragon was so powerful, it was easier to control him in my human form. As a dragon, this was his form.

Stepping back, he roared forward, letting loose a huge bout of flames. I rolled my eyes. My dragon was showing off for his mate. Wanting him to know we were powerful enough to protect him and our hatchling. We swept through the air and once we both confirmed that Colton was inside with the door shut, we got to work.

After melting the snow around the house and the surrounding area, I did a quick flight onto the road. Everything looked white and empty, the snow covering up all signs of civilization out here. I melted the highway as close as I far as I dared leave the house. We need to be there for our mate. My dragon didn’t say anything, but his humming in agreement I trusted.

Flying back, we did a final sweep of the area. Most of the local wildlife hunkered down for the storm. Dad was waiting outside on the deck when we flew closer to the house. Banking back into the clearing of my back yard, I shifted and landed on both feet. It shook the entire deck and my dad rolled his eyes at me.

“Its official, Colton is going to be my replacement.”

I sighed. “Let’s not talk about this now. Is it ready?”

He nodded and opened up the door for me. As I walked in, Colton was standing by the door with sweats and a shirt for me. Taking them, I pulled them on. My dragon purring as we caught Colton checking us out. He realized he got caught and blushed, looking away. Pulling him in, I kissed him on the lips, aware that he still didn’t feel warmed up enough from the exertion outside. Dad was already in the kitchen and I laced my fingers with Colton. Squeezing his hand, we walked to kitchen together.