Page 44 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Forty-Four

“ A re you sure you want to go out? You weren’t feeling great earlier?”

I pulled one of the new pairs of jeans and tucked my shirt in. They zipped up with no issues but there was no hiding behind shirts anymore, that was for sure. Grabbing a sweater, I pulled it over and came out of the closet. Marcus was sitting on the bed, fully dressed already as well.

“We don’t need to go. We can stay in.”

Sighing, I stepped in between his legs and brushed his hair to the side. “It’s Christmas Eve, Mar. I’d like to go to the tree downtown. They have everything set up. I’ve gone for the past few years with Rin and Mike. It’s become a tradition.”

His hands rubbed my sides. “Alright. If you think you’re okay.”

“I will be. If I start feeling bad, I’ll tell you and we can come home.”

Humming, Marcus nodded and pulled me down into a kiss before standing up. Excited, I followed him out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Every Christmas Eve, on campus, the school put on a whole event. There would be food stalls, games, an ice rink, and all of it was centered around the giant Christmas tree they lit up like a beacon.

Mike, Rin, and I always took the time to go. Even if I had to get up and catch four a.m. bus to the pack for Christmas Day. Or Rin had to do the overnight drive down to her pack. It was just something we had done since starting school. Now was our third year and it was probably going to be my last major outing for a while.

I’d gotten on a scale at school after my last in person class on Thursday. Somehow, I’d managed to gain seven pounds in a week. After the initial horror, I knew I still was nowhere near where I needed to be. I still had a ways to go to be considered healthy. Especially with the corrected weight percentage for having a hatchling.

Pulling on my coat, Marcus wrapped my red scarf around my neck for me before getting his own. We stepped up and it wasn’t actively snowing at the moment but it was expected to this evening. Getting into the Jeep, Marcus pulled out and headed to the city. I was excited. This was the first Christmas where I felt like I was finally happy. That there was something to celebrate coming into the new year.

Marcus snuck into the teachers parking lot, which was really unfair considering how bad parking was for this normally. However, since the teachers lot needed a key to get in, it wasn’t really busy. Getting up, I could see the giant Christmas tree towing over the everything. They used magic to grow the tree because they didn’t want it up while students were going to class. So, the moment we were officially off for Christmas and New Years break, the school went wild with the decorations.

Smiling at Marcus, he seemed more mellow than usual but he still seemed happy. At least that was what was coming through the bond. I know this wasn’t really his scene and as the teachers lot suggested, not a lot of the teachers came to this. Reached out, I laced my fingers in his.

“It means a lot that you came with me.”

His eyebrow rose. “Why? Colt, I am happy to spend time like this with you.”

“It’s not really your thing?”

He shook his head and pulled me in close, kissing me softly. “Colt, you are my thing. This makes you happy. I haven’t seen you this excited for something in a while. The fact that I get to share it with you, means the world to me.”

“You’re my mate, Mar. Of course I want to share this with you. I love you.”

Marcus smiled even wider. “I love you. I’m also happy that I get to hold you like this despite being on campus.”

My mouth dropped open. “I thought you didn’t mind!”

“I don’t. But I like being able to be near you and hold your hand more.”

As he said it, his hand grabbed mine. His fingers intertwined with mine and I was happy that with the mate bond, I didn’t need to have gloves anymore. Holding his hand tight, I pulled us down the path to the main area of the festivities. Marcus chuckled but kept up with me like a good sport.

“Colt!” Sabrina waved at me as we got closer.

Of course, she was decked out in complete Christmas colors from head to toe. Mike was standing next her looking like he could either want into a club or a funeral. Either way, he would blend in perfectly. Beth, Trisha, Nicole, Zain, James, and Hannah were all standing around as well. I was surprised to see so many of them since most of the students would already be headed home for Christmas.

“Hey! Sorry if you were waiting on us.” I smiled and hugged Sabrina.

“Not at all. Everyone just ran into each other. I think we are may get an appearance from Lexi, Fiona, and even Daniel.”

I shook my head. “What is going on this year? Is no one going home for Christmas?”

Zain snorted. “Family is overrated. This is way better. I can show up tomorrow and not need to worry about being woken up at six in the morning for presents.”

Trisha cleared her throat. “We don’t mean to ignore you, Professor. It’s good to see you as well.”

Marcus chuckled, stepping up. “School isn’t in session, Trisha. There is no need to call me Professor.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I can.”

Everyone laughed and I felt Marcus step up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. Everyone outside of my two best friends, stopped and stared. Beth blinked for a moment before bursting out laughing.

“Professor, he really did get you that day in poetry, didn’t he?”

Everyone started laughing even harder and even Marcus laughed. “I mean, let’s say it didn’t help.”

“So, is Colt the mystery person you have been seeing?” Hannah asked

Her and Daniel were leaning together. The two of them were incorrigible rumor mongers and I was pretty sure they were tapped into the students social media rumor account. Marcus hummed and leaned down, looking at me.

“I leave the decision of what to say to you.”

I wrinkled my nose. “These two aren’t trustworthy at all.”

“Coooolt!” Hannah whined and Nicole pulled her back.

“I don’t know, I’m kind of interested too. It’s obvious these two already know.” Trisha motioned to Sabrina and Mike.

Sabrina was vibrating with excitement. “Come on, Colt! You don’t have to be on campus anymore! No one is going to mob you or try to poison your water bottle.”

“Was that a worry?” Marcus asked.

“Absolutely.” Everyone said together at the same time.

I chuckled. “I told you there was a reason why I didn’t want to. It wasn’t me just being shy about it.”

Marcus hummed. “Well, still. I’ll leave it up to you.”

Looking back over at little friend group I had over the course of the year I had been on campus, I smiled. Grabbing the layers of clothing, I moved them so they could see my neck. All of their eyes widened and then the screams from the girls turned heads. Beth and Trisha came forward, taking my hands and shaking my arms like they were noodles.

“O.M.G. Colton! You’re mated! You mated Professor Dreamboat!” Trisha blushed and looked up at Marcus when she said his nickname.

“Oh, I’m aware of my nickname. It’s a running joke of the professors every time classes go live to sign up and my classes are the first to fill.” Marcus kissed my head.

Beth shook her head. “I can’t believe it. I am so happy for you! No wonder you haven’t been on campus much! Did you move in already?”

I nodded and they squealed again. Hannah and Daniel already had their heads together looking at their phones and I rolled my eyes. I doubted it would be twenty minutes before it was all over social media. Hopefully, I wouldn’t get bombarded too early.

“Shall we go eat? I’m starving. I’ve been waiting all day to eat at every stall!”

Mike shook his head at Sabrina. “You try every year, and you fail. You hit the cheese station and get too much and you can never finish.”

I laughed, knowing he was right. Everyone else talked excitedly about what they wanted to eat and we all migrated over to where they were holding the main celebration. It was lit up so brightly you almost thought it was the middle of the day and not eight at night. Marcus held my hand as we walked through. Some of the group split off, finding different things to look at in the different stalls. Per usually, they had a bunch of rigged carnival games that Sabrina begged Mike to beat.

Then, she started her run through every food stall available. Looking around, it seemed like there was more this year than last. I always through it would be hard to find people to work on Christmas Eve like this but everyone seemed to be in the Christmas spirit and some of the vendors even had their kids with them.

“Did you want anything?” Marcus leaned down, looking at the different stalls with me.

“I think I would like two of the yakitori. Then maybe some of the hot apple cider.”

He nodded and disappeared from my side. I was surprised that he left me alone until I looked and saw that Mike had replaced him. His eyes were on Sabrina who was loading up on multiple types of food. She met Marcus at the yakitori stall and started to point out different ones with him, making him laugh.

Mike tapped a box into my hand and I took it, slipping it into my jacket. “Thanks for grabbing it.”

“You are so lucky she finished on time.”

I chuckled. “Yeah. I didn’t think it would be that bad but apparently, it needed a special type of magic.”

“You going to tell him what it does?”

Shaking my head, I looked up at Mike. “If you got them for Sabrina, would you?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Exactly.”

The two of us watched the two people who meant most to us in this world. I was so happy right now. This was absolutely going to be the first Christmas I really cherished. Mike rubbed my back and I looked up at him.

“You’re crying.”

“I am not.”

I lifted up my coat and rubbed my face. Sure enough, it came back with wet streaks and I cursed. Turning away from Marcus, I rubbed my face and the corner of my eyes.

“You okay?”

“I just…I’m so happy…”

Mike chuckled as he pulled me into a hug, hiding me from everyone as I tried to stop the tears.

“Damn hormones. I’m fine.”

“It’s okay to be happy, Colt. Enjoy it. You deserve it after all this time.”

Sniffling, I bright up my sleeve and rubbed my face. “I know, I know.”

“Colt?”

I jumped and turned, Marcus’ voice having an edge to it. He was holding two containers of food and I smiled. His brow furrowed though and he dropped to one knee in front of me.

“What’s wrong?”

Shaking my head, I covered my face with my hands. “Nothing! I promise!”

Mike chortled. “He’s really happy. He started to cry because of it.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded, sniffling and reaching out, grabbing the food from him. Taking a bite, I moaned, happy to taste flavor that I hadn’t been able to stomach for months. Everyone laughed and Sabrina tore into her different types of food she gathered. Mike shook his head but stole one of her extras, much to her horror. Marcus smiled and brushed back my hair before standing. He tucked me into his side before eating his own portion.

“Anything else?”

“All of it! We need all of it!” Sabrina walked forward, two skewers still in her mouth. “Also! Since Colt can’t go ice skating with me this year, Mike has to come.”

Mike looked at her, complete deadpanned. “Absolutely not.”

“Mike.”

“No.”

“Mike.”

“No, Rin.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“It’s just ice skating.”

“It’s a death trap. On ice. Just shoes on ice can lead to death. You want to make the contact surface even smaller? You’re trying to walk on ice with a knife strapped to your shoe. No.”

I laughed and shook my head. We already were moving towards the ice skating rink that was built under the giant Christmas tree.

“I could probably still go.”

Before I got my words out, all three of the said no so loudly that I jumped. I nearly lost the last piece of chicken on my skewer because of it.

“Damn. Fine.” I grumbled.

Marcus kissed my head. “Next year, Colt. Maybe. We’ll see.”

“What does that mean?” I glared at him.

Sabrina elbowed me. “He means, you might be pregnant again.”

My eyes widened and I looked up at Marcus. He was smiling, all too big. Curling my hand into a fist, I punched him in the stomach. It still was like hitting a wall and I knew he was faking the pain but I didn’t care.

“Absolutely the fuck not. No. Not happening. Get that idea right out of your head.”

“Yeah, but you could make it so you are always pregnant during the winter. People would get so used to seeing your gain weight during the winter, they would think you’re a bear shifter.”

Kicking Mike in the back of the knee, he stumbled forward. “No! Now go ice skate with your fucking girlfriend before I decide to help her next time bury your dead body.”

He put his hands up before following after Sabrina, going to the desk that you could rent ice skates. Sighing, I leaned against the wall they built to encase the ice. It was kind of sad I didn’t get to out. Sabrina and I usually had a lot of fun. The tree with on the other side of the rink and it loomed a good forty or so feet above us.

“Colt.”

I stood up, turning to Marcus. He was smiled and he reached out his hands. Placing mine in his, I stepped a little closer. His eyes reflected the lights from the tree and somehow, he looked even more beautiful in this light.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

Marcus smiled and looked up at the tree for a moment before back down at me. “For giving me this. I do usually stay home alone and then maybe get dragged out on Christmas Day by my family. It was never an ordeal.”

“I mean, that’s not a bad way to spend Christmas Eve.”

“No, but being with you like this. Enjoying something like this, knowing we get to do this for so many Christmas’ to come. With our family growing as well. I feel like the luckiest person alive.”

I took a quick breath. He was going to make me cry. Looking down at his hands for a moment, squeezing them tightly. Nodding, I looked up again.

“I love you, Mar.” Chuckling to myself for a moment that that was all actually happening, I let out the breath. “Merry Christmas.”

Going up on my tip toes, Marcus leaned down and kissed me. I never believed anyone when they talked about a moment being magical. That was my mistake. This moment, right here for me, was magical. The shadows and light dancing between us. His lips on mine as he held me close. Our bond seemed to hum stronger, our love thrumming strongly.

Finally, he let go of my hand and pulled me closer, flush against his front. His kiss deepened and I felt myself turn into putty in his arms. Marcus only broke for us to take a breath but he was smiling.

“Merry Christmas, Colton.”