Page 14

TALIUS

I was frantic.

I’d been at this fucking alpha camp for two weeks, and I’d just learned they were running it for another two weeks. What the almighty fuck?

It was supposed to be a concentrated curriculum, doing the four weeks in two, and finishing up in time for Christmas. At least, that’s what Alpha told me when he insisted I attend this one because there were no places available for the February camp. I’d figured I’d be home in time for Christmas, and it’d give me the weeks after Christmas free… the weeks my friend Irian would be there. We only saw each other once a year around Christmas time, so this was really important to me.

“Do you know when they decided to run this camp for the full four weeks?” I asked one of the other alphas in the classroom, just after the lecturer set out the schedule for the next two weeks. A horrible chill had run down my spine at the announcement. Irian was going to be expecting me. What would he think when I didn’t show?

The alpha looked at me, a faint frown across his brows. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t it?” he sounded puzzled.

“Well, the content was supposed to be concentrated into two weeks,” I reminded him.

The alpha pulled a face. “Nah, man, never was. Don’t know where you got that idea. It was always four weeks.”

“What? What about Christmas?”

“What about it?”

“Why would they run a camp over Christmas? Doesn’t everyone want to go home for Christmas?”

He looked at me, a bleak expression skating across his face. Then he shook his head slowly, “Not everyone has a home to go to, or that they want to go home to. That’s why they do run this camp over Christmas.”

He turned away, shuffling together his notes into a scruffy pile.

“Wanna come for a beer?” he asked, after a moment.

I paused. I couldn’t believe this. If this was true, it was highly unlikely they’d make an exception and let me leave, or even believe me when I told them my Alpha sold it to me as a two-week course.

Dammit, he’d insisted I take this course.

“Sure,” I said. “But I need to drop by admin first. If there’s any chance they’ll let me go home for Christmas, I need to do it. I… I’ve got someone waiting on me.”

One black eyebrow arced up. “Really? But you’re only 21, right? You can’t be…”

I shook my head, interrupting, “No, not mated. Of course not. But I… already know who my mate will be, if he accepts me. I know it’s early… but I just know , y’know… I don’t know if we’re fated, or if that’s even a thing, but there’s something…”

My new friend hummed, nodding appreciatively. “That’s real nice, man. Happy for you. But… Christmas – they know you’re here, right?”

“No. Not unless my friends have told him. I was supposed to be back by the time he arrived.” I hesitated. “My Alpha told me this was a two-week program.”

He cocked his head. “A mistake? Alphas don’t usually make that sort of mistake.”

The grinding of my teeth should have been answer enough. “Alpha’s son is interested in my… guy. Or at least, the parents seem to have plans for an arranged marriage, and Alpha’s son is going along with it. Irian only visits our pack once a year, at Christmas.”

“Fuck. You think you’ve been set up?”

I scowled. “Looks that way. Fuck! What a load of bullshit!”

I’d been played. And it wasn’t as if I could defy Alpha anyway. As long as I was part of his pack, I had to defer to him. He couldn’t force Irian to accept Marius, but he could make things difficult for me. Fuck that! I was gonna leave that pack as soon as I practically could.

A low, furious growl voiced my frustration. I was stuck in this place, and Marius was at home with Irian. No doubt trying to win him over.

But then I snickered to myself. Irian was more than capable of keeping Marius in his place, especially since Irian was now aware of his interest. I liked that my omega – I mean, my future omega – had sass.

The thought brightened me and for a moment I smiled, forgetting how upset Irian would be when I wasn’t there. I hoped the guys told him where I was… but even then, he was still going to expect me home on Christmas Eve. Goddess! When I thought of us missing our customary encounter under the tree, my eyes got a little misty. I hurriedly blinked them clear.

I didn’t see I had much choice but to make the best of my situation, just like these other guys did with theirs, but I was going to try to get out of it.

“I’m Talius,” I said, holding out my hand. Although I’d seen him around, I’d never spoken to this guy until today. He tended to keep to himself, not interacting with the other alphas much, but now we were talking he seemed friendly enough.

“Nerius,” he shook my hand. “Let’s go down to admin now, I’ll come with you and then we can have that beer.”

I gathered my things, and with Nerius at my side, headed towards the admin block. It was quiet in the corridors. Lectures were over for the day and I hoped there’d still be someone around I could speak to.

As we approached, I let slip a hiss of relief to see a dark shadow moving around behind the blinds in the office window. But just as soon, my heart began thudding anxiously behind my ribs.

Nerius nodded towards the bench outside the administrative building. “I’ll wait for you here. Good luck.”

I acknowledged him with a nod, then swallowing hard and drawing myself up to my full height, walked up to the door. My chest expanded with a deep breath and…

Knock. Knock. I rapped my knuckles on the door.

“Door’s open. Come on in.” The voice, rough but cheerful, was welcoming.

The doorknob was slippery in my clammy hand and I had to make two attempts before it would turn.

A large man with hair beginning to grey sat behind the desk. He was a beta, possibly somewhere in his late 30s or early 40s. I hadn’t seen him on any of my previous visits to admin. Not that there had been that many. He sized me up with sharp brown eyes and waved me in.

“Come on in and sit down. Tell me what’s got you looking so concerned.”

He stood up and leaned across the desk, hand extended. “Name’s Johnson.”

“Oh, er. Hey. I’m Talius Braden. I’m in the graduating Alpha program that’s running now.” I replied as we shook hands.

“Hey, Talius. Pleased to meet you. Now sit down and tell me what’s on your mind.”

I shifted nervously in my seat.

“Well, sir, I…”

He cut me off. “Relax, Talius. No need to be formal with me. Just call me Johnson.”

“Cool, um, thanks. See the thing is, when I signed up for this, I was told the course was an accelerated course. That it would finish in two weeks…”

The grey-flecked head was already shaking, as he interrupted, bushy eyebrows drawn. “That was never going to happen, Talius. I don’t know where you got that idea from.”

I hesitated. Would he believe me? Was he going to laugh in my face?

“My Alpha told me.”

Johnson cocked his head, brows meeting across his forehead. His dark brown eyes pierced me.

“Every Alpha knows it’s a four-week program. Always. Are you sure you didn’t mis-hear him?” The tone of his voice had dropped, more serious now. Did he think I was lying?

My head fell forward, the unruly hair flopping across my face. It hid the tears of frustration and rage pricking at my eyes.

“There are… reasons… Alpha might not want me around the pack at Christmas,” I admitted softly.

The silence was a vacuum between us. He was waiting for me to fill it, so with a sigh, I did.

“There’s an omega who visits our pack every Christmas,” I explained. “I mean, he’s too young to be making any plans, but he and I, we have some kind of bond, and, ah, we kind of suspect we’re fated somehow,” I looked up when I said this, trying to gauge his reaction.

He looked at me, eyes thoughtful and sympathetic. He wasn’t looking like he thought me an idiot or anything, which was encouraging.

I continued, “But Alpha’s son has shown an interest in him.” I bit my lip. What I was about to say, could be out of line. It depended on how traditional Johnson was. “We think maybe an arrangement has been made between his parents and Alpha, for a union between their sons.”

Johnson’s jaw firmed. He looked pensive, then he said, “And you think it would be convenient if you were out of the way so his son can make a move?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“How old is this person you think is your potential mate?”

“He’s 18.”

Johnson leaned forward in his chair, looking alarmed.

“Whoa, that’s young! You know you can’t be…”

I put my hand up to stop him, I didn’t want him thinking I was taking advantage. “No, I know. We haven’t… we aren’t… we’re just friends for now, but we know it’s gonna be more later on,” I stammered.

Johnson sighed, blinked a few times. His chair squeaked loudly as he settled back into the vinyl upholstery. My eyes were drawn to where his thumb and middle finger were rubbing his temples.

“Okay,” he said at last, “keep going.”

“I was wondering if I could go home for Christmas,” I asked, hating the way my voice cracked.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was the whirring of the ceiling fan above us. I heard voices somewhere outside, a few birds chattering. I wondered if Johnson could hear my heart pounding though my chest wall. He took so long to say something, that for a moment I thought maybe…

Finally, he sighed. “I’m sorry, son. You can’t do that. Leaving the premises would break the contract with the Camp Administration, and you’d be thrown out of the program. The Council is very strict about alphas following procedure. Alphas need to learn self-discipline young or there’d be a whole bunch of them running around just doing whatever they wanted, consequences be damned.

I’m not saying that’s you, son, but that’s the reason the rules are there.

You go home now and they won’t let you back in for another twelve months, and they’ll make graduating the program even harder for you.

I’m sorry for your situation, but there’s nothing I can do. Hopefully your young man is understanding about it.”

“If he’s still there when I get back,” I spat out angrily. It wasn't as if I could even call my parents' house and ask them to pass a message to him - Alpha Camp was entirely isolated and self-contained, with no communications in or out for the duration of the program. The No Distraction Policy had been clearly explained on Day 1, as it was with every camp.

There was a procedure for emergencies, but apparently this didn't qualify, because Johnson ignored my outburst and asked, “Anyone looking out for him while you’re away?”

“He knows my friends. They’ll probably keep a watch over him, once they realize I’m not gonna be back in time.”

“In time? In time for what?”

“Before he goes home. We only see each other once a year during these holidays.”

“Uh-huh. Has he got a name, this young man of yours?”

“Irian. Irian Mensen. Are you sure there’s nothing you can do?”

Johnson grunted.

“I wish there was, but the rules are clear.”

The chair scraped on the hard floor as I rose abruptly. “Thanks anyway. I thought it was worth a try.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my voice.

Before I reached the door, Johnson’s calm voice drifted through my morose thoughts.

“You know, if you’re fated, it’ll work out. Might not be an easy path to get there but you have time.”

His words didn’t comfort me the way he wanted them to, but they had told me one thing. Fated mates were real .

◆◆◆

“How did it go?” Nerius got to his feet as I exited the office.

Although I was exceedingly depressed and angry, I nevertheless registered that he hadn’t been eavesdropping, which he could easily have done with his shifter hearing. I appreciated that. He was a decent guy – not all alphas were, precisely why we had this program. I shook my head.

“Nothing doing. If I leave campus, I’ll get thrown out of the course. They won’t let me in again for another year.”

“That sucks, man. C’mon. If there’s nothing you can do about it, might as well go get that beer.”

I nodded and we walked off together. I was glad Nerius wasn’t one of the chatty guys that couldn’t shut up. He walked in silence, letting me brood.

I was going to hate everything about this Christmas.

◆◆◆

In the library next to the lecture rooms, an artificial Christmas tree had been set up. It was decorated, not as nicely as the one at home would be, but it was obvious someone had gone to quite a bit of trouble with it, and when I walked into the room late on Christmas Eve, I was grateful for it. This part of the camp was quiet, most of the alphas having gone to sleep already, though a few were still up partying in someone’s room at the end of the dormitory block. I looked on them a little differently now I knew why they were all here. Let them party. I hoped they were enjoying themselves.

I didn’t feel like partying, and I didn’t feel like celebrating.

As I entered the darkened room, the soft twinkle of the colored lights in the tree brought a blurriness to my vision. This was not how things were supposed to be. Tossing my clothes aside, I shifted and settled myself under the tree. Lying there with my wolf, head resting on our paws, we thought about our omega. Where was he now? What was he doing? Was he sad? Or was he angry at us? Perhaps he thought we didn’t try hard enough to be there. Perhaps he thought we didn’t care.

My wolf gave a low, sad whine and I felt the rumble in my chest, and the involuntary sigh that escaped my throat.

It was a long time before we drifted off to sleep.

Christmas totally sucked.