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IRIAN

I know he’s there. I can hear him. He thinks I’m asleep, but I’m not. I’m lying here so still and quiet, listening. My wolf’s hearing is so good, I don’t even need to twitch my ears to hear him. I can make out his breathing, how slowly he’s moving. And I can’t miss the loud squeak of the wooden stairs as he steps on them. Oh, my Goddess! He’s so noisy! It’s a wonder the whole household hasn’t woken. Aha! He’s stopped again. It’s gorgeous the way he thinks no-one has heard him. He really does. This is fun. I’m glad I snuck in here to hide under the Christmas tree, though I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here.

Ooh! He’s seen me. I can tell because he growls and there’s a change in the ambience. What’s he going to do? Is he going to run away? I’ll be sad if he does. In truth, it’s a little bit lonely down here by myself, but I wanted to spend the night surrounded by all the lovely Christmas-y stuff, not tucked away in a bedroom with a bunch of other young wolves I don’t even know yet. I’ll know them by the end of the holidays, for sure, but not tonight as we arrived too late to meet everyone.

Next stage of this little game: I flare my nostrils.

He’s still there. I don’t actually need to make a show of scenting the air, I’ve been smelling his scent without even trying, before he was halfway down the stairs. But I do it because I want him to know I know he’s there. There’s something about him... I’m too young… but I undeniably feel a pull towards him. I don’t know what it is, but it feels important. I don’t know how I know this, but I’m certain we’re going to be something to each other. Maybe we’ll just be friends. I hope we don’t end up being enemies. That would suck. So far, this is the best Christmas ever, I don’t want to spoil it.

I open my eyes.

And from the way he's looking at me – like it’s Christmas, which it is by the way – and the way he’s licking his lips (I bet he doesn’t even know he’s doing that) – I think he’s at the very least intrigued. Maybe interested.

And ooh, now I draw my eyes away from his – and believe me that’s no small feat because they are stunning - I can see how gorgeous he is. He’s young, not that much older than me I’d guess. Maybe a few years? I can see why I noticed his eyes first – they’re the most intense piercing eyes I’ve ever seen, a brilliant deep blue color. They’re mesmerizing. If it wasn’t for them, I’d have seen straight away how handsome he is, even though he’s clearly still developing – he hasn’t reached full shifter majority yet. His hair is dark, almost black, straight and wild, parted on the right and with a long mop of fringe curving down half-hiding his left eye, all mysterious-like. Haha! Short sides, and to the base of his neck at the back. All that flyaway hair makes him look fierce and wild.

My heart thuds in my chest in a crazy way.

The young alpha’s eyes are deep-set, and he has thick bushy brows, a symmetrical face (apart from the asymmetry of his hair) and oh my, perfect lips, the lower one particularly full and juicy. I want to nip it! Oops, where did that thought come from? There’s a crease below them, above a triangular shaped jaw. A few wisps of hair show me he’s trying to grow a beard and a mo, and although there’s not much there yet, I can’t help thinking it looks amazing on him. It’ll be even better when it’s fully grown in. He's truly the best thing I’ve ever seen.

I don’t know him. I don’t know his name, I’ve never seen him before. But I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to stay away from him. The blessed Goddess looks after all her creatures. I thought these holidays might suck, but she’s brought me just where I need to be. I needed a shifter friend and I’m sure he’s going to be it. Alpha , though.

He's walking over to me.

He doesn’t speak. Sits down beside me, legs crossed. He raises his hand, tilts his head. The question is clear.

I flick my ear in response, offer the back of my neck, and as his hand tentatively strokes my pelt, I drape my neck over his thigh. It’s warm and firm, the perfect pillow. The hairs tingle as they bend and spring back, and I twitch at the slide of fingers against my skin. I huff involuntarily, but I can’t help it. It feels so good, and he smells so amazing… like the scent of the earth on a hot summer day, and sweat and musk, and wolf all rolled into one.

I feel peaceful, like I belong, like I’ve come home. My neck softens, my head droops over his leg, the hardwood floor cool and slippery against the tip of my muzzle, contrasting with the warmth of the thigh beneath me, and the fading heat of the early summer’s day. The room is quiet except for the occasional crick -ing of a cricket lost inside, the rhythmic petting of his big, strong hand, and the pounding of my heart.

◆◆◆

Squeals and shrieks dragged me into consciousness, along with the clip-clip-clip of light footsteps across floorboards, as a half dozen children of varying size and age came charging into the room heading straight for the stockings hanging by the hearth. Nothing could distract them from their mission, not even the sight of two wolves curled up against each other under the Christmas tree. Sometime in the night, he’d shifted, and our wolves had nestled close together for warmth.

Other footsteps clacked across the room in their heavy shoes and the clatter of curtain rings was the only warning we had before the day burst into the room in a blaze of light. Outside the paned wall-to-ceiling windows, the sun was already high enough to send shafts of golden light lancing through the treetops. I blinked my eyes at the sudden sensory bombardment.

The children were sprawled on the floor, tipping their stockings upside down. Sweets and chocolates and tiny toys and glittery stars tumbled to the floor and grabby hands chased after them, accompanied by squeals of delight and excitement. Children crawled across each other to get the sweets that rolled away before someone else could snatch them up. There was squabbling and the adults intervened.

A heavy weight pressed against my shoulder giving me a nudge. I understood implicitly and rose, the chaos of the morning allowing us to slip away unnoticed.

I followed him up the staircase that had squeaked so loudly last night. It was silent now, of course, since we weighed comparatively little like this, and we padded upstairs without anyone noticing. He trotted down a long corridor towards the end. His scent grew stronger as we approached an open doorway, and I guessed even before we entered that this must be his room.

Curiously, I followed him in. Once inside, he shifted back to his human form and shoved the door closed. Then he was yanking open the drawers of a large chest-of-drawers against the side wall, rummaging through the contents until he apparently found what he was looking for – blue denim jeans.

“Here, you can put these on. They’re probably too big but I think they’ll do. I’ve outgrown them. I hope you don’t mind going commando.”

His rumbly voice distracted me, all deep and alpha-y but breaking from time to time.

He held up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and dropped them on the bed before going back to scratch around again. When he turned around, triumphantly holding up a beautiful purple sweater, I’d shifted and already had one leg in the jeans.

He blushed (Oh my Goddess, he’s an alpha, and he blushes, that’s so sweet! It’s not like nudity is a big deal amongst shifters, after all). And it wasn’t as if he was worried about being nude himself.

“Oops, sorry,” he said, turning away and giving me privacy. A red stain crept up his neck.

“That’s okay,” I told him, nearly falling over as I hopped around on one leg until I got the other one into the jeans and pulled the zip up. “I’m decent. And anyway, you know it doesn’t really matter. I’m Irian, by the way.”

“Um, I know, but I’m a bit older than you and we hadn’t met, so I didn’t want to assume.”

As he turned back to me, I was struck again by the intensity of those blue eyes. He could be the devil with eyes like that. A large mass of crazy fringe flopped over one eye, partly concealing it. His hair was wild, like he had permanent bed-hair, and it just made him look so freaking amazing. And he was tall. I’d thought it was just because I was a wolf when I saw him first, and omegas were smaller, but now we were both human, I saw he was quite a bit taller than me, and lean, like, not stick-thin, and everything he had was all muscle.

“I’m Tal.” He chuckled, a low rumble that seemed to start deep within then bubble over. “We kind of did that back to front, didn’t we? Slept together then introduced ourselves!”

My cheeks warmed uncomfortably. I hadn’t thought about things that way.

“Well, we didn’t… I didn’t…” I stammered, flustered. This was awkward. Tal was a handsome alpha, and though he clearly hadn’t passed fully into his majority - which I could tell from the puppy fat still in his cheeks and the fact he didn’t take the alpha honorific – he would have had to be every omega’s wet dream. He was certainly going to be this omega’s wet dream. It kinda left me speechless, which totally sucked. I wanted to make a good impression but instead I was behaving like an impressionable kid.

“I’m kidding!” he said, laying a comforting hand on my shoulder, and strangely I felt the brush of alpha pheromones reassuring me. They really shouldn’t have affected me at all at this stage of my development, and yet…

“Let me toss some clothes on. The bathroom’s in there if you want to use it.” He pointed to a small doorway beside the bed, oblivious to my very omega-like reaction to his touch.

I nearly tripped over my feet getting there. I needed some time to calm down. I didn’t normally get so flustered; I was a friendly chilled sort of guy. It didn’t phase me whether I was talking to guys my own age, or adults, even hot young alphas, so I didn’t know what had come over me. Maybe it was being in a new house on what was normally a quiet family holiday. I’d snuck off to lay under the tree last night because I wanted to immerse myself in the peace and magic of Christmas, only now I’d met the most interesting guy of my life. I didn’t know why I was so fascinated, but I couldn’t help hoping he'd keep letting me hang around with him. Older – adolescent - guys didn’t usually let us younger ones tag along. Ugh, I hoped he didn’t look on me like a younger brother. Tolerate me. That would totally suck. I wanted to be an equal.

The bathroom was calming. The air was cool on my face, the tiles were cold underfoot. I splashed my face with icy water and looked at myself in the mirror hanging over the basin. I was scruffy this morning, my hair - short strands of blonde hair that would darken to brown as I aged, just like my alpha dad - sticking up all over the place, cheeks flushed, pupils large. I shook my head, splashed my face again and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to settle it.

When I emerged from the bathroom, Tal was fully clothed, wearing dark distressed jeans and a t-shirt. He was sitting on his bed, legs crossed beneath him, obviously in no great hurry to go downstairs and join the family.

“Hi,” I said nervously. I was excited and flustered again and I didn’t understand it. I was really hoping he wasn’t about to send me away.

Tal patted the mattress next to him.

“We don’t have to go downstairs yet. The kids will be going crazy down there for a while. Unless you want to get caught up in that…”

I shook my head. “No. I’m not sure it’s safe out there.”

Tal chuckled. “They’re okay. They’ll just be a little wild until the sugar wears off.”

“Are they all your family?”

“They’re all part of the pack, but we have four families living in the house. My omega dad’s sister’s family lives here too, and my alpha dad’s sister and brother and their families. There’s probably about thirty of us all up. It’s going to be crazy here today with all the Christmas stuff going on.”

I dug my teeth into my lower lip while I thought about this. I wasn’t used to so many people all at once, but I liked making new friends. It was a change from the rather quiet existence I had at home. I didn’t have any siblings, my parents having stopped at one when my birth proved dangerous to my alpha mother. Both my parents came from small families themselves, so they were perfectly content to have a small nuclear family, and once the decision was taken, they’d immersed themselves in other pursuits. That meant they were often out of the house and I was left to my own devices. I was studying, so it suited me, but I couldn’t say it didn’t leave me feeling a little lonely sometimes. My basic nature was quite gregarious, and I was a wolf – a pack creature – at heart, so I often sought out companionship, wandering around our district, talking to anyone I could find.

“What were you doing there last night…curled up under the tree with the Christmas presents?” Tal’s deep voice scattered my errant thoughts.

“Santa left me there,” I joked. Then I began to elaborate, “We arrived last night…”

Tal held up a hand and I stopped mid-sentence. I felt compelled – no, that’s not what it was, he wasn’t using his alpha tone to compel me – I wanted to obey him.

“Don’t say anymore. I like it. Santa left you there. You’re a Christmas present. It’s perfect.”

A huge grin split his gorgeous face and he looked as though all his Christmases had come at once. That was fine by me. I wasn’t sure what crazy ideas he had running through his brain, but while they were, he wasn’t shoo-ing me away like most guys his age would.

Tal sprawled out on his bed, head supported on his forearms as he peered at me from under his floppy fringe. His bare feet clacked softly as they restlessly tapped together in the air behind him.

He patted the mattress again.

“Sit down,” he grinned, blue eyes twinkling, “and tell me about yourself. I haven’t seen you around here before. Have you just joined the pack or something?”

“Or something,” I said, sitting cautiously on the edge of the mattress. Tal was friendly but he was an alpha. I wasn’t sure how familiar I could get without overstepping. Alphas could be unpredictable, especially with the hormone fluctuations that hit them as they transitioned into their majority.

“You look nervous. Seriously, I don’t bite. Not yet, anyway. I’m too young for that,” Tal chuckled at his own joke. “C’mon, make yourself comfortable. If we’re going to be friends, you need to relax around me.”

Friends? I could do that. I wanted to do that.

His dark hair flicked, motioning towards the headboard, and I climbed onto the bed and shuffled up until I was leaning up against it.

“Better?”

“Sure.”

“Now tell me why you’re here.” It wasn’t exactly a command, and he definitely didn’t use his alpha voice, but the urge to comply was irresistible.

“We’re just visiting for the holidays,” I told him. “My parents know your Alpha and his family and they invited us to stay for a few weeks.”

“Your parents must be important people then. Our Alpha doesn’t invite many people here.”

I shrugged. “I guess, in their circles. My mum is on the Council and my dad’s in the diplomatic corps. They do their own stuff, and I do mine. They don’t really talk about their work with me.”

This was usually the point at which new acquaintances started to ask all sorts of questions about my parents and have all sorts of opinions on all the ‘privileges’ I must have on account of them. I’d even been accused of being born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Nobody ever thought to consider me as a separate person, a whole person with my own wants and desires. With a little internal sigh, I looked away, waiting for it to start. I studied a small tear in the wallpaper as I steeled myself. This is where my fun little Christmas fantasy would turn to shit. Oh well, it had been fun while it lasted.

“So, what’s your stuff?” Tal’s deep voice cut through my internal struggle.

“Huh?”

“You said you do your stuff,” he explained patiently, completely ignoring what I’d said about my parents. I totally gave him 100 points and a mental high five for that on my internal scale of character assessment. “So, tell me about it… what sort of stuff do you do?”

“Oh,” I blushed. As much as I was sociable and loved talking to people, because everyone was always so much more interested in hearing about my parents, I wasn’t used to talking about myself. “I, er, well I’m still at school. I’m taking electives in advanced maths and science,” I hesitated. My family was academic, and in our circles it was expected that I would follow through on my education, but not everybody agreed omegas should be allowed to obtain tertiary qualifications. I didn’t know anything about Tal or his family, and I wasn’t sure if he was the kind of alpha that thought omegas should know their place. Somehow, I didn’t think so, given how he’d behaved with me so far, so I continued. “I hope to do a science degree later on.”

I lifted my head, straightening my back and eyeing him challengingly, daring him to say something disparaging.

Tal’s eyes widened, and the corners of his lips curled upwards revealing perfect white teeth.

“That’s so cool!” he exclaimed, enthusiastically. “Science is fun.”

I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard anyone else describe science as fun before, so I hoped he wasn’t mocking me, but hey, he hadn’t said anything against omegas studying, so this was still going great. He didn’t give the impression that he was humoring me either. Maybe he did genuinely have an interest in science?

“That’s not the typical reaction I get when I tell people what I plan on doing. Nobody tells me it’s fun or cool or anything like that.”

“But it is!” Tal’s eyebrows had climbed almost off the top of his head in surprise at this revelation.

“Yeah, I know that. But not everyone thinks that way. Why are you interested in it?”

“I’m going to be studying agriculture when I go to uni in a year’s time, so yeah, I’ll be studying science.” Tal’s voice was enthusiastic.

“…and business,” he added, the smile vanishing and a grimace replacing it. “I’m not a fan of rules and regulations and paperwork, but I need to do the double degree if I want to be successful with my own farm one day.”

He looked at me, a strange tension evident in the way he was carrying himself, his shoulders rigid and posture stiff. “Do you think that’s a weird thing for an alpha to do? Run a farm, I mean? Most alphas want to be lawyers or doctors or run large corporations, but I’ve never been interested in any of that. I love the country and I want to stay living like that… with a slower pace of life, fresh air, friendly people…”

“Why would that be weird?” I asked. “You like what you like. I like the country too, though I live in the city.”

And then because he looked so uncertain, and I didn’t like seeing that on his gorgeous face, I added, “I think it’s very alpha-y to do what you want to do rather than what other people say you have to, or what society expects from you.”

Tal looked relieved. He rolled over onto his back, reshuffling the pillows until just one was under his head. I noted how long his arms were as he stretched them up around his head.

I plopped down beside him, staring up at the ceiling. We were lying side by side and it felt like the easiest thing ever. I couldn’t really feel our age difference when we were talking companionably like this, we just seemed… natural together. Except for the fact we knew next to nothing about each other, it was almost like we’d been friends for years.

“Yeah… not everyone thinks that way. Some people think it’s not challenging enough. Not enough to aspire to.”

“Well, I do. If no-one was farming, we’d all have to do our own hunting, and nothing else would get done. Besides, I don’t know a lot about agriculture, but from what I’ve learnt in school, it’s not easy, is it? Like, you have to worry about weather conditions and market prices and everything’s affected by global events, and stuff like that, right?”

“And government regulations… and stupid laws that get passed by people who have no idea what they’re talking about, or that live in the city and don’t understand what it’s like in the country,” he added. “Yeah… it’s not gonna be easy, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I want the lifestyle, even if the work is hard and it’s even harder to make a living.”

“I think it’s great that you’re pursuing your dream,” I said softly, my hand bravely bumping the back of his in what I hoped was a supportive manner. “I hope you make it.”

“I will,” he said fiercely, sitting up on one elbow, and his entire body language just screamed alpha . It was way more attractive than it ought to be and I felt like screaming alpha myself but with a whole other meaning. I blinked and tried to shake the thought from my head. It was bizarre and inappropriate. WTF was wrong with me?

“What about you?” he asked, “what do you want to do once you have your degree?”

“I- I don’t know yet,” I was still a bit dazed. “M-maybe work in a lab? Or a university? I haven’t got that part figured out yet but a science degree opens up a lot of opportunities, so I figure I can decide later.”

“You’ve got plenty of time to decide,” Tal agreed.

“Thanks for taking me seriously,” I said softly. Tal inclined his head sideways, a frown piercing his brow.

“A lot of people don’t,” I told him in reply to the unasked question. “They tell me I should be concentrating on traditional omega skills… you know, cooking, keeping house, all that stuff.”

Tal’s eyebrows rose. “Rude! But I know what you mean. Our pack is really into traditional roles here too. But our omegas only seem to want that anyway. They seem happy with the way things are.”

“But would they speak up if they wanted something different?” I pressed on. “Or are they too afraid to?”

Tal frowned again. “I don’t honestly know. Most of the omegas I know are very submissive. I’m not sure if they would speak up. But I do have a few friends who are omegas and they’ve never said they’re unhappy with the way things are.”

“But if they’ve been conditioned from an early age to not fight the system, they won’t, will they?” I couldn’t help a testy tone from creeping into my voice. Maybe because I had been brought up with the parents I had, I had different expectations, my world was less confined than other omegas’. That liberal attitude didn’t apply to all aspects of life – my parents still had some pretty conservative views on how omegas could be used for cementing family alliances and were staunch supporters of arranged marriages or shifter unions for omegas as well, but I was too young to have brushed up against any of those barriers yet. When the time came, I’d do whatever I wanted. I was not the sort of omega who accepted being told what to do.

“I guess not.” And then to prove he’d been genuinely considering my point of view, this guy who was clearly more than just his good looks, added thoughtfully, “And specifically not to an alpha who represents the very thing they disagree with.”

“Right!” I exclaimed. “You see my point.”

“Yeah, I do,” Tal looked a bit crestfallen. Like being an alpha was somehow distasteful all of a sudden. “There are still some things that are good about being an omega, aren’t there?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course! I mean, who doesn’t love a dominant sexy guy? Or someone who makes you feel safe? And cooking – I love cooking, and no-one ever makes stupid comments because I enjoy that, because it’s in line with expectations. And I love caring for people and looking after them. So, yeah, still plenty of good things about being an omega. But I also want to be myself, y’know. I’m not just gonna lie down and let the world dictate to me…”

Tal laughed, a deep throaty laugh that shook the mattress, and cut me off before I really got started on my tirade. “No, I can absolutely say I cannot see you doing that.”

I pouted, but mostly in jest. He got me. It was a first.

The bed finally stopped shaking, as Tal’s whole-body laughter gradually eased. He turned to me.

“Don’t ever change. Feisty as you are, you’re just the sort of omega the world needs.” I wasn’t sure, but I thought I caught the whisper of something else said beneath his breath. It sounded like you’re just what I need.