by Macy Blake
“Opposite of an alpha,” Drew repeated. “Alpha and omega? I’ve heard that before. Alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.”
She grinned at them both. “That is one way to look at it.”
“Omega,” Shaq gasped. “Omega.”
“Omega,” the goddess said again.
“Clearly that means something,” Drew said. “Anyone care to help the human out?”
“There’s no such thing,” Shaq said. He sounded shaken. “They’re myths. They don’t exist.”
“Bah,” the goddess said. She opened the box and took out a perfect looking glazed specimen and took a bite. She chewed while Shaq continued to stand silent behind Drew, holding him tighter than he’d ever held him before. Drew would protest, but he could tell Shaq needed it. “Seems like one’s standing right in front of you to me.”
“Still clueless,” Drew complained.
Shaq trembled and lowered his forehead to the top of Drew’s head.
“I think I broke him,” the goddess said. She didn’t seem all that upset by it.
“Please tell me,” Drew said quietly.
“Only the most honorable alphas are blessed with an omega. In the old days, omegas were rare, but when they chose an alpha, that alpha’s pack received blessings from me. It was the highest achievement an alpha could make. An omega helped with the balance of the pack, brought them joy and eased their pain. They helped packs grow and added stability to the pack. More pack members will come, and your mate will be able to make hellhounds of his own. There’s rules, Champion. You’d best be learning them. But a large, healthy pack makes for a happy alpha.”
Drew gulped and tightened his hold on Shaq’s hand. “That’s… impressive.”
“It is.”
“So what happened?”
She scowled and the mood immediately darkened. “There are things that cannot be spoken of, my boy, even by me. But omegas were the first to fall, and there hasn’t been one for a very long time.”
“Until now,” Drew whispered. “Until me.”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t even know what an omega is, much less how to be one.”
She smiled kindly at him. “You don’t have to know, dearest Drew. You have to be.”
“Drew,” Shaq gasped behind him.
Drew turned in his arms and let Shaq pull him into one of his hugs that lifted Drew off the ground. “This is a big deal, huh?”
“The biggest.”
“So that’s why you had to call the pack, huh? You’re going to do that crazy protective alpha thing, aren’t you?”
Shaq leaned in and kissed Drew, ignoring his question. Drew didn’t really care. He could feel the happiness rolling off his mate and he wanted to capture as much of it as he could for himself. Things began to get a little heated and Drew pinched Shaq’s upper arm. He pulled away with a scowl and Drew made his eyes wide as he tilted his head toward the goddess. Cause he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to be playing tonsil hockey with his mate while she watched.
Grinning really evilly, Shaq put him down on the counter.
“Omega.” Shaq growled the word, leaning in to nuzzle his favorite spot on Drew’s neck.
“An omega who has chosen you, Champion. My daughter chose wisely in you. You are going to lead the others well in the upcoming battle.”
Shaq straightened and turned to her, giving a slight bow. He was so cute when he was trying to be all honorable and polite, especially when he’d apparently decided he wanted to have Drew’s neck for breakfast. He could already feel new marks forming. He was going to have to invest in a bunch of turtlenecks if he didn’t want to constantly look like he’d been mauled.
“Thank you,” Shaq said. His eyes were doing the flame dance again so Drew reached out to grab his hand.
“My daughters have blessed you, Meshaq, as have I. You will hold the line for us as the battle wages around you. But I have no doubt that with the right pack, you will succeed where others have failed. Your mate will help you, will keep the balance. Guard him well, as danger looms.”
Drew huffed. “Seriously with the vague threats?”
She smirked and took another doughnut from the box. “It’s not vague, dearest boy. Did you not wonder why the powers converged to separate you from your mate? Did you not wonder why an alpha risked the wrath of the champion to come for you?”
“Well, now that you mention it…”
She chuckled and took another bite of her treat. Drew grabbed one for Shaq, who was still looking a bit stunned by the big news.
“You are the first, my boy, but you won’t be the last. Your pack will grow larger, as long as you act with honor. An omega can only come to a mate who can keep them safe, as their power is too big to be unprotected.”
Shaq figured it out before Drew did. “The dark one we’re not supposed to know about. He wants Drew.”
“He wants an omega. And now, I must go. My daughters grow impatient with my interference. But sometimes, things are just too important to wait. Take care of your alpha, Drew.”
“I will.”
“And Meshaq?”
“Yes?”
“Take care of your mate.”
“Always.”
Meshaq
Shaq stood in the kitchen, holding his mate in his arms for a long while after the mother goddess left them. Part of him was convinced the past few minutes had been a dream. A really good dream. But a dream, nonetheless. He’d not only been blessed with a mate, but his mate was an omega? Shaq squeezed Drew a little tighter and his mate pinched him.
“Ouch,” Shaq said. It didn’t hurt, and Drew knew it. He got a really cute scowl out of his mate for his trouble, though.
“Lemme go,” Drew huffed.
“I don’t wanna.”
Drew pinched him again. “I want a doughnut.”
Shaq reached over and grabbed the box, sliding it within his mate’s reach. “There.”
“You’re going to have to let me go eventually.”
“Hmm. Maybe. Maybe not.”
Drew huffed again, but this time he followed it up with a huge bite of doughnut. “Man, these things are good. I just said doughnuts sounded good, and poof, she took us to Krispy Kreme.”
“I wondered,” Shaq said. He nuzzled his face into Drew’s neck again.
“She didn’t even open a portal or anything. Hey, does this mean… huh. I don’t know.”
“Was that a question?”
“Do you report to the mother goddess or the daughter goddess? I mean, how does that work? Is she the head goddess or what?”
“We report to my goddess. She is the goddess of fire and the in between.”
“This is very confusing.”
Shaq agreed. The mother goddess had never been involved in any of the events of his lifetime, at least not that he’d heard about. And now, she’d helped his mate find him and had revealed Drew’s true nature. It was all very shady, and yet he couldn’t find it in himself to be upset. Not when the promise of Drew and what they could build together meant all of his hopes and dreams were within reach. He wanted a huge pack, like the ones they’d talked about so long ago. He wanted to welcome more into the fold and to have Drew at his side while he did it. They could build something amazing together, something safe and powerful and…
“You’re being sappy again,” Drew said. He leaned his cheek onto Shaq’s face and pressed quick kiss to his ear.
He was, but he didn’t care.
A quick knock sounded on the front door before it opened. “Alpha?”
“In the kitchen,” Shaq called to Solomon.
His second came in and sniffed the air, his face shifting into a puzzled grimace. Shaq inhaled as well, but could smell nothing more than the overpowering scent of sweet and his mate. She’d probably done it on purpose. There were chess pieces on the board that were moving in a complicated plan Shaq couldn’t see. Who was he kidding? At the moment, he couldn’t see past the man in his arms.
/> Drew pushed a box of doughnuts toward Solomon without a word. Solomon shrugged and plucked one out of the box. He still seemed curious as to what was happening, but he was content to wait, especially since Drew plied him with sweets. The others arrived soon after, flooding into the kitchen and eating until the boxes were empty.
“So, uh, what are we doing here?” Vice asked as he shoved half a glazed concoction into his mouth.
Shaq pulled away from Drew only to move them around so Drew was pressed with his back against Shaq’s front. He explained the visit from the goddess and the news that his mate was an omega. They all stared in disbelief before coming around the counter and pressing against them. Drew was sandwiched in the center of a pack of hellhounds and Shaq couldn’t help but grin. The goddess knew what she was doing, that was for sure.
“That’s why he smells so damn good,” Calliope grumped. “And what’s with the doughnuts, Drew?”
“What? I wanted a doughnut. The goddess took me to get some.”
“You say that like it’s an everyday occurrence,” Solomon said. “It’s not.”
“Yeah, yeah. But hey, she told me it was a special deal, so it’s not like I’ll be whisking away for baked goods whenever the mood strikes. And anyway, that’s not the exciting news. We’re gonna get a big pack. That’s what she said. Cool, huh?” Drew’s smile charmed them all and the mood of the entire pack shifted with his excitement.
Shaq grinned as his pack squeezed in around them, enjoying this moment with him and his mate. They’d all fought for so long, and this… this was a reward for them all.
“Oh,” Vice said suddenly. “This explains it.”
“What?” Drew asked.
“Why the alpha dude was after you.”
Shaq scowled. “The goddess warned that Drew would need to be protected. It’s something we will have to discuss.”
“Yeah, I bet. He’s gonna be alpha bait for sure.”
Drew frowned up at him. “Vice?”
“What? It’s not every day someone comes along who can have hellhound babies. You’re special.”
Drew sputtered and looked to him for defense, but Shaq couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Shaq? That’s crazy talk, right? Shaq?” Drew pinched him, hard this time, but Shaq couldn’t stop staring at his pack.
“Son, that’s crazy talk,” Walt grumbled. “Vice is just yanking your chain. Don’t be so heteronormative, asshole.”
Vice scowled. “I don’t even know what that word means.”
“It means, just because—”
“No, wait,” Calliope added. “He’s not wrong. And Walt, I think you mean misogynistic.”
“What?” Drew asked.
Shaq struggled to breathe.
Solomon leaned against the counter, stunned. “There are legends…”
The rest of his pack, though, they were staring at them wide-eyed.
“Shaq?”
Shaq squeezed Drew tighter. “We need to talk to the goddess about this. So much of the lore has been lost. If the legends of the omegas are true, and that is a big if, the goddess will explain it to us.”
“I can’t have a baby hellhound, Shaq. It doesn’t work that way.”
“Yeah,” Calliope snorted. “Kinda like the mother goddess didn’t show up here and zap you to a doughnut shop because you had a craving. Oh…. You had a craving,” Calliope gasped.
Shaq’s heart skipped a beat.
“No... I don’t… What?” Drew spun around and looked up at him. “You better explain. Because… you better.”
“Omegas make the pack bigger,” Shaq said softly. “Omegas bring strength and stability.”
Drew put his hand over his stomach and blinked. “This is… I don’t even know what this is.”
“Hope,” Shaq said. He pressed his forehead to Drew’s and breathed his mate’s sweet scent. “When all is said and done, love, at the end of the day, we have hope. And that’s why we fight to protect this world, why we keep it safe. You’re what we’re fighting for.”
Drew wrapped his arms around Shaq’s waist and closed his eyes. “Hope,” Drew whispered in return. “I like the sound of that.”
* * *
The End
Double or Nothing
A Novella in the Chosen One Universe
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Copyright © 2018 Macy Blake
http://macyblake.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of author imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted on the cover is a model.
Cover Art Copyright © 2018 Macy Blake
Cover Art by A.J. Corza at http://seeingstatic.com
Formatting provided by LesCourt Author Services
www.lescourtauthorservices.com
Mikey
“Morning, Bobby. The usual?”
Bobby, one of Mikey’s regular customers at Joe & Go, grunted his reply. Mikey fought back his smirk as he prepared Bobby’s red-eye special. One of his mid-morning regulars, Bobby played guitar for an up-and-coming band and also attended afternoon classes at the local university. It meant he didn’t get a lot of sleep, and he showed up most mornings at the coffee shop half awake with bleary eyes.
As the espresso machine hissed out its offering, Mikey looked around the little cafe he’d built for himself. It wasn’t much— a half dozen tiny tables scattered throughout the front of the building near the bakery display cases and checkout counter, and a few overstuffed armchairs pushed close around a low coffee table— but Joe & Go was all his. He poured regular coffee into Bobby’s shot of espresso before adding the lid and sliding the to-go cup into a sleeve.
Bobby handed Mikey enough singles to pay for the coffee, tips from his previous night’s performance no doubt, then added another into the Joe & Go tip jar by the counter. “See ya, Mikey.”
Mikey waved then rinsed out the used espresso pot. Another few customers came in, but the morning rush had cleared. Something relaxed in his chest as he looked around the shop, pride filling him at how far he’d come. He loved his job, even with the stupid hours. Seriously, who enjoyed getting up at four thirty in the morning? Even though his commute consisted of a jog down the stairs from his apartment above the cafe, he still got up early to get the place ready for the daily five-thirty a.m. opening. It was crazy, but it gave him a half hour jump on his competition. It took a few months for earlier opening time to catch on, but once it did, Joe & Go was the go-to place for early risers to begin their days and all-nighters to end theirs.
A harried mom walked into the cafe next, pushing a stroller with a sleeping toddler.
“Welcome to Joe & Go. What can I get you?”
She whimpered a little, eying the selection of cakes and cookies under the glass counter.
“You know,” Mikey said when she continued to stare at the selections while chewing her lip, “I make a mean mocha caramel latte that is so ridiculously good you forget how bad it is for you. Plus, I can put it in a to-go cup so you can keep running your errands.”
“Oh, that sounds perfect,” she said. “I desperately needed some chocolate today.”
Mikey grinned and made her coffee, getting her back out the door and off to her day within minutes. She’d cooed after she took the first sip, turning to look over her shoulder and give him a thumbs up. As he cleaned up and prepped for the lunch rush, Mikey found himself thinking about Mama Thea and hoping she’d be proud of what he’d built.
He didn’t have a mom
who used to push him around in a stroller and stop for a morning coffee. No, he’d spent his early life being cycled through different foster homes and short-term care facilities. All his life he’d had episodes. He called them his flickers. The world would stand still and random people would flicker into … something else. He wasn’t old enough to understand what was happening, and as a child he couldn’t explain it well enough. His birth parents couldn’t handle their son randomly blanking out and throwing screaming fits about whatever monsters he saw during one of his episodes.
None of the testing he’d undergone ever found a cause, but eventually a doctor diagnosed him with epilepsy based on the fine tremors that accompanied his flickers. By then his parents had fucked off to who knows where and Mikey became part of the system. He’d bounced from house to house with no sense of belonging anywhere. He couldn’t make friends, and the better families viewed him as just another paycheck. The worst... well, he didn’t like to think about them anymore.
The Smiths saved him. They were his eighth placement and thankfully his last. At twelve years old, he was already done with everything, sick and tired of being weird and rejected, yet they easily accepted him and all his issues. They never complained about taking him to the doctor or how much his medications cost. They held him after his flickers, and they believed him when he talked about what he’d seen. Their simple acceptance made a huge difference. It was the first time he’d spent more than two holidays in a row at the same house.
He still wore the shiny medical alert bracelet on his wrist, even though he’d known from the beginning the diagnosis was wrong. There really wasn’t another explanation available that made any sense to any of the specialists he’d seen when he was younger. Doctors couldn’t exactly diagnose “I see weird creatures” as anything other than a mental disorder. Sometimes, in the darkest part of his mind, he still wondered whether or not there was something wrong with his brain.