From Alpha to Omega

by Cilla B Anthony

  When he could no longer pretend that he was sitting on the dock enjoying the scenery, Brogan stripped off his shirt and dove into the cool water and when he surfaced the object of his anxiety was standing there with a stupid grin on his face.

  Seeing Jackson on the dock, Brogan pretended that he hadn’t noticed the tall man who was making it clear that he was watching Brogan.

  “Mornin’ sweetheart,” Jackson greeted with a smile. “Don’t get out on my account, I was just admiring the view.”

  Feeling a little nervous at Jackson’s obvious stares, Brogan got out of the water and soon his state of undress made things a little more uncomfortable for him.

  Without trying to be obvious or make things awkward between them, Brogan hurried to the dock and struggled to put his t-shirt back on. Had he been aware of how the white cloth clung to his damp skin and showing off the muscles underneath and making him more appealing, he wouldn’t have bothered to dress.

  Mustering up courage he didn’t know he’d lost, Brogan asked a question that had been gnawing at his brain, “I know that my father is a persuasive son of a bitch, but how did he convince you to babysit me?”

  “He kept talking about his beautiful, unhappy, recently turned Omega son and how he needed someone to help keep his old Alpha at bay. It had been a while since I’d had a vacation, and Richard and I go back a way, so I thought, why not. And here I am. I must tell you though, this is no hardship and definitely not babysitting.”

  Brogan mulled over Jackson’s response and was surprised to find that he believed him. If he’s been at his cabin if Brogan had, he’s had the time and the opportunity to threaten or even hurt Brogan, but he hadn’t. He let Brogan get comfortable with his new surroundings before he approached with care and in the open, giving Brogan the chance to get away if he chose to.

  Even last night, when he brought the food by, he wasn’t pushy or demanding and he walked away when Brogan asked him to.

  Now instead of spending his days wishing for someone to talk to, by the end of the week he had a great friend in Jackson. He talked to Brogan as though his opinion mattered Omega or not and it made him open up more than he had since his change.

  In the back of his mind he knew that he should have given Cade this chance, talk to him about what he wanted and how to move forward in his new role, but he couldn’t. He knew that it was because Cade had turned him and with the others, well it was because they’d known him before, and he hated the thought of them comparing who he had been to who he was now.

  Jackson only knew Omega Brogan and there was nothing to compare him to and he accepted him as he was.

  When he expressed to Jackson that he wanted to continue to work in a capacity like what he had at Sports Related, he was amazed to learn that Jackson supported that. Not only did he support it, but his business employed Omega’s in positions that were more than supportive or secretarial. Before he could stop himself, he found himself hinting at possibly working for Jackson.

  They talked about everything and for once Brogan the Omega was comfortable with being who he was.

  By Friday of the second week he and Jackson were having dinner together each night and there were several times he’d found himself thinking that he’d wished Cade was there, or how much he’d like Jackson and how well he thought that the Alphas would get along, but then he remembered.

  Several times Jackson had invited Brogan out to dinner at a restaurant, but he was not comfortable about being seen in public, so he turned him down. However, at the beginning of the week Brogan had discovered another grill in the far corner of the property made from stone and he wanted to try some of the fish he’d caught on it, so he convinced Jackson to join him.

  Although Jackson agreed, that didn’t stop him from trying to convince Brogan to let him treat him to a meal that he didn’t have to cook. They were so busy arguing about dinner at the cabin or at a restaurant that neither heard the key turn in the door before Richard Ford put an end to their squabble, “These nice thick rib eyes should settle that argument guys?”

  “Hi dad,” Brogan greeted the senior Ford, his cheeks tinged red because he was embarrassed at having been caught enjoying himself with Jackson when there was so much going on in his life.

  Richard surprised him. Instead of berating him for enjoying himself, he smiled and sounded happy that Brogan was having a good time with Jackson and that made Brogan feel guiltier than he already did. He had envisioned his father treating him as he had treated his mother, but none of his fears had come to fruition. Yes, his father treated him as though he was fragile at times, but there was none of the heavy-handed Alpha bullshit that Brogan had feared.

  Brogan moved to help his father with the bags he was carrying but Jackson gently pushed him aside and helped Richard asking, “are there more or is this all?”

  “Oh, there’s more,” Richard chuckled. “despite Brogan being an Omega now, his appetite hasn’t waned much.”

  Rising to help bring the rest of the food in from the car, Jackson raised a hand to stop him, “We’ve got this you just take it easy sweetheart.”

  So, he did.

  Brogan sat as his father and his friend brought in bag after bag of groceries and continued to sit as the pair went outside and fired up the stone grill to cook up the steaks and baked potatoes. While the pair of them were outside Brogan prepared a salad and found himself humming a song that Cade often sang around the house.

  For some reason today Cade was on his mind a lot. Normally when Cade invaded his thoughts, he found a way to drive the thoughts away, but today he couldn’t and it seemed that Jackson had something to do with that.

  Physically, Jackson and Cade were nothing alike, but something in the older Alpha’s demeanor made him think of Cade constantly, and tonight as he cut up vegetables for the salad, he hoped that Cade understood his decision.

  When the pair of Alphas walked through the door with a huge platter bearing the steaks and baked potatoes, Brogan forcefully pushed Cade from his mind and enjoyed the evening. When his dad came to the table with three beers, he could feel Jackson watching him.

  The pregnancy was like an elephant in the room and he could feel Jackson’s eyes follow the trajectory of the bottle until he touched it to his lips. That look made him feel worse than anything Brogan had ever thought of himself, but as he swallowed, he became angry that he was being judged and drained the bottle of half its contents.

  Sensing the tension between the two, Richard broke the silence in the room, “So Jackson how are you enjoying your vacation?”

  “Going well,” Jackson answered absently as he continued to stare at Brogan. “some moments are better than others.”

  “This steak is one of those moments I hope,” Richard laughed as he moaned around a piece of beef.

  “Yeah, it is,” Jackson agreed as he looked away from Brogan and easing the tension in the room.

  The two men talked business and old times while Brogan listened on. He was a little overwhelmed by Jackson’s reaction to him drinking the beer. He wasn’t aware that Jackson knew that he was pregnant, but that judgmental stare told him that he did.

  In an act of defiance, Brogan finished the beer and reached for another one as he stared at Jackson daring him to say anything. The man didn’t know what Brogan has gone through and why he was going to get rid of this child, and more importantly why did it matter to him. As he took another swig of beer, he wondered why Jackson’s opinion mattered to him anyway.

  After dinner he found out why it mattered, it seemed that his father had made some promises to Jackson.

  By the time they moved into the den area, the conversation had returned to the easiness of before the non-conversation about the baby. Richard dished up dessert while Jackson and Brogan continued their conversation about the upcoming football season and how their beloved Panthers will fare.

  It was animated conversation until Richard sat a tray with coffee and cheesecake on the coffee table. As soon as the smell of c
offee hit his nose, Brogan moved quickly to find the trashcan in the corner of the room because there was no way he was going to make it down the hall.

  Just like Cade and that fucker Jaden, both men were there to help him clean up. It must be an Alpha thing, but right now Brogan couldn’t be bothered to care, he just wanted the queasiness to go away.

  “Coffee,” he rasped “please throw it away.”

  “Your dad’s taking care of it sweetheart,” Jackson told him as rubbed Brogan’s back the same as Cade. “Why don’t you lie down for a little while and let your stomach settle.”

  For once he didn’t feel like arguing, he just let Jackson guide him back to the sofa and accepted the glass of soda his father offered to help settle Brogan’s stomach.

  “You okay, kid?” Richard asked as Brogan slowly sipped the carbonated beverage.

  “Yeah, ‘m better,” Brogan told him. “Cade stopped drinking coffee… coffee just doesn’t agree with me.”

  Brogan had expected Jackson to leave because there was nothing to ruin an evening like someone throwing up, but Jackson stayed and talked to Richard as Brogan recovered from his bout of morning sickness.

  “Do you want something else to eat?” Jackson asked.

  “Not yet,” Brogan shook his head. “My stomach is still a little queasy.”

  The men continued to talk and let Brogan rest a little longer, but it seemed as though there was a pressing matter because more than once he saw Jackson point at his watch and his father held up his hands imploring his friend to stay.

  It didn’t bother him that Jackson agreed to stay even though he seemed to be in a hurry. What worried him most was the fact that each time Jackson agreed to stay was after a glance in Brogan’s direction.

  Thirty minutes later as Jackson was once again pointing at his watch, Brogan felt well enough to walk across the room to the kitchen area to get something else to drink. Once there, he decided that he was hungry so he ignored the men talking about him and went to the refrigerator to see what he could hold down.

  His father had grilled an extra steak but that was too heavy for him, so he opted for a cold cut sandwich.

  “Sweetheart we could have gotten that for you,” Jackson softly admonished as walked to Brogan and took over making the sandwich.

  As Brogan began to eat, Jackson sat in the plush chair across from him and smiled as he devoured the food.

  “Brogan, I have an early meeting so I’m going to have to leave soon, but I have a proposition for you. I know that this is kind of out of the blue, but since you have chosen to leave your Alpha, I have asked your father for the right to claim you.”

  He didn’t see him move, but suddenly Jackson was patting him hard on his back in an attempt to force the food from his windpipe.

  “He didn’t mean to startle you,” Richard apologized to his son as though that was the problem. “He just wanted you to know what his intentions are.”

  “What is his intentions dad? I thought that I was just here to get away from Cade not to be mated off to the highest bidder.”

  “You are Brogan,” Jackson defended “Here to get away from Cade that is. It’s just that after getting to know you I’ve fallen for you and I want you to be a part of my life. I want to claim you-mate you.”

  “I already have a mate,” Brogan reminded both men.

  “Yeah, you do,” Jackson laughed bitterly. “I remember what you looked like when you first arrived here, your face was bruised and…”

  “Wait,” Brogan interrupted, “Cade wasn’t responsible for what happened to me. That was an asshole Alpha trying to take me whether I wanted him or not.”

  “No Cade wasn’t responsible,” Jackson agreed, “but he did allow it to happen and now the Omega Center is searching for you. Now the only way you can go back is to have been claimed by someone new because it will not be easy for you to just turn back up and return to your normal life.”

  “Especially after you’ve hurt an Alpha,” Richard interjected.

  “Jackson…” Brogan started.

  “You don’t have to make a decision right now,” Jackson stopped him. “I understand that this is huge decision going from one Alpha to another, so I’ll give you a couple of days to make up your mind. There is one thing you need to understand though, that the one tie you have with Cade will have to go. As long as you have his pup, he will not leave us alone.”

  Before Brogan could respond, Jackson was gone leaving Brogan alone with his father and a difficult decision to make.

  After Jackson left Brogan thought that his father would want to discuss what had just happened; that he would want to reassure his son that he didn’t have to mate with his friend, and this was just an offer on the table.

  Instead, Richard looked at his son with what could only be described as a mixture of disappointment and disgust before saying, “get some sleep we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Oh, and remember don’t eat anything after midnight. If you do, then tomorrow I’ll lock you up to make sure you don’t.”

  Brogan didn’t reply, but then he's positive he wasn’t supposed to. Instead he felt his father’s eyes on him as he walked down the hall to his bedroom and closed the door.

  Bar the night Brogan was claimed, this had to be the worse night ever. Around 3 A.M. he gave up trying to sleep and went to the main area and settled on the sofa to watch television, but it was watching him instead. He spent the wee hours of the morning thinking about what happened here tonight.

  How had he not seen this coming? His father had no use for Omegas so Brogan believing that he would treat him differently was wishful thinking on his part. He picked up the laptop and Googled Jackson and what he found was a revelation. Jackson was an architect who owned his own firm that had made him a millionaire several times over. He didn’t build houses unless they were McMansions, his specialty was high-rises all over the world. The Website featured a hotel he’d just built in Dubai from whose commission Jackson could retire.

  Jackson was rich and his father wanted some of his money and apparently was not above using his traumatized child to shore up his bank account. Perhaps his father was right, being an Omega had made him stupid because he hadn’t seen that trap until it was too late.

  He tried to make up his mind about what he should do, and it didn’t help matters that every channel he turned to was still talking about Jaden’s injury and Brogan’s missing status. Apparently, they had some powerful evidence to help convict Jaden, because he pled guilty for a reduced sentence and was now serving time.

  If not for the lack of evidence he would have been tried for murder as well, but most of the blood was Jaden’s and there were Omega Right’s groups who were upset about Jaden’s light sentence and was using this as a platform to further their cause.

  And then there was Cade.

  He looked so sad and lost as he begged Brogan to come home, that he was not going to be prosecuted. They understood that he was scared, but he no longer had a reason to be. But he did.

  He was scared that he was going to lose who he was and must live under Cade’s thumb for the rest of his life. No matter how hard the Omega rights groups fought he would never see true equality in his lifetime, so he had a decision to make. Jackson or Cade and he was having trouble deciding.

  With his father and Jackson expecting an answer in a couple of days, he tried to think of a way out of this mess. He could call Cade and beg to come home, but that would open a new can of worms, because going back to Cade meant facing Amanda and the Omega center and that’s if Cade wanted him back.

  He knew that the plea Cade was making on the newsfeed was just for show, this was his third time running and if he went back, he was going to the Omega Center, and as nice as the Center was, he couldn’t fathom being locked up for a day let alone the time they were going to give him.

  He wanted Cade back.

  But he had lied, well lied by omission and encouraged others to lie for him.

  Brogan offered up a silent plea
of forgiveness to Cade because the man didn’t deserve the hell that Brogan was putting him through.

  Thoughts went back to this evening and what Jackson had said about Cade, this was not Cade’s fault, it was Brogan’s. Had he been honest and told his mate the truth about Jaden’s intentions then Cade could have acted accordingly, but Brogan had lied and now he was going to be forced to have an abortion he decided he no longer wanted and to mate with someone he wasn’t sure he liked any longer.

  As the night progressed, and he sat in the dark trying to find a way out of this clusterfuck, something else occurred to him, he hadn’t thought about the repercussions of leaving Cade. As an Omega - a runaway Omega - there was nothing he could do on his own.

  That meant that he would have to very seriously consider Jackson’s proposal, but he couldn’t stomach the thought of anyone other than Cade touching him, let alone knotting him. He also had to consider his father; the man had all but begged him to come ‘home’, that he would welcome Brogan, but he would be treated the same if not worse than his mother. Brogan knew he wanted to back out of the abortion, but his father hadn’t. His only out was Jackson but he didn’t want the man as anything other than a friend.