“And I don’t know. I mean, I’d never leave you, or my home. And I know that we’ve kinda talked…”
“So stay. Stay here with me. With your family.” Jake’s icy eyes were as pure as his heart. “It’s like I told you man, I’m all in.”
“R-really…?” Kyle was touched beyond belief. He had secretly wished and hoped that this was what the Alpha would say, but to finally hear it was almost overwhelming.
“Hell yes.” Jake almost rose to emphasize his point. “You stay here, or work here, or we’ll figure something out. My cousin’s a nurse at Fort Mac General, and maybe she knows something or somebody. She’s union, so she can vouch for you. And… and…” Jake was clearly nervous, his strength pouring into his words.
Kyle looked off to the side. He knew what he wanted but wasn’t sure if it made any sense.
“…and just don’t go. Not again. I can’t lose you again, bud. I mean, I know that you educated types are all on about ‘if you love something, let it go’, but that’s bullshit. I just, I’m sorry, but that’s just how I feel on this matter.” He was breathing heavily, his hand shaking as it held Kyle’s.
“Wait, w-what did you say?” Kyle asked, his voice soft as a whisper.
“Uh, that you should stay? Like I said, my cousin could drum up some leads for nursing jobs, or, heck, we could…” Jake rapidly tried to condense his words, still unsure of where all of this might lead the two of them.
“No, I meant…” Kyle searched for the strength to mouth those words he’d always known but could never say. “Jake, what you just said – do you love me?”
“Well, shit yeah bud. Probably since we were just pups in our teens. I remember this one time…” Jake paused thoughtfully, his other hand reaching out and softly cradling Kyle’s free, trembling hand. “I mean, of course I do Kyle. I love you, with every ounce of my heart.” Jake couldn’t help but beam a wide smile upon hearing those words leave his lips.
Kyle smiled only to hold back the dampness that threatened to spill along his cheeks. “I love you too Jake.” He leaned forward and gave his lover a kiss. And then another.
They were only stopped by a banging upon the window. It was Jess, making kissy faces at them. In truth, she was secretly thrilled that things were working out between her brother and his Alpha.
The loud knocking on the glass roused their father. When he happened to spy the two lovers sitting side by each on the deck, he started to make his way to the door.
“Dad, how about you sit this one out?” Jess called as she dried a plate from the sink. Not even dignifying her words with a reply, he fiddled with the lock and was outside in an instant.
“Now isn’t this great, seeing the two of you hitting it off so well.” He took a satisfactory pull from his vaporizer, its blinking light indicating that it badly needed recharging.
Bracing himself for another lecture on ‘how people under sixty ought to behave,’ Kyle held the Alpha’s arm tightly as he reached for diplomatic words. “We’re just discussing some things dad, but we’ll be right in.”
“Oh, sure thing, sure.” He smiled as he headed back to the sliding glass door. “But just like I said, mark my words, you two will end up together.”
Kyle buried his head in his hands. “Dad, stop claiming credit for everything under the sun. We’ll be in shortly.”
“But that’s just it, I called it didn’t I?” He gestured to Jake, who seemed uncertain of the direction of their conversation. “As sure as he was getting some bird shot, I called it.”
Kyle rose slightly from his hunched position. Embarrassment was rapidly replaced with concern. “What? When did this happen?”
“While I was at Casey’s Game & Feed, but it doesn’t matter since you’re both here now and…”
“Actually, it matters a lot.” Kyle frowned. “Dad why were you telling Jake that he and I would be together before I’d even come home yet? Before your heart attack?”
“Well, now that I give it some thought, I weren’t…”
Kyle turned to the Alpha. It hurt to have to even consider it, but their father was legendary for wheeling and dealing in the business of others. “What did my dad say to you?”
The Alpha was clearly uncomfortable. “Well, it was a while ago now, but he mentioned that it’d be good for you to return to the pack. And I remarked how I’d missed you so much…”
“So the two of you cooked up a little scheme to get me home? So my dad could marry me off to the handsome Alpha?”
“N-no, not like that at all.” Jake turned as white as a sheet. Kyle would’ve noticed how scared the Alpha was had he himself not been so furious. “He said that he knew that you’d be back around this time, and that it’d be good to try to patch things up.”
“Kyle son, you’re makin’ a mountain out of a molehill, I only did…,” his father began.
The Omega ignored his father as he choked back his rage. “You couldn’t have said any of this to me? My father makes an insane plan to manipulate me into coming home and you just casually go along with it because why the fuck not?! Is what you said in the truck also part of this plan? Do you actually love me? Is this all just a really long con to hop into bed with a childhood crush? But I mean, not like I’d ever know, since you apparently don’t care enough to tell me when someone’s using me. That’s what friends are for right?”
Jake merely hung his head in shame, cradling it in his palm. Everything he’d wanted for so long was crumbling apart all around him.
“I can’t believe that I trusted you. I think that you should leave.” Numb and reeling, Kyle looked away from the Alpha. He didn’t want to let Jake see him shed a single tear.
Jake nodded and rose to his feet. His mouth was so dry and he felt weak as he silently plodded down the steps of the back deck, got into his truck and drove off into the night.
Kyle’s father was cowed into silence by his son’s temper.
Without even looking at his dad, the Omega spoke as he made his way across the deck. “First thing tomorrow morning I’m gone. Don’t call me.”
When the glass door slammed hard enough to rattle through the old Daniels place, Jess looked up from the dishes in surprise.
“Hey, what’s…Kyle? You okay?”
Walking through the kitchen, he paused and took a few deep breaths. “Did you know that Dad planned to fake his heart attack to get me home to start seeing Jake? Or that Jake was in on it?”
The total and utter shock that swept her face let him know that his sister had no idea. “Wait… what?! Are you… what?!”
“I don’t want to talk about it now. I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”
Jess tried to comfort her brother, but he walked past her and was in his childhood room before she could even dry her hands.
Locking the door and turning out the lights, Kyle lay down upon his creaking old bed. He thought about the life with Jake that he’d never have, the years with his father that would never be, and how stupid he’d been all along to be so trusting, so naïve. He thought about how nearly every memory that he’d made growing up with Tyler somehow featured Jake, and how he’d never be able to think about his dearly departed friend’s memory without being reminded of how he had been betrayed by the idiot that he’d opened his heart to. And when the Omega was too numb to think anymore, he pressed his face against the palms of his hands and cried.
And as if it were acting in sympathy, the skies over Shale River finally opened up, pouring their tears to the muddy earth below.
Twenty Four
It must’ve been a little before midnight when the charcoal grey darkness of his room lit up. It was a soft bloom followed by a gentle buzzing. It was his phone.
“So what time is it there? We keep missing one another!” The text burned at his eyes from the small fluorescent screen. It was Mike. And now that he and Jake were apparently history, Kyle wondered if he should reply.
He turned off his phone and placed it beneath his pillow. He wrestled around wit
h his sheets a few times before he just wound up staring at the ceiling. The question of whether or not he should reply rang loudly through his brain like a church bell. Feeling sheepish for even having waited as long as he did, he thought about the pros and cons of speaking with Mike.
Pro: I’m my own Omega and can do whatever I damned well like, he thought. But he had to admit that it was a little fast to be moving on to someone else. Mike may have been his second choice but he certainly didn’t deserve to be his rebound. Definitely a con.
But who said anything about a relationship? We’re just two adults talking. Pro. Being honest with himself, he realized that since Mike clearly liked him more than he liked the Beta, there was almost no chance that they’d simply chat ‘just as friends.’ Big con.
Arguing with himself was just getting him more worked up than he’d been when he started this pointless debate. He exhaled and thudded his fists onto the soft mattress below, before simply reaching for his phone and replying to Mike.
“It’s a little before midnight. It’s not intentional there’s just been a lot to deal with here.” He placed the phone beside him on the bed and closed his eyes, awaiting its sibilant call.
Maybe ten minutes later, Mike replied. “That’s a shame. Anything that you want to discuss?”
Kyle calmed himself and drew deep breaths a good few times. “Don’t want to get into it. Let’s just say that my homecoming wasn’t what I thought it would be.”
Three little blinking dots let Kyle know that Mike was typing, but was unsure of what to say. The Omega was thinking about mentioning Jake, and even texted out something but then erased it and let Mike know that he was wrapping things up. “It’s getting late here. I should get going.”
Mike replied immediately. “I understand totally. Don’t let me get in the way of a solid eight! Take care sweetie. xoxo.”
Kyle turned off his screen and set his phone down upon the nightstand beside his bed. Home. The word tumbled around in his head. Toronto was one thing, but he already was home; at least, so he thought.
Twenty Five
Despite the gentle patter of rain, it was a fitful sleep. Sometime in between brief periods of rest, Kyle heard his father get up and begin his morning routines. He listened to Cromwell scrambling across the floor, the familiar thuds of the kettle, the mug and the bowl, and later, the cascade of water as the toilet flushed.
He sighed and sat on the edge of his bed as the first fingers of rosy light pierced through the Venetian blinds. The rain had apparently sputtered out, but even still, the sun’s rays were cloudy, as if being shone through a dirty window.
Kyle ruffled his hair and paced around the room. A few times. He’d have to ask Jess for a ride back to the train station, and while she’d definitely try to convince him that he was making a huge mistake, at the very least it’d be some more time together. After all, she hadn’t done anything wrong. He checked his phone. One text from Jess. Surprisingly, there were three from Jake.
Kyle frowned. The Alpha’s messages had been sent around three in the morning. Probably went out and got blind drunk with the firedogs. Part of him wanted to delete them, but Kyle knew that he was still too mad to make a decision like that. He decided to read them later when he’d cooled off somewhat. He could always delete them later, for all of the good that would do.
He read through Jess’ message. It was sent a little after he’d finished his brief conversation with Mike last night. Sweet and raw, it was very heartfelt.
“Hey dude, so first things first let me totally & fully apologize for our papa’s idiotic behaviour. I spent a good amount of time giving him shit for his bonehead schemes. He’s old & dumb & doesn’t get the ‘new-agey’ idea that you shouldn’t trick people into relationships, even if they do work out great together. The same goes with Jake. I don’t know why he went along with it but I know that he cares deeply about you. I’m not telling you to forgive or forget what either of them did but maybe keep in mind what they thought they were doing… they both love & miss you so much that they were willing to try a crazy stunt to get you home. Not gonna lie it’s gonna suck seeing you go under these conditions. I’ll prolly cry cause I know that you’re not going to want to head home and see us for a while. Fuck I’m crying now. We just miss you so much. It sucks that things are the way they are. Love you.”
Kyle fell back onto his old, lumpy mattress. The fabric of the sheets was cool against his body. He rolled around a few times and sighed angrily. He punched at his pillow. Try as he might, he was far too worked up to fall back to sleep. He wanted to talk with Jess, he wanted to see her and stay for her, but he wanted nothing to do with his father. Kyle knew that if they crossed paths, there’d probably be another blow-out fight, so he waited in his room until his father had left the house to begin his day’s work.
Kyle left his room and made his way down to the kitchen and was surprised to see Jess sitting at the table in the dim light.
“Jess, w-what are you doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep.” She was thumbing aimlessly through her phone. A half empty mug of coffee was beside her. Even in this low light, he could see that her eyes were pink and damp.
“Hey look, I didn’t mean… you know, I just…”
“You don’t have to explain yourself. A shitty thing happened and you can’t control how you feel.” She looked glumly around the table.
“I know. I just feel stupid. And cheap. It’s like, right when things start getting good between me and Dad, he goes and does something royally stupid. And it basically explodes everything that I cared about.”
“Oh, I told him that. And honestly, the worst part is that he was really trying with you too. You were both getting along really well. I hadn’t seen either of you this happy in, well, forever.” She leaned heavily on her arm and tried to hold back her tears.
Kyle reached for her hand to comfort her. His sister dropped her phone and immediately squeezed his hand. Hard. “I just miss you so much. I promised myself that I wouldn’t do this to you, but it’s just been so nice having you around this past week.” She sobbed a few times. Kyle pulled his sister in for a hug.
“I know, despite what happened, it’s been great,” he said, in a soft, calming tone. He genuinely felt terrible for her. The Omega wavered between anger at what had happened to him, and sadness for his sister, and for everything that he’d be walking away from. His sadness was, unfortunately, winning.
He winced as he continued to pat her back sympathetically. Was he being too emotional and needy? Was he destined for misery by fighting the role that he was born into? He was too raw and upset to be sure, but he also knew that friends and family didn’t sneak around and lie to one another just to get what they wanted. In time he knew that he’d probably speak to his father again, but how could he trust him? How could his father so easily sideline Kyle’s feelings in order to hatch some harebrained scheme? And then there was Jake. It burned Kyle how well things were going with the Alpha. But that was all up in smoke now.
As much as it would’ve annoyed him to find out about their deception years later, if his father had just kept his trap shut, Kyle probably would never have known. And the Alpha and Omega could’ve settled down on a ranch outside of Shale River to raise a little pack of happy pups. They were nice dreams but sadly, had evaporated into the thin air.
The twins spoke for a long time. Nearly two hours flew past and Jess seemed clearly the better for it. Kyle admitted that he didn’t want to leave under such harsh conditions, but that he needed some time to clear his head. And she understood that – their father had greatly stepped over any normal parental boundaries. Feeling somewhat better, she sauntered upstairs toward the shower, a little less world-weary.
He knew that a run would be a great way to clear his head, and went to unpack the gear that he’d stowed in his travel pack. Throwing on an old jersey and some shorts, he was midway through lacing his shoes up when his eye began to trace along some old, dusty bookshelves. Loaded do
wn with all sorts of ancient books, pictures, and tomes from his childhood, he pulled out a faded high school year book. It was just about a decade old, and worn from use. When Tyler had unexpectedly passed, he’d browsed through it obsessively so that he’d never forget his friend’s face. But now, he just wanted to go back and see some of the good times between he, Jake, and Tyler.
Rural prairie schools tended to pack relatively few children into even fewer educational districts, so everyone knew everybody by the time they were ready to graduate. It meant that the same friendly faces appeared over and over again in the yearbook. Wearing his running gear and shoes, he lay down upon his bed and began to flip through the pages. Steeped in memories good and bad, he fondly relived his carefree youth, remembering all of the trouble and fun that he and his Alpha friends got into. It made him sad that his children would never get to meet Tyler, or that Kyle would never get to meet Tyler’s eventual family, or see where life would’ve taken him. Nostalgia painfully bit into him like an icy wind as he strolled through the past.
Lost in his thoughts, he made it most of the way through the yearbook before Cromwell began barking and yapping at something out on the deck. Rousing him from his thoughts, Kyle realized that he was behind on his run. Pausing to listen, he didn’t hear the shower so he could get one last pee in before he hit the road. Upon entering the steamy bathroom, he noticed something curious perched along the sink.
Carefully arranged along the porcelain, like some arcane pattern, were what appeared to be little white sticks. They’d appeared to be taken from a nondescript box that contained a few dozen more. A sticker on the side indicated it was from a medical supply dealer in Shale River. Kyle’s mind snapped back to his medical training.
“Hormone tests…?”
Without touching any of them, he leaned over and realized that each were showing two dark blue lines. His heart skipped a beat. Quietly lifting up the box, he began to read along the instructions on the back, muttering to himself as he went.
His Prairie Omega Box Set Page 18