"Then why not try to change the world?" Parker asked.
"Because one organization, or one business, isn't going to do that," I sighed. "Even with the best intentions, the most I could get would be exiled from most packs. I'd get all sorts of financial loss, probably enough to put me out of business. We'd lose Roll Over and there'd be nothing we could do. We could make a small, positive impact by following socio-political trends, Parker, or we could fight the tide and lose it all. I know which one I would pick."
He stood and walked to my window, gazing down at the protestors below. I let him take his time. If he couldn't stand beside me today when I made my speech, we were going to have a very troublesome relationship. I might not be able to trust him outside of the house. Who knew what he would say? And who knew how far Rise would go to get their hands on him?
"You used to see me as an equal, Graham," Parker said. "What happened to that?"
"I still do," I explained. "Equal, but different. There's nothing wrong with that."
I followed him to the window and wrapped my arms around him. One of my hands strayed over his belly.
"For instance," I started. "I'd never be strong enough to carry a pup. I don't have a clue how to dry clean my suits. You're of incredible value to me, but you don't have to go risk your life on the street to do it. Stand with me here at Roll Over. Maybe we can get you a little desk job. Would you like that? Something so you could come to work with me, represent the company?"
"Can I leave the building without your permission, or do I have to raise my hand and ask nicely?" Parker grumbled.
I smiled. "You can leave within a certain area. There's security everywhere, here, and they'll take good care of you."
"Wonderful," Parker said, pulling away. "Then I'm going on a walk."
And off he went.
6
Parker
Roll Over was such a ridiculously high-profit company that there were take one-leave one umbrellas by the front door. I grabbed one as I stalked past the beta receptionist and out into the open.
Money made on the backs of omegas like me, of alphas like my new mate, all wrapped up and ready to drown me in the clouds above. I snapped open the umbrella and bristled as the cops told me to be on my way. In the short time I'd been upstairs, they had spent most of it clearing out Rise. People were allowed to protest. That Graham had ordered them off public property rubbed me wrong.
All of this rubbed me wrong.
A good omega supported his alpha no matter what. Hadn't I spent years secretly loving Graham from afar? Hadn't I allowed one or two dreams in which he'd pick me and we'd spend a life of romance and fantasy in the forest, together? Of all our friends, he had been the only one who had bothered to send me letters.
Graham had kept me sane at Talewah, in a place where so many other omegas went to pieces behind those vast walls.
Did I owe him my loyalty for that, no matter what nightmare he was supporting?
I kicked a rock as I walked along, grinding my teeth. Just walking along like this might raise the brows of more conservative werewolves. Jenard would probably tell Graham he was being soft with me, letting me go stomping down the street by myself. Who knew what kind of trouble I could get myself into?
Why was freedom such a price to ask? If the alphas knew that omegas were so delicate, why not control themselves around us? We had instincts that told us to do all sorts of stupid things. We were expected to keep them under wraps--why not the alphas?
"You want a snack, pal?"
I blinked over at a hot dog stand and stopped on the balls of my feet. On the side of the walkway, beneath an awning representing an enormous sausage in a bun, stood a fine-boned, black-haired omega. He grinned at me and disappeared back within the stand. I walked over.
"I don't have a dime on me," I said.
"S'fine," he answered. "You look like you're having a hell of a day."
The noise I made was as neutral as I could manage. Thirty-six hours ago, I'd been in a safe area. Now?
Now I was fighting with Graham and taking charity hot dogs.
The stranger omega presented me with a tray and a platter of food. There were enough fries piled on there that several fell off when I took it in hand. He shut the window and stepped out of the trailer.
"Kyle," He said, leading me to an outdoor picnic bench.
"Parker," I nodded as I sat down.
"You just leave whatever shithole they had you in?" Kyle asked, stealing a fry as he joined me.
"Talewah. Yeah, last night," I answered.
Kyle made a sympathetic sound as I started destroying the absolute garbage in front of me. After so many years of broccoli, tofu, and carefully prepared perfect nutrition, this was a godsend. The sheer amount of grease was a wonder to behold. I gulped the food down greedily as Kyle continued.
"I knew a few mutts from Talewah. They never managed to settle in around here. Too busy, after so many years in the desert, is what they'd always tell me. Their alphas moved out to Wyoming a while back. All of them worked for some mining operation that wanted a new start. What about you?"
"My alpha runs Roll Over," I scowled between bites.
"That new start-up that thinks it's going to take the omega world by storm, huh?" He asked. I nodded. "Stupidity. The world's already the way it is. They don't need to reinforce it. Make it a damn nightmare for me to own the shack I do."
That got my attention.
"You own that stand?"
"'Course I do. Bought it under a beta friend's name years ago and when she died, she signed it over to me full out. One of only six omega-owned businesses in the city," Kyle said.
Six omega businesses? I paused in the middle of my feast. It was more than I'd ever heard of. Omegas could work, but they were almost always menial jobs--babysitters or secretaries, at best. More often than not, omegas were kept home with the pups. I tried not to think about the other options there were out there, about the omegas that never saw the light of day. There were far too many of them.
"Rise keeps me taken care of, makes sure that my rights aren't violated," Kyle said. "They watch out for the omega that watches out for himself. You should join up if your alpha isn't a bonehead."
"It's not that he's a bonehead, he's just old-fashioned," I said.
"He's running a company that can't last, with the current climate of omega acceptance and the push for our rights," Kyle shrugged. "Up to you. Up to him, I guess, if you're honest with yourself. Isn't that right?"
He got up and left me there, stealing another fry as he went. There were already three people in line, waiting for his window to open again. I munched my meal in silence. Rise seemed like the place I wanted to be.
When I'd been in their protesting line, they'd spent so long telling me about their goals. None of them seemed particularly outlandish to me. They just wanted equal rights for omegas, wanted to release us from the safe zones we were stored in. So many of them had been alphas on Graham's side of things for so many years. Could I convince my mate to look past his goals to see what they would do to me, and people like me?
Graham had spent so many years breaking the rules just to contact me. There had to be hope somewhere, something that I could spark the idea from. He had kept me as well as could have been expected, given the circumstances. Didn't he understand that everyone in there was just another version of myself? Another ground-down omega, just waiting for the chance to grow and show the world what he was really made of?
I shoveled another hot dog, covered with relish and chili and so many things I'd forgotten, into my face and thought.
Maybe if I came at it from another way around. Graham didn't approve of Rise, but I could start something for the omega husbands and wives within Roll Over. We could be a positive change from within, pushing for them to remember that their owned loved ones suffered at the hands of their policies.
I licked a bit of ketchup from my upper lip. If it was something Graham could control, without police involvement, m
aybe he'd be more open to it. He might be willing to listen if it came from all of us, but I couldn't be sure. An alpha couldn't cut off an omega once they were mated. Only I could dissolve our marriage. Yet, he could tie me in a closet and never let me out again. It was well within his rights. He could have me...
He could have me declared insane.
My throat tightened. Electro-shock therapy was the kindest method they used on "insane" omegas. They'd given me a little taste of it when I was 17, just to remind me what happened to the most rebellious of my kind. They did it to all of us at that tender age to make the lesson stick better. My resolve quivered in the face of such a threat. Didn't the world think I wasn't made for fighting?
Maybe the world was right.
I finished the food Kyle had so kindly donated to my cause, savoring every bite. I felt as though I'd have to waddle the rest of my walk, but I grabbed the paper soda cup and carried it off with me. I'd always been the type who thought better with forwarding motion, with my feet moving under me. I didn't need the sights of the city. How many times had I walked around Talewah's outer walls, trying to remember the lyrics to some old song I'd loved or memorizing a letter from Graham?
Anthony wasn't a huge place, but it was more than enough for my senses. The overpowering ozone of vehicles coated the inside of my nose, smothering its way down my throat. I cleared my throat, coughing, and headed for the subway. Anthony had never been this large when we were kids.
Alpha heads turned as I walked past them, some sniffing in my direction. I bared my teeth at those who did. Let them try it. There were enough uniformed officers standing around that I wasn't worried about being abducted. A female beta stood in the ticket window and it was then that I remembered I was lacking in payment. Kyle had been kind. I doubted the woman scowling at me, popping her bubble gum, would act in the same manner.
I walked up the other side of the subway and back out onto the street.
My inner wolf complained about being so far from home, so far from Graham and whatever den we would share. I had no idea what sort of house I was going to. After all this, I realized, I had no way to find my way home. I whined, a soft, thready noise that stayed in my throat. I couldn't allow it to get out and cause trouble. The few people on the sidewalk pushed past me, ignoring the lone omega blocking their path. I licked my lips and walked to the crosswalk. Just across the road stood a rare import.
A lush garden maintained within a dusty field of a park waited for me. The trees were taller than those I faintly remembered as a pup back on Sassagoula's home turf, broad-leafed and water-hogging. The whole landscape probably took up an irresponsible amount of resources, but I couldn't bring myself to complain. Coves like these were a rarity, especially in the middle of the desert. And it was what I craved. I crossed when the little dog on the crossing signal lit up. It was a joke, a reminder of times long past when humans had mostly ruled the world.
There were a few humans left, here and there, but they didn't really bother us. They were far too outnumbered to risk it. It'd hadn't taken a war to put them in their place. No, they'd done it to themselves over time, constantly fighting each other. When the pack alphas had decided to rise and turn the majority that were left, they hadn't seen it coming.
Thus, when I was a kid and humans had taken their leave, we'd replaced all their humanocentric symbolism with mutts on all fours. Werewolves were proud of what they were. It was just easier to interface with what they'd left behind with hands instead of paws.
I walked to the garden and found a quiet spot, trees surrounding a mossy bank. There was a tiny, natural spring waiting for someone to appreciate it. I stripped myself of my clothes and shapeshifted, relishing in the cool earth on my paws. I lowered my head and took a long drink from the spring, turned around three times, and lay down. My creamy fur would stick out if someone came looking, but I doubted anyone would.
There, I tried to quiet my thoughts. I wanted to rest. Last night, I'd gotten some amount of sleep but it'd been a busy day and it was only half through. My stomach full of junk food, my heart full of longing, I wanted to take a nap in this quiet place. My eyes slid shut.
I dreamed of Graham.
7
Graham
He left me standing in my office.
I wanted to punch something.
Today, the grand opening of Roll Over. I'd known Parker forever. I thought they would have taught him... taught him...
...Something.
I ground my teeth, slicked my hair back, and flashed my pearly whites in the mirror. It didn't do much for my fuming temper, but it was what I had to work with. My appearance was red, blotchy, and frustrated. It didn't inspire much confidence for me keeping everything together.
No, Parker had abandoned me when I needed the arm candy. After all I'd done for him, how could he do that to me?
I took the elevator downstairs, glaring as the doors shut on my office door. When they popped open, I was assaulted by a burst of live band music and the accompanying howl of my pack alpha.
"You leave your little boy-toy tied up to your office chair?" Jenard beamed, dragging me into a hug.
I patted his back twice before pulling away. The last thing I wanted was to be in another man's arms.
"He took himself on a walk. Had to stretch his legs. He said he'd be back in a little bit," I said.
"You let your omega run off by himself?" Jenard asked, incredulously. "He could be anywhere. He could disappear on you."
The thought sent a bubble of anxiety into my stomach that made it gurgle. The whole effect was uncomfortable. Parker? Disappear on me? He'd never do it. Of course, I hadn't thought he'd show up supporting the other side, either. He was supposed to be mine, willing to do what I needed when I needed.
I frowned. The whole thing was pretty selfish when I looked at it the right way.
"He'll be all right," I said.
There was far more confidence in my voice than I felt.
Jenard gave me a shrug and wandered off to schmooze. The man was made of oil, charm, and the annoyingly effortless ability to fit in anywhere he wanted to. Or maybe, it was more that he forced his way into the center of attention and made the world fit around him. He swore I'd grow into it as I got older. An alpha in his twenties was just a young wolf, ready to take on life but still learning how to use his presence to his best advantage. Despite being a smaller wolf, Jenard loomed. He stalked. He held the visible essence of what a pack alpha should.
To some extent, I was starting to head in that direction. I noticed heads turn when I headed toward the stage. I saw betas and other alphas watch me when I wasn't watching them. Jenard had told me I had the ability, I just needed to fine tune it.
Somewhere, I knew he was right. It just seemed to be taking its damn sweet time to grow into something I could use on cue instead of a latent something-or-other.
I tapped the microphone. It squealed like an animal being shot.
"I'll keep it short," I announced to the room. There was a brief smattering of applause and a few chuckles.
"Roll Over is steeped in tradition. We will succeed in bringing about a brighter future for both alpha and omega. Our process will be the work of years. Your years. And I thank you for them in advance. Please, enjoy the refreshments and have a wonderful day."
This time, the applause was much brighter. I stepped off the stage and into a flood of chattery inquisition. There, I drowned until Scott came and dragged me away.
"You didn't mention you married my brother," Scott said.
He offered me a glass of champagne. I took it.
"I don't think I've had much time to get used to the idea," I sighed. I tipped the glass back and downed the drink in one go.
Scott, the hero that he was, grabbed me another from a passing waiter. I accepted it with a grateful nod. This one would spend longer in my hand.
"Not sure I'm used to the idea, myself," Scott said. "Doesn't make it a bad thing. It's just a little weird with the boss being i
n the family now."
"If there's a problem," I started. "We can take it outside."
Scott was an alpha, though one that would never rise to power within the pack. His brows went up when I offered the challenge.
"I'm not trying to make this a fight," he frowned. "But I'd like to be involved. He was with Rise this morning. They could've hurt him--"
"My omega, my protection," I interrupted. "You can be damn sure I'll never let a hair on his head get hurt."
My new brother-in-law refused to meet my eyes. I continued. "I probably always loved him a little, Scotty. This just makes it official. Nothing new. Nothing different. You're still a devoted employee, a good alpha. Being all worried just makes you a good brother."
"Where is he now?" Scott asked.
"Taking a walk," I answered. Scott opened his mouth to reply and I rolled my eyes. "The guy can take himself on a walk. There's enough security in this area to burn someone to the ground if they screw with him."
But by the time the party was emptied, something felt wrong. Still dressed to the nines, I went in search of my omega and hoped I wasn't too late.
Anything could hurt him. I was an idiot for letting him go off by himself. I should have locked him in my office. With the moon still cresting, he and I could have gone on a run later that evening. I should have forced him to wait.
The last I'd seen him, he was walking north from the building. I started there, trying to scent him on the breeze. All that told me was that there were a dozen omegas nearby, none of them mine, all ready to go into heat the moment the moon rose above the horizon. Had my mate been around me long enough to experience another cycle tonight? I could call Jenard to ask, but I was nearly certain that all an omega needed was to be mated. Then he'd be in for it, coming into heat every moonrise until he was bred.
Not that it mattered. Any respectful alpha would keep their distance. An officer would take him in and place him in custody if he was found alone and in heat again, after last night, to protect him as much as the public at large.
Furbitten Falls Alpha's: A Wolf Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle Page 40