The Omega's Quest

10. I have a Mate

THE TRAIN HAD SOME WEIRD SHTS. After a gruelling hour of walking, Oscar found his room along with Elliot’s. He had bumped into numerous doors just to get there. Worse, he had almost been bitten by different animals moving around with them.

He was beginning to enjoy the comfort of his cabin when someone knocked on the door. It was past midnight and he planned on taking a rest after a long day escaping Byron and his men.

"What the actual fck! Can’t they read the sign?" Oscar got out of his bed and put on a robe. Underneath, he wore boxers and a razorback shirt. As a precaution, he looked through the peephole to see who the person was. He turned the doorknob upon seeing an unfamiliar

"What?!" Oscar shouted at the person in front of him. It was a tall, slender man in a pair of eyeglasses. His heart began to race upon having a sniff of the man’s intoxicating scent. How was this even possible? He sensed that the stranger was his mate!

Shocked, Oscar wanted to slam the door shut as he felt his self-control wear thinner and thinner with each second. However, the unimaginable feeling of longing held him in place. His body was getting hotter just by taking in his mate’s scent.

"Umh...Mate?" the man in front of him whispered, then coughed, as if to clear his throat.

Oscar, on the other hand, looked at him suspiciously from head to toe, checking for any red flags. How would he know if this was just one of Byron’s dirty tricks?

"I am Ivan. I occupy the cabin next door to yours. I just wanted to ask if you know where I can buy some food?" Ivan slouched a bit, making him look smaller than he really was. He pushed his glasses up his nose, and it gave Oscar a glimpse of his mate’s eyes. They were beautiful!

No, I will not give in to the mate pull, Oscar reminded himself. "I am sorry, but I don’t have an idea either. This is my first ride here too."

"Would you know someone who can help? I must eat or else my dragon will take over." Ivan casually said those words as if it was nothing unusual.

On the other hand, Oscar’s jaw dropped upon hearing his mate’s piece. Was that a joke? For fck’s sake! Did his mate just say that he was a dragon?! How was that even possible? Ivan didn’t even have a single muscle bulging on his biceps!

Oscar disliked the idea of being with a mate. Not because of how crazy their pairing was, but because of his husband, Byron. He wasn’t even sure if he could love again at this moment.

Against his will, Oscar stepped out of his room and walked to Elliot’s door. He couldn’t believe that he was helping his real mate while he was being chased by his obsessive partner. That couldn’t be more frustrating, right? Especially so, when he realised how much he couldn’t say no to his mate.

Ivan stayed behind him when he knocked. "Hey, Elliot, it’s me. Do you have a second?"

"Is there something wrong?" Elliot asked as he opened the door.

That was when Ivan stepped from behind Oscar’s back and Elliot saw the guy. Immediately, Elliot took a step back. "Who’s that?"

Oscar felt obligated to explain. Nonetheless, he chose to skip the mating details. "This is Ivan, the occupant of the room next to me. He was asking if you knew where to buy some food? Apparently, he needs to eat to keep his dragon at bay." He tried his best to describe the situation without laughing.

Sparks flew when Ivan casually placed a hand on his shoulders as if they were best buddies. It was just then that he realised his mate was staring at him. Oscar got caught between ignoring how his heart was fluttering and removing Ivan’s hand. Before he could even decide, Elliot had already closed the door.

"Come with us, Ivan. I can give you both a tour. This train is fascinating. It has a swimming pool and a game room. You should visit those the next time you ride this thing," Elliot said, enthusiastically.

For a moment, Oscar wondered how many times his friend did this with other passengers. Elliot sounded like a professional tour-guide. "This alley here will lead you to the game room. It has tons of board games and a few consoles. Then, that staircase there is connected to the top of this train. They have a swimming pool there."

"You are Elliot, right? Umh... are we close to food?" Ivan’s eyes were already twitching, and the skin covering his arms was beginning to look like scales.

Seeing that made Oscar and Elliot move faster. They were already briskly walking. After a few more seconds, Ivan’s eyes started to change colour and shape. They turned green with just their pupils reshaped into a slit—similar to snakes.

"Elliot, let’s hurry! We don’t have much time." Oscar was already worried that Ivan might go berserk.

"I am fine... really." Ivan slurred to calm him. He was slowing down and slouching more than usual.

"Elliot!" Oscar screamed as he turned to his friend. Honestly, he cared more about the train getting wrecked than having to deal with a hungry dragon.

"Calm down, Oscar. Give this to him. It will do for now." Elliot handed him a biscuit.

He did not ask where Elliot got it, but he quickly shoved it to Ivan, who was a few feet behind them. "Thanks, dude," he told his friend.

"O, ow." That was all Ivan said before he shifted. It turned out that he was a small dragon! A komodo dragon. He slithered his tongue in and out as he walked on four feet. His tail wagged from side to side as he moved.

"The fck?!" Oscar’s curse echoed through the whole train.

Even Elliot stopped in his tracks and turned around in confusion. "What the hell?"

"He shifted to a komodo dragon." Oscar was laughing his heart out in between words, so hard that his eyes began to shed tears. He ran out of words to explain how he felt. First of all, that komodo dragon was his mate. And second, he thought having a dragon for a mate was an upgrade until he saw him.

"Stop making fun of me!" Ivan squealed in between hisses. The sound was faint and could have easily missed their ears if they weren’t shifters.

"I am not, but Oscar is." Elliot raised his hands in the air to gesture his surrender. On the other hand, Oscar threw him a nasty glare before turning back to Ivan.

"Sorry about that. I just thought you were huge. You know, the one with wings and breathes fire," Oscar explained with giggles. This was by far the most amusing thing that had happened to him in the previous years!

"Ha ha, not funny. I still need food to shift back." Ivan was pissed as hell. He even stepped on his right foot.

The three of them continued to navigate the train. This time, Oscar carried Ivan, as they deemed it much faster than waiting for him. It didn’t take long before Elliot found a vending machine that served hot noodles and salads.

"Which one would you like? Salad or hot noodles?" Oscar wasn’t sure which one was appropriate for Ivan. He just met the guy a few minutes ago. Mate or not, they were still strangers.

"Noodles, please. I like chicken," Ivan requested. His words were hard to grasp with all the hissing. The weird part was that he could still speak, even as a komodo. Werewolves were unable to do that, even werelions like Elliot.

"Okay, wait for your order—Oh man!" Oscar screamed upon reading the prompt in the vending machine. It was asking for their ticket code and he totally forgot it. "Elliot, do you remember your code? I can’t order without it." He was lost with all the running and hiding from Byron. His mind just went blank the minute he stepped outside his room.

"Chill, dude. I got this." Elliot typed the code, and a packet of noodles came out of the machine. Besides the machine, there was a hot water dispenser.

Once they finished cooking it, he gave the noodles to Ivan. "Here you go. You owe us for this. Good night. I am going back to my room," he said dismissively. He was tired and badly needed to rest.

"Thank you, Oscar and Elliot," Ivan said gladly. He began to slurp the soup along with the noodles. In a matter of seconds, he had downed everything. "Hey, can I get another one before you go? The serving was too small," he pleaded.

Oscar went back to Ivan, dragging Elliot with him. He was murmuring while picking up his mate. "Such a small animal with a huge appetite."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Oscar replied, thinking of getting two more servings and using Elliot’s code once more.

"I’ll pay you for everything. Just give me your details," Ivan spoke softly, looking very cheerful as he hung on to his mate.

Oscar could not take his mate seriously, being a komodo dragon and all. Ivan’s eyes were back to being light blue again, making him look like a lizard with human eyes.

"No need. It’s just food. Consider it a treat. Nice meeting you, Ivan." Oscar was touched by what Ivan said. He was lost in his eyes once more. It was such a mystery how Ivan managed to talk in animal form.

"Nice to meet you, Ivan," Elliot barged in.

"Goodbye, Ivan," Oscar bid farewell, then turned to his friend. "Thank you for your help, dude." He placed one of his arms on top of Elliot’s shoulder, and they both went back to their rooms, leaving Ivan eating on the floor.