My Omega Mate

Chapter 5 - Jamie

Jamie dragged his feet after the omega girl, whose name he had forgotten, trying not to show how rattled he was. He didn’t know what shocked him more — the fact that his wolf had spoken to him for the first time in almost fifteen years or the fact that he had just found his mate in the most unexpected of places.

An Alpha. Not just any alpha, that alpha of the Whitecrest pack, their rival. Their enemy. What kind of crappy luck was that?

He didn’t hold high hopes of ever finding his mate. It was hard enough to find your mate when you’re straight, but being gay just complicated things. And the Moon Goddess didn’t seem to care much about people like him. He didn’t know a single gay werewolf who had found his mate and lived happily ever after. He didn’t know that many people outside of his pack, but he hadn’t heard a*********s either. That kind of thing went around quickly.

And now he had found his. Tall, with a body a god could be envious of, and a face that made Jamie weak in the knees. He was every kind of perfect, from the dark hair and high forehead to the striking dark eyes and strong jaw. No wonder Jamie’s stupid wolf finally woke up from its slumber.

And what was even crueler was the look in his mate’s eyes when their gaze met — shocked, confused and full of denial. And angry. Jamie could imagine why he would be disappointed and as the alpha’s expression darkened, he had chosen to hide away before he could see the rejection in his eyes. At that moment, when Jamie had been so overwhelmed by his wolf’s need to mate and complete the claiming, he wasn’t sure he would have survived being rejected. He had to prepare mentally for that. That alpha was definitely going to seek him out once the others have gone to sleep. He wouldn’t want them to witness the fact that he had been given a weak omega like him as a mate.

At the thought of that rejection, Jamie’s hands gave out and his bag slipped from his fingers. He had never thought the mate bond was this strong. He had never needed anyone after his sister died, and he had no trouble keeping his feelings in check. After all, if he let them get to him, he wasn’t sure he could survive the way he did until now. But that mate bond… it was more troublesome than he ever imagined. Maybe it was because he was mated to an alpha? He had never felt such intense emotions before.

“Hey, stop spacing out!” The girl’s voice made him jump. “You really are weak, even for an omega,” she mumbled, leaning down and picking up his bag. He didn’t realize when he had stopped walking or let go of his traveling bag, but it must have been a while. Looking at her, he realized her welcoming expression had given place to a mix of concern and annoyance. They were going to spend at least a few days there, so Jamie didn’t want to get on her bad side.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been up since last night preparing everything,” he said, forcing a smile and scratching his neck awkwardly. “And thank you all for helping me with their luggage. Making all those trips alone would have probably killed me.”

She gave him a long, appraising look, then the frustration drained from her face.

“I can’t believe they’d bring just one omega to serve them. Do they think we are their servants or something?” she mumbled to herself, turning around and continuing on their way to the Omega quarters with his bag still in her hand. Jamie opened his mouth to ask her to give it back, but she told him to hurry without even looking at him.

Jamie jogged after her, hoping his wobbly feet wouldn’t betray him. He just needed to get to the room they gave him and there he could pull himself together. He couldn’t appear in front of his pack like this. Even they would realize something was off. And if they found out who his mate was, that would be bad. Especially for Jamie.

He realized the girl was talking, so he tried to focus on her.

“...to share a room with another guy, but he is currently helping another pack since they needed a doctor after the attack. So you get the room to yourself while you’re here,” she said, finally glancing at him as if to make sure he was there.

“Attack?” Jamie repeated instinctively, and she raised an eyebrow.

“You really don’t know?” she frowned. Jamie stopped next to her, glancing around. They had reached a narrow corridor with multiple doors on both sides, all marked clearly with numbers and a plaque holding two names each. The door behind him held only one name — Ian McMillan. “There had been a series of rogue attacks all over the continent. The most recent one was yesterday, on a pack not far away from here. Our alpha and a few warriors even went to help, but thankfully, none among them was badly hurt.” Her face softened, as if she remembered something. She suddenly looked away from him and towards the door behind him. She pushed it open, striding into a small room with just two beds on the two opposite walls and a small table with two chairs next to the only window across from the door. There were two types of curtains hanging from the cornice on the top of the wall: the semi-transparent ones were pulled over the glass while the thick, opaque ones were hanging to the sides.

“I didn’t mean to scare you by talking about rogues,” she said, as she dropped his bag on one of the neatly made beds. She turned around, scratching her head as if picking her words carefully before she finally met his eyes. “What I am trying to say is, you’re safe here. We are protected. Our warriors will protect you, even if you are from another pack. Besides, we have two alphas here now, so what i***t would dare attack?”

She gave him a small smile and slapped his shoulder surprisingly hard, moving past him and heading for the door. At the threshold, she stopped and turned around.

“Oh, yeah, if you have a question, ask one of the omegas here. Don’t bother the warriors.”

“Of course not,” Jamie scoffed. “I don’t wanna get beat up on my first day.”

“Beat up?” she repeated, giving him a strange look. “We are not barbarians. It’s just that they have enough on their plates as it is and it might annoy them. Man, it must suck living in your pack if that’s the first thing that comes to mind,” she mumbled to herself, but the words were loud enough for him to catch. As if realizing that, she cleared her throat, straightening up. “Anyway, I’m off. If you need anything, ask the others in the rooms next to yours or go back the way we came into the common area. There’s usually always someone there.”

“Thank you,” Jamie said a second before she closed the door. She didn’t lock him in and as he stared at the door, he noticed there were keys on the inside. In their packhouse, none of the omegas’ doors had keys since they were not allowed to lock them — only the alpha and the other higher-ups had that privilege, even though nobody in their right mind would try to go in their rooms without permission.

Jamie gave the room another quick look before dropping on the bed and covering his face with his hands. He had been sitting inside the car the whole time and he had barely moved, but he felt exhausted.

He shouldn’t have come. Why did Alpha Hunter have to bring him along? It’s not like there weren’t women here and the town was just a few minutes away. All of this could have been avoided. If he had stayed home, he wouldn’t have met his mate. He wouldn’t be feeling this pull, the maddening need, and he wouldn’t be this weak and utterly pathetic.

If he had stayed home, he wouldn’t have had to find out what rejection felt like.

It was one thing to not find your mate and settle for what you can. It was another thing entirely to find the perfect partner created for you by the Goddess and get rejected because you are… you.

“Ugh,” Jamie grunted, lying to his side and burying his face in his pillow. His mind betrayed him, invoking images of his mate kissing him, touching him, claiming him, and Jamie felt himself getting hard, his blood drumming in his ears.

He wondered if their circumstances were different… if they weren’t alpha and omega from opposite packs, would they have stood a chance? Jamie knew he wasn’t bad looking and while he was smaller and weaker than most men he knew, that didn’t really bother him. But what of his mate? What was he into? Just imagining him with someone different made Jamie all kinds of wrong and he didn’t even know the name of the man. This mate bond was really messing with his head.

“Damn it,” he muttered, jumping to his feet. He adjusted his jeans, annoyed by the fact that his own body didn’t obey him anymore. He had to walk it off and calm down before the others…

His eyes stopped on the window, and he gasped. He hadn’t realized how long he had been lying down, but it was already dark outside. Nobody had called for him, but it was expected of him to take care of the needs of his Alpha and the rest of the warriors. He had been doing nothing all afternoon. They were going to punish him for sure.

Jamie turned around, sprinting out of the room then and down the corridor where they had come from earlier. He hadn’t even crossed half of the distance where he realized he had no idea where the rooms of Alpha Hunter and the others were. They had to be in the main building, but that place looked huge from the outside and he wasn’t sure he was allowed to roam freely in it. He couldn’t just go around knocking on doors and following their scent was confusing when there were so many new smells around. And especially when that sweet, intoxicating one was luring him towards his mate.

He spotted someone stepping out of one of the rooms that smelled of flowers and laundry detergent and headed towards them as they were kicking the door closed while balancing a basket with laundry in their hands.

“Um, excuse me?” Jamie spoke, and a head appeared on the side of the sheets. A short girl with blonde hair and big round glasses looked at him with surprise. “Sorry to bother you, but can you tell me where the rooms of Alpha Hunter and the others are?”

“Oh, you’re the omega that came with them!” she said with a friendly smile, putting the basket down and resting her hands on her hips. “They are in the west wing. If you continue forward, you’ll get out of the Omega’s Quarters, then turn left and go straight until you find a door with a big red flower next to it. Inside, go to the second floor and you’ll find them.” Jamie kept nodding as she talked, trying to remember all the directions when she spoke again. “But there is no point in going there now. They are all out.”

“Out?” Jamie repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” she nodded, leaning down and picking up the basket again. “They went to have a drink in town from what I’ve heard. I don’t think they will be back until later.”

“Oh, I see,” Jamie said, relief rushing through him. Maybe they had forgotten about him if they left early. Maybe he won't get a punishment tomorrow. “Do you know if they left any instructions for me?”

“No idea, sorry,” she shrugged, taking a step to leave and then stopping. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Um, I’m James. Jamie,” he said, preparing to offer her a hand but realizing both of hers were full. “Nice to meet you.”

“Lola. Likewise,” she smiled and as much as he searched, he couldn’t find duplicity in her expression. “Use the time while they are gone to get some rest, Jamie. You look like you are about to collapse. Tomorrow will be a long day for all of us, so make sure you are at your best. Since you came with them, you’ll probably have the most to do among all of us.”

“Uh, yeah, thanks,” he said awkwardly. She gave him another smile, then bid him a quick goodbye and left, humming to herself like she didn’t have a care in the world. Jamie stared after her, wondering why she was so friendly with him. The other girl from earlier had been friendly too, and even the ones that took care of the luggage had greeted him politely. Was it because he was from the Ironclaw pack? Things were so different here, it was confusing.

He needed to clear his head and get some fresh air. Then, he was going to rest if his mind stopped torturing him with things that were never going to happen. He headed down the corridor as Lola instructed him, stepping into the warm and cloudless night. The moon was already making its way high in the sky and as he stared at it, he felt a bit of his fatigue and worries fade away.

Just as he was starting to relax, a crunching sound came from behind him, loud enough even for a human to hear clearly. Jamie spun in panic, half expecting to see a rogue preparing to jump on him. His eyes landed on the figure that meandered out of the shadows of the building, stopping a few steps away from him.

Jamie swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling his heartbeat racing like crazy as he stared at the Alpha of the Whitecrest pack in all his height and glory. Facing his beautiful mate, who watched him with a serious, painfully controlled expression, was hard, so he quickly looked away.

“Let’s talk,” the Alpha said with a soft, but commanding voice and Jamie licked his lips, nodding obediently.

He was not ready yet; he was not ready to be rejected.