Their Runaway Omega

Chapter 7

-Anastasia-

Quinn was sitting very close to me, so close that his damp training shorts were meeting my exposed knee. Luckily, Bruce’s t-shirt was almost like a dress on me, covering enough, but it was rather strange sitting in his room with these two, almost naked and with a terrible ache between my legs that had only grown since Alpha Bruce touched me.

I carefully reached for the warm soup Quinn had provided me and broke off a piece of bread to dip inside. It took a little while before Alpha Bruce came closer, and when he did, he took a seat in front of us, watching me as intensely as Beta Quinn was. Why were they looking at me like that? I couldn’t focus on eating when I was being watched in such a manner.

“Um, it’s a bit hard to eat when you look at me like that,” I whispered, not wanting to be disrespectful toward the next two leading men of this pack.

“We are just making sure you eat every little bite,” Bruce explained.

“But must you both watch me?” I inquired.

“Who would you prefer to watch you?” he asked, a smile spreading on his lips, and I drew back a little.

“N-Neither,” I replied. “I would prefer not to be watched.”

But Alpha Bruce and Beta Quinn continued to watch me, making me quite annoyed. I grabbed the bowl of soup and then turned, giving Bruce my shoulder and Quinn my back. I knew it was not proper Omega behavior, but I couldn’t eat if they were watching me. Their low growls indicated I was overstepping a little, but they didn’t ask me to turn, and I could eat the warm food without feeling like I was being stalked by predators.

It was quiet as I ate, and I was unsure how to feel about it, but at least when they didn’t speak, I didn’t feel like I was losing my mind. When had their voices begun to affect me too? It had to be because I was in Bruce’s room. There was no other explanation for this weird transition that was going on.

I finished everything in the bowl and the bread before placing down the food, then turning to the two of them. But before I could say I wanted to leave again, Quinn grabbed my wounded hand.

“You didn’t take the bandage off before you showered?” he inquired, his voice carrying a slight snap that told me he wasn’t pleased.

“I forgot,” I admitted.

“Now it’s wet, Ana.”

“Anastasia,” I corrected him, but he didn’t listen.

He got up from the couch and went to the bathroom before I turned to Bruce, who also looked rather displeased. I couldn’t hold his gaze at all and looked down at the ground, listening to Quinn coming back to me. He placed down a first aid kit, and I wondered how he knew Bruce’s room so well.

I knew they were close, but could they be that close? I told myself I was being ridiculous, as I had seen them with other female wolves from the pack, but interestingly enough, those two always walked as a pair. I felt my cheeks heat a little. Why was I thinking like this now? I felt rather stupid and shook the thought off before Quinn sat down beside me and began unpacking everything.

He grabbed my hand and undid the bandages before discarding the wet fabric and replacing it with a new one. It was almost shocking how such a powerful Beta could be so gentle with me. It didn’t hurt at all when he worked around my hand or when he used a clip to keep it in place. When he finished, he turned to me, almost as if seeking my approval.

“What?” I asked.

“Is it too tight?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine,” I replied.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He nodded, satisfied, and then packed everything up. When he finished, he returned once more, sitting on the couch but adopting a more relaxed posture. I didn’t know what to think or do. These two had been taking care of me in a way an Alpha and Beta should only do with their mate, but they had done it for me. They just felt bad, right?

That was why they were nice to me, because I was the tiny Omega without anyone to protect them. My father had been one of the best fighters there were, but with him gone, I stood on my own two feet. So I was certain Bruce and Quinn just felt bad that I had no one else. It was sweet, but I didn’t need their help. Once I left this place, there wouldn’t be anyone in my corner anyway. It was better I didn’t get too used to their protection or care.

“Thank you for all of this, but I really should go home now,” I said.

“It’s raining,” Quinn told me.

“Then I will run home.”

“No, you will stay here until it stops,” Bruce said.

“But it could take all day, even night. We don’t know how long it might rain.”

“Then you stay here,” he repeated.

“B-But I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I… have my mother,” I whispered, gazing away. I knew the pack had mostly forgotten about her, but despite having lost her mind from grief, she was still my mother, and I would take care of her nonetheless. However, I did notice a strange energy as I spoke of my mother, and when I glanced at the other two, they seemed almost saddened.

“How is she?” Bruce inquired.

“M-My mother?” I stammered, shocked he would ask.

“Yes.”

“Um… not in recovery,” I admitted.

“Is it very bad?” Quinn asked.

“Well, I am not sure how to answer that. Very bad would mean she had gotten worse, but she is neither worse nor better. Just… missing my dad,” I explained.

“They were true mates, correct?” Bruce asked.

“Yes, and his death… his death destroyed her,” I confessed, rubbing my hands together. I knew what it looked like when someone lost their other half. I knew the haunted look and the way it altered you forever. It was a daunting thing, and I had vowed to myself never to end up in the same situation. If I ever found my true mate, I would not accept them. It was better to be on my own.

“Maybe don’t betray the pack,” Quinn murmured, and I shot around, looking at him in shock.

“Quinn,” Bruce warned, and Quinn sighed before turning to me.

“You’re right, that was insensitive. I didn’t mean…”

“Yes, you did,” I said, turning away. “But that’s all right. It’s what everyone thinks. His death was fair, yet so many forget that it left two people very alone and vulnerable in this world. And even though my mother is there, she isn’t there, meaning actually it is one very lonely person that has absolutely no one to help her or care for her or…”

I realized I had begun rambling, and when I turned to gaze at the other two, they looked surprised at me, making me feel embarrassed. I had never exposed my inner anger before, and now I had done it to the two who were taking over this pack once their dads stepped down.

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…”

“It’s all right if you did, Ana,” Alpha Bruce told me.

“Anastasia.”

He narrowed his eyes, not liking that I corrected him, but calling me Ana felt like a personal thing, and we were not friends.

“You don’t have to feel so alone,” Quinn joined in.

“But I am alone.”

Quinn seemed to want to correct me in some way, but I couldn’t see how he could. I was all by myself. That was my punishment for something I hadn’t even done. Sometimes I wondered if being part of a pack didn’t mean actual loyalty or a family. Maybe it only meant that for the people who were useful, people who weren’t daughters of traitors.

“What Quinn meant was that we don’t blame you for your father’s actions. If you wanted to be around us more, you’re welcome to.”

“W-What? Spending time with you?” I asked, confused why they were suddenly offering.

“Why not?” Bruce asked.

“Um, we have never spent time together before. Only when you stop my bullies is when we spent any time together,” I explained, and Bruce seemed almost guilty, which I couldn’t quite understand why. “Why would you want to spend any time with me?”

“You almost drowned today.”

“Not the first time.”

“What does that mean?” he asked. “This has happened before?”

I nodded, and Quinn and he gazed at each other before both turning to me, Bruce even leaving his seat to sit on my other side. I felt very trapped between their huge bodies as they focused on me.

“Um, I feel a bit boxed in,” I admitted, but neither moved, and I leaned far back, hoping to create some space, but then they just blocked out the world in front of me.

“How many times has this happened, Ana?” he asked, his hand suddenly resting on my bare knee.

I subtly tried to push it away because his touch was making butterflies appear in my stomach. However, he wouldn’t let go, and I didn’t have the power to remove it.

“J-Just a few times. They take me out of the water eventually,” I pointed out.

“That’s not reassuring at all. Why have you never learned to swim?”

“Who would have taught me?”

Bruce once more looked so guilty, which I didn’t quite understand. I did get he was the Alpha and thereby this pack was his responsibility, but his dad did the bare minimum for me, which was allowing me to stay. Bruce didn’t have to do more for me.

“You will never experience something like that again,” Bruce vowed. “If they come after you, you come find me and Quinn, understood?”

This wasn’t the first time Bruce had told me this, but I never ran for their aid because I knew it would only make me a bigger target for torment.

“Um… I can deal with it,” I whispered, giving him my usual reply.

“That’s not the answer we want,” Bruce told me, and then Quinn’s hand came to rest on my other knee, yet his hand was a little higher than Bruce’s, sneaking underneath the t-shirt. What the hell was happening?

“I, um, I can handle it.”

“Still wrong, little Omega,” Quinn scolded me, almost playfully.

“N-No, I think it’s the right answer.”

Quinn’s grip tightened on my thigh, making me very aware of how high it was now. Oh Goddess, I thought, unable to keep focused on the conversation when Quinn was touching me like that and Bruce’s thumb had begun stroking the side of my knee. There was too much of them. They were too much, and they needed to back away before they turned me into a squeaking mess, calling for them, and I would truly live up to my horrible nickname.

“Can I get some space?” I whispered, keeping my hands pressed to the t-shirt to make sure Quinn’s hand didn’t reach any higher.

“Not until you give us the answer we want.”

What answer was that again? I couldn’t think with them touching me. I felt like I might faint any moment, and I was unsure who to focus on, so my eyes kept shifting back and forth.

“Um, what answer again?” I murmured, seeing smiles on their lips as if they found this situation amusing.

“Who will you come to for help?” Quinn asked me, his nails scrabbling along my inner thigh, and I let out a little whimper that made their eyes glow in response. Why did they do that?

“Well, Ana?” Bruce pressured when I hadn’t responded.

“Sorry, what did you say?” I breathed, barely able to focus with them teasing my skin.

They chuckled a little, finding my state very entertaining, but I did not enjoy being the joke. I reached for both their hands, but that gave Quinn an opportunity to slide his hand higher, and it was almost touching a certain part of me. I held tightly onto his wrist, keeping his hand in place.

“W-What are you doing?” I asked, focusing on Quinn.

“I think that’s quite obvious,” he replied smugly.

I shook my head. “N-No, it isn’t.”

“Just give us the answer we want,” Bruce ordered.

I couldn’t remember what answer that was. Quinn’s hand was too high up, and I didn’t know why he even wanted to touch me like that. They had to be making fun of me, right? I was always the joke, the fool, the ball to throw around. However, this hurt more because Quinn and Bruce had never been cruel to me. Why would they start now?

“P-Please stop touching me,” I begged, feeling on the verge of crying.

Bruce seemed to realize how far they were pushing me, but instead of continuing like Lisa would have, he let go of me, removing his hand.

“Quinn, back off,” he ordered, and Quinn removed his hand, making me let out a breath of relief. I jumped from the couch, hurrying away from them because I didn’t want them to see me cry.