Their Runaway Omega

Chapter 8

-Bruce-

Ana had given us the response we wanted to begin with, growing confused by her senses being overloaded by us. We could smell she wanted us, her desire so obvious, and yet she began to almost cry when we continued to push her. It was rather perplexing because she shouldn’t want to cry. She should want to let go and let us tease her body, comfort it, and bring it warmth.

Quinn seemed as bewildered as me, and while I knew we had let ourselves get carried away, I had to admit my patience was running thin as well. We just wanted a small taste of what was ours, but it seemed it wasn’t going to be so easy.

As Ana stormed to the bathroom again, I took a moment to think it all through, but I couldn’t figure out what made our Omega so upset. We wouldn’t have touched her if she didn’t want to, and her body had certainly screamed for our attention, but something had made her suddenly break down.

I pushed up from the couch, following Ana to the bathroom, but just as I wanted to open the door, she did it, coming out in her still damp clothes.

“I-I’m going home. Thank you for your help,” she whispered and tried to walk past me, but I shot out my arm, blocking her way.

“You can’t go, Ana, it’s pouring outside.”

“It’s Anastasia, Alpha Bruce. Only my friends can call me Ana,” she stated, and I growled darkly, not liking how she was putting up a wall between us.

“But I am your Alpha.”

“You aren’t until your father steps down,” she informed me, confusing my statement as me saying I was merely her leader. I was her Alpha, because she was my Omega.

Ana tried passing me again, but I kept her trapped by placing both hands on the doorframe.

“P-Please let me pass,” she said, trying to stop her voice from breaking.

“Why are you so upset?” I asked.

“I am not!”

“Yes, you are. Do you not see that Quinn and I were only trying to make you see that you can come to us when you are having troubles? We didn’t mean anything bad by it. We never do.”

“Please, I don’t want to talk about it,” she told me, focusing on the ground.

I reached out, grabbing her chin and making her look directly at me, a privilege only she had because she was my mate.

“But you will. Tell me why you grew so upset merely from me and Quinn wanting you to understand that we do want to help you. We don’t tolerate bullies, and right now Warrior Lisa and her friends are kneeling outside in the pouring rain, and they will remain so for the entire day and night. I will gladly put them in that position again, but you need to tell me when they are after you. Don’t hide away,” I ordered.

Ana seemed stunned for a moment, but then she grabbed my wrist, pushing it away.

“And every time you try to protect me you give them even more desire to hurt me!” she exclaimed.

“What?”

“I don’t deserve your help, and you know it!”

“What?” I replied once more, confused by her statement.

“Don’t fool me, Alpha Bruce. Please, you have never been cruel to me, please don’t start now.”

“I am not being cruel. I am confused.”

Tears welled up in her eyes again, and I glanced behind myself, seeing Quinn trying to put things together as well, but I began realizing something as I gazed at Quinn. I slowly turned to Ana, who had covered her face so she wouldn’t see her cry.

“Did you think Quinn and I were playing with you? Offering our assistance only to tell you that you weren’t deserving of it?” I inquired.

Ana didn’t reply. She was too focused on not trying to cry. So I grabbed her wrists and lowered her hands. She wouldn’t look at me and merely sniffled.

“Ana?”

“I… don’t need your help,” she whispered.

“But you do. Haven’t we always come to your assistance when we realized you needed it?” I inquired.

“But I don’t need it,” she stubbornly replied.

“You do.”

“Please, I can’t rely on you.”

“Of course you can. We are the next leaders of this pack. I won’t tolerate this behavior.”

“You can’t change it, and I don’t want to suddenly become reliant on you only for you to realize you can never stop it and walk away,” she said.

“Ana, that would never happen.”

“Yes, it would, and I certainly don’t understand why either of you would touch me like that if you weren’t just teasing me.”

“We were not making a fool of you,” I assured her.

“I don’t trust that. I am always the fool!”

It was so hard getting through to Ana because I couldn’t be completely transparent with her. While I was 99 percent sure that Ana would be our true mate, I didn’t want to risk getting her hopes up only for us to realize we weren’t true mates.

That was why we hadn’t been honest with her. We needed to be absolutely certain so no hearts would be broken and no promises would be made without us being able to uphold them. A lot of secrecy was needed because of how delicate the situation was, but we hated it. We hated every moment of not being able to care and protect Ana while claiming her as ours.

“Friends don’t make fools of each other,” I said, and she blinked rapidly before gazing up at me with wonder in her eyes.

“W-What?”

“Friends don’t make fun of each other, do they?”

“I… I don’t know, I don’t have any,” she whispered, breaking my heart with those few words.

“You do now.”

“Why?” she asked. “We never spend any time together.”

“Because you always hide,” I pointed out. “But I can admit we are also quite busy. That’s why you should come spend more time with us.”

I knew I was testing fate. We had stayed away from Ana because we knew how feral she made us, but there was only a week left. We could handle being around her without taking her, right? Honestly, I wasn’t so sure, but I didn’t want more drowning incidents or more hands being cut open. I couldn’t take it.

It took everything in me not to kill Warrior Lisa and her companions for hurting Ana. What if the next time they get her out of the water too late? I couldn’t risk it, and maybe if Ana got more comfortable around us, she would trust us more.

“But I don’t see why I should,” she said.

“Because it’s safer. Aren’t you tired of being hunted?”

“Yes, but… No, it makes no sense. I just want to go home now.”

I sighed, unsure how to convince Ana to spend any time with us. To her, it was simply too confusing, and I understood why. Normally, an Alpha and a Beta wouldn’t spend time with someone from the lower ranks. It wasn’t normal, but Ana needed to learn she could always come to us with a problem. She didn’t have to feel alone anymore.

“Think about it,” I suggested.

“Which part? Us being friends or spending time together?”

“Both,” I replied with a little smile.

“I-I think I will say no to both,” she whispered, pulling her hands away.

I wasn’t mad at her for saying so. Of course, I was a little annoyed, but with how she had been treated all her life, it was not weird my words couldn’t sway her this very second. It would take some time, or had me and Quinn ruined the possibility to gain our Omega’s trust by staying away from her? I was suddenly seeing the situation in a new light, and it worried me.

“Ana, I really think you should reconsider,” I said.

“No, because it makes no sense. You’re an Alpha and I am just an Omega.”

“Omegas often pair themselves with Alphas,” I reminded her, seeing her eyes grow big.

“I-I know, but you know what I meant. I’m a low-ranking Omega. That changes everything, and besides, we… you and I… that’s not…” she began stammering as she tried to convey to me we didn’t belong together. It was rather amusing, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Great, now you think I’m being foolish again.”

“I am not. But I don’t see why we couldn’t belong together.”

She took a step back, shocked by my suggestion. “I-I just told you!”

“You’re still an Omega regardless of your position,” I pointed out, leaning closer to her. “And you smell very good to me.”

“I-I… No, that is just because of our dynamics,” she excused, but she was reaching. I knew she was just scared to trust our connection. That had to be corrected.

“Yes, our dynamics fit well together.”

“This is not funny!”

“Am I laughing?”