CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - Ozias
Our day’s plans were demolished after the scene with Mariska. Lyla was emotionally devastated which threw her into another extreme cycle of heat. It was one thing to ease her physical symptoms, but her heart was crushed. The only thing Jason and I could do was hold and comfort her.
Later in the afternoon when she was resting, Jason and I played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who had to go in to work and who would stay with Lyla. While the law allowed for an Alpha to miss work to stay with their Omega while they were in heat, it only let one member of a pack do so at a time.
Jason cursed up a storm as he put on his uniform and left for work. I’d worked out that Jason and I would alternate shifts with our supervisor earlier in the day. Which felt so strange. We’d only ever had one another as a partner. I couldn’t imagine teaming up with anyone else on the job, but we needed to be there for Lyla.
“My packages aren’t going to make it in time for Christmas.” Lyla sighed as she flicked through tabs on her phone. “They said priority shipping, but priority is clearly subjective in the post office’s case.”
“That only means these people are going to have extra presents to extend the Christmas joy when they arrive.” Usually I wasn’t the peppy type, but to see her smile, I would put on a cheerleader’s uniform and shake my pompoms.
We were cuddled together in the freshly laundered nest in the living room. Some cheesy Hallmark Christmas film played on the TV, but neither of us were really watching.
“I suppose, but I don’t like to be late. Not with anything.” Lyla rested her head on my shoulder and swiped through her emails. She wore nothing but a big t-shirt with the Grinch’sdog on it, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that fact. Naked, beautiful, and wild. Even when I was sleeping, I dreamt about her. She had quickly become the center of my world.
And while Jason reveled in it, I was still struggling with it.
“It wasn’t your fault. You don’t control the weather.” I kissed her temple and gave her a playful smile. “Unless you’re a descendent of the Snow Miser.”
Lyla laughed. “I can’t believe you made a Snow Miser joke. Your status has gone up a notch in my books.”
That little comment made my breath stutter and warmth spread through me. I tried to pass off anything I was feeling as an Alpha chasing after an Omega in heat. Biology, simple hormones. But this was something else.
I didn’t just want her to lust after me, but I wanted her to like me. Because, dammit, I was feeling more than just like with her.
Jason wanted Lyla to be our Omega from the beginning, and while I fought against it, he was right. She was the one for us. I found that I couldn’t think of life without her anymore.
My family? They would have to get over it. I’d worked it slowly that I was leaving medical school to become a paramedic, because they would disapprove. It was rough for a little while, but now they were proud of the work I did. And I was much happier as an EMT than I would have been as a doctor.
No one in the world could dislike Lyla. She was the most immensely lovable person I’d ever met. My family would get over the fact she wasn’t a traditional Greek Omega and love her… Right?
“Let me guess your favorite Christmas movie as a child.” Lyla pursed her lips cutely and hummed. “Not Frosty or Rudolph. I don’t think you were a Grinch fan either.”
“Maybe.” I tried to smile innocently, but she had me nailed down so far.
“Aha!” She sat up and poked me in the chest. “Your favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Carol. You’re the type that believes everyone can be saved, even a mean old man who seems to have a black heart.”
She could see into my soul. Fuck. Time to up the ante. “Which version?”
“The George C. Scott one, of course.” Lyla’s nose crinkled sweetly with her smile.
“Yeah, it’s the one I grew up on.” And I totally believed anyone could be saved. It nurtured my superhero complex. “Though the Patrick Stewart one was really good too.”
“Not as good as the Muppets.”
We laughed and snuggled closer. I idly stroked her upper arm as I enjoyed just having her here with me. A simple thing, but it was so powerful.
Was I really going to turn my back on my familial duty and choose Lyla?
“Do you really believe that anyone can change, no matter how bad they were before?” Her question was soft and hesitant.
I leaned my head back and tilted it as I regarded her. It seemed like a personal question, but there wasn’t a single bad thing about her. She had the biggest and purest heart I’d ever seen. “I do. The human mind is capable of much more than we understand, and we aren’t even close to understanding the complexities of emotions.”
“Because traumatic events like being visited by three ghosts can change someone’s mind?” Lyla gave a small smile as if to make a joke, but whatever answers she was seeking, they were serious.
“I honestly don’t think Scrooge would have been changed just by seeing the ghosts alone. He was scared, but scaredenough to not be a miser? No. It was seeing his family in the past and present, seeing Cratchit and his family, and then finally realizing how alone he truly was. It was living the emotions with these people that changed him and not the fact that he was probably cursed to be visited by the ghosts.” I leaned in as if passing on a valuable secret. “I have a theory that Cratchit’s wife was secretly a witch.”
“A witch?” She blinked as if shocked and then giggled. “Actually, that would make sense. But you’re right about Scrooge not being changed by the ghosts themselves.” She became solemn again as her gaze turned down and she fidgeted with the edge of the blanket. “I always believed that it would be horrible to be claimed by an Alpha.”
