I gave Mason a quick glance. I didn’t know if he wanted me to explain it, or if he wanted to speak for himself. But right now he looked too upset to speak. I wondered why such a small encounter with Shadow had agitated him so badly. I decided to take the heat off him and explain.
“He’s from Scarlet Ridge pack,” I told Shadow. “He escaped a while ago and he’s staying with me to recuperate.”
“Ohh.” Shadow nodded. “Good for you, man.” He squinted and murmured, “You sure you’re not together? I’ve never heard of an alpha and omega living together if there wasn’t anything - “
“We’renottogether,” Mason snapped. “And by the way, I’m already pregnant, so none of you alphas have any use for me anyway.”
Before Shadow or I could react, Mason stormed away.
“I gotta run,” I told Shadow quickly before chasing after him. I caught up to Mason. He was trudging down the street, now far away from the club.
“Easy,” I said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. But he instantly shrugged it off.
“Don’t touch me.”
I retracted my hand like I’d been burned. Mason glared at me, then turned and continued storming away. I caught up with him again, more carefully this time.
“Mason, wait,” I said. “Please wait.”
He stopped but irritation came off of him in waves. He didn’t even turn to look at me this time.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “Can you tell me what’s bothering you?”
Mason was silent. His face was taut, almost like he was trying not to cry. Finally he let out a shaky exhale. “Everything,” he mumbled.
We walked to a nearby bench and sat down. Mason stared at the ground. I waited for him to start. I didn’t want to push him anymore than I already had.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” Mason mumbled, still not looking at me.
“Nah, it’s okay,” I said. “I should’ve known not to do that. I’m just too touchy-feely for my own good.”
Mason offered a tiny smile of appreciation. He sighed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Nobody in this pack has been rude or aggressive to me, but I still feel afraid. Like something bad could happen to me at any moment.”
I frowned. “That’s because you spent your whole life thinking it could.”
“I know. I guess it’s still second nature to me. I still don’t like it when people just assume we’re together just because we’re an alpha and omega walking down the street, though.”
“I hear you,” I said. “To be honest, I think us shifters have pretty one-track minds.”
He smiled. “Yeah, we do.” He sighed again, and I noticed it was less shaky this time. He smoothed his hair back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to cause a whole scene. And I was kind of a jerk to your friend, too.”
“Who, Shadow? He’s a big boy. He’s fine. Don’t worry about him.”
Mason’s eyes were still glazed over, like he was deep in thought. I stayed quiet and let him take his time.
“When he jumped out in front of us like that, it really startled me,” Mason began. “Something similar happened to me just before I escaped from Scarlet Ridge and I guess it triggered something in me. Like a fight or flight response.”
My brow furrowed in sympathy. “What happened? If you don’t mind me asking, I mean.”
He shot me a sarcastic smile. “Well, I’m already telling you the story, aren’t I?” The smile faded. “Well… when I found out I was officially pregnant, I went out to grab a snack. It was late, but still not past curfew.”
My eyes widened in surprise at the idea of there being acurfewfor adults, but I didn’t interrupt.
“At the store, I ran into a couple of alphas. They cut me off and started… harassing me. They were so big and strong, kind of like Shadow. I tried to talk my way out of it, but they just made a big fucking scene. They threw their drink on my shirt and that was when I panicked. I didn’t know what else they would do to me, so I did the only thing I could do - I ran away.”
I listened in silence, but rage bubbled up inside my chest like a volcano preparing to erupt. It was abhorrent to me to hear about some grown alphas harassing a lone omega. An anger I’d never known before gripped me. I’d only felt something similar before when we found Hector, a Scarlet Ridge alpha, trespassing on our lands to try and steal Charlie away from us. As Mason told me his story, I wish I’d been there to knock some skulls in.
He sighed. I noticed now that he seemed less tense, like recalling the event to somebody eased a weight off his shoulders.
