“Down you go,” the other omega said as he lifted his son off my back.
“No fair,” the little boy complained. “We were having fun with Mowgan!”
“Morgan doesn’t want to be annoyed by rowdy fawns,” his dad scolded.
My heart sank a little. Did the other omegas think I didn’t like children just because I didn’t have any of my own? The reality was the complete opposite—I wanted my own children so badly it hurt, but it took two to tango, and none of the alphas wanted to dance.
“Honestly, I don’t mind,” I repeated, hoping to get my point across. “I love babysitting the fawns.”
The two omegas shot me a look bordering on pity, which only made me feel worse. I wasn’t some pathetic loser who needed to be pitied.
Suddenly a large buck barreled towards us, his antlers lowered in my direction. I didn’t budge. He was an alpha named Rock, and he loved exuding powerful alpha energy. Sarcasm intended.
“What’s going on here?” Rock demanded, glaring at me.
His frame was slightly larger than mine, but not by much. My body needed to be strong and firm to hold up my antlers properly. As a result, I wasn’t as small and lithe as the other omegas. That probably pissed Rock off, too. Deer alphas were all a bunch of boneheads—literally—who loved using their size and built-in weapons to intimidate others.
But Rock’s antlers on the other hand were nowhere near the size of mine. My tines rose twelve high, a feat no other deer in the herd had ever achieved. Not to brag, but they were pretty majestic. It was a good thing our herd lived on a wildlife reserve where no human hunter could nab me as a prize. That didn’t stop all the alpha bucks in the herd from being paranoid they were going to end up as a trophy on a wall, though.
“Nothing,” one of the omegas said. “The kids were just bugging Morgan.”
“Really, it’s no trouble at all,” I insisted.
The kids both stared at me with big doe eyes. They obviously wanted to use my body as a jungle gym again but their parents were preventing it.
Rock lifted his head, throwing his rack back. “Morgan? Are you trying to do something funny with my offspring?”
“What are you talking about?” I muttered.
Rock had to look me dead-on to meet my eyes instead of looking down at his omega mates. He probably hated that, too. How dare an omega be larger than him!
With a deep grunt, Rock inserted himself between the kids and myself.
“I know you haven’t got any fawns of your own,” Rock said in a clipped tone. “Wouldn’t want you stealing one of mine.”
“What?” I roared. My blood boiled at the accusation and I stomped my hoof. “I would never do that and you know it!”
“I don’t,” Rock said bluntly. “You’re a mystery to the herd. Are you even an omega, Morgan? I’ve never seen you bear children. Or are you just barren?”
I stood tall and proud, slowly lowering my head to display my powerful antlers. When I spoke, my voice was quiet and confident. “I would watch your mouth if I were you, Rock. You don’t want to start a fight with me. I may be an omega, but I’m not a pushover.”
“Are you threatening me in front of my kids?” Rock asked with an angry snort.
The children, still in the omegas’ arms, stared with wide, confused eyes. My heart broke for them. Their moment of joy had turned into tension because Rock was causing a fuss for no reason. Didn’t he see that he was upsetting his kids? Or did he just not care?
Deciding to be the bigger man, I turned and walked away. I didn’t want to fight Rock in front of his kids. They didn’t need to witness that, even if their dadwasa huge jackass.
Rock huffed proudly. “That’s what I thought.”
I bit my tongue.
Don’t reply. You can’t fix stupid.
“Keep walking!” Rock called as I left the field to graze at the outer rim of the territory. “In fact, do us all a favor and don’t come back!”
That broke my patience. I whirled around and glared at him. “What did you say to me?”
Rock charged so we were nose-to-nose. I didn’t move a muscle. He couldn’t frighten me. Not now, not ever.
