"She's riling you up on purpose," Starry signed. "Don't give in."
I exhaled the breath I was holding. "I know, I know."
Trust Starry, the one who didn't speak, to be the voice of reason. Her down-to-earth demeanour always calmed me down even when I was in one of my so-called 'moods', as Lupa delightfully put it.
Uncle Nero was slowly raising his arm to signal the start of the race. "Ready…"
"Don't trip up," Lupa whispered, winking at me.
At the same time, I heard Zak murmuring to Kamari. "If we win, we can get out of here and go back to the house for a little… You know…"
I suppressed the urge to throw up. Great. I was surrounded on both sides by the most irritating forces known to shifter kind. It was honestly a miracle that I didn't implode right there on the spot.
"Go!" Nero announced.
We were off. Despite me thinking this was the stupidest game ever, Lupa's comments did light a fire under my ass. I wanted to win, or at least beat her. I also wanted to beat Zak and Quinn and their partners, if only to prove that fated mates weren't the best at everything all the damn time.
Couldn't a single, non-mated omega win anything for once?
With Starry by my side, we bolted across the grass. Our timing was perfect. Despite being taller and lankier than Starry, our strides were in sync, and soon we were leaving the competition behind us.
The finish line was up ahead. Cloud and River waved and shouted words of encouragement. My heart raced. Could me and Starry actually be the winners?
A sudden gust of wind whipped me in the face. Except it wasn't wind at all. It was Zak and Kamari breezing past me, literally leaving me in the dust.
The worst part was, they didn't even seem to be concentrating as hard as me. They were chatting and laughing as they ran, like they were on a casual walk instead of a race.
What the hell?I thought.How am I, a deer shifter, getting outsped by a wolf and a freaking orca?
Infuriated, I pushed myself harder. I heard Starry panting beside me, but she kept pace, never falling behind.
In moments we were neck and neck with the fated mates again. Victory was so close I could reach out and grab it. Losing now would be humiliating.
"Come on, omega, I know you can run faster than that!"
Lupa's loud jeering voice right beside my ear startled me. I yelped and stumbled. She was directly behind me, and with my stumble she snatched the chance to overtake me. She and Leveret swerved around us and sped over the finish line, where the two pairs of fated mates were already standing.
My jaw dropped. I hadn't even seen Quinn and Farley during the race. How the hell had they made it there before us?
My blood boiled. I stopped running, not even bothering to cross the finish line.
Starry shot me a confused look as I reached down to untie our legs. I threw the rope aside and stormed off into the direction of the trees.
My cousins, being my cousins, couldn't let me have a moment to myself. Zak, Quinn and Lupa caught up and blocked me from disappearing into the woods.
"Hey, Ashe, are you okay?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah, man, what's wrong?" Zak added.
I gritted my teeth. As much as I loved them, they were the last two people I wanted to talk to right now. They had everything — a fated mate, a child, alpha status — hell, they even won the stupid fucking race.
"I'm fine," I muttered.
They exchanged a confused glance as I walked past them, but Lupa didn't let me go. She put her hand on my shoulder.
"Yo, Ashe, I didn't mean to upset you with all the omega stuff," she said. "You know I didn't mean it right?"
I frowned. Even if she didn't mean anything by it, it still annoyed me. She had no idea what it felt like to be the only omega among all alphas — especially when I was constantly being reminded of that fact.
