But I still wince slightly when I land on the platform next to him.
His eyes drop to my knee, just for a second, concern flickering, but he doesn’t call me out. Doesn’t force the issue. Doesn’t bark a command.
Instead, softly, so only I hear, he murmurs, “We’ll talk about that knee later. Deal?”
“It’s fine. I just tweaked it.”
“Deal?” he presses. I can tell by the stubborn glint in his eye that he’s not going to let it go, even though I’m not lying. I did just step wrong, I did only tweak it. But now's not the time to get into an argument about it.
“Deal,” I mutter, and he grins before clapping his hands together and turning to face the maze where Rosamund seems to be tangled in a rope… somehow. It only gets worse when Court tries to talk her through it.
“How is he so bad at giving directions?” Petal asks, leaning into me to murmur it, so he can’t hear. “I thought it was like an alpha imperative to be good at this kind of thing.”
I hum my agreement. Most alphas delight in giving orders in having them followed, particularly by their omega. It means that their mate trusts them to take care of them, to have their health and safety in mind.
As omegas we crave that kind of reassurance. That steadiness. The surety that our alphas will always have our best interests at heart and that they know how to take care of us.
By that logic though, Court’s absolute dismal display during this game should give my omega the ick. But… I just find it endearing as hell. And it makes me trust him more.
He could have barked at us—or at the very least he could have barked at Petal and Rosamund—the way his pack members clearly have done. Each of them only has one omega left in the maze and each of them are using clear concise barks to move them through the turns.
Courtland, though? He’s still cheerfully calling out orders with no dominance behind them.
He took my request to heart. Took his promise to me to heart.
And I love that.
So. Freaking. Much.
Confessional Transcript
-Courtland Ashbourne
PRODUCER:So. The maze didn’t quite go your way today.
COURTLAND:No. No, it did not.
PRODUCER:You were the only alpha who didn’t use a bark. Why?
COURTLAND:Because one of my teammates asked me not to.
PRODUCER:And that mattered more than winning?
COURTLAND:Yes. It’s a trust challenge. If I win by doing the one thing that breaks her trust… what exactly am I proving?
PRODUCER:Other alphas used their barks and finished much faster.
COURTLAND:I noticed. Hard to miss all the shouting.(a beat)
Look. Florence was moving just fine. She adapted. She figured it out. She even told me—told me—to tell Rosamund to use the ropes as guides.
PRODUCER:But Rosamundstill struggled.
COURTLAND:Rosamund froze. And I could’ve barked. I know that. I could’ve ended it in seconds.
PRODUCER:Why didn’t you?
COURTLAND:Because I won’t use my dominance like a tool just because it’s faster. Because Florence trusted me. And I’d rather lose a challenge than break her trust, than breakanyof the omegas’ trust. That’s the only thing that actually matters. Isn't it?
