16. Offer

Offer

Dalton

" T oday's the day!" I was so hyped for the testing to begin properly, I felt like I was walking on air. "I can feel it. He's going to restart the testing!"

"Hmm," Axel's expression was carefully blank. Unlike me, he didn't seem to relish the idea of testing. Was it because of his alpha gene? Not everyone expected him to take over the pack. So many of them loved Blake, and with Axel's relationship with the elf, a prince no less, we all knew it would make things more complicated.

Getting Axel out of his own little world was a task and a half. Further proven when he barely replied to my enthusiasm.

"Oh, come on!" I urged. "This is exciting! After all the false starts, it's good to have some news."

"It is," he agreed, then put a downer on it all, "but there's so much research still to do. It's not like there are a ton of alphas lining up to bite betas, especially if they are going to turn into alphas."

Okay, so he had a point there. Did he really have to make things depressing? For the betas who were omegas, like me, getting the testing going again was great news. For the alphas, less so.

"Oh, we had a call from Poppy!" Blake was keeping me close to the project, probably so I wouldn't darken his door every morning to ask about it. "The witches might have something this time. I've got a good feeling."

"Right, well, I better get to the meeting." Axel didn't seem to care at all. "Are you coming to take notes?"

"With the way you remember conversations? Yes," I snipped as I picked up my tablet. It was quicker to type things than write them. I had a feeling there would be a lot to remember.

Ask him , my alter urged. The raccoon side of me was impatient. All we'd done the night before was make a plan about how we would do this.

Not now, after , I told them.

Hiroshi had suggested two betas going for testing would be more likely to be chosen in the first round. I had to hope that Axel would go for my plan. We didn't have to stick together for long. Who knew, he might find me irresistible after going through a heat with me and decide to ditch the elf after all. Gotta dream of the best-case scenario, right?

My mind flickered with an image of Larken. He'd offered, but he only did that to be kind. Plus, I wanted the best chance to get a slot in the program. Another beta was my best choice. Axel was my best chance. He was the only one aside from Larken who I could see getting me through this.

I could feel Axel's eyes on me as we walked along to Blake's office. Being so wrapped up in my thoughts, I wasn't paying proper attention and kept bumping into him. I stopped and started saying something to him so many times.

The office was crowded, with Teagan and ívarr representing the elves. Kade, Deke, Dakota, Roan, Chase, Aldrin, and James were all sitting comfortably, ready to get the meeting underway. They even had Poppy, the witch from the Northarbor coven, on the video screen.

Taking a seat next to Chase on the floor, I bumped shoulders with him in greeting.

"Excited?" he mouthed.

I nodded. This was all I'd wanted in so long. Now that it was finally here, I wanted to scream and probably cry. Excited? I was also so nervous!

Blake kept the unnecessary chatter to a minimum, no small feat with some of the people squished into the office. Before I knew what was happening, the testing was back on, and we were all getting ready to leave.

Axel was asked to wait so Blake could speak to him. There had been a lot of tension between them. Was Blake going to ask him to change and take the pack? It would make life much easier for the younger shifter. He had not long ago turned twenty-three. We'd celebrated his and Larken's birthdays together since they were close together. For such a young age, there was so much on Blake's shoulders.

Waiting for Axel to return to his office was torture. To get the spot I wanted, I needed to get an alpha gene beta onside. With how strained everything had been with Axel, barely seeing him because he was chained to the elf's side, I wasn't quite sure how he would take my offer.

I had to remind myself he would be getting something out of this, too. A potential heir, if he took me through my first heat. If we fell pregnant, he would have an equal claim to any baby we had. Would he want to co-parent, even just as friends, with me?

By the time he came back to the office, I was sweating buckets, about to have an anxiety attack. Chill, I needed to relax. This was just Axel.

"Everything okay?" He rounded his desk and took a seat .

"Um… there were a couple of calls while you were out. I filled some orders and pushed off emails for Dakota… nothing much."

I couldn't stop. I paced the room, straightening things I was sure I'd already moved in my growing panic.

"Are you excited about the testing starting again?"

Oh, my goddess, here it was, my opening. My head cocked as I thought about how I was going to do this.

"Yeah, I was thinking about taking part. I've wanted…"

"I've seen you with the babies. You'll be a great omega," he said kindly.

Stating the obvious there, I wanted to snark, but I was frozen with fear. How was I going to say this? I tried to go for a smile, but it slipped off my face before it even took hold.

"So, I, uh, well, the thing is…" I couldn't stop moving.

"Spit it out, Dalton, please," he snapped. "It's been a long day. I need to finish up these reports and go home." He shuffled the papers about, pretending he wasn't completely focused on me. It was terrifying.

"A condition of the testing is a partner," I said nervously.

"And? What's the problem?"

"I was wondering ifyou'dbemypartner?' The words ran together, I said them so quickly. My breaths were so close together I was barely getting in any air. I had to brace myself on his desk so I didn't pass out.

"What?" That tone… was he offended?

"Would you be my partner? The alpha to my omega?" It hurt to say the words so slowly. To hear the hope in them.

"I can't." His expression twisted, a brief flash of pity crossing his handsome features.

"Why not?" I had to back away. Flexing my fingers, I tried to swallow down my frustration. This was all going wrong. "We'd make a great couple! I've had a crush on you for the longest time. I know you're with the elf, but—"

"That's not why, and while I'm flattered, we couldn't work." He was so resolute.

I caught him playing with the wolf ring Teárlach had gotten him for Valentine's Day. He'd talked about it for about a week after. It was designed to shift with him, thanks to magic.

My face flushed, first with shame for stooping so low as to ask someone who clearly never thought of me at all in that way. With embarrassment at being rejected. Then finally, with anger. Why? Wasn't I good enough for him?

"Why, for goddess' sake, wouldn't we?" Fury had me pulling at my hair. The sting of pain grounding me. My raccoon tried his best to cool the flames of anger before I said anything I would regret later. "We're friends, have fun together, I love your family—"

He sighed and sort of slumped. "Dalton, I'm an omega. Like you."

Before I knew it, I was on the floor in a crumpled heap. "What?" I couldn't get the words to register in my brain.

Axel came to my side so fast and wrapped his arms around me. "That's what I was just telling Blake. So, while I'm flattered, we just aren't compatible."

The dam broke then. Tears fell freely, soaking my shirt. "What am I going to do? I… I hoped it would be you!"

"We'll find you an alpha. Either a beta with the alpha gene, or an alpha who would be getting such a great catch with you."

Stunned, I was completely and utterly confused by this turn of events. Axel was an omega.

"I can't believe it. An omega. Like me," I said, softly, voicing my shock.

His hold on me tightened as he took me through my grief and sheer horror at what I'd just done.

"Guess we have more in common than we thought," he said in a wry voice, even as he rested his head against mine.

Time passed. I had no idea how much, as Axel held me and I cried.

Eventually, my tears slowed, leaving me feeling wrung out. Then the words, the questions, flowed.

First, I started with an apology.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you. Even with you being an omega. It was wrong of me. You've got Teárlach, and I didn't honor that relationship by asking."

Honestly, I was ashamed of myself for that alone. What had I been thinking? Obviously he wouldn't pick me, omega or not, because he had to speak to his partner first. If it was an agreement between friends, maybe, yet that hadn't been what I was trying to do. The blinders were on. I just saw what and who I wanted, and went for it. So stupid!

"D, I get it, okay. You heard Hiroshi ask for beta pairs and assumed."

"You know what they say when you assume…" I tried to tease. My gut felt like lead. How were we going to get past this? I was so horribly embarrassed. How could I ever face Teárlach once he found out? I felt like I could throw up from shame.

"You make an ass out of you and me," he finished. "It's okay, though. If I could have done it, I think I would have been tempted." His expression told me he was being honest. He was so incredibly kind. Still, I doubted him.

"Really?"

"Sure. A baby made with one of my closest friends?" He squeezed me close. "That would have been great! I'd have loved to be the one to give you what you most wanted in the world."

Relief made my limbs like jello. Axel was basically holding me up.

"See? I knew you'd understand." I clung to him in relief. "Before, there were feelings, but I was ready to take anything just so I could get a baby."

"But wouldn't it be better to have a baby born out of love?"

My sigh was long and loud. "Wouldn't that be nice? I don't think that's on the cards for me."

"What about Larken? You're close, right?" Axel shifted so he could see me better, back resting against the desk legs.

Guilt flooded my system. Larken. He was going to be so hurt when I confessed what I' d done.

"We are. He offered. Before." My shoulders shook with the effort of keeping my sobs at bay. "He's going to hate me when I tell him."

"He won't." Axel reached for my hand to comfort me. "Larken cares about you. He'll understand."

"What if I've messed everything up and missed my chance?"

"Not possible. You're a hot commodity in this pack." He tapped my hand. "All the alphas would love to put a kid in you."

A laugh burst free. Probably his intention.

"No, it's true. Larken will forgive this mistake."

I drew my knees up, wrapping my arms around them. "Like you do? I'm really sorry, Ax. I shouldn't have asked you and made you confess like that."

The discomfort from sitting on the floor was a decent distraction from the pain in my heart. This was a mess.

"Hey, D, it's fine."

"Will we be okay?" I couldn't focus on Larken. Putting things to rights with Axel was important. This was my job at risk, not just my place in the testing program. I'd deal with Larken, really make amends once I thought up a plan.

"Us? We're fine?" He laughed, putting me at ease and said something that stuck with me as I walked home, heart still heavy with guilt .

"One day, hopefully not too far away, we'll be sitting outside on the grass together, our babies playing side by side."