27. Mine

We found Ellie and Odie out back, lying in the sun with margaritas—Ellie had a virgin one of course—and a tray of sandwiches and chips between them. I was feeling a lot better and managed to make it out here to the clearing without any issues besides a small flashback that made my heart race, but with Cy holding my hand, the panic subsided.

Odie was wearing a bright red bikini with no fuss or frills. It fit her perfectly, and I had to try my hardest not to stare. She wouldn't care if I did, but I didn't want to start drooling in front of Ellie. "Enjoying the nice weather?" Cy asked.

It was rather warm for this time of year, but I wasn't mad about it. If I had known how we would find them, I would have put on a bathing suit and be lounging in a chair as well.

Looking up at Cy, it was like she read my mind. "Do you want to join them? Some sun might do you some good."

"Please join us!" Ellie sat up with a bright smile on her face that matched the bright sky blue of her bathing suit. The base was a light blue, but it had little white dots all over it as well. The bottoms were boy shorts, and the top was a typical bikini top. "Today feels so normal, and I want to keep it rolling."

Cy and I went back to the cabin and changed with me leaving my notebook outside so I had it when I came back. When Ellie went on her online shopping spree as a fuck you to her dad, she grabbed me a little of everything. Some of our stuff matched, but she did really well on picking out things I would like. One example of this is one of the bikinis she got me that I slid into. We made sure that there were no ties and everything was easily hooked and could be pulled up with one arm. It took quite a while to find what we wanted, but Ellie refused to give up.

The top was a bright yellow with fringe along the bottom. The straps were thicker, which I didn't really need since my chest wasn't very large, and was in a halter style, so I could pull the top up and fling the strap over my head fairly easily. Shimming it up was a hassle, but it worked out in the end. The bikini bottoms were black with skeletons all around it with the same yellow fringe from the top across the top seam except it was a few inches long, creating the look of a super micro mini skirt. It was adorable and made me feel hot as fuck even with the missing arm.

I would admit that the bandages kind of ruined the look, but that wouldn't be an issue soon.

After sliding on some flip flops and grabbing a large towel and some sunglasses, I met Cy by the back door. I didn't know what to expect her to throw on, but a bikini like the rest of us wasn't high on the list.

Cy stood there, barefoot and with a towel in her hands and oversized lime green sunglasses on her face and a bikini that matched the color of the glasses. Just like Odie's, it was simple, but it worked for her. Once again, I forced myself to not stare and drool, even though she was my mate and I had every right to.

"You can drool over us. It's obvious you want to." I sucked in a breath and shrugged as I walked by her.

Where Odie was muscular and broad, Cy was thin and lean, but it was still very obvious she could toss you across the room if she wanted to. Apparently, that didn't work with wolves, but Oliver on a regular day wouldn't stand a chance. They were also so much taller than I was, and yet I wasn't intimidated by it. If I had to guess now that I had been around them for a while, Odie was around six-foot-three, and Cy was probably around six-foot-five.

In the Human world, they would be considered giants, but they were Alphas, and it was typical for their designation. Ellie was a little shorter than me and wasn't quite done growing, but I doubted she'd reach my height of five-foot-five. She was around five-foot-two, and I could nearly look Gerard in the eyes, so there wasn't much hope for her.

Although, I didn't quite know how their genetics worked on passing down genes. I also didn't know what her Alpha parent looked like or how tall she was.

"Earth to Mine. What are you thinking about?" Odie waved a hand in front of my face to get my attention.

Apparently, we had reached them, and I was too deep in thought to notice it. Shaking my head, I smiled and decided distraction was the best plan. I got up on my tiptoes and puckered my lips, waiting for a kiss hello.

Odie obliged, and Ellie awed in the background. Some Human teens would be making gagging noises at this but not Ellie.

"Did you sleep well?" Odie asked when she pulled away, and Cy dragged the second of two extra lounge chairs over.

The first was next to Odie while the other was placed next to Ellie. Before Cy could pick one, I grabbed my notebook and claimed the one next to Ellie. I wanted some friend time even though it felt a little weird with our age difference to call her a friend.

I had to remind myself that it worked differently in the Primarchy. Truthfully, I wanted to ask Ellie some Omega things, and it would be easier for her to read everything if she was right beside me.

"She slept great. You seemed to have problems though," Cy answered for me, then plopped down on her lounge chair with the towel behind her.

"Actually, I slept really well. I just don't sleep long." Odie retook her seat and sipped on a margarita. There were two pitchers on the table between her and Ellie, so I assumed one was alcoholic with the other being the virgin version.

Can I have one of those? I passed the notebook to Ellie who looked over at Odie.

"Your mate wants a margarita. Will you bring out two more glasses?" Odie glared at her.

"Please?"

We all laughed as Odie did as she was asked. She even knew I wanted the virgin version. Although, even if I asked for the other one, I wasn't sure she would give it to me. I was feeling better and well hydrated, but that didn't mean I should push it.

Odie handed the glass to me, and Ellie passed the notebook back.

"Did you sleep well though? Does sleeping near your mates help?" Ellie cocked her head at me as she adjusted on the chair, crossing her legs in front of her.

It does. I feel a lot better thanks to that, water, and the blood deal.

"Well, that's good. Part of me thought it was make believe with how few true mates there are now. I always wanted to meet mine, but I wasn't hopeful." Ellie gave a sad shrug before sipping her margarita.

I didn't think Odie and Cy were paying attention as they were caught up in their own conversation. I heard Gerard's name mentioned, but that was all I could catch with how quietly they were speaking.

Maybe you will. Maybe the council will get their heads out of their asses and help everyone find their mates and change them from being Human.

Ellie burst out laughing, getting the attention of Odie and Cy, but I waved them off.

"That's funny. They don't care. They only want us to fall in line and do as we are told. That's why I don't want to take my dad's position. I don't think I can just take what they give and follow their orders." She grimaced at the thought before grabbing two sandwich halves and passing me one. It was a simple ham and cheese sandwich with mayo and mustard. "Good thing I have a few more years to think about that. I can put it off until he's closer to seventy if I really wanted to."

That gave me more math to think about, but the sun felt too good for me to think too hard about it.

Can I ask you more questions? Omega questions?

She crinkled her nose but nodded. "Yeah, I'll answer what I can now that you aren't so loopy."

When do you normally start having heats? Do you really not have periods?

"We don't have periods, and any time after sixteen is considered normal, although some people start a little earlier. I'd go into a full blown panic if they started now though. Good thing they have medicine for that. I'm not ready for what a heat involves."

Thank fuck. I don't think I could handle you going through that either. Odie would probably rip the heads off of any Alpha who came near you anyway. I'd help!

"Cy would booby trap this place even more. No one would stand a chance!" We fell into fits of laughter, but I truly was thankful that they had preventative measures for that.

Odie had mentioned suppressants, but I hadn't thought of it in this sense. I suppose it's like our birth control.

Okay, next question, not really Omega related, who can be with who? I knew that was vague, but I didn't want to write out an entire paragraph to explain.

"Like by choice or true mates?"

Both, I guess.

"Well anyone can be with anyone by choice. No one really cares. You love who you love. With true mates, it's the same way as far as I know."

Odie butted in. "She's right. It's a free-for-all mostly, but due to heats, it is most common to have an Alpha involved if there's an Omega in the pair or group. If there isn't, they tend to have ones that are close to them that can help with heats if they want to go through one."

I thought it over and asked, So how would pregnancy work in that case? Wouldn't the Beta mate in a Beta/Omega solo relationship want to be the parent if they could?

"Well, if it was a Beta female, they could carry a biological child if it was an Omega male. If it was an Omega female, they would have to use someone else's sperm to reproduce. In that case, if they were true mates, I'd assume there was a missing mate that they hadn't found yet. If they were a pair that chose each other, they knew how it worked from the get go."

Well, that sounded very similar to how Humans worked but with extra complications thanks to the second gender.

But with a heat, let's say it's a Beta male with an Omega of whatever gender and they wanted to be the biological parent?

"You're asking really difficult questions."

This is a really difficult concept to grasp.

"That's fair enough." Odie sat up with her legs straddling the chair. "I'm not sure. With the Alphas going into rut, there isn't a guarantee they'd use any protection. It would have to be a risk they'd take unless they went through the heat without an Alpha. A heat is required to get pregnant, but an Alpha isn't necessarily needed. Although, it would be very difficult and uncomfortable for the Omega since there would be no one knotting them, and the pheromones wouldn't work the same. The heat would probably last longer and be less satisfying for the parties involved. But it really depends on the pair specifically."

That was a really good answer, but now I was worried about going into a heat again. I didn't voice my concerns, but I really hoped Vaila dropped off the curse-ending supplies along with the suppressants, just in case.

My skin crawled with the need to ask more questions, but I couldn't settle on anything, so I decided to enjoy the afternoon, my mates, my friend, and these margaritas that were extra tasty and hydrating.