12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Wayden

H e was going to kill the alpha.

Wayden watched as Blaine smiled up at Escala. The little devil had been following the alpha all morning. They hadn't had more snow last night, so it was easier to move around. Escala had his pack in the nearest forest, scavenging for wild vegetables, fruits and hunting for game to add to their food supply. To observe more of the pack, Wayden had decided to join them. And he was slowly regretting his decision because Blaine had taken the opportunity to get close to Escala. They'd been walking around together, foraging what they could from the forest. Blaine laughed and jumped up and down in joy whenever Escala managed to find the smallest thing. From where Wayden stood, Escala's finds didn't warrant so much drama. But Blaine seemed to be taken by Escala, and whatever the alpha did was amazing.

Fuck.

Has Blaine asked Escala yet? Wayden asked himself as he watched them a few paces away from the rest of the pack. They stood on a snowy hill – a clump of trees their backdrop. They looked good together. Blaine was gorgeous, and when he smiled… the fucking world disappeared. Escala seemed to think so too.

Fuck, Wayden growled as he watched Blaine turn his head just so, to stare up at Escala, his pearly white teeth on display. Escala's eyes narrowed on that smile. And Wayden could see that the alpha wouldn't be able to deny Blaine anything. He was going to say fucking yes.

"He's smiling too fucking much," Wayden mumbled.

"What?" Ryno, the beta Escala had stuck him with asked, making Wayden flinch.

Dammit. He'd forgotten that the beta was there.

"Nothing," Wayden said, forcing his eyes away from Blaine and Escala. Ryno pointed him to a fallen tree and moved there to chop some of the branches to use as firewood. Wayden forced himself to make his way there. He wacked the fallen tree, like a man on a fucking mission. He might have imagined the branches were Escala's thick arms, but no one would know.

Ryno laughed at him. "We can use someone like you during the winter months," he commented, reminding Wayden of why he was there. For a second there he'd forgotten. Blaine was making him forget a lot of things, making him want things he shouldn't. The omega was not someone he could be smitten with. He was courting a broken heart and after Ambrose he wasn't going to allow himself to get into a situation he couldn't control.

"Does it get tough?" Wayden asked, turning his mind to work.

"Yes. Like any other life," Ryno wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled. "I'm sure living under the council of alphas is not easy."

"No. It's not. Life is challenging everywhere," Wayden said. "And I'm fascinated by your relationship with your omegas. It's something we don't have out there."

"You wouldn't. We are a collective. The whole pack is dependent on everyone playing their part. We wouldn't survive without them, and they wouldn't survive without us," Ryno turned to where the others were. Wayden followed his gaze, his eyes drifting to where Escala stood with Blaine. The alpha was closer than he'd been before, and he was whispering something into Blaine's ear.

The fuck.

Wayden watched as Blaine slowly lifted his hand, and Escala grasped his wrist. The alpha rubbed his thumb on the inside of Blaine's wrist. Wayden stood there frozen, not sure how he felt about the whole thing. But one thing was clear: he wanted to go there and snatch Blaine's wrist from Escala. But he couldn't.

Last night he'd practically turned the omega down. He'd come up with some stupid excuse for them not sharing their heat together by telling him he'd ask an omega in the pack because he was stupid. Rejecting Blaine was easier than facing his feelings.

Did he want Blaine to ask him to share his heat? Yes. He was desperate for it. He didn't even know why he wanted it. He and Blaine were a disaster waiting to happen. But he couldn't deny that he wanted him all the same. There was something about the omega that made Wayden want things he'd never thought he would want again. It was the strangest thing. He shouldn't want Blaine, but he did. Jealousy scoured his insides, and it took everything in him not to give in to his instincts.

"Maybe you should ask your omegas what they want instead of coming all the way here to observe us. Our way of life might not be the answer," Ryno said, looking thoughtful. "I believe everyone should have a say. It shouldn't be about the council of alphas and what they want," he said.

Wayden nodded, wrenching his eyes from the pair. He helped Ryno gather the wood and carry it to the shed behind the main hut. The omegas trickled back, carrying their finds. Blaine wasn't amongst them. Wayden's heart gave a lurch as he watched them laugh and chat, heading to the main hut. Wayden tried his best not to wait for Blaine.

He was probably with Escala. Were they kissing, touching, getting to know each other before Blaine's heat started? He wouldn't be surprised if they were. It was always better for an omega to get used to a strange alpha before their heat. Escala would be the first alpha to be inside Blaine. He'd be the first to show him how good it could be between an alpha and an omega. The very thought made Wayden go a little crazy. But he kept his crazy inside as he made his way to the shuttle. He had work to do, anyway. He entered the shuttle and slammed the door behind him. The sound reverberated around him, mocking him for being stupid.

Fuck, he was stupid. Wayden had been sitting at the counter in the cooking station for what felt like forever, his work untouched, when Blaine walked in. Blaine's hair was windblown, his cheeks were rosy and… Wayden noted as his eyes roamed over Blaine's body from head to toe searching for any sign that he'd been with Escala.

What will you do if he has? a voice in the back of his mind asked, making him feel even more stupid because he wouldn't do anything. He'd practically told the omega to do it. He couldn't fucking take it back now that it was happening.

Fuck.

"It's so cold out there. Escala said that more snow might be coming, thicker than before. Can you believe it?" Blaine said, dusting snow off his clothes.

"You didn't seem cold back there," Wayden grumbled.

"What?" Blaine asked.

Fuck. He was behaving like a scolded cub. All sulky and hurt.

"Nothing." Wayden got to his feet and walked to his room.

"Are you alright?" Blaine asked.

"Never better," Wayden snapped back.

"Right," Blaine commented behind him. Wayden walked into his room just as a door opened and closed. He looked over his shoulder to where Blaine had been. And he was gone.

Shit. Wayden walked to his bed and lay down. Maybe they needed to be away from each other for a while.

But he might go to Escala.

Wayden jumped off the bed and he was out of the shuttle in seconds. He ran to the main hut and forced himself to slow down as he walked through the door. The pack was gathered in there, as always. A roaring fire was burning away in the fire pit as they sat around, warming themselves. It took a minute for Wayden to spot Escala amongst his pack, and Blaine wasn't next to him. Wayden did a sweep of the room, and still the omega wasn't there. He walked over to Owen. Blaine seemed to be close to the omega. Wayden asked him where Blaine was.

"He's probably in the shuttle. He said he was going to rest before lunch," Owen said.

"Okay, thanks," Wayden said and walked out of the hut. He stood on the porch, not sure where to go. The land was vast. The little devil could be anywhere. He should leave him alone. Blaine would come back when he was ready. Wayden looked up at the cloudy sky because he knew he wouldn't leave Blaine alone. Not until he'd made sure Blaine wouldn't go to Escala.

Wayden sighed as he made his way towards the lake, hoping to find Blaine there. He walked for a while without seeing him and was about to turn back when he spied him sitting on a rock overlooking the frozen lake.

Blaine had his arms wrapped around his body; knees drawn to his chest. He looked so young and innocent that Wayden's heart gave a strange lurch in his chest.

"Are you going to freeze to death out here?" Wayden asked as he walked up to him.

"What do you want?" Blaine asked not looking at him. "I'm trying to be alone here."

"In the cold?"

"Yeah, in the cold. I didn't exactly have a choice. You were having a moment, and I didn't want to disturb you," he said.

"I wasn't having a moment," Wayden mumbled.

"Ha. You could have fooled me," Blaine said.

Wayden wished Blaine would look at him, but the omega stubbornly stared at the frozen lake, making him feel guilty for snapping at him earlier.

"And you. What's up with you? Are you having your moment too?" Wayden asked, turning the conversation to Blaine because he didn't fucking have an answer to why he was acting all weird and shit. He rubbed the back of his neck, waiting, but Blaine didn't answer him. He stared at the lake as if there was something more interesting out there. "Did Escala say no?" Wayden shouldn't bring up Escala. But fuck, he wanted to know. He couldn't help himself. The thought that the alpha would touch Blaine soon drove Wayden crazy.

Blaine turned and stared at him with blazing eyes. If eyes could kill, Wayden would be on the ground gasping for fucking air. Wayden shifted from one foot to another as Blaine continued to stare at him.

Was he going to answer him or not?

"Not that it's any of your business," Blaine said. "But I haven't asked him yet."

"You haven't? I thought…" Wayden stepped close to him. "What the hell were you two doing then? You were all cosy in the forest and you let him touch your wrist while you smiled up at him like he'd hung the twin moons or something."

"And?" Blaine shot to his feet. "I'm going to let him do more than hold my hand soon enough. And why do you care, anyway?"

Wayden gritted his teeth. He shouldn't care, but... he didn't want Blaine's first alpha to be Escala or any other alpha.

"Just tell me… please."

"Why?"

"I…" Wayden's insides tightened. He stepped close to Blaine. "I can share your heat if you still want me to."

Blaine stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. Maybe he had. Nothing made sense where Blaine was concerned. "I don't need your pity, Professor Mephis. I'll figure my shit out." Blaine rushed away, leaving him standing there.

Fuck, Wayden silently groaned, calling himself all kinds of fool. He lingered around the lake before he went to have lunch in the main hut. His eyes roamed the room. Even though he told himself he wasn't looking for Blaine, his eyes found the omega all the same.

Blaine sat with the other omegas in front of the fire, chatting. He laughed loudly at whatever they were saying, as if nothing had happened between them. Wayden should be happy that the omega hadn't taken their stupid conversation to heart.

Wayden ate his lunch and, when he was done, he made his way to the shuttle to work. He settled at the counter in the cooking station with his papers and data reader and got to work. Even though Ryno believed the answers Wayden sought were not in their pack, Wayden believed there were things the council of alphas could take note of. Though it wouldn't be easy for the alpha king to give everyone his attention like Escala did, they could find a system that brought everyone together somehow. Their very survival might lie in pack life. Luka and Escala both had different kinds of packs, yet they had one thing in common – communalism – something they didn't have out there. In their efforts to survive, the council of alphas had created separation within the packs when they'd chosen one alpha to oversee everything.

Though no one could blame them, their planet needed a change that could sustain them all. Now, they just needed to fix it.

How? Wayden racked his brain.

Minutes turned into hours as he continued to work, hyper focused on finding the answers he needed. Dinner came and went, and Wayden didn't even notice. He got like this when he was immersed in his work. Ambrose had complained a lot when they were together, telling him that he had no time for him, that Wayden loved his research more than he did him. Maybe it was true. Wayden had had so much to prove back then. He just wished he could have held on to Ambrose. He wouldn't be experiencing so much trouble right now if he had.

Thinking of the devil, Wayden turned to the door just as Blaine walked in. The omega walked inside, carrying what looked like one of those serving plates Wayden had seen in the main hut. The smell of food caused Wayden's stomach to growl.

"Here. You missed dinner. I thought you might be working," Blaine said, placing the plate in front of him. He didn't wait for Wayden to say anything as he walked to the bedroom, shutting himself inside. Wayden stared at the plate, not sure what to make of it. He'd thought Blaine was angry with him. And for him to bring him food…

Wayden shook his head. He should just stop overthinking things and go with the flow. Blaine was being nice to him; that was something to celebrate. Besides, he hated the tension between them.

Wayden shifted his documents to the side, slid the plate close and started to eat. When he was done, he cleaned up, washed the plate and made sure everything was packed away and the shuttle locked. He made his way to the room. Blaine was already in bed when Wayden walked in. Wayden went to the washroom, got cleaned up. Dressed in his sleeping clothes, he slipped under the covers.

Blaine didn't move or acknowledge that he was there, but Wayden could tell the omega wasn't asleep, even though he was facing the wall.

"I'm sorry," Wayden said. The simple words hung in the air between them. Wayden waited for Blaine to say something… anything. At this point, he would accept him cursing him out, not his silence. "Blaine?"

"For what?" he asked.

"For how I behaved earlier. I don't know what got into me. I…" Wayden closed his eyes for a second. And then blurted it out. "No. I know what had gotten into me. I was jealous."

Fuck. He'd finally said it.

Blaine said nothing.

Wayden stared at the omega's back. Was he never going to talk to him?

Fuck that.

Wayden slid closer to Blaine and buried his face in the side of the omega's neck, his lips going to the spot where he'd bitten him. The mark had healed, but Wayden could still see it. As if he'd claimed Blaine for real. Blaine shivered, moaning a little.

Fuck. That sound. Wayden loved it. He wondered how Blaine would sound when he was being fucked. Itching to let his hands roam the omega's body, Wayden closed his eyes and forced himself to say how he felt.

"I was jealous of him touching you. When I saw him with his hand on you, I went a little crazy. I want to be the one to touch you," Wayden said. "My offer wasn't out of pity, Blaine. If you want me to share your heat, I'll be there for you. You don't have to ask anyone."

"I did it for you," Blaine said in a shaky voice.

"What?" Wayden asked, pulling away. He turned Blaine on his back so he could look at him. "You did what for me?"

"Escala touching me. I did it for your research." Blaine licked his lips and Wayden couldn't help but follow his tongue. "The scent marking thing he does with his pack. I wanted to know more about it. I asked him to do it. It was nothing."

"It was nothing," Wayden repeated with a laugh. He was beyond relieved. "I thought…"

"He couldn't scent mark you, so I thought…" Blaine said with a shrug. Wayden stared down at him wanting to do a million things to him. But he hadn't answered him yet. Did Blaine still want Wayden to share his heat or not? Wayden bit the inside of his mouth, itching to bring it up.

Fuck. When had he become so desperate to be with the omega? He felt like a teenage alpha on his first heat – desperate and needy. Wayden forced himself to shift away from Blaine. But he didn't go too far. He lay a few inches away, where he could still feel Blaine's warmth.

"You shouldn't have done that," Wayden said, picking up their conversation even though talking about Escala was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I'm your assistant, remember?" Blaine said. "I was curious about it, anyway."

"And? How was it having him… scent mark you?" Wayden said the last part through clenched teeth. He wasn't one to become possessive of an omega, but damn, he was possessive for the first time in his life.

"It wasn't like I thought it would be. Maybe it's because I'm not part of his pack and I don't see him as my alpha. He did tell me that might happen, though," Blaine said. "He said his scent is comforting to his pack members, and they feel a sense of belonging because of it. I felt nothing."

Wayden stared at Blaine thoughtfully. "Do you want to try with me?"

"Try what?" Blaine gasped out.

"The scent marking thing."

"You're not my alpha either," Blaine said.

"I know. Like you said. Think of it as an experiment for my research. Since it didn't work with Escala, you can't really tell me what kind of effect it has and why it's important for his pack."

"I told you. He said it's for comfort and a sense of belonging."

"Its fine if you don't want to do it."

"It's not that I don't want to. Escala said…" Blaine said softly. Wayden had to lean close to hear him, leaving a few inches between them. He wanted to get closer – close enough to rub his lips along Blaine's cheek. But Wayden held back. He didn't want to push him when he was the one who'd rejected him in the first place.

"I know what he said. But I just thought that since you asked me to share your heat, you might feel a little comfortable around me. I could be mistaken."

Silence filled the room, making Wayden a little nervous for bringing Blaine's heat up. He'd hurt the omega when he'd rejected him. Fuck he wished he could take that back. He wouldn't be surprised if Blaine refused. Wayden stared at the omega, waiting. He seemed to be taking forever to think about it.

Did he really not want to? Wayden was about to open his mouth and say something when Blaine lifted his right arm.

"I… okay," Blaine said.

"Thank you," Wayden said, feeling like he'd won something. He didn't know what it was, but this moment was important to him. He grasped Blaine's wrist and rubbed his thumb over the inside of Blaine's wrist, the way he'd seen Escala do. Wayden's scent thickened, filling the room, and his insides quivered. It felt strange, but a good strange. His body tingled as all the blood in his body rushed south.

Fuck. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. He wasn't supposed to get turned on. A whine filled the room, and for a second Blaine leaned into him – his face buried against Wayden's chest. Blaine's warmth seeped into Wayden's skin, making him tremble.

"Are you okay?" Wayden asked, wishing he could touch more than just Blaine's wrist. Wayden had never wanted anything more. He pressed his thumb into Blaine's pulse point, fighting hard not to give in to his desire.

"Yes. I'm… this is…" Blaine said breathlessly.

"This is what?"

"Nothing," Blaine pulled his wrist out of Wayden's grip and turned to face the wall. Blaine moved so fast, cutting off their connection that Wayden felt disoriented for a second. He stared at Blaine's back, stunned.

"Are you going to sleep?" Wayden asked.

"Yes. It's late," Blaine mumbled.

"But…" Wayden swallowed the rest of his words. He pressed the heel of his hand against his throbbing cock. Fuck. He was so horny. It wasn't Blaine's fault that one innocent touch had left Wayden hot and bothered. And their experiment wasn't even about that. It was to see how omegas felt when their alphas scent marked them. But something else must have happened between them because it had felt like more than a simple scent marking. Wayden had felt all needy… horny – which he doubted was how Escala felt when he scent marked his pack. Maybe he should ask the alpha how it felt.

Wayden closed his eyes but opened them again. He stared at Blaine's back longingly. He wanted more. Worst of all, Blaine hadn't answered him yet. Was he going to let him share his heat or not?

"Can you at least tell me how it felt? It's for my research, remember?" he heard himself say. Wayden winced. He sounded desperate.

"Tomorrow."

Tomorrow? Fuck… Wayden silently groaned.

"Fine," he said, turning away to face the window. The light from the twin moons drifted into the room at an odd angle. Wayden stared at the shaft of light, trying very hard to ignore his throbbing cock and the needy feeling inside him. Maybe he was the one who was going into heat. But his heat was still weeks away. He was probably responding to Blaine. Wayden sat up suddenly, as an idea struck.

"What? What?" Blaine shouted next to him.

"It's nothing. Go to sleep," he said, getting out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Blaine asked.

"I'm going to work for a little bit. Go back to sleep." Wayden smoothed the covers over Blaine, gently lying him back down before he leaned down to place a kiss on Blaine's forehead. Wayden walked out of the room, then stopped suddenly when he realised what he'd done. It had come so naturally; he hadn't thought about it. Wayden stared at his hands, then lifted one of them to his tingly lips.

What the fuck?