A Tale of Two Omegas

Chapter 13: New Beginnings

Mew plopped down unceremoniously into the soft-cushioned, ornate chair the Assemblyman directed him toward. He was restless, fidgeting, leg-bouncing, short-breathed, sweat-palmed--an utter mess, really. His eyes darted about the extravagant office, half taking in the beauty of lavish paintings and antiquated sculptures and half attempting to drown his volatile, incessant need to escape and hurry back to his mate's side.

Assemblyman Ritthirong was conversely rather tranquil in his demeanor. As Mew squirmed and tensed in his seat, the Assemblyman took his place in an identical chair across from him and began quietly pouring amber-hued alcohol into the crystalline glasses situated on the vintage, mahogany tea table that separated the two men.

Mew waited impatiently for the Alpha to speak, but following several long, silent seconds, the conversation had still yet to begin.

"Figures you say the information you have is time-sensitive, yet here you are taking your dear-sweet time saying absolutely nothing," Mew suddenly snapped, voice wobbling with increasingly perturbed nerves. " Say something."

The Assemblyman drew in a long, unbothered breath, then began, "that Omega of yours... He's the owner of that coffee shop on the east end of Sukhumvit, yes?"

Mew's already hammering heart thudded in protest at the query. "He has nothing to do with this," he retorted defensively.

"Doesn't he?" The Assemblyman lifted a cunning brow. "As you said in that admirably daring speech of yours last night, this society hardly tolerates relationships like yours. Even considering the remarkable feat that is your Omega-Omega mate-bond, which proves the two of you have infallible compatibility, your relationship still leaves both of you incredibly vulnerable to abuse by those who simply don't approve. Should the wrong people find out about you and your mate, well... I'm sure you can surmise what could happen."

"Get to the point," Mew grumbled, haphazardly smoothing his hair away from his forehead and huffing a short, insufficient breath before returning to his hunched posture and uncontrollable fidgeting.

Hurry up unless you want me to have a nervous breakdown in your office!

The Assemblyman rose from his chair and strode over to Mew, offering down a glass of the alcohol he'd poured earlier.

Mew eyed it with great suspicion. "I'm not drinking that."

"It's not laced with anything, if that's what you're thinking. Why in the hell would I taint a perfectly good glass of bourbon?" the Assemblyman replied, almost sounding faintly insulted by the notion.

Mew scoffed. "I often find myself wondering why politicians do anything that they do."

The Assemblyman puffed out a curt sigh. "The mate-bond's new, yes?" he asked, receiving only a brief flick of the eyes from Mew in response. "Let's just call this a homeopathic remedy, then. I need to be able to have a thorough conversation with you. So drink."

"I doubt alcohol has any effect on new-mate-bond-induced separation anxiety."

"Funny you should say that, because sitting there and wallowing in the anxiety without doing anything about it also has the same effect," the Assemblyman remarked, gently waving the glass in front of Mew's face with the intent to entice him into accepting it.

Reluctantly, Mew snatched it out of the Assemblyman's hand, lifting it toward his nose--assessing it for danger--then took a tentative sip. The liquid danced over his tongue, tingled with delicate warmth and slipped down his throat like velvet. Clearly, this was one pricey-as-hell brand of bourbon. Indeed, it would've been a crime to taint such perfection.