Omega Blues (Gay Romance)

Chapter Thirty-Three: Day of the Shift

Bren

The meeting ended as abruptly as it had started, everyone just rolling seamlessly from werewolf mode back into friends messing around. After another round of snacks and Scream 4 on DVD, the band put on an acoustic performance.

Matt helped me dig out the winter sheets and set up the rooms, just because he was a nice guy, not even thinking of it as the kind of thing an omega would do. But that's how I thought of it. In this pack where everyone had a voice and no one knew about werewolf roles, I was the only one still clinging to them. It was the only life I knew, the life I'd been raised for.

Matt flopped onto the bed, his curls flattening beneath his head. "I'm so excited for tomorrow!"

"What's tomorrow?" I ransacked my brain for overheard plans, a gig or a movie party or something else the band loved.

"It's werewolf day! My second full moon."

We were spending the night in a spare room—though every room was spare now no one lived here. I stood in the doorway and watched Matt relaxing on the bed. "You're excited about that?"

"Of course! I get to be a wolf and hang out with all my friends, how cool is that?"

"But you'll be a wolf whether you want to or not. You can't control what happens at the full moon. Maybe it'll be better with Will around, but I can't guarantee that."

He squinted up at me. "Why would I not want to be a wolf? Being a wolf is awesome! And it's not like there's anywhere else I need to be instead." Patting the bed, inviting me in. I climbed on top of the covers and Matt wrapped himself into my arms. "You know everything will be better when we live in the forest?"

"I already live in the forest."

"No but... full time. Like, being a wolf or a person whenever you feel like it, not having to fake it in front of people. You won't have to stress out about people seeing you, and what would happen if you wolfed out at work. Hey! You wouldn't even need a job at all, how cool will that be?"

"I like my ranch. And I like having a job. I like being useful." But I'd give it up if Will asked—give up anything, really, and never look back.

"You'd rather be a vet and cleaning up after animals, when you could be a wolf running through the forest? Seriously? Who even are you, dude?" He rubbed at his neck. The bites—mine and Will's—had healed as soon as he shifted so I couldn't see a mark, but I imagined he was rubbing at the place where my teeth had sunk into him and changed his life forever.

"You're tied to me, you know," I said. "Through the bite. I can leave if you don't like who I am anymore, but you'll still feel our connection."

"Come on Bren, you know how I feel about you. I'm just making fun of you because you don't realize how totally awesome werewolves are. I can't wait to go running with you again. Maybe tomorrow you'll get how cool it is."

Or you'll realize that it truly is a curse. But I couldn't say it. I'd spent the day being negative and now I just wanted to enjoy spending the night with my boyfriend. Tomorrow was a problem to deal with when it came.

I held him as safe and protected as I could, wishing there was a way to shield his bright mind from the misery of being chained to the full moon.

*

I woke with Matt piled on top of me. His human form drooped so comfortably over me that I couldn't help thinking about wolves in a den, of how Matt said that he was a natural wolf. He had the lazy, relaxed confidence nailed down perfectly.