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4

I decided to take a walk with my cute kiddo and collect some firewood and water. We had been out here a few days now. I noticed Xenos was quiet today and kept looking at the ground.

"Xenos, what's wrong?" I questioned.

"Alpha Nico."

"Yes? It's just Nico." I corrected him again. I often found it slightly annoying when he called me Alpha. But then, I still could not get on board with such a serious role. Now, even more so as it put my mate at such a risk.

"I'm an Omega. Papa said I can't be your mate because I'm an Omega." He began to cry. My heart hurt hearing that, and I felt angry too. How dare he say that to him!

"Huh? What do you mean?" The tiny boy sniffled and wiped his face.

"Papa said I can't be your mate and that all Omegas think any strong Alpha is our mate. I don't get it, though. I'm so stupid." I grabbed the small boy close to me.

"That's not true. You're so smart. We all have only one mate. Some of us are lucky enough to have 2 or 3 mates in a lifetime. But they are only ours, and we find out who they may be when we are around my age or older. I know you feel different now. Usually, we don't find our mates when we are kids like you. That's why things are so hard right now. Don't say you are stupid again. You're not. I'm sorry this happened to you." Xenos wrapped his arms around me.

As I carried him through the woods, I realized how foolish I was for not bringing adequate supplies. Significantly since he couldn't shift yet, he couldn't eat raw meat, making things harder on him and me. So, once again, I walked him back to the cave and sat him down.

"Xenos, are you hungry?"

"Yes. Uh-huh."

I knew I couldn't just stay out here like this. Not with Xenos being so vulnerable, especially since it's not like the food had enough nutrients for a growing seven-year-old. With his tiny hand in mine, I packed us up, and we walked off in the woods towards a town.

--

It was getting hot, and my little mate was sweating. His blonde hair looked dark at the roots as sweat beads ran down his rosy, red face.

"Baby, you hot?"

"Yes." I stopped walking and helped him take off his shirt. We walked and walked and walked, with me intermittently carrying him. I could hear his stomach grumble, as did mine, but unlike me, he didn't complain even once. I noticed he was getting sunburnt too. Once again, my rash behavior forgot that his fair skin burns in the sun, unlike me.

"Hey baby, tell me about your pack," I said. I wanted to know more about him. After all, I wasn't too familiar with his pack. We only met ally packs on special occasions.

"I dunno. Papa didn't let me play with the other kids. I got to go to your birthday because papa and mama were going with everyone, so I had to. I'm glad I did. I had fun. I love Nico, but I don't know why."

"I love you too." I smiled. I felt connected to him in a very different way. Like an older brother, I felt my whole duty was to protect him. "Do you have any friends at all?"

"No. You're my first friend." I felt sad about this. I could always play with the other kids in my pack, though we never had an Omega in recent decades. I wondered why my dad never told me about Omegas and how isolated they must be. It made sense why his dad was so strict with him.

I stopped and kneeled to his level and looked into his blue eyes. My eyes shifted, and I started seeing everything as less colorful, including his eyes. I felt my wolf trying to push through. I sat down and started to blink rapidly. I couldn't let him take over. As of now, his whole goal was to mark our Omega. Regardless if he was old enough or not.