Alpha Lost

Regrets

"Here you go, ladies and gents." Selah murmured as she set a tray ladened with drinks and snacks on the coffee table between the gathered Omegas.

Understandably, when each of them had arrived, there were some mixed emotions from the Omegas who had been lied to for the last month and were not only learning the truth but were discovering that they were likely now targets as well. The congratulations and hugs for Selah on the return of her mate and the scent of their relief at not having to mourn her loss, brought sentimental tears and watery laughter as they embraced and celebrated together.

When Selah first scented a hint of anger coming from her friends, she followed their narrowed gazes to where Malcolm had taken up residence in the kitchen, and she'd quickly moved to distract them with the snacks that he'd been putting together. They were all going to be together for who knew how long, and filling the house with the scent of upset Omegas and letting this negativity fester would not make for an easy unexpected sleepover.

Besides, Malcolm was her Alpha. Her territorial Omega side growled low in her head that others felt they had a right to be mad at her mate. Temperamental bitch, Selah thought to her Omega half. Before the Omegas had shown up, Selah herself had been ready to claw at Malcolm's throat.

Ours, came the primal thought again loud and clear. If anyone was going to harm Malcolm, it would be her. Selah just shook her head and sighed internally. No matter how advanced her world thought it had become, there were still some things that brought out their inner beast. Or...beastess, Selah smirked mentally. A low internal rumble that conveyed amusement had Selah quirking her lips.

The doorbell rang again, and Selah stood up as Malcolm moved with lethal grace to the front door. Wrapping his fingers around the stock of the gun tucked into his waistband, he cautiously stood to the side of the door before checking to see who had rung the bell. When he released his hold on his weapon and moved to open the door, Selah let out a breath she hadn't been aware that she'd been holding.

Ushering in Alpha Jaysen and his trauma surgeon mate, Amber, Malcolm took the Omega's bag and added it to the growing collection by the door. Jaysen shook Malcolm's hand before drawing Amber in for a scorching hot kiss. When they broke apart, Jaysen muttered a quick, "Behave, Troublemaker," and waved briefly at the watching Omegas before slipping back out the front door.

Once again the greetings, celebrations and whispered conversations were repeated as they had been every time one of their fellow Omegas showed up. It wasn't long before Amber was settled in between a male and female Omega on the couch with coffee and a snack.

"So does this happen often?" a timid sounding question reached Selah's ears.

She looked up and met the gaze of an Omega that was new to their group. Sara and her Alpha Tobias were new to the OSF. They were a newly mated young couple that reminded Selah a lot of her and Malcolm except that to her trained eye, something about the couple seemed...off.

"Not really. This is the first time that we've been targets. The Alphas? Well, that sort of comes with the territory, unfortunately." Selah responded.

"Good to know," Sara looked down at her hands that were wrapped tightly around a mug of hot chocolate.

Letting instincts from fifteen years of dealing with distressed Omegas guide her, Selah sank onto the floor next to Sara and folded her legs underneath her. Resting her back against the legs of one of the Omegas on the couch behind her, she watched as Sara kept a careful physical distance between herself and the rest of their group.

Omegas were a touchy-feely sort. Not only did they like to cuddle and snuggle with their mates, but when they found themselves surrounded by other Omegas, they tended to end up piling together like a litter of kittens. She hadn't even considered the sleeping arrangements for tonight because she knew the Omegas would end up pushing the sofas back and sleeping in a big tangle of arms and legs in the living room.