The Alpha and the Omega | The Soul Eight | By: Arianna Elliot

A Storm of Feelings

"So, that's the long and short of it," Iris said the next day at school during lunch. As expected, Ethan and Axel were listening closely, angry at what happened. 

Ethan said loudly, "I wish I could rip that idiot apart!"

"Babe, chill. You can't solve everything with violence." Kylie said, petting his head to calm him.

Alice looked surprised, "Wow, Max had confidence?"

"Yeah- wait... How the heck do you know Max?" Iris said in a confused voice. 

"He's my older brother."

Iris was shocked. The gang talked more about the situation. She made sure to leave out the hug. Alice would talk to Max about it, and she surely didn't want him to know what she felt. The more she thought about the hug, the more her feelings grew. But, liking the Alpha was a social death sentence for an Omega. Over the next few days, she kept her feelings secret. There were times she almost blew her cover by staring at him a bit too long, but she managed. One day, all of these emotions combined, when Iris decided to join the music club.

"Glad you took me up on my offer to join," Luca said with a smile.

"No problem. I'll always take an opportunity to destroy anyone with my singing!" Iris said confidently.

"I'm not sure if that's gonna be easy. We have a guitarist who's also a great singer." 

"Who?" She said skeptically.

"That would probably be me since I'm the only guitar player here." Iris turned around to see Max, guitar in hand, and her heart stopped. Cute, sweet, AND a guitar player. How overpowered could this guy get?

"Well then, we'll have to see who's better sometimes." She said coolly, ignoring her heart thumping loudly in her chest.

"I'm just here to practice." He said, putting some sheet music on a stand. 

He started playing 'I See The Light' from Tangled. Of course, he's playing a love song... Iris thought. At this point, the act was off as she stared. Lucky for her, Max was completely oblivious. As Iris felt as though her heart was going to explode, the door was opened by none other than Cameron. She looked at Iris, sneered at her, and walked over to Max.

"Maxy!" She said and squeezed him in a tight hug.

Max looked uncomfortable, "Oh. Hi Cameron." 

"Cameron, I thought I already kicked you out," Luca said sternly. 

She laughed, "What are you talking about? I just wanted to see my Maxy. I see you've already found my replacement. Not that she's as good as me."

Iris smirked, "You've got to be kidding. I will sing circles around you."

Cameron grabbed Iris' arm and whispered, "I can tell you like Max. Stay away from him, filthy Omega." She pushed her away and headed for the door, "Bye, Maxy!"

Max sighed, "I hate that girl. You ok, Iris?" He helped her up and Iris felt her face heat up.

"I-I'm fine. She's not that strong." She said with a small smile.

He laughed and said, "Well, I gotta head out. See you guys later!" He then ran out the door.

Luca then looked at Iris, "You like him, don't you?"

Iris looked at him dumbfounded, "W-what? No way!"

"You realize I'm not as oblivious as Max? I knew you liked me weeks before we went out." 

"Am I that obvious?" She hated that Luca knew. He and Max are pretty close.

"You're staring at him, stuttering when he touches you, and you keep blushing when he does anything." Luca was now smirking at her as if to taunt her.

Iris huffed dramatically, "Fine! I like him. He's... nice, cute, funny, and... well, Luca... I think he's the one."

Luca looked shocked, "You realize if you're right and he marks you, you'll be an Alpha? That would make you guys-"

Iris cut him off, "Soulmates... N-no way though, right? I-I gotta go, see you Sunday, Luca!" She ran out the door in a panic. Having a crush is one thing, but soulmates?! The thought didn't sound that bad, but it still didn't seem appealing. She just wanted to sleep and not think about Max. But, to her dismay, her dreams were of him. 

~.~.~

The next day, Iris got a text. It was from Max of all people. Of course... Iris thought. She opened the message;

Max: hey, you wanna hang out? i'm bored lol

Iris: sure, meet you outside

She put on a tank top, a short-sleeved jacket, and some shorts. "Dad, I'm going to hang out with a friend. Bye!" Iris said as she ran out the door. 

Max stood outside on the sidewalk with his guitar, "Hey!"

"Hey. Where are we going?"

"Well, Alice told me you play the keyboard." He said, "Can you go get it?"

"Sure." Iris ran back inside, grabbed her keyboard, and went back out. "Why do I need it?"

"You'll see. Come on." He said and they started walking. They stopped at a small café and went inside. A few people sat inside and two teenagers were behind the counter. One was a short wolf girl with dark purple hair in a messy bun. The other, a tall slender boy with black hair. They smiled when Max walked in.

The boy addressed Max, "You're never late, Firetruck!" Iris chuckled at the nickname.

Max laughed, "Sorry, Luke. I had to pick up one of my friends. This is Iris."

The girl and Luke looked shocked, "Our little Max is grown up, Luke!" The girl was beaming. She left the counter and walked over to Iris, "I'm Kyla. Question; Is Max nervous around you? He seems scared whenever he even looks at me."

"No. He's actually really easy to talk to." She felt her face flush and she prayed Kyla wouldn't notice.  

"Kyla, give it a rest. I've gotten better around girls." Max said as he plugged in his guitar to a small speaker. He turned to Iris, "I need your keyboard." She gave him the case and he started setting it up.

She sat down on one of the stools in front of the counter, "So, what are we doing?"

"Max plays music here. People usually like live music more than playing Apple Music through a speaker. He shows off his talent, we give him free coffee." Luke explained. It seemed legit enough.

"Best way to make money. I get tons of tips. And..." Max pressed a key and the sound echoed, "we're ready to play."

Iris sat on the chair in front of the keyboard as Max handed her some sheet music. They played for 2 hours. Iris loved and hated this. She loved it because the music they played sounded great. Also, who wouldn't love playing music with their crush? But, that was the same reason she hated it. She knew for a fact her face was red and everyone in that café could tell. It was amplified anytime Max sang. When they finished, Kyla and Luke called them up to the counter.

"That was AMAZING! What do you two want?" Kyla said enthusiastically.

"Well, I've already made Max's drink. Iris?" Luke said, handing Max a cup of coffee.

"I'll have an iced coffee." She said, hoping that it would help calm her blushing face.

"We got 20 bucks. You get 10, I get 10." Max said as he handed Iris a few dollars and coins. She got her coffee and they left. "Did you have fun?" He asked.

"Yeah! I'm probably going to get coffee there from now on." Iris said happily. They walked back home, said goodbye, and Iris went inside, internally squealing about the day's events.