“Are we going to see Logan while we’re here?” Connor asked him.
“No, why would we? He’s at work. He’s busy.”
Connor wasn’t sure why Sebastian sounded so defensive about his question. “Because he’s your mate...” He thought the answer was obvious.
“We’re not a love match.”
Connor also wasn’t sure why Sebastian kept bringing that up. He knew that they’d been chosen to be together. He understood that perfectly. It didn’t change anything about how they were now, though. “Look, however you two started, you obviously care about each other now. So let’s drop the defensiveness and the games and then maybe I can help you.”
Sebastian shrunk a little beside him. They sat down together on the weathered deck. The railing was mostly missing, leaving large gaps for them to sit between where they could hang their legs over the edge. “I get what you’re trying to do, but we don’t need help. We’re not broken.”
Connor looked over at him and, despite having a relatively good first day together, he wished that this was easier. He wasn’t used to getting together with a couple who didn’t think they had any issues. It made his job so much harder right from the start. “I want to go see Logan. I don’t care if he’s busy right now. I think you need to go see him and say hi.”
Rolling his eyes was exactly what Connor expected Sebastian to do. But then he just nodded, which Connor hadn’t counted on. “Sure. Whatever. Then, if he gets mad at me for interrupting him at work, I can blame you.”
Connor laughed. “That works.”
* * * *
It wasn’t ever hard for Sebastian to find Logan, because when he was at work he was never far from the center of the pack. “There, we found him, now we can go,” he said to Connor as soon as they’d entered the small house that served as the pack’s office. He could see Logan through an open doorway, sitting at a desk and talking on the phone. It didn’t matter to Sebastian what Logan was talking about, or even who he was on the phone with. He just wanted to leave. He didn’t belong there. He no longer worked for the pack in any official capacity so there was no reason that he should have been anywhere but at their house right that minute.
Connor however stepped forward and craned his neck around as he looked around the room Logan was in. “There’s a woman in there with him. Pretty, thirties, big smile for him. She’s not working at all. Just seems to be watching him. Someone you know?”
Sebastian wished that he didn’t. “Alyssa. Another beta. Higher than me, lower than Logan. Our alpha gave Logan a choice between the two of us. He chose me. He can only have one mate at a time, so I’m sure she’s been trying to come up with a way to make my death look like an accident ever since we were mated.” It didn’t bother him that she was there. Or, at least, he tried not to let it bother him. He couldn’t really dictate what a higher-ranking werewolf did with her free time, even if she did choose to spend the majority of it with his mate.
Connor looked surprised at that news as if it was some big revelation and not just common knowledge within the pack. He wasn’t from the pack though, so maybe it was interesting for him to know all the latest gossip or something. “Does she love him?”
“No. Being mated to him would be a power move for her. She’s six werewolves under him. Mating him would give her equal status to him. Equal say in the pack, equal share in the profits, that kind of thing. Can we go now?”
“No.” Connor sounded irritated that he’d even asked. “You’re his mate though, so do you have equal status to him then?”
“Not really. It’s a title only.” And he’d certainly never tried to push his luck with it.
Connor grabbed a chair and dragged it across the polished wooden floor, drawing Logan’s attention to them. Logan looked confused, for a moment, then smiled at him, and Sebastian wished they were at home and not standing awkwardly in the office as Logan ended the phone call he’d been on and got up to greet them.
“Hey, can I help you with something?” he asked.
It was too formal, but Sebastian didn’t know how to be anything else with him when they were out together within the pack. “No. Connor wanted to see you.” He hadn’t meant for it to come out that way. Like he hadn’t wanted to see Logan too and was just indulging Connor.
Alyssa came to the doorway and Sebastian glanced at her, then quickly away again. She was a higher-ranking werewolf. And she resented him. That was more than enough to have him laying low when he was around her.
“Why aren’t you two more loving in public?” Connor asked as if it was any of his business.
Sebastian shot him a glare. “We’re at Logan’s work. I’m not just going to kiss him in public while he’s working.”
“Sometimes it would be nice, though,” Logan said with a low chuckle.
Sebastian stepped back. He stared at his shoes. “I didn’t want to embarrass you.”
The next second Logan had him in a tight hug. “I’d love to see you more when I’m at work. I thought you were busy at home and didn’t want to make the walk.”
Sebastian would never be too busy to see him. He hugged him back tightly and almost missed Connor’s smug little smile out of the corner of his eye. “I’m bored at home all day.” It was the closest he’d ever come to complaining to Logan about his new station within the pack.
“Then let’s rent you some new movies to watch.”
Logan’s solution was so simple, so practical, and it bothered Sebastian to no end. “Sure. Maybe we can watch one together.” That would at least be nice.
“I don’t know if I’ll have time. There’s a lot going on right now. I’ll probably be working late again tonight.”
Sebastian hid his disappointment as well as he could as he stepped out of his mate’s arms. “That’s fine. I’ll see you when you get home. Drive safe.” He was desperate to be out of there again. Desperate to just go.
Logan smiled at him like nothing was wrong, and Sebastian wished he could just be happy with an empty house and a stack of movies like Logan thought he could be. “I’ll see you later. Have fun.”
“Yep.” Sebastian forced as much happiness into his voice as he could possibly manage. But as soon as Logan had turned away and gone back to work Sebastian dropped the act. “We’re going now,” he told Connor, and he wouldn’t put up with any arguments from the omega either. He didn’t outrank many werewolves, but at least he could boss Connor around.
Thankfully Connor didn’t bother to argue with him. He simply followed Sebastian out of the office and then back to the dirt road that led to the house.
“Why don’t you tell him how miserable you are?” Connor asked when they were almost back to the house.
It wouldn’t have done any good. “I really don’t want to talk right now,” Sebastian said. It was bad enough that his mate was never around, and that a woman who wanted him spent all kinds of time with him instead, but that Connor, a stranger, had seen that too just made it so much worse.
“About this?”
Connor apparently just didn’t know when to quit. Sebastian tossed off his shirt without thinking and shifted as quickly as he possibly could. He hurt in every part of his body from forcing himself to change that quickly, but he was done. He just needed away from Connor and everyone else right then.
Of course it didn’t do any good because the only place he knew to go was back to the house, and half an hour after he collapsed on the front steps Connor came walking up to him, Sebastian’s discarded clothes in his hands.
“It’s hard to open doors when you don’t have hands, or keys,” Connor quietly said as he stepped around him and unlocked the front door. He opened it too, but he didn’t go in. Instead he sat down on the steps next to Sebastian and sighed. “You two obviously care a lot about each other. And I get what you need to be happy. I’m just not sure how to make you tell Logan what you need. I don’t think it’ll matter as much coming from me.”
Sebastian hit h
im with his tail. He’d run for a reason, and it wasn’t to continue to talk about these problems.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Connor continued. “We’re going to sit here for as long as you want. I’m not leaving, and I’m not going into your house without you. If you want to sleep out here tonight, we can. I won’t press you anymore today. It’s been an intense first day. You need a break. So you’re going to get one.”
Sebastian shifted enough to be able to take his clothes from Connor, then he hobbled into the house to finish shifting and getting dressed. When he came back out he was exhausted, but he was back to wearing clothes and walking on two feet, and he brought them both a glass of water. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to help us.”
“Let’s try tomorrow. Tonight, take a break.” Connor sipped the water. “Thanks for this.”
Sebastian nodded and sat silently next to him. Now that he was willing to shut up for a while, things could actually be peaceful between them.
* * * *
Logan hated the long nights that he spent at work. He was so tired as he fumbled with his keys and got inside their house at nearly midnight. He expected Sebastian to be asleep already. What he didn’t expect, though, was to see Connor there on the couch, wide awake and apparently waiting as he put his phone down and turned to him.
“You’re taking tomorrow off,” Connor informed him.
No omega had ever taken such a commanding tone with him. It took Logan a second to recover before he shook his head. “No. I can’t. I wish I could, but that’s just not possible.”
“Make it possible,” Connor pushed. “I don’t care what you need to rearrange. But your mate needs you home tomorrow.”
Logan pursed his lips. Sebastian wouldn’t have said that. Not in a million years. “Sebastian didn’t say that.”
Connor nodded. “He didn’t, but that doesn’t matter. You work too much, Sebastian isn’t happy here alone, and you need to spend more time with him.”
Logan really didn’t need to be attacked like this after a long day at work. He sat down on the nearest chair and closed his eyes. “Why isn’t he happy? He gets to spend all day doing whatever he wants. He can watch TV, read all the books he wants to, and eat junk food all day. He’s had a vacation for the last year that we’ve been mated.”
“Talk to him tomorrow after you tell your alpha that you’re taking the day off. You’re sick. Sebastian’s sick. I don’t care what excuse you use, just get tomorrow off and do something that’s not about watching TV, or movies, or whatever else. Go out together. Go spend the day in the woods. Just do it together. Now, I’m going to bed. Goodnight.” Connor got up and left him before Logan had a chance to even argue with him, not that he could really say anything when apparently Connor’s answer was just going to be to talk to Sebastian about it anyway.
Logan got a chunk of cheese from the fridge for a quick snack. It wasn’t much, but he didn’t have the energy, or the desire, to make dinner for himself right then. Alyssa had offered to go to dinner with him, but he’d chosen to work instead of going out with her. She wasn’t awful, but he knew what she wanted and he wasn’t interested.
Sebastian was asleep when he joined him in bed. Before he fell asleep Logan texted their alpha that he wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be in the next morning. Lying to their alpha wasn’t ever going to be a good idea, but if Sebastian really did need him, then it would be worth potentially getting in trouble to help his mate out.
“What time is it?” Sebastian mumbled sleepily.
Logan checked his phone. “Almost one. Did I wake you?” It was a dumb question. Of course he had.
Sebastian curled up against his side. “You did. But that’s okay. I’m glad you’re home.” He yawned. “Connor annoys the crap out of me. I don’t love having him here.”
Logan chuckled and kissed his forehead. “Me too. But he really is just trying to help us.”
“I know.”
Logan kissed him again, this time on his cheek, then he let Sebastian go back to sleep. He, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as tired as he had been when he’d first come home. His mind was too active now. He wanted Sebastian to be okay, and he wanted him and Connor to get along. And he wanted to find out what was going on with Sebastian that would make Connor think that Logan needed to take a day off of work. Sebastian had never needed him to stay home before.
He just hoped that they could figure out how to fix whatever was wrong with them, with or without Connor’s help. He was so afraid of losing his best friend, especially since he had no idea what had happened to get them to this point to begin with. If there’d been some big incident, some trauma somewhere, then at least he could have pointed to that as the moment they started to fall apart. But there was nothing like that anywhere in their history together. They just weren’t as happy as he thought they could have been, and he was desperate to make sure that Sebastian was okay.
* * * *
For once he got to stay in bed past sunrise. He’d ignored the alarm on his phone, and the alarm on Sebastian’s phone too. Instead the sun was up, their bedroom was filled with light, and Sebastian lay quietly in his arms. But his mate wasn’t asleep anymore.
“Hey.”
At some point Sebastian had turned in his arms, fitting his back easily against Logan’s chest. He nipped at Sebastian’s ear and smiled as Sebastian squirmed against him.
“Don’t make me get up yet,” Sebastian nearly whined. “I’m not ready.”
Truthfully Logan wasn’t ready either. He was too warm and too comfortable to rush this morning. “How nice would it be to get this all the time and not just on my occasional day off?”
“I’d love that,” Sebastian said with a soft yawn. “Was the alpha mad that you decided to stay home?”
“Joshua’s fine with it.” Logan didn’t know that for sure, but since no one had come banging on their front door demanding that he come into work anyway despite being sick, he assumed that their alpha was okay with him not coming in.
“What about Alyssa?” Sebastian continued.
Logan rolled his eyes. “Ugh. Don’t bring her up. It’s too perfect of a morning to bring her into it. Why would you even mention her anyway? I know you can’t stand her.”
“She’s a higher-ranking werewolf, it doesn’t matter what I feel about her,” Sebastian quietly said.
Logan had never really dealt with the pack structure like Sebastian. There were only two betas above him, then the alpha and the elders, but he’d never struggled in his position like Sebastian had. He’d had his choice of mates. He’d been given the house, the car, and everything he could ever want. He was strong enough, and smart enough, to sustain his position within the pack.
But Sebastian...he simply wasn’t. He was a beta, but only just barely. Too headstrong for an omega, too submissive to be any higher in the pack than he currently was. Logan liked where he was just fine, but he knew Sebastian struggled with his place at times. “The only higher-ranking werewolf you need to worry about right now is me,” Logan said.
“You, Joshua, the elders—“
Logan didn’t need to hear the list of everyone above Sebastian. He clamped his hand down over Sebastian’s mouth, silencing him. But as Sebastian squirmed against him, trying to get free of Logan’s hand, Logan had to put his hand on Sebastian’s hip to keep him still. “Do you want to?” he asked Sebastian. He pressed against him, letting him know exactly what he was asking about.
Sebastian went quiet. “I think we’re alone in the house.”
Logan hadn’t even given Connor a second thought. “Would it matter?”
“Yes. I don’t want the omega listening in on us.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “So...since we’re most likely alone...”
“Yes.”
Grinning, Logan turned Sebastian in his arms and pushed him down against the bed. After a year of being together, they came together easily. Logan loved being
above him and being able to see Sebastian’s face as he slid into him. His mate was quiet when they were together, but his sighs and sharp gasps told Logan all he needed to know about just how much Sebastian loved being with him too.
* * * *
By the time Logan and Sebastian came out of the bedroom, showered and fully dressed, it was nearly ten. There were wildflowers in a vase waiting for them on the kitchen counter. “A present from Connor?” Logan guessed. There was no note, but no one else would have given them flowers. Really, he didn’t even know if Connor would have given them flowers either, but it was his best guest, especially since no one else would have intruded into their house while they were sleeping.
Logan watched Sebastian sniff flowers. He expected Sebastian to say something cold about Connor, since he hadn’t seemed to have anything nice to say about him so far, but when Sebastian looked back at him he was simply smiling.
“That was nice of him,” Sebastian said before turning away from the flowers and going to the fridge. He got out the orange juice, and Logan opened up a pack of mini donuts that were probably only a little stale. They didn’t have breakfast together often, so what they did have to eat was mostly quick things he could grab on his way to work.
“He’s the one who suggested that I take today off.” Logan hoped that by admitting that it would make Sebastian like Connor more, or at least accept him more.
But Sebastian only frowned at him. “I had hoped that you would have decided to do this yourself, because you wanted to spend more time with me.”
Logan was careful about what he said next, because the truth was that he always wanted to spend more time with Sebastian, but that hadn’t been his original plan when he’d come home the night before. “I did. And I do. I love being with you. But Connor said you needed me and that’s why I took today off.” He stepped closer to Sebastian. “And, really, I needed this morning too.”
Forbidden Omega Page 3
