Maelstrom kept his eyes low as he walked into the room and to his side. He opened his dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts then sulked into the bathroom. When he came out of the bathroom, he was just in his shorts.

He carried his other clothes in his hand and brought them to a hamper he had under his bed. Then he silently got into his bed and pulled the covers over his body as if he was getting ready for bed. He did all this without ever once looking at me.

“Maelstrom?” I called out to him.

“It’s Mal.” He corrected me.

“Mal, why are you acting weird?”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t looked at me once since coming back into the room.”

“So?”

“It’s just weird.”

“I don’t get what you mean.”

“Will you look at me?”

“Why do you want me to?”

“I want to see your eyes again. I was coloring them earlier, and I wasn’t sure about some of the colors.” I gave him a little fib. I just wanted him to face me because something was off.

“I feel like you’d be more comfortable if I faced away from you especially after what I did to you.”

“Oh, okay. Can I ask you some questions?”

“Ask anything you want?”

“What was it like growing up as an alpha?”

“That’s an odd question. It was annoying and frustrating. Everyone looks at you like you’re going to harm them. They think your every action has another side to it. There are bad alphas out there, but we’re not all bad. In fact, most of us are just misunderstood. But because I was born an alpha, most omegas avoid me because they fear what I can do to them. Alphas don’t want to talk to me because there’s a lot of tension that goes on between alphas. Especially, if that alpha doesn’t have a mate. Betas will usually talk to me because they aren’t afraid of me, but they're also not going to compete with me.” He answered me.

“What was it like in your house? Do you have siblings? What do your parents do?” I tried finding the similarities my mother was talking about.

“I only have my mother. She was claimed by my father when they were in highschool. He promised her forever, but forever proved to be short. My mother got pregnant with me in her senior year in high school. She had accidentally skipped her birth control, and one hook up with my father made me. When she told him that she was pregnant with me, he left her.”

“Oh sorry. I didn’t know that. Does your father ever visit you? I’m sorry if I’m asking too much.” It would appear that my mother was right. We had something in common. We belonged to a family with a single mother with alphas that abandoned the omega they mated.

He turned to face me for the first time since walking in. His eyes were red and puffy as if he had been crying. Was he that upset about upsetting me? “No. He’s dead now. He got into a fight with another alpha over an omega. Anyway, he was killed, and I honestly don’t feel bad about it at all. He shouldn’t have left my mother, and he shouldn’t have been playing with another alpha’s omega.”

“Were you crying?” I asked him after he finished telling me about his father.

“Were you crying?” He repeated back at me.

“I’m sorry.” I said even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.

He shook his head, “no. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used my pheromones on you, but I didn’t think you’d be that upset if I didn’t let you do anything.” he paused before continuing. “Do anything sexual.”

“Why were you crying though?” I was speaking to him much more naturally than I had when we first met, but this time he wasn’t using his pheromones against me. There was something about seeing him so vulnerable that made me feel more comfortable with him.

“I didn’t want to upset you. I really just want to make you as comfortable as possible, but I don’t spend enough time with omegas to know what I should and shouldn’t do. I was upset with myself for making you cry. It may sound like a stupid alpha thing, but it hurt my pride, knowing that I was the one who made you cry. I managed to do it twice in one day.”

He wasn’t that bad after all. I still didn’t completely trust him, but I at least felt better about sharing a room with him.

Wanting to continue our conversation, I asked him, “why did you agree to be my roommate without ever meeting me?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.” He chuckled. “I trusted that my mom meant well and I wasn’t expecting her to have me room with an omega. I mean what kind of omega encourages their alpha son to room with an omega knowing how shitty alphas can be?”

I laughed at his response, “you sound like you don’t like alphas.”

“That’s because I don’t. I hate them! I never asked to be an alpha, but I’m sure you know it can be difficult to ignore your subgender’s instincts when nervous or scared, so sometimes my alpha shines through when I really don’t want it to.”

“What do you have to be scared or nervous about? You’re an alpha and a strong one at that.”

“I’m in a new school away from my mother and away from my comfort zone. I didn’t know you beforehand and then it turns out you're an omega and not a beta like I was expecting. Why wouldn't I be nervous? The only omega I have any real experience with is my mom. I don’t know what to do about you, and everything I’ve done has been the wrong answer.

I thought I was doing good by helping you bring your things up, but I was too forceful and caused a scene, making it harder on you. I asked about your heat because I want to protect you, but that just made you angry. I wanted to understand you better so I used my pheromones, but that just upset you. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’ve never had to get along with an omega before.”

“For starters, don’t use your pheromones unless it’s a life or death situation. A lot of omegas are sensitive about their heats, it’s embarrassing. Also, I’m just a cry baby who is easy to stress out, and I’m scared of alphas.” I tried to explain.

“I guess we both have a lot to learn. Oh by the way, I never got to it earlier, but, uh, my ruts are seasonal. I have suppressants, but I’ll honestly just disappear around that time, so don’t worry about it.”

“What do you mean disappear?” I gave him a curious look.

“Suppressants can only control so much, and you know that. Not to mention suppressants for alphas aren’t that advanced yet, so they’re not all that effective for most alphas. I take the suppressant, but I also go hide out in the woods for a few weeks until the height of my rut wears off.”

“When you say you have season ruts, are you talking once a year or twice a year?”

“Once a year. I go into rut during spring. I usually go into rut in March, so you don’t have to worry about that for a while.”

I could feel myself getting more comfortable with Mal as we talked. I still wasn’t sure how to feel about him or our situation, but at least he didn’t seem to have any ill intent towards me.

“What are you going to do when I go into heat?” I asked to keep the conversation going.

He didn’t answer immediately, “I’m not really sure. I’ll probably spend more time outside of our dorm, maybe even stay out in the woods while you go through it. I don’t want to make your heat any more uncomfortable than it has to be.”

“So you’re going to sleep in the woods every other month? What if it’s cold, rainy, or snowy?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. It’s not cold yet, so It’ll be fine when it comes in a couple weeks.”

“What if I said it’s okay for you to stay in the dorm while I’m in heat?”

He raised his eyebrow, “I’d say you’re crazy. You don’t know me as an alpha, and you don’t know me as a person. Although I would never intentionally harm you, that’s just unsafe for you to invite me to stay here while you're horny as shit. Even with your pheromones suppressed, you still feel the effects of heat, and you’ll still behave like an omega. I don’t know that I have the self control to tell you no while you rub against my groin begging me to take you.”

“What do you mean? You pushed away my advances earlier when you used your pheromones on me.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t horny, and you weren’t touching anything below my belt. All you did was rub against my neck, trying to take my scent. Why do you think I stopped you there instead of trying to get more information out of you? I don’t trust myself to keep my hands off of you in that situation. You should never trust an alpha.”

That was a funny line coming from an alpha. It made me question his intentions. He was obviously including himself in the line, but why? Did he want something from me? Does he secretly want to take me? Despite trying to appear nice, does he really want to harm me? I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be scared of him if that’s how he felt about himself.

“I don’t get it.” I winned.

“Get what? All you need to know is alphas are dangerous. All of them regardless of how controlled they normally are. Any alpha can succumb to their subgender’s instincts whether they want to or not.”

“You’re telling me not to trust you, but why? Do you want to hurt me?”

“No, I don’t want to harm you, but if circumstances line up in just the wrong way, there’s no telling what I’m capable of doing. I don’t know if your omega has ever taken full control over you, but my alpha has taken over before. It’s scary. You lose everything you are. Your ideals and your morals no longer matter. All you can see is red, and all you can feel is the overwhelming desire to mate. It’s way worse than just being in rut. At least while in rut, I have control over my actions.”