I decided to tell him what’s on his plate starting with the bacon. I pick up a piece from my plate and hold it in front of his face which makes him look up at it and me smile. “This.” I start “is bacon.” When he still looked confused, I continued “bacon is made from pigs or um” I was now unsure how to explain what a pig was because he looked even more confused when I said the name. I pulled out my phone and google translate. “A uh swen” I know I butchered that, but my embarrassment doesn’t last when I see the boy is laughing at me.  

“You mean a schwein!” He laughs, and I scratch my neck and laugh a little with him. When he settles, he says “I have had that before but rarely.” He points to the hashbrowns “and this?”  

“That’s called hashbrowns it’s just shredded potatoes.” 

He nods in acknowledgement “and this?” he points to his scrambled eggs poking it with his finger and grimacing. 

“Those are scrambled eggs” he nods and then picks up a piece of bacon and takes a bite “how is it?” his eyes brighten but he lowers his eyes again. 

“It’s good...” He mumbles while nibbling on his bacon. I was glad he was eating. I was really worried when I saw his food was untouched last night.  

I stood and took my plate to the sink washing it off “today I want to help you settle in” I glance back for a response, but he doesn’t even glance up as he finishes his food leaving his eggs untouched. “You know before I take you to the doctor to for your check up.”  

His head pops up “Alpha may I ask a question?” I sigh baby steps. 

I pick up his plate for him “go ahead”  

His voice shook “Is it a requirement in your pack that omegas stay pure till mating? He struggled with the question, and I was shocked when I looked back at him. 

“No of course not.” my stupid hand instinctively reaches out to him which makes him flinch and me silently berate myself. I compose myself “Listen Emil I don’t know what they did in your old pack but this one isn’t like that one at all. You have nothing to be afraid of but it’s okay to be warry. If you have any questions just ask, I’m happy to answer them.” I wanted to feel as if he had permission to ask his questions just in case, he thought he couldn’t before.  

Emil nods slowly but still looked hesitant, so I decided to ask a question of my own that had been weighing on my mind “How do you speak such good English?”  

He smiles at this question as if he is proud that I find his English good “the alphas and other dominant wolves in my pack see talking to humans as beneath them so they have the omegas do it for them. Since most people in Germany speak English and a lot of tourists wind up on our territory, we are taught English to tell them to go away.” he shakes his head “however that means most dominant wolves in the pack only speak German, but our Alpha and his heir speak many languages in order to communicate with packs in other countries.” 

I burst into laughter spooking the omega making him tilt his head with wide eyes “did I say something funny?” 

I shake my head “no I just” I catch my breath a bit “that’s the most I’ve heard you talk, and you seem passionate about it. You talk like a historian and it’s amusing” I end with a smile to the very confused Emil.  

He shakes himself changing the subject “do you have a mate?” 

I sigh “no, no one yet” that leaves us in a silence. Not exactly awkward but filled with an underlying meaning. I jab my finger to the couch “wanna go talk in the living room?” He nods softly and we change settings. 

Emil

I didn’t understand why but I wanted to tell him everything. To open up to him. It felt like I could trust him. I wished my wolf would help me confirm this trust but as has been the case for a long time my wolf lay silent. 

He answered my questions about his pack not hesitating on any of them. I have never spoken so much in my life. Even the few times I was told to speak to humans it was only a few words and telling them they needed to leave. I had never been allowed to leave pack territory and very rarely was any omega allowed outside of the compound that was called the pack house.  

He asked me no questions in return for answering mine and I appreciated that. In time if he proved trustworthy maybe I would tell him things but for now I need to adjust to life in this strange pack. After telling me that we were going to go for a walk later with his friends he went to his room and I to mine.  

I got busy nesting and making things comfortable. Rubbing my scent on the blankets and putting them where they fit. When I got to the one the alpha gave me this morning, I found myself burying my face in it. My wolf stirred for the first time in a while at the smell of the alpha, so I put the blanket next to my pillow.  

I wanted to take a nap, but I couldn’t stop thinking about my friends back home. All the omegas had to stay together. The only people we were really allowed to speak to were each other. Most were either paired off with a dominant or killed for being faulty. I was lucky. One of the alpha’s sons, a beta, was supposed to be mated to a foreign alpha’s daughter and had to send letters to her. He didn’t want to, so he told me to be her pen pal and keep her happy. Even after the engagement was called off, he still let me speak to her. 

Never had I dreamed I would have been able to escape my pack. Not unless it was through death. 

*** 

I woke up a while later feeling hot, and my mouth was dry, so I got up and went to the kitchen for water. Grabbing a glass, I was suddenly worried I wasn’t allowed to do such a thing so my anxiety getting the better of me I crept to the end of the hall and knocked on the door. It was open and my knocking opened it more, so I pushed it the rest of the way open. I was hit first by the smell of the alpha. It made me want to rub myself all over his floors to add my scent to it. My wolf was now fully awake in my mind and was keen on the alpha lying sprawled on his back in his bed with the absence of a shirt. I blushed at the sight of the big alpha suddenly realizing how dangerous it was to me to be there so before he woke up, I slowly closed the door and went back to my room. 

Andy

Mate was all my wolf said when the warm smell of candied apples entered my room. I was awake instantly but I layed still listening to my wolf begging to be next to him. When I heard the door close my wolf growled at me for my failure, but I relaxed. I knew there was something special about this omega, but I had hoped it wasn’t this. He has obviously been through a lot and didn’t need a huge alpha pouncing on him saying they’re mates. He knew fated mates were a thing, but this was no happy moment for him like it would be for anyone else. Instead, it was painful because he knew that it would take a while to get close to Emil and for him to truly trust him.  

I didn’t even know if he felt the bond yet or if he had rejected it himself. I must be patient.  

It was then that I vowed to myself that until Emil felt the bond too, I would protect him. Once he was ready, I would be there and then they could be together until then I would remain there for him doing anything and everything, he needs to be happy. I will wait for him. As long as it takes.