Ashton's POV:
Sage's heat hasn't been as terrible as I feared it would.
The scent was addicting and I felt turned on the entire time, but I was able to tone it down and focus on the sensual piece of our relationship. It got bad during the peak, when Sage whined, begged, and cried for me to have sex with him, but I turned him down.
He was upset and tried to hide in the corner of the room and be mad, but he gave up after a few minutes and got back in bed and demanded I hold him to help the pain go away.
Sage is pretty demanding in general, and it increased tenfold during his heat. He was grabby and clingy, which definitely appealed to my inner Alpha but I was worried I'd going too far with him. Thankfully, Sage still processed that I wasn't ready to go too far and had some sweet, loving moments as well.
Such as right now.
He's reaching the end, and I believe today should be his last day that we're trapped in his room. However, there's still some heat scent and Sage is pretty tired so he's asleep against my chest, looking completely at peace. His shiny blond hair is soft and clean because Sage was desperate to take a shower last night. Apparently his Omega brain demands that he be clean and well presented for me.
I could care less; my hair is gross and shaggy and is in desperate need of maintenance. I'm in no place to judge Sage if he gets a little greasy during a heat. It happens and it's a vulnerable period of time for him, similar to my rut.
The idea of having a rut terrifies me, especially now that I have my mate. Even though I have great control over myself, I'm terrified it'll be even more powerful and that I could hurt my mate. At my old pack, when we showed signs of rut, we were locked in an isolated room because no one was allowed around the Omegas except for the leaders. It was painful but I was thankful they separated us because I remember losing consciousness at times and I don't know if I was actually passed out or still awake and mentally dissociated.
Thankfully, ruts only happen twice a year whereas heats are four times a year, so my next one is hopefully about four or five months away.
Sage moves his face a bit and groans. He moves a lot in his sleep, and it's pretty cute because most of the time it's just to get closer to me or to get more comfortable in my arms.
He really is amazing.
I press my nose to Sage's forehead and leave a kiss there.
We haven't kissed on the lips yet or been super intimate except for the period of heat, but I know my walls are slowly falling down and I'm not trying to rebuild them.
I'm so happy to have finally found my place and it is with my strong, beautiful mate. Even if I can't show him how much I care yet because I'm a bit unsure of myself, I know I will get there and Sage has been nothing but supportive of me.
He shifts again and his eyes flutter open. "Good morning," he says, smiling up at me.
"Good morning," I respond, sitting up and making Sage whine and try to get me to lay back down. "You skipped dinner last night so you have to eat breakfast this morning."
Sage groans. "Fuck food," he grovels, trying to pull me closer to him, but I manage to get away and stand beside the bed. "I'm in heat, I deserve affection."
"You're at the end of heat. You'll be okay for ten minutes while I get you food."
Sage gets out of bed and grabs a shirt and throws it to me. "Wear this if you go downstairs. And I'm going with you," he says, cutting me off before I can tell him he should stay in bed. "My heat is basically done. The only thing left is the scent, but no one is going to bother me."
I'm wary, so I take Sage's hand in my own in order to keep him by my side. There's definitely a cocky smirk on his face when I do so and we go downstairs to find Alder and Hazel working on breakfast.
"You're up and moving?" Alder asks, and I know the question has a lot to do with how broken up and in pain Sage was when his heat started four days ago.
Sage sits down at the counter. "Yes, and I'm perfectly fine. The pain is pretty much gone and all that's left is the scent," he says proudly as I go get a plate and fill it with food for Sage.
During his heat, he's been very against having his own plate and makes sure I eat off of his plate when he does. Now, I'm not entirely sure that logic will apply today, but I'll just go with it because he's still experiencing heat traces.
As I thought, once I sit down, Sage immediately stabs a piece of sausage with his fork and takes a bite before feeding the rest to me. I feel my face warm up when I see Alder and Hazel watching us with fond smiles, but Sage doesn't pay any attention and continues to feed himself and me.
"Come on, we have to go get dressed," Sage says, looking at the clock.
It's only nine, so I don't know why he wants to get dressed.
"What for?" I ask as Sage puts our plate in the sink and scrubs it really quick before he puts it on the drying rack.
Sage scoffs. "I have training at nine thirty! You're coming with me, but you don't have to train."
"Sage, you still smell like heat," I say.
I'm personally against the idea of letting my mate go out while smelling like heat, especially with all of the Alphas in this pack. Of course, I know Sage can easily defend himself, but it still scares me after seeing Omegas taken advantage of for years.
"I'll be fine," Sage says, putting on a T-shirt and tight sweatpants. "Besides, it's hand to hand, not wolf form today."
"Still... Sage, I don't like this," I state, my voice firmer than usual.
Sage grabs my hands and looks into my eyes. "You'll be with me the whole time, Ashton. I'm not in danger, I promise you."
"If you are... how am I supposed to protect you?"
"You go to training and learn how to protect yourself and then you'll be able to protect me. It's a safe, controlled environment," Sage says soothingly, standing up taller and kissing my cheek. "Trust me, I don't go out unless I feel completely confident that I'm safe. Your fear is valid and understandable, but I promise you that everything is going to work out."
It soothes my worries a bit, but my inner Alpha is still annoyed that we're going out where others will be able to catch our mate's scent. As Sage grabs me some clothes, reminding me that we need to find some that will fit me better because all of his sweats are a little short on me, I start scenting him again.
It's something I've become very fond of doing and I know Sage really appreciates because it makes him feel safe and he likes affection.
"You may be quiet and not openly possessive, but that was a pretty claim-y action, Ash."
"Sorry."
I'm not actually sorry.
Sage giggles, the sound making me feel warm inside. "No, it's comforting. And pretty cute. I like it," he says, before shoving the clothes in my arms. "Now get some daytime clothes on. We have training!"
I'm nervous to train with other wolves, especially since I don't want to run into Ethan. I don't like him and with Sage coming out of heat, I'm scared he'll say something rude to my mate or challenge me again and I don't really want to put up with him right now.
I push through it and we head to the clearing where Zach is training and Ronaldo is there as well, which I hadn't anticipated.
"It's been a while!" Ronaldo says, hugging me and pulling me away from Sage. "How have you been, Ash?"
I hug him back before retreating to Sage's side, where he's counting the people who have arrived. "I've been good... I'd heard you'd been training to be a warrior. How's that been?"
"Amazing! It's nice to be able to protect myself and I've only been working with them for a few weeks. Zach has been running sessions while Sage was in heat, and he says I have a natural talent for it."
I'm genuinely happy for him and soon enough, Sage is pairing us off to start practicing hand to hand.
I'm paired up with Zach so he can guide me, as Sage knows that I won't be able to fight him because I'll worry too much about hurting him. Sage can differentiate between practice and an actual fight, so he'd be fine to fight me, but I appreciate him separating us.
Zach is very slow with me, showing me different techniques before we start fighting.
"Good, make sure to protect your stomach. A punch to the back or arm won't slow you down as much as a punch to the gut."
I hum, but my eyes keep finding Sage, who is battling an Alpha twice his size.
Zach's fist finds my gut and I snarl. "I thought you were paying attention!" he exclaims, before glancing over to where I'm looking. "Sage is our head warrior. He'll be fine."
The Alpha tackles him and pins Sage down.
I ignore Zach and go shove the Alpha off of Sage, growling the whole time. Of course, being the fool I am, I didn't notice that Sage was about to kick him off and gain the upper hand, so his foot finds my arm and has enough force to knock me over.
"What are you doing?!" Sage demands, glaring at me.
"He tackled you," I mumble, glaring at the bitch of an Alpha who attacked my mate.
Sage pulls me up. "It's a practice," he says, helping up the Alpha who seems confused by my reaction, but he doesn't challenge me. "He's not hurting me."
I growl when the other Alpha gets up before I cover my mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't try to do that."
"It's alright," the other Alpha responds, and Sage grabs my arm. "Zach, can I train with you?"
"No, you'll keep training with me. Ashton, take a walk so you can relax a bit," he tells me, looking mostly frustrated and a little annoyed.
I stalk off, walking into the woods where the leaves have started to turn different shades of brown, yellow, and orange. I take in the scenery and walk for fifteen minutes before I come across a girl laying down on a blanket on the ground.
"Are you alright?" I ask, making her jump and look up at me. "Sorry to bother you."
She looks vaguely familiar and I can tell that we recognize each other at the same time. "You're one of the Alphas who took me to that pack, aren't you?" she asks, but she doesn't get defensive.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, a lump forming in my throat. "I swear, I didn't want to."
"I know. You guys were victims the same way myself and the other Omegas were," she says sweetly. "I'm Ainsley."
I sit on the log across from her. "Ashton."
"I forgive you, Ashton. So do the other Omegas," Ainsley says, looking up at the cloudy sky. "We're safe now and we know that, and we know you didn't make the choice."
"I still feel terrible," I tell Ainsley.
She sighs. "Come on, Ashton. You didn't want to hurt us and now you're protecting this pack with the future Alpha. We know you're a good guy who's been through some tough things you didn't expect to go through. We forgive you, so try to move on with us. Do it for the Omegas and Alphas who couldn't escape."
"Ashton!" I hear Sage call through the woods.
I turn and see him jogging toward me.
"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You've been gone longer than I expected," Sage says, hugging me and waving at Ainsley. "I recognize you... Annie?"
"Ainsley," she corrects. "Nice to see you feeling better, Alpha."
Sage chuckles. "Future Alpha. And I'm all good, just need to get Ashton back to the training field so we can try again."
He doesn't seem annoyed anymore, so that makes me happy.
"Have fun," Ainsley says, waving. "We all forgive you, Ashton."
"Thank you," I say, smiling at her.
I will try to heal, like Ainsley said, for the ones who didn't escape.
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