I walked with Dominick back to the hotel room. We’d both just endured being around my new mate’s over-excited pack. I could have left after the ceremony was over, but I knew these were my Omega’s last moments with his pack. He must have known we would be leaving, and because I didn’t want him to be miserable later on, I planned to give him as much time as he would need to say goodbye to his pack.

Dominick walked to my side and a step behind me. I thought he didn’t just want to walk beside me, until I remembered that he didn’t know where the hotel room even was.

Still… he seems to have a bit of an attitude. I sighed. They should have let me meet him before today. This might be easier if we’d at least met once before.

The thought was a fleeting one. I wasn’t exactly sad with what I got after all that suspenseful waiting.

I eyed my new mate out the corner of my eye, and felt my lips turn up in a smile. Dominick had his chin up and his nose in the air. His expression was cold and indifferent, his eyes hard, and besides when our eyes met after I caught him appraising me while he was walking down the aisle toward me, he hadn't looked at me at all. His expression hadn't changed since this morning, and I wondered if it was the only expression he had. His lips were flattened, and overall, he looked extremely like he was looking down at the entire ceremony.

Still, even though he looked like a snob, I had been wildly turned on since I first saw him, and my interest had only climbed up the more I stood near him, until I felt we’d stayed with the celebration for long enough. My scent had changed already, but I wondered if my little mate had even noticed.

I looked over the rest of him, feeling the heat rise in my body.

Dominick was of average height, which meant his head just about reached my shoulder. His body was a little thin, too, but that was pretty typical of Omegas. He had bright blond hair that he had styled on top of his head, and a sharp jaw. His eyes were a lovely green. He looked beautiful.

And he is all mine.

My lips spread into a wide grin before I controlled myself. I would be trying my best not to scare the poor boy away before we even had our first night together. I had a feeling it was going to be a night to remember for the both of us; I was going to make it so.

No matter Dominick’s stance on this whole marriage, I loved challenges, and I loved sex, and the mixture of the two was sure to be delicious.

“We’re here,” I said out loud, to get his attention and to distract myself.

There was a huge discrepancy between what I wanted and what I should do. I wanted to jump him the moment we found ourselves alone, but I wasn’t that tactless, or that pent up.

When I first found out about the wedding, I had completely let myself go, finding Omegas to sate my lust for the last time. I couldn’t say a thing against the wedding, even though I’d never met this Omega I was going to get married to. I was under pressure from my pack to take an Omega and branch out, and I had waited so long already, even I was getting tired. But I just didn’t like the Omegas offered to me, and I knew, for the sake of keeping my genes going, the pack would not allow me to remain unmated for the rest of my life, even if that was what I wanted in the end.

So, when I heard I was going to be in an arranged marriage with a lactating Omega from Juneau, I just went along with it. Shifters didn’t know the meaning of divorce, and only in extremely rare cases would the shifter council allow a divorce to happen, so this was definitely for life.

Surprisingly, though, I didn’t feel as restricted as I thought I would at the end of the ceremony. Maybe because I was actually looking forward to peeling back my little mate’s layers, literally, and metaphorically.

Dominick had come to a stop behind me, and I took a few steps forward as I pulled the key card from my pocket. I had been staying in this hotel for the past couple days, but this morning, I’d been handed a different card. I had a feeling I knew why, and while I was annoyed, I’d gone along with it like with everything else to do with this marriage so far.

Besides me letting him know we’d arrived at our room, Dominick and I hadn't spoken a word to each other yet. I didn’t even know what the Omega’s voice sounded like, because in the ceremony, he wasn’t obligated to say a single word. I wondered how he could stay mute for so long. I sort of preferred things like that for now, though. I hadn't wanted out first words to be shared on a stage in front of everyone to begin with.

I opened the door and stepped inside, Dominick following after me.

The room was dimly lit, but I could see perfectly. It was slightly bigger than the basic room I’d been staying in before, with some throwaway pieces of furniture and decoration, but the center of it was definitely the large bed right opposite the door. The whole place was decorated like a honeymoon suite. I sneered at the over the top decorations, then sighed as I closed the door behind us. Dominick seemed to stiffen up even further when he heard the click of the lock, and I arched an eyebrow his way that he didn’t see.

“Would you like some champagne?” I asked, spying a bottle left in a metal basin full of ice.

Dominick jumped a little at the sound of my voice, and I wondered if he was suddenly nervous.

I ignored him for the moment, or at least acted like I was. I couldn’t help being aware of him, his scent suddenly filling my nose. I picked up the bottle and opened it, then looked around for some glasses.

Dominick didn’t speak immediately, but after a long moment, I finally saw him open his mouth out the corner of my eyes.

“I…would,” he said simply.

I froze for a moment at the sound of his voice, before resuming my movements normally. I picked up the two glasses I found on a small table off to the side, and poured some champagne for the both of us. Then I brought his glass over to him. He stayed incredibly still, not looking up at all, and only moving his hand to take the glass from me. It wasn’t until I took some steps away that he took a sip of his drink, and I smirked.

No matter how cold he looked, he was still an Omega, and I could understand him being jittery around an Alpha he didn’t know, even if we were newlyweds. He remained standing, and I moved to sit on the bed, leaning back on one arm and watching him in interest.

“How old are you, Dominick?” I asked.

He looked young, but I knew no pack would hand over an Omega if they weren’t at least of legal age.

His movements stuttered as he drank his champagne, and it resulted in a clear drop of liquid dripping down the side of his mouth. He licked it away with his tongue, the wiped a finger on his chin. My eyes followed the movements, and I had to force back the growl that wanted to rise up in my throat. He might not have meant the movement to be seen that way, but it looked so fucking sexy I was ready to push him down right then and there.

Control yourself, John… don’t scare the Omega away.

“Um, I…it’s actually my eighteenth birthday today,” he admitted.

A shiver went down my spine at the sound of his voice, low and soft. Already, I was imagining having him under me and him calling my name in that voice, only breathier. Then his words sunk in, and I frowned.

“It’s your birthday today?”

He nodded his head stiffly.

Shit. The kid probably didn’t want to be forced to be married to a stranger on his birthday of all days. I couldn’t even hold his bad mood against him anymore, not that I had in the first place. And he was only eighteen. Fuck. Was there really a possibility of making any of this work? I could just go along with everything and force the kid to comply, but I knew there had to be understanding between us, or he would be miserable and slowly grow depressed. Depressed Omegas were dangerous to themselves and their young.

“Why don’t you come and sit down?” I asked.

His back straightened at that, and I sighed before getting off the bed. My instincts were pushing me to make my Omega comfortable. I moved a distance away from the bed, and waited. For a long, tense moment, there was no movement, but then Dominick went to sit down, finally.

“Now,” I muttered, swirling the champagne in my glass before swallowing it all down. “Why don’t you tell me what you want from this marriage, Dominick?”

“… Whatever my Alpha wishes.”

I scowled. It was the expected answer, which was why I knew it was the last thing he wanted to say. I wondered if someone had instructed him on how to act today, if anyone had let him know how things would be from now on, or if they just shoved him into this situation and expected him to fend for himself. Or, well, expected me to be able to guide him. I could have let them know I wasn’t that kind of Alpha. I was looking for a mate, not an Omega to babysit.

It was plain to see that Dominick didn’t like any of this. Most Omegas would be content having a good Alpha to look after them and give good genes to their young, but in the short time I’d spent around Dominick, I could tell he wasn’t that kind of Omega. And that meant it would be a headache trying to reassure him over anything to do with this marriage.

I wracked my brains for topics of conversation, figuring we had to talk at some point. I watched him sit there, all upright and proper with his glass held in his hands and head ducked down. He was the very image of unwillingness, and it felt vaguely like I was bullying a child. I ran a hand over my face and looked away from him.

Is this really going to be okay?

“Did you know that we’ll be leaving your pack soon?” I asked.

If he didn’t know, that would just be the icing on this shitty cake. I was pretty sure if I went to the council with a depressed Omega, they might allow for a divorce, but it was still a long shot. Besides, it was the Alpha’s job to look after his Omega. So if he was depressed, it was my job to take care of it. Even if I asked for a divorce for his sake, so he would stay in his home, I would be the one to face all the consequences, and they wouldn’t be minor.

“I’m aware,” Dominick said briskly, and just like that, relief was flowing through me. “You aren’t an Alpha from our pack, I knew I would have to leave with you to stay with your pack…my new pack.”

He said the words so matter-of-factly I really would have thought he didn’t care, if I hadn't seen the way he flattened his lips afterwards, or caught the distressed scent coming from him.

“I already have a home ready for us,” I started slowly. “It’s a bit of a distance away, so if you ever want to come back to visit, I would need to come with you, but I won’t forbid it.”

I paused and waited, but there was no reaction from him. I held back the urge to fidget and looked around and I thought of what else to day.

“I think you’ll like your new home. Well, it’s new for me, too, so I haven’t seen much of it. I used to live alone, but now that I’m going back mated, my pack helped build a house for me. It took about a month, or a little over, but we didn’t have to start from scratch since the plans have always been there, I guess, they were just waiting for the right time. I left when they were finishing it up, but…if there’s anything in it you’d like to change or something, just let me know, okay?”

I waited, and this time, Dominick nodded, but the movement looked stiff. I looked down at my empty glass and stepped closer. I didn’t miss how his whole body went tense, but I only picked up the bottle of champagne to pour more for myself. I held the bottle out to him and he shook his head, so I set it back down. Then, I backed away again.

This is going to be a disaster.

I looked at the pale drink in my glass with dissatisfaction. I wished we’d had a stronger drink around, or at least some beer. I wasn’t used to champagne, and I knew I wouldn’t get drunk even if I took the whole bottle. But then again, I didn’t need to be drunk. That would probably be the worst thing that could happen in this situation. We were going to go through this wedding night completely sober if any possible future was to be salvaged.

Maybe some separation would be good for the both of us, or so I figured. It wouldn’t be good to leave the room, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if there would be others waiting around to see if we would do the deed and consummate the marriage. The shifter side of the mating wouldn’t be complete, until the Omega went through their heat with the Alpha, and that should still be a while away. But consummation still had to happen tonight or I couldn’t leave with the Omega without a lot of noise from both our packs first.

It was so annoying, now that I was actually thinking about it. It was the day we met and we had to do the deed before things moved forward. Like I would try to get the marriage annulled if they didn’t make me go through this step. The annoying part, though, was that I was an adult and an Alpha at that, yet they wouldn’t just leave this to our discretion. I wondered if Dominick knew and that was why he was so nervous.

Dammit.

My eyes circled around the room, looking for inspiration, until I saw the extra door and assumed it was the bathroom. I wanted to rush in there, but then I paused and wondered to myself why it felt so much like I was running away. Alphas didn’t run away, though. Instead, I looked over at Dominick. It could be the perfect chance for him to collect himself, so why not let him have it, since he so obviously needed it even more than I did?

“Hey,” I called out. “Would you like to use the bathroom?”

Finally, he raised his head to look at me, and I caught the first change of expression on his face. There was surprise, followed by trepidation. I was no mind reader, but how could I not know what was going through his mind?

“You can go in by yourself,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “I even promise not to peek, but don't take too long, all right? I also want to go in.”

I hadn't seen him eat or drink a lot the whole day, but it would be better to get this out of the way first. Also, we would both benefit from a bit of alone time, even if it was only for a few minutes. I already knew I wasn't acting exactly like myself here.

Maybe because the responsibility is suddenly weighing on me?

I had known it was coming, but for more than thirty years, I had been responsible for no one but myself. Being a part of a pack meant you had to worry about the pack as a whole, but that was a different matter. I had family in the pack, too, but I couldn't say we were close. They would push for the pack's interests before mine, so I wasn't exactly heartbroken over it, either.

It was instinct for every Alpha to look after Omegas and treat them gently. This however didn't mean that every Alpha would act that way, even if it was expected. And thanks to all the integration with the humans, there were Omegas that didn't ascribe to the old views, either, and I didn’t know if Dominick was one of those types or not. And in the end, instincts were hard things to fight.

But now, I was married, and in the eyes of both my pack and Dominick’s, we were mated. This meant all responsibility over Dominick fell on me. And it was just a little frightening. Even worse, was knowing there would be people that would be waiting in the wings to see me fail. The same people that talked behind my back when I couldn’t find an Omega of my own and refused all the ones in our pack, so that the pack leaders had to look outside. it wasn’t like I was in line for succession, so I should have been allowed to deal with it on my own, but I knew bloodlines meant everything to shifters, and they wouldn’t allow mine to die out, whether I was cooperative or not.

The bathroom door opened, and pulled me out of my thoughts. Dominick rushed out and went back to his position, sitting at the edge of the bed. I looked at him for a moment, then walked slowly toward the bathroom. I didn’t actually need to use it, and just went to wash my hands, doing it as slow as possible to give myself more time.

When the hell did this get so stressful?

Wait…

What the fuck am I even doing?

Suddenly, I wanted to smack myself in the face. Why the hell was I hesitating? I knew what I had to do, and it wasn’t like I was against doing it. Dominick was a bit of a problem, but why the hell was I trying to coax him into accepting this union? It wasn’t going to happen in a few minutes, anyway. We both had to get used to it.

Besides, I knew myself very well, and I knew I wasn’t one to give out comfort, so why was I even trying? Clearly, it wasn’t fucking working. So I decided to stop, and looked at my determined expression in the mirror, then left the bathroom.

Dominick had his eyes on me the moment I walked back into the room, and I grinned tightly at him as I shrugged off my jacket and tossed it aside, then reached for my tie. He was already sitting upright, but it looked like his spine straightened even further when he saw me starting to take my clothes off.

“What are you doing?” he asked, a bit of stress in his voice, but still managing to sound indifferent. His scent grew even thicker in the air.

“You don’t have to talk to me, Dominick,” I said with a slow smile. “You clearly don’t want to. But we are married now, and it’s my husbandly right to have you right now. Do you object?”

His hands, lying on the bed to either side of his thighs tightened into fists, clenching in the silk red sheets. But, he didn’t say anything.

“I don’t expect it to be quick, either,” I said warningly. “Don’t worry, I’m doing this for the sake of your rights, too, so don’t worry.”

Dominick’s eyebrows twitched, but it was only for a second. My body was heating up, preparing, and my own Alpha scent was growing thick and heavy in the air. Dominick’s body couldn’t help reacting, and the resulting musk that was a result of both our scents mixing in the air made me feel excited. Dominick probably wanted to keep his mask on, but I could see his face start to flush a light pink. It was obviously getting to him as well.

“Also,” I continued, my voice low and growly. “I happen to know an interesting little tidbit about lactating shifter Omegas. They’re special in that they don’t always have to wait for a heat to cycle around—one look at an Alpha in all his full-blown glory, and they’ll come begging, wet and ready.”

Dominick looked slightly alarmed, even as his mouth parted so he could take in deeper, panting breaths. My inner Alpha could only growl and tremble in excited triumph.

I had been thinking way too much before. I was supposed to guide Dominick for this part, so where was the point in waiting? As long as I could please the Omega, our future was secure.