Alpha Assignment (GL) Chapter 2 (Early Access) (Patreon)

“You don’t want me, Alpha?”

It stung her chest, prickling at the knot that had formed there when she had made the decision to walk in. To reject the omega with nowhere else to go.

“It’s not-” Quinn floundered for the right words. Gentle words. She sighed and scrubbed a hand across her forehead. “It’s not that I don’t want you, Remi. I don’t want a pack, and I don’t need someone wiping my arse for me.” Remi’s button nose wrinkled a little at the suggestion, but she didn’t interrupt. “This isn’t about you personally, I just really like being left to my own life.”

“Oh. I understand." But her head had drooped further. At no point had she been able to make eye contact with Quinn, but now her face seemed locked parallel with the floor. The half-ponytail at the top of her head pointed straight at Quinn, almost accusatory. The shorter hair that sprung from the base of her skull fanned out around her neck in up-turned flicks. "I’m sorry to have bothered you, Alpha." She peeked at Isaac, a wobbling fear in her eyes. "Where will I go now?”

“I-” Quinn started, then glanced at the men. The slimy one shrugged gleefully. The remorseful one’s frown deepened and he dropped his eyes to the floor, too. “I don’t know."

“Oh.”

Oh, it hurt. It wasn't even a wolf bond. It was simply searing guilt burning through Quinn's insides.

“But..." Regret was already looming at the back of her skull as the word fell out of her mouth, it multiplied at the spark of hope that perked Isaac up into perfect posture. Emotional decisions were poor decisions. Quinn knew better than to make a choice while upset or weary or... angry. It was anger she felt fuelling her guilt. Anger at the Assembly for putting her and this innocent omega in this uncomfortable position. It was neither of their faults, but only she had options. Remi didn't get a choice, so it was Quinn's responsibility to make the right one for her. "You’re welcome to stay here until the Assembly finds you a pack.”

Everyone in the room, bar Quinn, visibly brightened.

“We’ll do our very best, Alpha,” Greasy Graham assured.

If Quinn wasn't well aware of the power the Assembly held, she would have throttled him right there in her kitchen. After sending Remi out of the room, of course.

Instead, she let them leave, alive and well and smug.

Although the men had been gone for a good few minutes, Remi remained stuck to the same spot in the centre of the kitchen’s wooden floor, hugging the suitcase she’d clearly outgrown in age but not stature. It had a cartoon doll printed on the front, and a lot of wear and tear everywhere else. The soft flicks in the tied-back portion of hair atop her head seemed to shiver by themselves. A tight tension holding her limbs locked in place. Everything about her set off something primal in Quinn’s brain. Although her most pressing urge was to run the little thing a warm and sweetly-scented bath.

With how desperately she was holding onto her luggage, a flash of doubt hit Quinn that maybe Remi wasn’t as grown as she appeared. Omegas were always small, from birth to adulthood. But their bodies developed the same as everyone else - scaled down to match their height. Remi had the curves and chest of a woman, but body language that echoed a much lower age.

Isaac, the sad and desperate rep, had left a large sealed envelope on the hallway side table as he was leaving, and Quinn figured it was a file of information about Remi. She didn’t intend to read it.

Quinn pulled up a stool by the island that broke the room into two. She gestured with one hand for Remi to do the same. "How old are you?" she asked.

The suitcase was finally relinquished to the floor and Remi approached the stool at the other end of the island, giving Quinn a wide berth. She had to climb the seat, and it pinched Quinn's cheeks with a smile she struggled to restrain. It had been a long time since she had seen an omega in real life, and her pack never had one as a member, so it was usually from afar at multi-pack gatherings. Quinn wondered if enough exposure would dampen the instincts that were bubbling from the deep. The desire to coddle the little omega and squeeze her close and-

"I'm twenty-three, Alpha."

Quinn blinked the slight blur from her vision. And this was another reason why she hated to interact with others of her kind. Those instincts and urges clawed their way back. Bringing with them a wave of hopelessness at how her time in the human world hadn't allowed her true nature to rust and crumble away.

"We're quite close in age, then,” said Quinn. “I'm twenty-six."

Remi nodded politely.

An awkward silence sat between them atop the island.

Quinn cleared her throat gently, but she still noticed a jolt in Remi at the sound. "You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but when I was part of a pack we never had an omega in our house long-term, so I'll need you to tell me if you have any… omega-specific needs."

"Yes, Alpha."

Quinn cringed, but did her best not to show her feelings to Remi. It wouldn't help the small woman's visible nerves. "Remi, you don't need to call me that."

Remi squirmed under her gaze awkwardly.

“What’s wrong?”

Remi hesitated. Quinn watched her with what she hoped was a patient expression.

“Alphas don’t usually call omegas by their names,” she mumbled.

“I don’t abide by traditional pack rules, Remi.”

Remi stared away at the wall above the sink. Although all the tiles were identical, perfect white squares, she glued her eyes to them as though they were art that needed a long look to understand.

Quinn sighed again. “Does it make you uncomfortable when I use your name?”

Remi nodded at the tiles.

“Okay. I might just try not to call you anything at all, then," Quinn huffed. A small flare of anger bursting through, like the flick of a lighter. "Because calling another person by the title of a demeaning role of servitude makes my stomach turn.”

Remi’s mouth dipped into a pouty frown, and her eyes continued to stare into the distance. Her side profile was lit by the setting sun filtering through the kitchen window, in a deep orange that suited her beautifully. Her skin seemed to glow despite her dark expression. Quinn was momentarily mesmerised by the stubborn creature she had agreed to temporarily take care of. She sighed.

“But, if I must… under totally necessary conditions… maybe… I can call you by that word,” Quinn relented, weary already.

Remi spun on the stool and her smile magnified the brightness of the sun's farewell colours ten-fold. “Thank you, Alpha." For a moment, their eyes actually met. Then they reverted immediately back to their default location of anywhere-but-Quinn's-face.

“If you could pay me the same respect and not call me that, I’d appreciate it.”

“Yes, Al- ma’am.”

“My name is Quinn.”

Remi’s brows trembled above round eyes pointed at Quinn’s chest, pleading like a puppy dog. She wouldn't outright disagree with her, Quinn could tell, but she was begging to be allowed to cling to some semblance of her old life. And Quinn couldn't fault her for that... It was the Assembly's fault. As far as Quinn was concerned, everything was.

Quinn released her third sigh in as many minutes.

"Have you eaten dinner?" she asked tiredly.

"Yes, Alpha."

"Good. I think an early night would do us good. Let me show you the guest bedroom."

The guest bedroom that has never seen a guest, she added in her head.