Holly Ch. 08

MK is getting ready for their double date. She's naturally a little nervous to meet new people, being an introvert. Tonight will be special: It's her mate's best friend/boss and his wife. She's sure she'll like them. Damian had sounded nice enough on the phone for the three seconds she'd heard him speak and, more importantly, she trusts Holly's judgment when it comes to people.

This leads her to a sticky question she'll have to resolve: If she trusts his choices in people and he chose her, does that mean she thinks she's good enough for him? That borders on pride, which is a sin. Then again, not having enough of it will fuck everything up between them. She gazes into her own eyes in her bathroom mirror. 'Do you deserve an Alpha like him?' she asks herself. After a long pause, she decides it's okay to think she does if she always works to make him happy and be the best partner she's capable of being. Part of that means taking care to look attractive, especially when they're going out.

MK pats a product called "Bright Eyes" onto her lids and the lavender shadows under her lower lashes. When you've put your body through as much as she has, there is a tendency to look tired even when you feel wide awake. The tired look makes people uncomfortable because they assume it's a chore to be around them instead of resting. She needs to make Holly's friends comfortable, especially if they've never met an omega (to their knowledge). She knows already that they are the only A/o couple they know. MK wonders if they might be nervous, too, in which case she's touched at the invitation. At least they aren't the type of betas who'd expect them to start humping each other in the restaurant.

She finishes her makeup to achieve a modern, natural look, then adds a little more because it's evening and she always underdoes it. Now she must decide something else: How much of her legs should she show? The prosthetic doesn't stop her from wearing short skirts if she feels like it. As for people with an aversion to amputees, normally she says 'fuck 'em,' but these are Holly's friends. She decides to dress and then ask him if it would be better to cover up more to avoid unnecessary awkward moments.

At the top of the stairs, she meets Holly coming up. He's likely on his way into the shower because he's dirty from outside chores. Why does he look so good with some dirt smudged on his high cheekbones? It effortlessly works as well as the pigments she's blended into her face like a first-year painting student. She grins down at him.

"Thank you so much for doing all that. I'm very grateful," she tells him.

"Thank you for... this," he replies with a sweeping gesture up and down her body that finishes, beguiled, in his hair. "You look great. I just wanna rub my face all over you to scent-mark you."

This is something A/os do to show sappy affection; they bunt like cats to mark each other with their hidden facial scent glands. It's the equivalent of betas who walk with their hands in each other's back pockets, or some such PDA that makes all those not in love want to gag.

"I'd better wash up before I stain that outfit, angel."

She does look angelic in a winter-white angora sweater with a cable-knit stocking to match. Her metal prosthetic gleams from under an understated short skirt and disappears into a fashionable boot that's also practical for walking in slush. She hits the mark for an upscale cafe in a small town on Saturday night. Like most of her kind, she eschews mass-produced objects in favor of something handmade and meant to last indefinitely. Most A/os develop their own kind of uniform in the way that they have a personal scent. Trendy, disposable clothes and spray-on perfumes are part of betas' alienating culture.

"So you don't want me to cover up the amputation?" she asks, just to be sure.

"Never. I wouldn't be close with people who'd be uncomfortable with that. They live in the real world where shit happens. They're easy to be around, especially for betas."

"Okay. I guess I'm just nervous. I know some people think I'm a weirdo and I don't want to seem abnormal to them."

"You are abnormal. You're a Queen," he says as he slowly climbs the stairs. When he passes her, they both hold their breath; now is not the time to be inhaling each other's pheromones if they are going to be punctual.

Holly trots down the stairs a few minutes later. If he looked hot a little dirty, then he's gorgeous scrubbed clean. His hair is wet-dark and pushed back behind his ears. Tonight's warm enough to go out like that, for an A/o, at least. He's got his uniform, too: all black, but a dressier version than his workday clothes. The fit is enticing to his mate; the trousers hang from his sharp hipbones, his shirt clings a bit to his sculptural shoulders.

"You look great, Alpha," she says, trying unsuccessfully to keep the sex out of her voice. When he grunts in response, she's not sure if it's an inability to take the compliment or frustration that he has to be someplace other than inside his omega. MK is suddenly intensely horny. She takes a deep breath to interrupt the shallow breathing of arousal. She realizes she has to change her panties again before they leave and excuses herself to go to the bathroom. 'And I thought I was supposed to be the empathic one,' she thinks when she catches Holly's cute hint of a smile like he knows the real reason she hurries back upstairs.

Holly opens the passenger door for her when they approach his truck. He does it naturally in a way guys tend not to do anymore if they do it at all. Their first drive together gives MK butterflies. She's always found riding in a car with a man driving to be exciting. In the way some women say they like to watch a man dance because of what it suggests about how he'll use his body, MK enjoys watching them drive. Holly doesn't disappoint; his big hands shift gears and steer with easy mastery. When he slows to a stop in the middle of the rural road, MK looks as surprised as the deer that eventually moseys across.

"How did you see her there?" she asks.

"I was looking. If you don't slow down for them, they jump into your headlights. It's a fuckin' mess."

"Have you ever hit one?"

"Yeah. It was all mangled, poor thing was in pain. I did a dumb thing-I got out and broke its neck to put it out of its misery. They're pretty, but they're dangerous when they're frightened and injured like that. Now I keep a gun in the truck in case that happens again."

"Can you eat them if you kill one by accident like that?" she asks, curious to learn everything about who he is outside of their lotusland.

"You could if you were starving. I think the fear and pain ruin the taste of the meat. When I hunt, they don't know what hit them."

Her kind carnivore... MK wonders if she just fell a little more in love. He's not even bragging; the hunting skill is just an Alpha trait. He already knows she'd be aware of this, even having lived mostly separated from their kind.

It's a beautiful night and they drive the rest of the way sharing silence. Holly's not talkative and will have to pace himself to make it through even a dinner he wants to attend.

When they drive into town, MK feels as though she's seeing it for the first time. It glimmers in an almost hallucinatory way. This, she takes in stride. She didn't grow up here and only familiarized herself with it in the most cursory way before deciding to buy property in the area. What had seemed like a rash decision now made perfect sense: Her mate was here and now that they've found each other the world looks magical for more than the Christmas lights on the charming brick buildings.

"It's pretty here. Do you think so?" she asks.

"Uh-huh. I've been through a lot of small towns and this one has character. It is pretty," he replies.

Their destination is at the end of a long, intermittently dark street. The River Street Cafe does overlook the waterway and is surrounded by parked cars. It's the kind of place that shows up in the Sunday sections of metropolitan papers. Holly parks and shuts off the engine.

"Do you need a minute?" he asks.

"No. Why?"

"You told me you get carsick. I was just wondering if you need some fresh air before we head in."

"That's so sweet that you remember that. But I don't get sick in the front seat. I'm extremely hungry! I hope they're eaters."

"Oh, you're in good company. Those two can put it away. And you order anything ya want. I mean it-this is on me."

MK can tell by his tone this is important to him. "I won't fight you on that. This time. I do have martial arts training," she jokes.

They will have to talk about money, she realizes, annoyed to even think about it. She met Holly as her tenant who was going to pay rent to her. She doesn't need it and certainly doesn't expect it from her Master. She can tell by something in his voice when he says he'll get dinner that he knows this and that it doesn't sit entirely well with his need to take care of her. So yes, when he wants to buy her things she'll accept it graciously.

They step out into the evening. Their noses twitch as they take in the mild stench of river water and the freshness of winter air. Holly takes her hand in his and they float together towards the entrance with the grace of A/os in their true nature.

Off to the side of the door, MK spots an uncommonly tall, biker-type with a wry smile. Next to him is a statuesque woman who makes him look even taller by standing a few inches shorter. Her leather jacket is cut to fit around her stacked figure. With apple cheeks and natural blond hair, MK would bet money she grew up on a midwestern farm. They both light up when they see Holly and give him the friendliest waves. MK feels her guard lower right away, just a touch.

They each embrace Holly like they truly adore him, which makes perfect sense to MK. When one is in love like she is, it's easy to imagine the sun rises only because it wants to see their beloved.

When Holly releases Elle to step back after an appropriate-length hug with another man's woman, she captures his face in brightly manicured hands.

"Holly, you're glowing! You're absolutely glowing. Isn't he, honey?" she asks Damian, who just chuckles at how his wife embarrasses their shy friend.

Holly shrugs. "I just had my first proper breeding cycle and it was about fuckin' time, so yeah, I feel excellent. This is MK, my omega."

After a second to recover from a rare taste of A/o bluntness, Elle offers her hand to MK. She has a solid, kind-natured handshake. She seems aware that when MK returns it, she's not just mirroring friendliness, but reading her through her skin. Holly sees it. "MK's an old A/o, so she's got psychic defenses. She can't help it, but don't worry, she ain't reading your mind."

"That's what you think," MK jokes and, to her relief, the betas laugh. "All I could read was that I'm safe, which is pretty much all that little trick is for. Also, I think you left the stove on."

"Seriously?!" Elle asks.

"Yeah, sorry to be a downer."

Elle looks at her quizzically. "Let's see if you're right."

She takes her phone from her handbag and calls home. "Di, can you do me a big favor and check the stove? I think I left it on." She waits a few seconds. "Really. Oh shit. Well, thank you, kiddo. Enjoy your movie."

The betas look fairly astonished. "I've never met an omega... that I know of. It's not on purpose! Let me know if I ask too many questions, okay?" Elle asks.

MK smiles sweetly. "I'm sure you won't. I mean, it's okay if you do. I don't meet many A/os, myself. I've led a sheltered life and that's good, I guess. I mean what if I'd bonded to an Alpha and then met Holly? That would be tragic."

"Well, I don't have to be like you to know you've got a good one. We've hoped Holly would find the right person. I mean, it's got to be hard to find, looking for someone that specific," Elle says.

"It would be. Maybe it helped that neither of us was trying," Holly says.

"Your daughter is A/o, is that right?" MK asks Elle.

"She's my step-daughter, but yeah, she's our Alpha girl," she beams.

MK squeezes Holly's hand with emotion. "Even though I'm omega and she's Alpha, it's all the more reason you should ask us anything," MK offers sincerely.

Damian looks truly touched. Holly rewards MK for the big points she's scored with him already by rubbing the corner of his mouth against her cheek. It's almost a kiss, but just a bit different, like most things about A/os. Most public things, at least. Private things between mates can be downright strange, even to them.

"Di was disappointed to miss this tonight. She misses her uncle Holly. But she's a good kid and understood the grown-ups desperately needed a break. She's babysitting her sisters," Damian explains.

"Well, you'll have to come over to our place for dinner sometime soon. You can bring your brood," MK says. At her choice of word, Holly makes a little rumbling sound in his throat. It means he's pleased she's openly A/o while she's out with him and his friends. That's good because she thought perhaps she was laying it on a little thick. MK asks herself what word she'd usually use for family and finds she can't remember.

The hostess calls their name and they head inside to follow her to a nice window table in the back. The guys take the seats facing out with a view of the room, as men do, and the women are happy to look at the moon and the stars... the world outside is also pretty to look at.

"Have you been here before?" Elle asks the new couple. "Daim calls it a 'chick restaurant,' but he knows I like it here... and I need a good glass of wine after being Mommy all the time for a week."

"I don't mind this place, I just think I ordered the wrong thing. I'll steer clear of the specials. I hadn't eaten all day and then didn't hear what the girl was saying, so I just said, 'I'll have that.'" Damian shudders at the memory.

"Oh no. What was it?" Holly asks. Elle rolls her eyes.

"I thought she said it was calamari, which I like when it's breaded and fried. This was naked tentacles all jiggly on a plate. It didn't look like something that should go in my mouth."

It's the first time MK has seen Holly trying not to laugh. She finds it impossible not to smile when they shoot each other a glance. Damian picks up on this. "What did I say?" he asks, observing them curiously.

The A/os have a second of nonverbal conversation like old friends can do. Holly's request is asked and answered with subtle shrugs.

"Naked tentacles are delicious to an Alpha... if he's into females, that is. It's something that goes in my mouth as often as she'll let me."

MK lowers her chin and shakes her head with a demure smile.

"Shit, Holly, that must have sounded obscene to you guys. Sorry, MK."

"You're fine. It was funny. We do have a sense of humor about sex," she calmly replies.

Elle has paused her study of the wine list. "Wait-you mean, that's real? I always thought it was a myth only ignorant betas believed. More fool me. Maybe you could help me give our daughter The Talk. I thought we survived the beta facts of life talk. I was all proud of us and it wasn't even the right talk!" she laughs.

"Um, sure. Maybe she should get to know me a little first to see if she'll feel comfortable. The only anatomical differences from betas that someone could see are, uh, in the bathing suit areas," MK explains, amused at her own clunky vocabulary. "If she's a female Alpha her parts are different from mine... less calamari," she jokes.

"I am so sorry," Damian repeats.

"It's fine, man. She ain't upset," Holly smoothes. "You can see the scent glands if you look close, but she's right, the only obvious A/o parts are down below."

Damian studies his friend's beautiful face he loves to see almost every day. "Where am I looking? I don't see anything."

"Here," Holly says. He sneers his upper lip and tilts his head back a little. Damian leans his long frame forward to see the holes in the corners of the upper lip. They are similar to the holes in a venomous snake's fangs.

"Cool. I never would have seen that."

"Course not, with your view from above everybody else," Holly chuckles. "MK is an old omega, which means she's retained all the genetic differences. She's got a cool row of these under her arms," Holly says proudly. MK thinks it's a cute (if odd) reason to brag about one's partner.

MK turns to Elle, "It's also not a myth that A/o sex is very gooey. I know people sometimes mean it in a disparaging way when they refer to the slime and stuff, but it's actually true. We're wired to love it and it's nice not to have to stand in line at the store to buy tubes of the stuff."

Elle's apple cheek shines licentiously. "We don't need to buy that stuff either," she whispers loud enough for the boys to hear. The females grin at each other. MK raises her ice water in a half-toast to her new friend before taking a sip to cool her blush.

"Oh, it's bad luck to toast with water. Should we get a bottle?" Elle asks. "Damian agreed to be the designated driver, so he won't have more than a glass."

"Me too," Holly says, and my omega can't drink."

From the way that Holly looks at his mate, it's hard not to interpret it as a pregnancy announcement, which leaves the betas puzzled as they attempt the math in their heads.

"Are congratulations in order?" Damian asks.

MK can see her Alpha doesn't quite realize what's just happened, so she helps out. "Holly means I don't drink because I've got just a little scrap of a liver left, but I'm also pregnant, so you may congratulate us. It wasn't hard to do, though. A newly bonded pair in heat sheltering at home together is the recipe for pups."

Holly smiles with completely relaxed satisfaction. "Damian, you have no idea what it was like to finally have an omega take care of me during that time."

"I can only imagine. I always felt bad you had to suffer. It didn't seem right... or healthy," his friend sympathizes.

MK finds herself sitting up straight from more than the metal rods in her spine. Her head is held high with her tresses braided up in a crooked crown. When they figure out what they'll order to start and Elle suggests the A/os make sure to eat enough because they look thin, MK feels a flash of indignation, like she'd been accused of not feeding her man properly. Though it hardly registered on her face, Hollis speaks up. "MK is an amazing cook. I ain't been fed so well in years. It's just that the breeding... it burns up all the stored fat and it's hard to want to stop to eat until you're starving."

"Boy, that sounds awful," Elle says sarcastically. "Super fat loss from great sex. Being A/o doesn't sound so bad at all!"

"You know I like you on the thicker side," Damian tells her. "You were bigger when you caught my eye, so don't forget it."

MK decides she likes these two betas, especially as a set. They're sweet together.

The group orders six starters for four people to share, calamari not among them. Perusing the menu makes MK feel beyond certain she's knocked up. She wants to eat everything with a kind of passion that's nearly sexual. She's also mildly nauseated at the same time. Before their food arrives, Elle decides on a girls' trip to the ladies' room. 'Maybe she can hold my hair,' MK thinks as they make their way through the noisy restaurant.

In the pleasant, multiperson restroom, MK runs a paper towel under cool water and dabs the back of her neck, under her jaw, the inside of her forearms.

"Is it your first time?" Elle asks like a concerned sister.

"Yeah, I never bred before. I'm used to dealing with symptoms, though. I usually smoke a little medical pot. With pups on board, I'll have to tough it out. I've been through worse."