A/N: This is the second chapter in a double update. Did you read chapter 3? 

😉🐈‍⬛

POV: Luca Gray

My interview with Eli was on Monday. I wrote up my profile on him that night with all of my nervous energy as I processed the fact that I had found my alpha. I avoided my parents just in case I slipped up and told them. I was still processing the fact that I am going to be the Luna.

The next day, I reread and revised my profile, then sent it off to PPR. Now, it is Thursday, and I have spent the last couple of days balancing an inquisitive Alpha and dodging another blind date. How do we have this many single alphas in this one pack?

Eli has yet to say anything about us actually meeting up, but he has texted me every day. Just a simple "Good Morning" or "Good night" with an occasional question thrown in. It's kinda sweet, I think.

My mom told me last night that she wanted to arrange another outing with a "handsome alpha in finance." I told her I couldn't, but she wouldn't get off my back. I'm really trying to avoid it because even though I know if my parents push too hard, I will eventually have to give in, I am pretty sure Eli will be angry. I told my parents that one of my headaches seemed to be building up and that I was just going to avoid the outside world.

That didn't seem to work to my advantage, though.

"Luc!" Mom yelled as she came into my room. "Get dressed. We have guests coming in an hour."

I sat up in the little reading nest that I had been hiding in.

"Mom! What did you do?" I screeched.

Panic immediately went through me. No, No, No, No. How do I get out of this without having to risk getting immediately mated off to Eli?

"Luca, you will never find your mate hiding in the house." She snapped.

"Mom. I keep asking you to stop setting me up with alphas." I screamed, shuffling back and forth in my bedroom as I tried to come up with a plan.

This is a disaster.

"You are 23! It is past time you were mated. How is that not embarrassing to you?" Mother protested, further driving me mad.

Why, at 23, did I need to be mated off to some fucking alpha.

"Maybe because my life has never revolved around finding a mate, Mom. I am an omega, but this is a modern pack. I want to write. I want to work. Be my own person. If I am going to be with my mate I want it to be a mutual choice, not because the Goddess chose us and that, as an omega, I feel the uncontrollable need to jump on an alpha's dick." I snarked at her as I let out a huff of frustration.

She made a sour face, not liking what I said, but honestly, right now, I don't care.

She would never get it. She was a beta who ended up being mated to an alpha. She understood that alphas could be "hot". She grasped the theory of alpha and omega relationships. She refused to account for the fact that I might be different.

Mom loved being mated to an alpha who was a pack warrior. She couldn't imagine why I didn't want that for myself. My phone started buzzing. I looked down, and my eyes widened, but my mother took this distraction to end the conversation.

"Get dressed, Luca." She huffed angrily and walked out.

Fuck! I just stared at my phone until it went to voicemail, but he called again. Eli probably would keep calling, right? I took a deep breath before answering.

"Good evening, Alpha Eli," I said as sweetly as possible to cover my murderous mood.

"Luca, is everything alright?" He questioned.

"Yes, Alpha." I responded, "Everything is great." I chirped out.

Who was I kidding? I was stressed.

"Luca? I would prefer if you were honest with me." He said with disappointment. "We haven't completed the bond, but I can still sense when you are having strong emotions. You are panicking or at least anxious. Enough that I could tell. Is there something I can help you with? Are you safe?" He encouraged me with his low voice.

No, No. No, letting the Alpha soothe you right now, boy. The fact that I wanted to spill my soul had to be a mate bond thing. We are trying not to have an angry alpha. Don't fall into the Alpha voice. I can't believe my own emotions are betraying me.

"Yes, Eli. I'm safe." I assured him.

"But something is wrong?" Eli prompted.

"Well, it's definitely not right," I grumbled. "But I'll be okay, Eli. I can take care of myself." I tried my best to give off confidence.

"I'm sure you can. It's my job, though, to check in at the very least. You can call me if you change your mind." Eli suggested.

"Thank you, Alpha," I said softly.

"Good night, Omega." Ugh, Why?

I hung up the phone. Okay. In the time that I was on the phone with Alpha Blackwood, I did calm down.

I have a much better plan. I am definitely not staying here. First, I checked my planner. My heat was due, which made this scary, but a man's gotta do what a man has got to do, right?

While I gathered my stuff, shoving it into a bag, I turned off my phone's location sharing and the location setting on my browser. Then I arranged a rideshare to pick me up a few blocks away. That should give me enough time to get out and stop by the ATM to pull out the little bit of funds I'd saved from my allowance and scholarship.

Phone. Laptop. Chargers. Heat stuff.

Okay, good to go. I opened my bedroom door and listened. Everyone was distracted, so I quickly slipped out the door, quietly running down our building hallway.

I didn't even wait for the elevator. I just went straight down the stairs and left. It wasn't dark yet, so it was still warm and a lot less scary. I quickly made my way to the corner store the next block over and took out as much cash as it would let me. I met my car and let the driver take me to a random building downtown, and then I walked to a motel that I had seen when I was here last week.

The man at the front was not the nicest, but I had a room for the week. I dropped off my stuff, and as I headed back out to grab some food and such, my phone started going off. Back-to-back texts and calls from my mom and dad. I put my phone on silent and went into a shop I found. I grabbed some snacks and drinks to hold me through my upcoming heat. I would just lock myself in the room, and everything would be fine.

By the time I got back, I was exhausted. I showered and sat down with my tablet to read. At some point, my parents would have to learn that they can't just demand I do whatever they want.

~

I woke up the next morning and checked my phone. The last text from my parents was one from my mom berating me for embarrassing them, while my father was demanding that I tell him where I was because I wasn't with any of my friends. I saw a couple of concerned texts from my friends and quickly replied. I was about to check my email when my phone started going off. Eli's contact popped up.

First thing? I slide the little green bar to answer.

"Alpha Eli? Good-"

"Where the fuck are you?" He snarled through the phone.

I sat up, fear gripping me as I fought my omega to get it to stop reacting to our clearly displeased Alpha.

"How did you know I wasn't home?" I asked, slightly baffled.

"I am your pack Alpha. Of course, if a pack member disappears, especially an omega, someone is going to tell me. My Delta just reported it to me, but by the time your parents called it in, your scent apparently disappeared. Luca, I asked you if you needed help, and you said no." He said, exasperated.

"Did they happen to say why I left?" I asked.

"No," He paused. "They just complained that you are emotional and being irrational. Which Luca, this does seem to be a rather irrational choice."

I scoffed.

"So I guess you would have preferred me to be on another date?" I said snidely.

"Of course not! I would have preferred my mate to come to me if he needed help. I would prefer my mate home and safe." He said with a quiet growl.

"I was planning on moving out. I just hadn't told my parents yet. That's why I was trying to get a job, Eli." He sighed loudly, clearly frustrated by my choices.

"Luca, come stay at the pack house." He instructed.

"I can't," I said flatly as I registered the light cramps in my middle.

"Why?" He asked, rising frustration evident in his voice.

"You won't just accept that I can't, will you?"

"No." He snapped.

"My heat is starting," I mumbled out. Eli was silent for a moment, and then he let out a loud groan.

"Luca, where are you? You can't be out alone during your heat." He was exasperated at this point. I could imagine him sitting at his desk, pulling at his strands in frustration.

"I am not out. I got a motel room." I explained.

"Omega, you know exactly what I mean." He growled, even over the phone; it was a scary and very threatening sound.

"I would feel more comfortable here. Um, what if my heat- What if you-. I-" I stuttered until Eli cut me off.

"You are worried about the mate bond and your heat. You are worried about me?" He let out an angry sigh.

"Yes, Alpha," I said

"I understand that we are a long way off from that. I would take precautions." He tried to reassure, but there was just so much to this.

"But then my parents will figure out that you know me. Then they will figure out you are my mate. I'm not ready for that." I confessed.

"I am their Alpha. They can't make me do anything." He said gruffly.

"Everyone else will care that I am the Luna and not normal. My parents will keep pushing. The pack elders will get involved." I begged, causing Eli to let out another long and exhausted sigh.

"Fine. But let me know where you are. I'll send a couple of beta warriors to watch out for you. As soon as your heat breaks, tell me. I will be there so we can talk and figure out what we are going to do. The fact that you ran away from home and keep telling me you are concerned about your parents pushing into our relationship concerns me, Luca." I could hear the frustration, anger, and sincerity in his voice.

"I can do that, Eli," I replied.

"Do you need anything?" He asked

"Nope!"

"Okay. Okay. I'll leave you be, but call me if you need anything." He pushed.

"I will, Alpha." I hung up and laughed at his insistence.

Tumbling out of bed, I take a suppressant and pain pill to avoid the heat symptoms getting worse. I set up a pile of drinks and snacks on the bed and grabbed my laptop. I would write and sleep this heat away like I always do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, Bubbles and Butterflies,

 Drop comments to let me know what is confusing and what needs to be better.

If you have questions about asexuality, aromanticism, or mixed orientation relationships, drop a comment or find me on social media. I'll answer you back to the best of my ability. Please note that some of your questions may be answered on my socials as well. I won't use screen names if I post your question.

I will post on my Wattpad wall when the next chapter will be up. It depends on the Patreon schedule, but I should be able to get chapter five on Patreon by mid-June. Wattpad gets chapters at the earliest, one week after Patreon.