My Mate Is An Omega
Chapter 32

Lancaster POV

When I opened the door to the Alpha's office in the morning, I felt chills run down my spine. Everything was still so new and scary. It was hard to believe I would ever get used to it. I glanced over at Caitlyn who was standing right beside me, holding my hand. After our conversation last night, it was easier to notice her hesitation. We exchanged looks of reassurement before we both took a deep breath and walked in together.

I headed towards the black desk, feeling the wooden texture as I ran my fingers along the top. I had been here a few times in the past - mostly to get scolded - but it didn't look the same. It was one thing to visit this place as a simple Omega; never in my wildest dreams had I imagined it would one day belong to me. For the first time, I was actually taking in my surroundings, analyzing everything from the fancy diamond chandelier on the ceiling to the glistening black marble floor in hopes it would help me get acclimated. Even my mate, who had worked here for the past two months, was looking around as if it was her first time stepping inside this office.

"It's kinda weird, huh?" I chuckled nervously, catching her attention.

"It is." She smiled shyly in response.

"I honestly have no idea what to do," I confessed in a low voice, my gaze falling over the piles of papers on the desk.

"Me neither." She sighed, taking my hand in hers as she approached me. When her eyes locked on mine, I felt the desire to jump into those pools of sweet melting milk chocolate. "But we'll figure it out together."

It was impressive how she inspired so much confidence when she too was just apprehensive. She was my rock through the hardest moment of my life. She kept me going when I wanted to give up. As a gesture of my gratitude, I planted a soft kiss on the back of her hand before I sat down on the luxurious chair with her right by my side. A mate's touch was calming, much like their unique scent; I kept our fingers intertwined while I breathed in her tranquilizing fragrance to help me stay focused.

Deciding where to start was the most challenging part. There wasn't a lot I could do on my own yet, so I decided to finish reading some of the recent pack reports; I knew it was important for the Alpha to be aware of every single issue regarding the pack. I had already read tons of those, but they never seemed to end. It didn't help that they were written with a bunch of different terms and vocabulary I wasn't familiar with, which required me to stop and look for answers elsewhere. Meanwhile, Caitlyn was utterly absorbed in a book Sasha had lent her about etiquette. She hadn't asked for a position in power, but she was doing her best to serve Diamond Tempest well. I was so proud of her.

At some point, I felt her lightly pull on my hand, breaking my concentration. I immediately put the papers aside to look at her.

"Sasha is done helping Jasper for the morning. She said she can teach me now." Being the only ranked female in the entire pack, the Gamma's daughter offered to help my mate figure out her new Luna role. She had declined to take on the Delta position, but she was still working as hard as she could to assist us all. "Will you be fine here by yourself?"

"I'll try not to burn the office down," I joked, making her smile.

"Just link me if you need anything, okay?" She ran her fingers through my hair and I instinctively leaned into her touch.

"Okay. Good luck." Reluctantly, I let her go.

It was slightly more frightening being alone with the pressure of my own thoughts, but to my relief - or despair, as I would soon replace out - James walked through the door minutes after my mate left. I was surprised to see he was accompanied by Cordelia. Before I could even understand the reason behind their visit, the former Beta tossed two heavy books over my desk. Just as I opened my mouth to ask what was going on, the witch snapped her fingers; in the blink of an eye, another tall pile of books appeared in front of

me.

"What the hell?!" I widened my eyes at them. Although the older man tried to keep a straight face, I noticed he found the situation quite amusing.

"Now that you're the Alpha, you have a lot to learn. New leaders usually study for years before they assume the position, but we don't have much time. Read all of these as fast as you can." He gestured towards the dozens of books.

"You're kidding, right?" I looked at the workload in front of me in disbelief. I didn't think I had read this many books in my entire life. How did he expect me to do it in the span of a few days? Desperate, I turned to Cordelia. "Isn't there a spell or something you could use to magically make me learn everything?"

"Good try, wolfie, but no." The onyx-haired woman crossed her arms. "Magic always comes with a cost, and it isn't supposed to be used in vain. Even if I agreed to help you though, there are no unlimited knowledge spells."

James sat down on a chair in the corner of the room to... babysit me, I guess. It seems my list of responsibilities had just grown bigger. At this point, I honestly didn't know why I was still surprised. With a heavy sigh, I dove into the thousands of pages, ready to not come out for the entire afternoon.

It was definitely a lot of information to take in. I had never been the best student in school, and it showed; for the first hour, I had to read every paragraph two or three times to fully absorb the words. However, I eventually became so focused on it that I was flipping through the pages at an impressive speed - at least for me, it was impressive. Atlas helped me by shutting off our connection, which lowered outside stimulus werewolves were usually very perceptive of due to our heightened senses. I didn't even stop for lunch, eager to learn everything as fast as I could.

I probably would have kept going until nightfall, but my attention collapsed when something smacked me hard in the back of my head, almost causing me to hit the desk face-first. As soon as I lifted my gaze to look at my attacker, I found James standing right behind me.

"What was that for?!" The annoyance was evident in my tone.

"I have been calling you for the past minute. Thought you had gone deaf," he chided.

"Weren't there any more gentle ways in which you could have caught my attention?"

"Quit whining and get up." Even though I was the Alpha now, he still had more authority than me apparently. He walked towards the door, and before I could even ask where we were going, he went on. "Part two of your training starts now." Unwilling to get slapped a second time, I rose from my chair to follow the former Beta. When we stepped outside of the pack house, I was greeted by the blinding rays of the sun, which was low enough to get in my eyes. Judging by the way it was already casting shadows of the tall pine trees on the ground, I realized it should be around four. Did I really spend that much time reading? My stomach soon growled in agreement, making me regret my decision to skip the second meal of the day. "Hold your head up when you present yourself in front of the pack." James' stern voice quickly broke the silence. I had to blink a few times to understand what he meant. "If you don't portray yourself as a leader, no one will view you as one. You have to command respect." He elbowed me in the ribs, forcing me to straighten up my posture. "The wolves surrounding you aren't your fellow pack members anymore. They're people you need to lead. Werewolves can easily go feral because of our animal side, so for their own sake, you need to behave as a leader to keep them from becoming savages."

"It sounds easy when you put it like that." I scoffed, earning a glare from him. "How can I be someone they trust and want to follow when I have been nothing but an orphaned Omega for my entire life?"

"I'm afraid that's something you'll have to learn on your own, but you can start by not belittling yourself. Dario saw great qualities in you, so the least you can do is prove him right." James had never been very talkative, but ever since the attack, his words sounded so powerful.

As we strolled through the territory, he went on explaining how I should look at the lands I had grown up in from a different perspective. The trees, the grass, the houses, the wolves; I took the time to view my home through different lenses. It wasn't an easy task, especially when I had no perspective in life other than being a carefree soldier, but it all started to make sense as James taught me more about the pack's organization. There were so many intricate details I wasn't aware of, because I never had to notice them before.

At some point, he introduced the topic of alliances. Aside from reminding me of our current allies and enemies, he began to explain how inter-pack treaties worked. Considering I would be meeting with the Alpha of Ninebark Pack soon, I made sure to pay extra attention to him.

"Since you will be the one handling the negotiations, you must know exactly what you have to offer," the former Beta instructed. "Although Diamond Tempest is not among the largest packs in the country, Dario was a respected leader who inspired trust. He managed to make good deals with other Alphas despite not having a lot to offer." It was both impressive and scary to learn about how amazing our late leader was. Could I really be as great as he was? "For example, we have allies in the east who live near lakes and send us fish to supplement our food stock. We also used to have allies in the north who specialize in fighting. They helped us through many of our toughest battles."

"Used to? Why did they stop helping us?" I probed.

He sighed, looking down. "They weren't keen on getting involved with our bear problem. No one wants to start a fight with an enemy that's bigger and stronger." We both remained silent for a moment before he turned to me. "The point is, you don't have Dario's reputation.

"Wow. Very direct, isn't he?" Atlas scoffed.

"When the time to renew our treaties comes, you will have to replace a way to convince other leaders to keep their alliances with us. We need strengths, and at the moment, all we have are weaknesses."

Once we were done talking, I returned to my office to keep reading the books I had been assigned. However, I couldn't really focus; James' words were still echoing inside my head.

***

Caitlyn POV

"Lunas are also often in charge of event planning." The girl smiled brightly, flipping through the pages of some party magazine. "The Alpha and Luna ceremonies are usually separated, but considering how you both stepped in at the same time, I think it would be fitting to have them happen at the same night."

Sasha had been patiently teaching me the basics about being a Luna ever since I left Lance's office in the morning. Although Diamond Tempest hadn't had a Luna in a long time, she had great knowledge regarding the position due to her lineage. Apparently, females of ranked blood were prepared from a young age for the possibility of marrying an Alpha; it made sense, considering the Moon Goddess usually paired wolves of similar strength.

After lunch, she was confident I already knew everything I needed to, though I couldn't really agree with her. So, she introduced a subject she was clearly much more excited about - parties. She put the books and manuals aside to scatter a variety of magazines on the table. With everything that had been going on lately, I understood why she wanted a reason to get her mind off things and celebrate. However, the weight on my shoulders prevented me from feeling as thrilled as her over dresses and tablecloth.

"What do you think? Diamond Tempest's color scheme is light blue and gray, but we don't' have to stick to it." Sasha slid the magazine she had been holding across the table, allowing me to take a look at the dress she was pointing at. "I think you'll look amazing on this one!"

"I don't know. Isn't it a bit too revealing?" I sighed, looking away. "This is too hard."

"Yeah, picking the perfect dress takes time," she replied, oblivious to what I actually meant. "Don't worry though, we will surely be able to-"

"No, Sasha. I mean this whole Luna thing!" I threw my hands in the air. "Honestly, just the idea of being the center of attention scares me. I'm not even sure how a Luna should behave," I confessed shamefully.

To my surprise, the girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and arched an eyebrow at me. "You cannot be serious right now." When I didn't reply, she shook her head in disapproval. "Of course you do! You were already acting like one before all this."

I opened my mouth to argue with her, but then I heard Faye's voice inside my head. "She's not wrong, you know. You learned a lot about ruling a pack as the Alpha's assistant. The pack members came to you looking for guidance and help with their problems. Despite being an outsider and an Omega, you have earned everyone's trust."

Her words made something click inside my head. I couldn't help but remember the conversation I had with my mate right after one of the Kappas sought my assistance, and the Sunday when the female warriors voiced their concerns to me regarding training. All this time I thought I was just trying to fit in, which prevented me from truly understanding what I had become. Although I was merely an assistant, my work had been compared to that of a Delta, and my friends even called me a pack representative. Maybe I truly wasn't as unprepared as I thought; maybe I could be a Luna.

"I guess you're right," I finally said, both to Sasha and to Faye.

Once my insecurity was gone, I was able to concentrate on planning the ceremony. Although I wasn't a huge fan of partying, Sasha made me understand the importance of such events for a pack; they had to be officially introduced to their new leaders. After discussing the details, we agreed it would be best to hold the Alpha and Luna ceremony on the day following our return from Whistler.

By sunset, I returned to the office much more confident, ready to be reunited with my mate after a long day of work. Part of my joy vanished when I found him sitting on his chair with a troubled expression on his face. Judging by how he quickly lifted his head up when I walked in, he didn't seem too focused on the book he was reading.

"Tough day?" I asked him with a sympathetic smile. Through his tiredness, he managed to return the gesture.

"It was alright. I just realized I have much more to do than I initially thought." He sighed, massaging his temples. I slowly lowered myself beside him, brushing my lips against his forehead in an attempt to kiss his stress away.

"I will take care of the pack's basic needs so you can focus on the politics," I proposed, taking him by surprise. "How does that sound?"

"Amazing." The moment his smile lit up the room, I knew I had succeeded in making all of his troubles disappear. "You're amazing," he added, pulling me in for a kiss.