Chapter 155

Mitch and Scott stood awkwardly beside each other, Kirstie having left the room to take Grace out to the table for breakfast. Avi was sitting on the edge of the bed, with his face in his hands. "That didn't make any sense, Mitchell. Could you explain that once more?" Mitch took a deep breath. "He doesn't want babies. But he promised that we would eventually." Avi nodded slowly, still not looking at them. "Okay. Okay... I don't know about you, Mitchell. But today isn't eventually. He'll give you all the kids you could possibly want when he's ready. Y'all are both under 30 years old. Under 25, even. You have time to develop your relationship more before doing that." "But... He promised." "Peanut, if he's not ready, there's nothing you can do. No matter how much you try to talk him into it, he won't be ready until his brain decides that he is. Don't pressure him into it. You know he would never do that to you." Mitch pouted, looking over at Scott with a somewhat angry expression. Scott noticed and frowned at him. "I'm sor--" Avi snapped at him. "Don't you dare apologize. He should respect you enough to--" "I do respect him!" Mitch defended. "I just want--" "Did you just interrupt me?" Scott waved his hands at them, knowing this situation was only getting messier. "Everyone just shut up!" Mitch flinched, and glanced over at him, at the same time that Avi looked up. Scott looked to the floor, hands falling back to his sides. "I'm sorry for shouting... Just... Is this really worth arguing over?" Avi tried to help him, wanting him to stand up for himself. "You tell me. Or better yet; tell Mitchell." Scott turned to Mitch, fear dancing in his eyes. "I... I... I'm not ready, Mitchie. I know you are. And I know that as an Omega, you feel like your life will only have purpose once you're taking care of our pups." "That's not the problem. I just... I just want to know why." "Why what?" "Why aren't you ready?" "Because... Because you're my baby, Mitchie. You... Whether you know it or not... You demand a lot of attention. And now with Avi's attention being diverted because of Grace, he needs help with the Pack. And I'm next in line, so it's my responsibility to help out." "But that doesn't mean that you're not ready. That means the Pack isn't ready." "No, I'm not ready. I don't want a child, Mitch. Not yet." Mitch looked hurt by that statement. "But why? That's all I'm asking." "Because you're not ready either, Mitch. But you're too stubborn to see it, so I have to be the one to tell you." "I am too ready! That's my decision, not yours!" Scott turned to him fully. "No you're not. You--" "I just said I was!" "See? You're too stubborn. You demand attention all the time, and you have too much attitude. You expect me to treat you as an equal, but you don't treat me the same." "Are you kidding me? I have to call you 'Sir' and 'Alpha' all the time. It's demeaning, but I still do it because I try to treat you fairly." "No you don't. You rarely even call me those anymore. And even if you did it doesn't matter. I'm the one who does the chores, I'm the one who helps people out, I'm the one that gets you out of trouble, I'm the one--" "No you don't, that's so rude of you to say!" "You just interrupted me again. I never say anything about it, but do you see my point?" Mitch frowned at him. "I didn't mean to..." Avi shook his head slowly from the bed. "Mitchell.. You've interrupted both of us. I understand that the hierarchy is unfair. I get that. But I don't want you to just drop all of your manners. Especially not to Scott, when he works so unbelievably hard to take care of you." Mitch was offended by that, thinking Avi was implying that Scott did all the work, and Mitch did nothing. "God, you're such an assho--" Scott gasped and slapped a hand over Mitch's mouth. "Mitch, oh my God!" Avi raised an eyebrow at Mitch, and stood from where he was sitting slowly, in a threatening way. "I beg your pardon?" Scott moved to stand in front of Mitch, between the Lead and the Omega, and held his hands out toward Avi in defense. "He didn't mean it! It's my fault for yelling at him, and scattering his thoughts." Mitch wasn't about to let Scott take the fault for him though. Not this time, anyway. Mitch pushed past him to face Avi. "I called you an--" Scott hurried to put his hand back over Mitch's mouth, again trying to save him from trouble. "Mitch, don't! What are you doing?!" Mitch tried to ignore him again, shoving Scott away with all the strength he could muster. "Leave me alone!" When he turned back to Avi, Avi's eyes were dark red, hands at his sides clenched in fists. "I think you should listen to your Alpha over there. You're dangerously close to a punishment, Mitchell." Mitch put his hands on his hips, stubborn personality surfacing once again. "No. You listen to me, you arrogant, disrespect--" Scott tried for a final time to help, this time running over and biting Mitch's neck. Not on the Mark Spot, but just in a place to help Mitch's Omega instincts flare up. Mitch's eyes went blue in an instant, and his legs went weak, finding solitude in Scott's strong arms that were now holding him up. He managed to partially squeak out Scott's title, but it was an incomplete statement. Scott waited a moment, and then he drew away, first kissing the bite he'd left, and then giving Mitch a hug to help him stand up completely. Avi watched them, waiting for Mitch to come back to his senses. Mitch did, in a hurry. He turned to Avi quickly, still leaning on Scott for support, and blue eyes still shining. "O-Oh... I'm so sorry, Alpha.. I don't know what came over me..." "I'm willing to listen to whatever thoughts you felt the need to expel, but only if you can speak properly without screaming at me." Mitch nodded quickly. "Of course, Sir. I, um... I don't really know what we were talking about." "You were calling me an asshole." Avi reminded him lowly, his eyes slowly working on fading back to their normal color. "Oh... Right... Um... I didn't mean to say that, Sir... I just meant... I know that my Alpha doesn't stand up for himself around you... And I thought maybe I could say something to you instead of him trying to do it." "I see." Mitch didn't want to say anything else, figuring he'd said plenty. Scott continued to hold him up, wordlessly standing behind him, and kissing the wound he'd created every so often. He'd kind of hoped that with the strong Alpha healing genes he had, maybe if he kissed it enough, he could heal it. Though he doubted that something like that was actually possible. Avi was quiet for a moment or two, and then he spoke again. "Go eat breakfast. Mitchell, if this attitude persists, you and I will be having a confrontation. Is that clear?" "Yes, Sir." Mitch hesitated before speaking again. "I'm... Not getting a punishment for the things I said?" "No." Avi answered sharply. "Your Alpha was able to defuse your anger in the end, and that's all I was looking for." Mitch frowned, but nodded. "I'm sorry again, Sir." Avi just waved him off, wanting Mitch to think on it more before he was forgiven. Mitch slowly turned around to face Scott, his eyes full of tears. Scott frowned at him, not bringing it up until he'd helped Mitch walk out of the room, and then closed the door behind them. Scott hugged him again. "I'm sorry, baby. Does your neck hurt? I shouldn't have... Maybe I was too rough..." Mitch shook his head, one hand pressed against the wound as he hugged Scott right back. "No, it's not that... It actually doesn't hurt. You just... I'm sorry I got so out of hand. I thought I was protecting you.. I'm really sorry." "Aw, baby... I forgive you. The hierarchy is taking a toll on everyone. But we're gonna fix it, okay? It'll get better." Mitch nodded, pulling away from Scott. Scott brought one hand up to brush Mitch's hair out of his eyes, before he used both of his thumbs to wipe away stray tears on Mitch's face. "Don't cry, angel. We'll make a better world for our children to live in. Okay? That's what we'll strive for." "Okay." ***********