Chapter 59

Mitch woke up cold, Scott's arms not around him like they should be. He pouted, sitting up a little. Scott was there of course, but his arms were clasped over his stomach in a comfortable position as he stared at the ceiling. Mitch tried to meet his eyes. "Scottie?" "Yes, baby?" "Are you okay?" Scott took a few moments to inhale deeply, before exhaling. "Yeah. I am, actually." "Promise?" Scott looked over at him finally, and held one hand up with his pinkie in the air. Mitch grinned widely, and scooted a little closer to link his finger with Scott's. Scott smoothly maneuvered, sliding his hand down to Mitch's wrist to pull Mitch's body into his own, before pecking his lips gently. Mitch giggled when he fell onto Scott's chest, but moved his hands to the sides of Scott's face before kissing him again. Scott slid his hand down to Mitch's lower back, and Mitch briefly thought about how big Scott's hand felt across the expanse of his back. Mitch pulled away to meet his eyes, smiling down at him, one hand on his chest now. "Hi." "Hey. How are you this morning, my angel?" "I'm... I'm okay." Scott sat up a little, face scrunched up a little in concern. "Why just 'okay'?" "I mean... Did you completely forget what happened yesterday?" "No. But that's no reason to be upset. We took the punishment, so what happened is done. And you, Mr. Sass Queen, are going to stop making Avi upset." "Just.. Answer me this; I'm supposed to be myself, aren't I? But Avi punishes me for being who I am, because it doesn't meet the Omega criteria. So, am I supposed to be Mitch, or Omega Mitch?" "Mitch, of course. But being who you are doesn't mean you have to lie to me, or give Avi attitude." "But why not? You can give Avi attitude. But I can't? Why?" "Because you're... It's complicated Mitch." "Why? Because you're an Alpha, and I'm not? So I'm not allowed to be who I am, because I'm not an Alpha?" "Even Alphas can't lie to everyone and give them attitude. When Avi used to snap at people all the time, we had to tell him to cool it because it's not okay. That's no different from what you're doing. If you truly want it to be equal between the Ranks, then you have to consider exempting the Alphas from their problems too." Mitch blinked at him a few times, processing it all, before he spoke. "But... It's still not equal. I can forgive Avi as many times as I want, but he will never be punished like the rest of us." "Well no. Because he has different obligations. In return for his leadership and protection, we respect him." "He doesn't protect us. You do." "That's not true. He fights just like I do, Mitch. You should be careful with what you say." "I just mean... If it came down to it, you'd be the one to fight out of whatever it is." Scott shifted a little. "Okay, I'm gonna say something to you that you're not going to like. And this isn't supposed to be rude, okay? Please don't take offense to it." "I don't like the sound of that." "I know. Just... Hear me out. If something ever happened, like... Really bad. Like the First Alpha thing... Avi would Lead us, with his tactical stuff and his quick decision making. I would be the one to fight anything off, Kevin would offer advice, as well as Todrick with outside information. Right?" "I mean... Yeah." "And then you and Kirstie would, just kind of..." "Are you calling me 'useless?' Or some kind of damsel in distress?" Mitch snapped, pushing himself away from Scott, to sit on the bed. "No, of course not!" He rushed out. "I just mean... If you're wondering how we justify the hierarchy, that's it. You're not useless or anything like that, Mitch. You're just... Not an Alpha. And not a Beta."