Chapter 30

"I will be fine." Eli giggled when Alec pouted as he leaned down to kiss him. Eli eagerly returned the kiss and brought him closer unable to help the smile that appeared on his face. When they finally broke it off, his cheeks were dusted with pink as he smiled up at his ridiculous mate. "Seriously, I am just going to the nearby city. I'll be gone for less than a day."

"But you'll be so far away."

"One hour away, Alec." He reminded already bracing himself for another kiss before he gently pushed Alec away and laughed at how silly he was being. "Come on, I'll be late. Cassie's waiting for me."

Not looking too happy about the prospect of his mate going away, albeit temporarily, Alec huffed looking defeated.

"Be careful out there, alright?"

Eli couldn't help but roll his eyes. This wasn't his first time going somewhere, and he spent eighteen years of his life without an overprotective boyfriend making sure he's safe. He was sure he was going to be fine. It wasn't like he was going into someplace dangerous. In fact, the most dangerous thing right now is the sad look he was getting from Alec who was a hair away from dropping everything and coming along with him.

As much as he loved his gorgeous alpha, he didn't really want him there. This was an omegas only outing and no alphas were invited.

Not even his mate.

Well, with the exception of one alpha, but he didn't count.

"Don't worry about a thing, Cassie's mate will be there, too." He reassured Alec who begrudgingly nodded his head. Cassie's mate was going to be nearby just in case something happened, and also to make Alec and his parents more willing to let him have a day for himself without them there, other than that it'll just be him and Cassie. A whole day with just omegas.

By the time Eli was waving goodbye at him, Alec was pouting as he sadly watched him leave. Frankly Eli thought he was being silly. He'll soon forget about him once he gets busy with pack affairs.

Eli almost bounced to the car eager to go.

"You're really excited for this, aren't you?" Cassie giggled as he nodded his head and he all but jumped into the backseat greeting Cassie's mate as he did so.

The drive there was fun since Liam, Cassie's mate, was never short of interesting topic to talk about. There was also the playful banter between the two – which Eli found to be cute – and it made him want to have the familiarity and comfort Liam and Cassie had with Alec and himself.

It was like having a peek of what their future might be, and so far he loved it.

There was never a dull moment on the way there, and Eli found himself already exiting the car and looking at taller buildings while breathing in polluted air making him grimace a bit. It was so busy and so noisy that it took a moment for his sensitive senses to adjust, but once they did he found himself looking around awestruck.

There were so many humans around. It was the most he had ever seen.

"There's a place I need to show you." Cassie told him grabbing him by his wrist and dragging him someplace while Liam waved them off and left them so they could go on with their day.

Eli was curious to know where Cassie was taking him, but somehow he followed her without asking any questions only to find himself standing right in front of a pharmacy. They walked inside and there was a tall young woman standing behind the counter greeting them.

Cassie produced a piece of paper giving it to the pharmacist and she looked confused because of it it before she turned around went to the back asking for her colleague.

It only took a few moments for an older, definitely non-human, woman to appear before she stopped in her tracks looking at the two of them in amusement. "That's the first time I see you two here." She told them approaching the counter giving them a friendly smile. "Who is it for?"

Cassie gestured at Eli. "They're for him."

"Not every day I see an omega. Rough heats?" The wolf pharmacist asked leaning forwards still maintaining her friendly manner as she held the paper in her hand and studied him. "You look young. Did they start recently?"

"Yeah." Eli blinked nodding his head before the pharmacist sighed.

"I do have the meds, but they're reserved for someone else unfortunately. I can order more for you and you can pick them up next week. That sound good?"

Cassie kind of expected that and shrugged in acceptance, but Eli frowned unable to contain his curiosity.

"Who are you reserving them for? Another omega?"

The pharmacist grinned at him as she handed him the paper understanding his interest since omegas are so rare. "These meds are specifically made for omegas, so yes. I would say so." She then placed a box filled with a few small needles and pushed it towards him. "You can use these for now. They're less effective, but should make a sudden heat easier to handle."

Grateful for anything, Eli took them already feeling like things will be much smoother with Cassie's help. "I'll come see you next week, then." He told her with a smile, and she nodded at him already planning on placing the order for him once they left.

The moment they stepped outside, Cassie gave him a mischievous smile.

"Liam and I have a date planned," She told him all of the sudden as he followed her looking puzzled. The thought of being a third wheel wasn't appealing at all, but what she said next surprised him. "We'll pick you up later at ten. I'll text you the place."

He stopped in his tracks looking horrified. "You're leaving me?"

That made Cassie giggle finding the whole thing amusing. "You know I wouldn't just leave you like that without a good reason." She told him stopping at a coffee shop before peering at the people inside and let out a fake gasp. "I cannot believe my eyes. That's an amazing coincidence."

The tone of her voice was extremely fake making it obvious that she wasn't surprised at all at whatever 'coincidence' she was referring to. Wondering what she had planned, he gave her a suspicious look before he decided to walk inside and see for himself.

Cassie didn't follow him as she waved in a sing-song voice clearly leaving once he went in. "Have fun."

When Eli walked in and listened to the bell jingle as he did, his breath almost caught in his throat when his eyes fell on a very familiar figure.

He all but ran towards the table where Ari sat at, waiting, and couldn't help the smile breaking out on his face. "You're here!" He said pulling up a chair as Ari smile up at him. "You're actually here, hi! Hello. How are you?"

His excitement was palpable as Ari's smile grew wider.

"I missed you." Ari told him so honestly it made Eli bite his bottom lip still unable to believe that he was there talking freely with Ari. His excitement was barely contained and it showed. "Things have been so hard lately; I am just happy to see you."

Eli's face softened at that.

"Yeah, things have been awful lately." He agreed awkwardly looking down at the table remembering how Alec and the rest were treating Ari because of him. "I feel like I ruined everything in your life by just coming here."

Ari kicked him from under the table letting out a chuckle as he did so. He genuinely seemed unperturbed. "Don't be ridiculous. Nothing that ever happened is your fault. Besides, we got Cassie on our side now."

If only Eli knew that he needed to work a lot harder than that to become a real problem in Ari's life. It was already a mess to begin with.

"That's true." Eli smiled feeling grateful for Cassie before nervousness crept in at the sudden realization. "I think this is the first time we've been truly alone like this."

Although he was ecstatic that he was with Ari right now, his mind couldn't help but wander back to Alec and how furious he'd be if he somehow knew that he was with Ari all alone like this. Anything could happen if Eli suddenly got his heat, and he had a feeling that his needles won't be of much help. If Ari lost control, it would be a disaster.

He felt so guilty going behind Alec like this.

After all, Rowan, who was a mated beta, barely lasted fifteen minutes before she succumbed to the effects of the pheromones he was emanating during his heat. Ari was an unmated beta which means that he'd lose his senses even faster than that. Maybe it wasn't wise for him to go along with this…

But when Ari gave him one of his beautiful smiles and took his hand in his looking at him with his beautiful hazel eyes, Eli melted. Any guilt and nervousness he felt vaporized along with any reasonable doubts he had moments ago. They really shouldn't be touching comfortably like this.

Yet Eli found himself squeezing Ari's hand while the latter proceeded to pull him up from his seat.

"Let's go out. It's not every day we can hang out like this."

And Eli nodded his head feeling out of breath and excited. "Yeah, okay."