Chapter 19 Tattoo

Third Person's POV 

Thaddeus rolls his eyes at Xander and Abigail when he glances over and sees the two making lovey-dovey eyes at each other. A moment later, Xander buries his face in Abigail's neck, and she giggles. 

The Alpha's attention is drawn back to Marcus, who talked to him through the link. The commander tells Thaddeus about his conversation with Alpha Michael after Abigail's little stunt. 

Michael said he's noticed an increase in scouts along his borders in the past two days. This information is alarming and puts Thaddeus on edge. His body tenses, and Zeus comes to the surface. 

“We need to talk about this later. I don't want to get upset in front of Aiden.” Thaddeus said, and Marcus nodded his head in understanding. 

Thaddeus looks at Aiden, but his demeanor is different. He doesn't seem to be eating, just pushing food around on his plate. The Alpha wasn't sure what changed, but he could see something was bothering Aiden. 

Thaddeus reached over and placed his hand on the Omega's knee, gently squeezing it. Aiden lifted his head and looked at Thaddeus as the Alpha rubbed his knee with his thumb. 

“Are you okay?” Thaddeus asked quietly. 

“Yes,” Aiden replied with a soft smile.

The Omega looked back down at his plate for a moment before glancing around the table. His eyes landed on Xander and Abigail and remained there. He watched his sister and Xander together. He saw how comfortable they were with each other, how they laughed, flirted, and nuzzled each other. It was surprising for the Omega. They had just met today, only a few hours ago, and they're acting like they've known each other for a while. 

Aiden steals a glance at Thaddeus and then quickly looks down at his plate again. The Omega wants the same thing with Thaddeus. Every time he's near him, he feels a strange sensation. A pull toward Thaddeus that seems to get stronger each day. 

Aiden wondered if Thaddeus felt it too. He wondered if the Alpha felt the desire to be near him the way he does. He wondered if it bothered Thaddeus when they're not close, the way it bothers him. Or maybe Thaddeus doesn't see him like that. Maybe Thaddeus doesn't want him as a mate. Maybe he is disappointed to find out he's stuck with someone like him. Aiden thought. 

The Omega had never thought about having a mate before. His Alpha always said no one would want him, that he was too pathetic and no better than the dirt on the floor. The Omega assumed he would not have one, or they would reject him. 

Aiden played with his fingers and nibbled on his lip until it hurt. His thoughts run wild, and his heart aches at the thought of Thaddeus not wanting him. Aiden closes his eyes, trying to calm himself. He slowly opens his eyes and turns his head to look at Thaddeus. When he sees the Alpha isn't looking at him, Aiden takes the opportunity to get a good look at him. He admires his hair. It's long and wavy. It reaches past his shoulders. His eyes moved to the Alpha's face, and he spotted his nose ring. He looks at his facial hair. It's a little longer than he's used to seeing, but it's not too long. It's just right. Aiden spots a hoop earring in his ear that matches the one in his nose. He hadn't noticed it before. But with the Alpha's hair pushed back behind his shoulder, it's giving him a good view of things he hasn't noticed before, like the tattoo that wraps around his neck and disappears under his shirt. It reappears on his arms where his sleeves stop around the bulging muscle in his shirt. The tattoo goes down his arm and over the back of his hand. It even goes down his fingers, almost to the nails. 

Aiden's eyes move back to the tattoo on his neck. He's never seen it this close before. He's so close their arms are almost touching, allowing the Omega to see every little intricate detail of his tattoos. His eyes follow every little curve and sharp corner. He's not sure what the tattoo is, but he loves it. Aiden finds himself wanting to touch it, to run his fingers along every line and every edge. He wants to feel Thaddeus's skin under his fingertips. 

Aiden snaps out of it and realizes his finger is barely an inch away from Thaddeus's neck. He was reaching out to touch Thaddeus but didn't even realize it. Aiden quickly yanks his hand back and places it in his lap as he looks down. He feels the heat in his face and knows it must be bright red. He can feel the heat all the way to the tip of his ears. 

‘I can't believe I almost touched him!’ The Omega thought, wondering if the Alpha saw him. ‘How could he not?’ Aiden thought. ‘Maybe he didn't see me. Maybe he wasn't paying attention.’

Aiden gave Thaddeus a sideways glance and was relieved when he saw the Alpha taking a bite and wasn't paying any attention to him. ‘Oh, thank Goddess!’ Aiden thought… But what Aiden doesn't know is that Thaddeus did see him. He just didn't turn to look at him. The Alpha didn't want to scare Aiden or embarrass him. 

When Thaddeus was eating, he sensed the Omega looking at him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Aiden glancing at him every now and then. Aiden's stare became so intense the Alpha could almost feel his eyes on him. The Alpha was intrigued and wondered what the Omega was looking at. Thaddeus tried to look at Aiden without turning his head. He saw the Omega's hand lifting from his lap and slowly reaching toward him. The Omega's long, slender fingers extend as they inch closer to his neck. Thaddeus's breath hitched, and his heart raced in his chest. The anticipation of Aiden touching him was almost too much. He couldn't wait to feel the Omega's fingers on his neck. Unfortunately, his fingers never reached their destination. He saw the Omega's eyes widen as he quickly yanked his hand back and looked into his lap. 

Thaddeus could hear Aiden's heart pounding in his chest, letting the Alpha know just how scared Aiden was. The Alpha pretends he didn't notice. After a few minutes, the Alpha hears Aiden's heartbeat slow down, and he continues eating. 

Everything was fine until dessert came. Unfortunately, Abigail wasn't the only one in love with Grace's Boston cream pie. As soon as Aiden took a bite, the creamy sweetness exploded in his mouth. It was so delicious the Omega couldn't help but close his eyes and moan.

Thaddeus's body instantly tensed at the beautiful sound that came from the Omega. Just when the Alpha began to relax, Aiden took another bite. The Omega's eyes slowly closed, and when the sweet cream touched his tongue, he moaned. 

The Alpha's body tensed again, and a growl rose from his chest. Aiden was surprised the growl didn't scare him. Instead, he felt his face heat up, and he looked down. Somehow, that growl sounded different to Aiden. It wasn't threatening. It held a different meaning that sent a shiver down the Omega's back and caused him to blush.