Chapter 9

Allie wanted to dance, move along to the music with the people in the living room but her head was hurting. The pumping music wasn't helping either. Seriously who asked her to drink so much? The omega was pretty sure she would wake up with a bump in the morning. How grand! This party hadn't turned out how she expected it to. It wasn't bad, perse, just that Allie felt a bit like dying.

As she was contemplating to vanish to somewhere else, just for the hell of it because Nate was dragging her around as he owned her. His grip around her wrist tightened as they passed through the group of Alphas, eyeing her. The omega ignored them for the sake of her pounding headache, looking around for familiar face.

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Rachel approaching her, looking far soberer than she had when Allie had last seen her, eyes less befuddled.

"There you go," Nate said, pushing Allie towards Rachel and making her stumble, all without reason. He was so annoying, honestly. "Rachel, get her out of here and give your friend something for her head. She hit herself in the bathroom."

Because of you!

Allie scoffed. "Why don't you fuck off!"

"Allie" Her roommate gasped, eyes wide.

The Alpha, on the other hand, was not at all bothered by her crass mouth. Instead, he leaned forward and smiled at her. Teeth and all. "Is that your polite way of thanking me?"

"No" Allie blinked her lashes at him.

"You wound me; beta" Nate clutched at his chest.

"That's the plan exactly."

"Aren't you—"

Rachel loudly cleared her throat, nudging her friend in the process. "If I may interrupt your weird flirting we should go now, Allie."

And this, finally, made her give up. It was sobering her like a punch to the face. Allie glanced around only to realise that its late at night and some of them already started filtering out. The omega swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat.

"Let's go, Rach," She quietly mumbled, gaze lowered and feeling more defeated than ever.

"I can drop you both to the hostel" The Alpha offered. Why would he want to do that? Unless he planned something which Allie would not fall for. She's better than that.

"Thanks for the offer. We will manage" Rachel politely smiled. Her friend didn't hesitate, only stepped closer to the omega and wound an arm around her shoulders, guiding her out the front door gently.

Neither of them offered a goodbye to Nate, and when Allie dared to throw one last glance over her shoulder, he was already staring at her. She quickly turned around and started walking.

***

The next morning while sitting in the lecture, she dreaded the thought of her afternoon's dance practice. Her legs were jiggling restlessly, and the girl sitting in front of her had thrown her several annoyed glances already for it. Allie couldn't care less. The omega was knackered, her head still hurt from the blow she had taken on the party night and her heart was beating somewhere in her guts, erratically, making her nauseous.

As she stepped out of the lecture hall after an excruciating two hours of learning about the attention span in psychology, she had nothing in mind but the need to catch another few hours of sleep before practice. Of course, that's when someone stumbled into her, sending her books almost crashing to the ground. Also the stranger managed to save it in the last minute.

He looked familiar, but she was unable to place him. The guy had so incessantly stared at her throughout the time she started walking from the class. And now, standing in front of her, the beta looked so damn pleased.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," He apologised, but it didn't sound at all sincere. The beta was smiling.

Allie nodded, ready to leave the guy behind when she was held back by a hand around her upper arm. The omega was a second away from furiously hissing at the Beta. How was it that people always felt entitled to touch her?

"You're Allie, right? I have seen you in the field with Ashton several times. I remember your face," He continued, and she hid her eye roll. Most of them are on the field because it's the most open and secluded university area. Allie wanted to scoff, but she bit her tongue.

Instead, she replied as politely as she could. "I am, yeah. Sorry, but I don't recognise you."

"No worries. I wouldn't blame you. I know there are many students in that field every day but you just — you stand out. You're lovely" He grinned at her.

Was that supposed to impress her? She refrained from rolling her eyes.

"Thanks ... I guess," She mumbled, desperate to get away from him already. The omega hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder and let her eyes roam the almost cleared out corridor. Where was everyone?

"Hey, I'm Ben, by the way. I am also a part of the football team." The beta, Ben apparently, held out his hand for her to shake. Umm...who does that? Hesitant, she bought up her hand, and she did, even though Allie rather would walk away from this.

"Nice to meet you," She said, reluctantly. "Hey, sorry, but I need to get going. I have my dance class in a few minutes."

The betas face fell a little. Still, his lips curved in a smile. "No problem! I'll see you in the field. And maybe we can grab a coffee after?"

Oh no! Allie just knew it would come to this. The omega certainly didn't want to 'grab a coffee' with a beta who had creepily observed her on the field for the better part of his time there. She nodded anyway, smile strained and eyes reserved. "See you."

***

If she's going to get through her day, Allie needed something. A coffee for starters. That's why she found herself ordering for one in the cafeteria.

"Hi, Allie"

The omega jumped away from the greeting, her mouth slacked. Blinking at the person in front of her, a frown settled on her face. How did she not see him coming? She took several deep breaths to calm herself before meeting his eyes. "What do you want?"

The Alpha took one step closer with his hands clasped in front of himself. "I want to apologise to you."

She arched her brows at that. That's new. He's never that straightforward with her. "Oh, yeah? And what brought this on? You had a sudden awakening?"

Just then, her coffee was slammed on the counter. Unfortunately for Allie, Rachel was not working behind the counter, so she had no choice but to talk with Nate. What other excuses could she make at that moment?

The Alpha jogged beside her quick strides, staring at her. "No, I don't have awakenings sadly. I've thought a lot since our first meeting, and I spent a lovely evening with you yesterday, so it hit me."

"Hit you?"

He hummed. "Yes. I realised that I wasn't treating you like the beautiful soul you are. I was treating you like a game that I have to win. And that's very wrong." Nate shook his head. "That's not how I make friends. You should know that I have a lot of friends because I excel at it."

The omega turned to stare at him. "So you're a rich social butterfly slash football player with narcissistic tendencies? Good to know."

"Does that mean you accept my apology?"

"No."

His mouth flopped open. "Why? I'm genuine, I swear."

Allie set the cup on her table and sat down. She had a hard time understanding why Nate couldn't leave her alone. "What are you apologising for?"

"Um..." He exhaled and shook his arms out as if he was about to catch a pass. "For coming on too strong and going to your running spot and being loud in class and making that insensitive comment about your mother. That was awful, and I am sorry. Old habit, I reckon."  The Alpha ran his hand over the back of his hair, looking down at the ground. "You were right to call me on it. It was not nice. I need more people like you around me, to be honest. I need people to call me on my shit."

She flickered her eyes away from him. "It's not just coming on too strong," she said, quieter. "It's..." The omega licked her lips, unsure of what to say. Allie crossed her arms against her chest, raising her brow at him. "What do you even want from me?"

Her posture was closed, yet still relaxed. The omegas stare was firm and unwavering, but her eyes looked genuinely curious. Allie wanted to know why he was so incessant on talking with her.

"I want to get to know you," Nate answered.

Allie scrunched her face. "But why?"

***