Omega

Victoria had been in the pack for two weeks now. Every day She went for a run and talked to Kathrine and then went to bed with Asmund. She had learned a few things about her new life. One thunderstorm had woken Asmund up and she found him huddled in a corner of their room after returning from the bathroom.

He had been acting like a soldier in an old movie almost. "Asmund?" She said gently as she reached for his hand. He had been scaring her.

"Victoria? What are you doing here? It's not safe! Take cover!" He had snapped.

"Asmund I'm scared." She whimpered softly. She hadn't known what to do. Should she call Kathrine or simply try to talk him down. Maybe his dad would know what to do.

"It's...okay... babygirl. I'm here." He had sounded so unsure of himself.

"Where is here, Asmund?" The words had just come out without prompting. She still couldn't understand how she knew just what to say.

"Right here babygirl. Here is right here with you." He reached for her and she stepped back. Something she promised herself she would never do to him. But in that moment he was terrifying her. "Babygirl..... you never do that.... what's wrong?"

"Look around Asmund. Can you describe what you see to me?"

"I..... don't understand, babygirl..... we're in a warzone." He had looked around at that moment. It seemed as if he was seeing his room for the first time in years.

"No, Asmund. Where are we?" She could barely keep her voice steady. Clearly he wasn't in the present with her.

"We... we're in the.....ro...our room...at the pack house...in Alaska." His eyes finally came to rest on her. "Babygirl.... you're shaking.....I'm sorry..... please it's okay..... you're safe... we're safe." He soothed as Victoria settled into his strong arms. She finally felt safe as Asmund stroked her hair gently. The familiar motion quickly put her at ease and soon she was asleep.

When she had gone to her session with Kathrine she had asked the older woman about it. "You did the right thing,Luna." Kathrine had reassured her.

"How so? He thought we were in a warzone." He said as she looked at her hands. "I was...scared of him."

"Yes. He saw you in a setting that you could not possibly be in. And his brain had to recalibrate in order to reconcile what he was seeing." Kathrine said reasonably. "It's okay that you were scared. It helped to pull him out of his flashback. His brain couldn't handle the thought of you in danger and he couldn't handle it if he was the one you were afraid of. It's simple psychology, really."

Victoria wasn't sure when she had stopped seeing Kathrine as a threat, but she had. Perhaps it was the way she always spoke gently to Victoria. Or maybe it was Katherine's way of remaining silent when Victoria needed to vent. About school and how the girls all seemed to hate her and how she was scared she wasn't good enough for Asmund.

Or was it how she always had advice when it was needed. Like when Victoria had admitted that she was still a virgin. Kathrine had suggested that Asmund was waiting for her to be ready to be marked. And not to tell anyone that Asmund wasn't getting intimate with her yet.

When she confronted Asmund about it that night he had gotten angry and stormed into Katherine's office to yell at her while Victoria resorted to rocking back and forth in a ball in the corner. To Katherine's credit, she just sat there with a placid look on her face. Right up to the point where he had told her in no uncertain terms to stay out of his sex life. She snorted, unable to contain her amusement when she told him in no uncertain terms that he no longer had one and should knock before bursting into her office as Beta Drake collapsed while clutching his sides. The Beta had laughed so hard he pissed himself. Victoria had cried and Asmund had tried desperately to calm her, only to fail.

It had taken two days for her to feel safe when she was alone with Asmund. His father had been furious. Going so far as to lecture him about how he could not act that way in front of his mate and how he had been raised better. All around it had been humiliating for Asmund. Especially since the Beta started making fun of him any chance he got. When they went to the diner on their weekly alpha Court date the Drake would order a 'sexless beach' sunset cocktail and a 'nothing beneath the belt' soup while laughing.

This week Victoria got fed up with his antics and dumped the whole bowl of boiling hot soup into Drake's lap before storming out of the diner and starting for home. She had barely made it out of the parking lot before Harold pulled over and offered her a ride.

She had agreed. It turned out he wanted to go see a movie. She had gotten out and caught a ride with the former Alpha and Luna home. She got a lecture on how stupid it was for her to just leave the diner without any plan on how she would get home.

She was debating on weither to tell Asmund about Harold's actions that night or not when the door burst open and he rushed to scoop her into his arms. Drake stopped at the door looking a little remorseful. "You know you gave us quite the scare. Don't forget you don't have a link to the rest of us yet." She was ready to slap him. "Anything could have happened to you."

She finally freed herself from Asmund's arms and threw a large feather pillow at his head. "Get out!" She half screamed at him. She was doing her best not to cry.

"Vic, I was just teasing him. I don't know what you're getting so butt hurt about." Drake said as he picked up the pillow.

"Oh. It's just teasing Vic. Don't get so butt hurt Vicky. Learn to take a joke Victoria." She threw a pillow with every sentence to punctuate and drive her point home.

"Babygirl. You're over reacting. It was just a joke. It's what friends do." Asmund said calmly. "I called him a tree fucker in high school because he got caught by the dick in a tree."

"Oh Victoria is over reacting again. Everybody just pile on and make her feel weak and helpless. But we're only teasing Vicky. Don't be so emotional Vicky!"

"This isn't about tonight, is it?" A soft feminine voice said from the hall as both men stood staring in shock at her tear streaked face.

"Just get out!!" Victoria wailed. She had run out of things to throw at them and had started to shove Asmund out to the hall as well. She was exhausted and ready to cry herself to sleep as she had done every night in Wyoming, alone.

"I think it's best if we leave her alone to collect her thoughts for the night, gentlemen." Kathrine said just as calmly as she had entered the conversation.

"Okay. Your wish, babygirl-" Asmund had taken to saying that when ever Victoria made a request. It was his way of telling he would give her anything she asked for. But she slammed the door in his stunned face, not wanting to look at him again tonight.