Page 39
Story: Cost of Courting
I gasp, my hand tingling. It shouldn’t be hot, it should not be sexy. And yet, I’m dripping slick and leaning into him, dazed.
“Have you had a heat yet, Omega?”
I shake my head before I can stop myself.
Edric suddenly grins, and I’m stunned into silence. He’s so much more potent up close. He leans in and touches his lips to mine.
“We’re looking forward to it.”
As soon as he lets me go, I slump against the wall, blinking rapidly. Bailey glances back at me and then follows the alphas out.
I lick my lips and taste Mael.
I should wash it off. I should shower their scents off me and purge the kitchen of our combined smells.
I don’t.
Instead, I go into my room and sit on the mattress on the floor and stare at the water stain on my wall.
When they come back, I don’t protest the way they crawl onto my bed, filling all the spaces. The four of them take over my space, and, though I would never admit it out loud, for the first time in a long time, I feel safe enough to sleep.
When Mael wakes from his nightmares later, I reach out before I can think. He captures my wrist and turns his head into my thigh, nuzzling, and drops back into a sleep.
I think I’m the only one awake until I notice Bailey staring at the ceiling.
I watch him, wondering why he’s here. What he wants. I did my research. He went out and slept around with just about anyone he could get for a while. And then he just stopped.
He’s the CEO of Alpha Labels.
But there’s something so lonely and distressed about his countenance.
He looks defeated.
“I am a switch,” he says in a low tone. It’s an anguished whisper.
I wait, and, when he turns his head to me, I realise he’s actually talking to me. Tingles run up my spine. I wasn’t aware he knew I was awake.
“I have been trying to find a way to stop it from happening. It just changes with my emotion. Until I met you four. Now it just changes at will.”
“Has it occurred to you that it could be a strength rather than a weakness?”
Bailey shifts onto his side so we’re facing each other. “How is being an omega a strength?”
“Because, Bailey, everyone underestimates an omega. They think they can’t do it, that it’s not possible, that they are victims of their hormones and pheromones.”
“And you’re not?”
I smile at him. “No, I’m not. I have lived in this neighbourhood alone and protected my sister. I have fought, defended myself and my friends, I have worked and earned a wage, I have done everything a beta or alpha could and done it better. I didn’t perfume every time I met an alpha. I didn’t throw myself at them, whimpering and needing a knot. I was not a victim or a slave to my hormones.”
“And how do you do that? It’s so strong.”
“It’s really simple. Think about it like this: what do you have to lose? If you give into those emotions, to the impulses, you will lose that thing you care about. You’d be surprised what the right incentive can do for your willpower.”
“Do you ever think you’re the exception? I got into a fight with an alpha today who tried to…is it always like that?”
Did he? How frightening to have people try to just take a part of you. Think they are entitled to you.
“No. There are heaps of omegas out there who have learned how to control our designations. This is the time of enlightenment. We choose our lives. We are no longer slaves to heats and scent matches. I will not allow anyone to take me just because we are scent compatible. That dream is a fantasy for little girls. I live in reality.” I pause. “As for people who think they can take what they want? Well, I just go out of my way to make them bleed.”
“Have you had a heat yet, Omega?”
I shake my head before I can stop myself.
Edric suddenly grins, and I’m stunned into silence. He’s so much more potent up close. He leans in and touches his lips to mine.
“We’re looking forward to it.”
As soon as he lets me go, I slump against the wall, blinking rapidly. Bailey glances back at me and then follows the alphas out.
I lick my lips and taste Mael.
I should wash it off. I should shower their scents off me and purge the kitchen of our combined smells.
I don’t.
Instead, I go into my room and sit on the mattress on the floor and stare at the water stain on my wall.
When they come back, I don’t protest the way they crawl onto my bed, filling all the spaces. The four of them take over my space, and, though I would never admit it out loud, for the first time in a long time, I feel safe enough to sleep.
When Mael wakes from his nightmares later, I reach out before I can think. He captures my wrist and turns his head into my thigh, nuzzling, and drops back into a sleep.
I think I’m the only one awake until I notice Bailey staring at the ceiling.
I watch him, wondering why he’s here. What he wants. I did my research. He went out and slept around with just about anyone he could get for a while. And then he just stopped.
He’s the CEO of Alpha Labels.
But there’s something so lonely and distressed about his countenance.
He looks defeated.
“I am a switch,” he says in a low tone. It’s an anguished whisper.
I wait, and, when he turns his head to me, I realise he’s actually talking to me. Tingles run up my spine. I wasn’t aware he knew I was awake.
“I have been trying to find a way to stop it from happening. It just changes with my emotion. Until I met you four. Now it just changes at will.”
“Has it occurred to you that it could be a strength rather than a weakness?”
Bailey shifts onto his side so we’re facing each other. “How is being an omega a strength?”
“Because, Bailey, everyone underestimates an omega. They think they can’t do it, that it’s not possible, that they are victims of their hormones and pheromones.”
“And you’re not?”
I smile at him. “No, I’m not. I have lived in this neighbourhood alone and protected my sister. I have fought, defended myself and my friends, I have worked and earned a wage, I have done everything a beta or alpha could and done it better. I didn’t perfume every time I met an alpha. I didn’t throw myself at them, whimpering and needing a knot. I was not a victim or a slave to my hormones.”
“And how do you do that? It’s so strong.”
“It’s really simple. Think about it like this: what do you have to lose? If you give into those emotions, to the impulses, you will lose that thing you care about. You’d be surprised what the right incentive can do for your willpower.”
“Do you ever think you’re the exception? I got into a fight with an alpha today who tried to…is it always like that?”
Did he? How frightening to have people try to just take a part of you. Think they are entitled to you.
“No. There are heaps of omegas out there who have learned how to control our designations. This is the time of enlightenment. We choose our lives. We are no longer slaves to heats and scent matches. I will not allow anyone to take me just because we are scent compatible. That dream is a fantasy for little girls. I live in reality.” I pause. “As for people who think they can take what they want? Well, I just go out of my way to make them bleed.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170