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“That’s right,” says Knight. “Name’s Knight.”

“Unclaimed,” says the old man, sniffing the air. “That doesn’t seem too wise on the part of your omega.”

“We’re, uh, working on it,” says Knight. “We don’t know anything about any of it, you know? We didn’t grow up learning about it. Out there, in our world, everyone just wants to suppress everything about us that makes us different.”

“Sure,” says Theodorus. “That’s what I’ve heard.”

“So, can I play?”

“You any good?”

Knight shrugs. “You know, to be honest, I barely remember how to play. But it’s boring here. No TV, no cell phones, nothing like that. It’s, uh, I’ll get better if you give me a chance.”

Theodorus laughs. “Fine, boy. You’re lucky I’m hard-up for chess partners. Sit down.”

Knight sits down.

Theodorus begins handing him white pieces.

Knight sets them up and only makes a few mistakes, which Theodorus corrects.

“So, why haven’t you bitten your omega?” he says to Knight.

“Well, we have some issues,” he says. “We keep getting violent every time we get close. She’s got one bite, but the other three of us are having trouble with it.”

“Violent?” says Theodorus. “Truly? Against each other, you mean?”

“No, against her,” says Knight.

“Against your omega?” Theodorus is aghast.

“I told you… issues,” mutters Knight.

“But you smell…” Theodorus tilts his head. “I heard it was a scent match.”

“That’s what they tell us,” says Knight. “I don’t know anything about scent matches. Other weird things are happening. I bit one of my mates, one of the other alphas, and we, uh, we’re kind of connected now. Also, our alpha teeth… I don’t really know what’s up with that. All Calix said was that it wasn’t normal.”

“Alpha teeth?” says Theodorus.

“Yeah, like when your teeth expand in your mouth before you—”

“What?” says Theodorus, looking him over. “I suppose itfeelslike an expansion, I guess, sort of, but I don’t think anyone’s teeth actuallygrow. What do you mean?”

“Uh…”

I feel a sudden tug through the bond, and my own teeth start to expand in my mouth, just like they did before I almost bit Lotus. I gasp at the sensation.

Across the way, Knight’s teeth are expanded, too. Somehow, it affected me through the bond when he did it—or he needed me to be affected before he could do it to himself? Whatever the case, Theodorus is shocked.

He gets up from the table and starts sweeping the chess pieces into the wooden box he brought along. “You, boy, need to come with me.”

“Come with you where?”

“We should talk to my omega,” says Theodorus. “She’ll want to see this.”

lotus

AFTER I SUCKStriker, he goes down on me. We get into a little bit of a cause-and-effect issue, where we get the other off which turns one of us on, so that turns the other person on, and we can’t end the sex. It just goes on and on.