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Chapter One

Kelly "Kell"Eden dropped the last of his moving boxes into the middle of his new studio apartment and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the heel of his palm. With the scattering of disassembled furniture and cardboard shipping boxes filling up the space, there was hardly any room to move around. The place felt like the size of a damn cupboard—and it was still going to cost him a fortune. He'd had a decent sized place in a nice neighborhood, but rising rent costs had forced him to move out. Now he was living in Forest Glenn, a downgrade on all levels. Cheaper rent, but with the added distance and traffic he was now an extra forty-five minute drive away from both the Art and Design Academy and his job at ElectronicsWorld.

He hated that job.He hated the fact that even though most of his classmates were already working at firms or otherwise making an income with their art skills, he was stuck at a shitty retail job. For some dumb reason he just couldn't land a design job or sell his work, despite being an incredible artist. Instead, he was slinging computer supplies. It was discouraging that one of the best painters in the Art and Design Academy's illustration program was one of the few not making money from their work. But as skilled as he was, Kell had always had a problem selling himself. He thrived in a school environment, but when it came to the real world, he'd always struggled with shyness. Even his best friend, Jessie, was great at putting herself out there. Even though she'd always been an airy, head-in-the-clouds type of girl, she was absolutely fearless about getting her work in front of prospective buyers, clients andgalleries.

Jessie layacross one of the large sized moving boxes, her chin in her palm. She was drawing in her sketchbook as she watched Kell. She yawned and stretched, cat-like. She'd come over to help him move, but in the end, she'd only helped him with the big stuff before retreating into her sketchbook. He didn't really mind, though. He was just glad for thecompany.

"Send Noods,"she said, flipping onto her back and holding her sketchbook high into theair.

Kell cut open a box marked "Supplies"and pulled out his roll of gouache brushes, paints, and a portfolio case that contained his latest project, and set them against the wall next to his naked mattress. "Say what?" hesaid.

"Send Noods,"Jessie repeated, closing her sketchbook. She'd done a series of figure sketches of Kell lugging his moving boxes into the room. "That's where we should go for dinner tonight. I looked it up on the internet, it's nearby. Apparently, they've got some of the best ramen in the city. The chef is famous, orsomething."

"Oh, okay. That sounds pretty good."He found an open space on the carpet and plonked himself down, exhausted. "God, I hatemoving."

"You sureyou'll have time for dinner?" Jessie asked. "We've got that project due tomorrow. You got it allfinished?"

He snorted."Of course I've got it finished. Anyway, I promised I'd get you dinner for helping me out. Do you want to see what I painted for theproject?"

She grinned."Hell yeah. Let's see, let'ssee."

He unzippedthe portfolio case and pulled out three thin boards with gouache paper mounted onto them and turned them to Jessie. She took them and spread the paintings out on the floor in front ofher.

"Love this linework,"she said, her eyes widening. "Wow, what a great series.Gorgeous."

He'd spentthe past two weeks working on this school project, a series focusing on pregnant omegas. Each painting was of a different man surrounded by different types of plants or flowers, and Kell felt like it was some of his finest work. The lighting and poses were definitely on point, the style managing to be painterly, yet tight at the sametime.

"Thanks, Jessie,"he said, feeling even better about the work with her endorsement. He held Jessie’s opinion in high regard. The two of them had met in freshman year in a lower division art class they both shared and had bonded over a love of Japanese food and similar artistic tastes. They became close very quickly, supporting each other through the stresses of deadlines and projects and creative droughts. Kell hadn't had many friends as close as Jessie before, and he wondered if he weren’t an omega, maybe the two of them would’ve become acouple.

Kell didn't knowwhat it was like to have a boyfriend. It wasn't that he didn't want one or wasn't interested. It was just that no alphas had ever asked him out during high school, and he'd been too shy to make his own moves. Now that he was at ADA, one of the most intensive art schools in California, Kell just sort of resigned to the reality that he probably was going to die single and alone. With all the projects he had to do, not to mention his job, there was hardly any time to even think about dating. Not that that did anything to lessen the aching desire he felt every time he passed a hot-as-fuck alpha. Kell craved one. He was dying to know what it would be like to be with one, and there were more than a couple men in his program that he wasn't ashamed to admit he’d fantasizedabout.

After returningthe moving truck to the rental shop, Kell and Jessie went to grab dinner at Send Noods. The place was a small joint, with counter seating and a few tables. The two of them chose to sit at the counter, mostly because they wanted to gawk at the hot alpha owner and chef who was cooking up bowls of piping hot noodles right in front ofthem.

"Two orders of miso ramen,"the hottie chef said, placing the steaming bowls down onto the counter. "Enjoy my noods." He winked and turned back to thestove.

"You know,"Jessie said as she separated her disposable chopsticks, "I think I'd be cool with driving all the way over here to visit you. As long as we can eat here everytime."

"Uh-huh,"Kell said, as he distractedly did his best to not stare too hard at the ramen chef's firm and shapely behind. He looked over and was surprised to see Jessie had pulled out her sketchbook and was doing a figure drawing of the guy—only he was completely naked and holding a bowl of ramen in his upturned palm. Kell reached over and quickly shut Jessie's sketchbook. "You're going to get us kicked out of another restaurant," he hissed ather.

"Maybe I should askhim to send me some real nudes," she said, and dug her chopsticks into herramen.

Kell laughed nervously,and she said, "You think I'm joking?" with a slysmile.

"Just eatyour damn noodles and stop fantasizing abouthisnoodle," Kellsaid.

"Don't pretendlike youaren't."

Kell slurpeddown a mouthful of ramen noodles. They were perfect—al dente and obviously handmade, soaked in the umami flavor of the broth. He was no noodle expert, given the only ramen he could typically afford to eat was served out of a Styrofoam cup, but he knew this stuff deserved praise. He felt a tingle of excitement as he wondered what it'd be like to slurp down something else that belonged to that hot alphachef.

"It's kind of ridiculous,"he said to her. "I've been so horny recently, it's almost out ofcontrol."

"That's no surprise,"she replied. "You're probably in heat. You need to get laid, Kell, or else you're gonna explode. I'm sure we could find you a guy. You're a good-looking dude. Just a little awkward, that's all. But I don't think you'd have any problem getting picked up if you went and sat at an alpha-omegabar."

"I'm not a fan of bars,"he said. "You know that. Orclubs."

"Yeah,but... those are the easiest places to meet alphas. To be honest with you, I don't understand why you haven't already had alphas asking you out. Like,someoneat school has to be intoyou."

"And yet, it's never happened,"he said. "I'm justcursed."