Page 31 of Broken Alpha (Unwanted #1)

Luke

I arrived at my parents’ estate for Thanksgiving dinner, only to be forced into the guest bathroom by my mother, with strict instructions to shower before coming to the living room.

I wanted to get out of this evening as conflict-free as possible, so I did as I was told.

I could drown in Aidyn’s scent when I returned to the apartment in an hour.

However, my Alpha mourned the scent of our mate as it spiraled down the drain in a soapy mess that smelled strongly of coconut.

When I stepped out of the shower, I found my suit was missing, replaced by a new one in a dark gray.

I looked around to find my phone, panic surging until I found it on the floor under the bathroom sink.

I turned it on and was immediately greeted by the photo that Aidyn had taken of our hands, our fingers interlaced together on his lap.

I had hundreds of photos of us together, but this was the most discreet one I had that was safe to display to the world.

My heart hurt looking at it, and I could feel myself teetering on the edge, fighting my brain to leave and return to my mate.

He needed me. Aidyn’s spikes were coming closer and closer together, and I needed to be at the apartment when the heat became too much for him, but he insisted I come tonight.

It was my idea to have him scent-mark me before I left, and now I had only the image to try and settle me.

Sighing, I pulled on the fresh suit and growled in irritation to find that the jacket was slightly too small in the shoulders.

I would have to watch my movements to ensure I didn’t split the seams down my spine.

Exiting the bathroom, I could hear the voices of my parents and someone I didn’t recognize, allowing it to lead me to their location.

I found my parents, cocktails already in hand, sitting across from a couple, with a smaller woman in a navy blue dress between them.

She didn’t speak but smiled politely as my parents greeted me.

She was rather small in frame with long blond hair that had been dressed up for the occasion but still fell down her back.

Her large blue eyes watched me as I entered the room, framed by thick dark lashes.

She looked like a carbon copy of the woman beside her, just younger and more timid.

By his presence, I could tell the man beside her was an Alpha, so I could only assume that the younger woman was either a Beta or an Omega.

Factoring in my parents, I could easily deduce that she was an Omega from a worthy lineage.

I noticed my mother's annoyed look when I refused the alcoholic beverage one of the household staff members offered me, requesting a soda or water instead. I pulled out my phone again, realizing I still had about forty-five minutes left. Fuck me. I told Aidyn I wouldn’t be here any longer than an hour.

I told my parents the same thing over the phone a week ago. And dinner still hadn’t been served.

“What time is dinner, Mother?” I inquired, shoving the phone into my pocket and taking the Coke bottle from the staff member.

“You’re being very rude to our guests, Luke. Sit down,” Father instructed, his face blank of expression.

I narrowed my eyes at him and sat in a chair away from my parents, turning my attention to the family my parents had invited.

“I’m sorry, but I have a prior engagement I must leave for soon. I’m Luke.” I leaned forward, shaking hands with the gentleman and smiling politely at the woman.

“Alexander Richards. This is my mate, Emilia, and our daughter, Anna. Jason has told us so much about you. He says you’re a teacher for now?”

“For now?” Tilting my head and casting a side eye to my father.

“Your father said you will take over the firm when he retires in five years.”

“I know nothing about that,” I chuckled forcibly. “My sister, Teagan, would better fit that role. I enjoy teaching.”

“And what is it that you teach, Mr. Ellis?” Emilia piped up.

It didn’t go unnoticed that Anna remained silent between her parents, letting them control the conversation.

“I teach ABO Psych and Biology. It’s the study of how our designations can potentially affect our psychology. My class is required for students going into the various medical fields. I enjoy what I do.”

“There's not much money in teaching, though,” my father said, lips pursed. “Now that you have had your fun, you can set your sights on the real world and take over the firm, as I raised you to do.”

“I’m doing just fine, Father. I never agreed to take over the firm and I have never shown an interest in it. I’ve told you to give it to T; it’s her dream, and she won’t run it into the ground. All your hard work won’t be for nothing.”

I watched the sour look of annoyance cross my father's face with a sense of delight.

My phone chimed loudly in the silence, and I fished it out of my pocket, glancing at the screen.

My stomach dropped, my blood freezing in my veins, as I saw the simple fire emoji from Aidyn.

Fuck! I stood up, handing the bottle to the staff member, my eyes focused on the screen.

I’m coming, baby.

I quickly typed out my response before sliding the phone back into my pocket.

“I’m terribly sorry, but I must leave. As I said, a prior engagement needs my attention. It was lovely meeting you.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” my father snapped, standing up quickly.

“I’m needed elsewhere. I already told you I would be here for no more than an hour.” I leaned over and kissed my mother on the cheek before unbuttoning the suit jacket, loosening its fit across my shoulder.

“It hasn’t even been an hour yet, regardless, you are needed here.” my mother said, her tone even. “I invited the Richards here so you could meet Anna.”

It finally clicked in my head, and I sighed. I knew the last name sounded familiar, but I was naive enough to believe that my parents would actually listen to me when I told them I had a mate, and a mate that would be entering his heat. I shook my head, frustrated but agitated to get out of there.

“Have my parents told you that I’m gay?” I asked, looking at Anna directly.

Her eyes widened, shaking her head.

“I guess they also failed to mention that I have a mate.”

“You do?” Alexander asked, looking toward my father.

“He does not!” my father countered back.

“I do!” I said, lacing my words with a growl.

“His name is Aidyn, very intelligent. He wants to be an Omega Specialist, graduating in the spring. They also probably didn’t tell you that I can’t scent you.

Without making any assumptions, I probably would’ve thought you and your parents were Betas.

I can’t scent a damn thing. But I can scent him.

He smells like the forest on a warm day. ”

Anna looked at me with her large blue eyes, an unreadable expression on her face, while I could feel my parents fuming beside me.

I knew if I could scent them, the room would be thick with toxic smoke, but I couldn’t muster up the energy to feel sorry for them.

My mother knew about Aidyn, and since she told my father everything, so did he.

But they continued to push. I stared directly at Anna before I spoke again.

“They don’t think he’s worthy because he doesn’t come from a family like yours or mine.

They even told me to keep him as a mistress, but that isn’t fair to him, and that isn’t fair to you.

I’m sure you’re a sweet girl, but you deserve to be loved and cherished like all Omegas do.

Not used as a pawn in an archaic mindset that you have no say in.

You should get to choose, like I have. I have already chosen Aidyn.

I did the moment I met him, and they refused to acknowledge that.

I’m sorry that you got dragged into their game.

I’ve already met my fated mate, and I hope you meet yours.

But you won’t if you’re tied to me and this way of thinking.

Now, if you’ll forgive me, my mate needs me. ”

I bowed my head and began to leave, moving toward the front door, when my father's voice stopped me.

“You’re too old to believe in fairy tales! Fated mates aren’t real. This family is. You have a duty to this family and will do as you’re told. Don’t you dare walk out that door, or —”

“Or what?” I growled, eyeing him. “What could you possibly do? Cut me off? Disown me? That’s fine.

I don’t need anything from you, and I haven’t since I was sixteen.

Aidyn is my family, and my duty is to him.

You don’t get to decide whether the offspring you chose to have gets to be a part of your life when it suits you most. You don’t get to decide if you want to be a part of ours; I do.

I came today because Mother asked me to, and I told her how long I could stay.

I have been very upfront about Aidyn. You have chosen to lure the Richards here under false pretenses, and that is not my responsibility.

That is on you and your bigoted ideas. My Omega needs me, and I’m done here. ”

I entered my apartment and could smell the scent of Aidyn’s heat everywhere.

The lights were off except for a soft glow from the bedroom, where the door was cracked open.

Hastily kicking my shoes off in the entryway, I pulled off my tie, ditching my dress jacket over the couch, leaving a trail of clothing behind me.

I turned off my phone and set it on the kitchen counter before using the guest bedroom to rush through a shower, washing off the scent of my parents and the Richards.

Aidyn’s scent called out to me, but I didn’t want to contaminate his nest with them.

When I was showered, I moved toward the bedroom, naked.

The scent of pheromones and slick was so strong that I let out an involuntary moan, shutting the bedroom door behind me and sealing out the outside world.

Aidyn had stripped the sheets and blankets from the bed, arranging them into a nest of his own design at the foot of the bed on the floor.

The border of the nest was a combination of my hoodies and t-shirts woven around stacks of books to create a wall that I would have to step over to enter his domain.

The nest floor consisted of the weighted blankets he had chosen, with the Halloween throws placed on top to create a cloud-like cushion.

Aidyn lay in the center of the nest, cell phone by his head with his back to me, curled into a ball and clutching my pillow close against his body.

He was naked, his glasses gone, his skin pink with heat.

He had moved the bottles of water and the protein bars closer to the nest, and mixed emotions washed over me.

We knew his heat would happen quickly, and I knew it would happen while I was with my parents, yet he still pushed me to go to them.

I should’ve been here with my mate, and instead, I had to fight a battle that I knew I couldn’t win.

How much pain was he in while he got everything ready?

Did he wait until he couldn’t bear it anymore before texting me?

As if answering my thoughts, Aidyn groaned, clutching the pillow closer to his middle as the petrichoral scent of his slick hit my senses.

My Alpha hyper-fixated on our mate, our Omega, who slowly rolled over to look at me, a lazy smile on his lips as he reached for me.

By the look in his eyes, I could tell he was struggling to regain awareness as his heat began to take over.

Soon, I would lose him to the basic instincts our designations possessed.

I moved toward the nest, and stepped into the circle.

I took his hand, interlacing our fingers before I cupped his cheek with my other hand and kissed him softly.

“I’m here, little fawn. I got you.”

A low purr started in his chest as he rubbed his face against mine, then nuzzled my neck, opening his legs so that I could nestle close against his feverish body.

When he was done scent-marking me, he raised his glazed eyes toward me, struggling to focus on me.

His body relaxed into my touch, releasing the tension it held.

He ran his hand through my hair, and I smiled at him again before his features twisted into pain, and the fresh scent of slick reached me.

I never knew what it was like for an Omega to be in heat, only the things that I have read and that were described to me, and it hurt my heart to see him in pain.

“My Alpha,” he whispered, bumping his nose against mine and grinding his hips against me.

I couldn't help but meet his motions with my own, my cock leaking precum to mingle with his as they moved against each other.

I struggled to pull away from him to find the box of condoms he had purchased, his nails digging into my skin as we broke apart.

Tearing into the foil packet and rolling the condom down my length, I angled my cock, pushing into his entrance slowly, only to find that his body was ready for me and presented no resistance as I slid forward into his depths.

He cried out in relief, head tilted back when I bottomed out, and I nuzzled his neck, kissing his sweaty shoulder.

“Such a good Omega, taking your Alpha so well,” I whispered.

His skin was hot and clammy as if a fire raged within his body.

His eyes glazed over, and his legs opened wider, willing me deep into his core.

I leaned forward, cupping his face in my hands and watching him as I moved in and out of his feverish body.

I could see Aidyn fighting to remain in control, struggling to stay in the moment and not let his Omega take over, but we both knew he would lose the fight.

Every Omega did. But he needed my reassurance that all would be okay before he could let go.

“I got you,” I whispered, kissing his throat and nipping at the skin gently. “Let go, I got you.”

His nails dug into my arms as if trying to gain a perch, something to hold onto so he didn’t lose himself, as if he was worried he wouldn’t return from where he went when his Omega took over.

His panicked whimper was low in his throat but high-pitched in sound—almost like a wounded animal—as he struggled, and my heart broke at the fear that I could see on his face.

My Alpha’s purr boiled to the surface, and I released more pheromones into the nest, surrounding us with my scent, calming the panic.

Aidyn closed his eyes as another whimper of panic escaped his throat while he listened to my purr.

When he opened his eyes again, my Aidyn was gone.