Page 15 of Bully for Sale

“I thought you meant his emotional strength, because physically my Ezer is nothing but a bundle of chicken bones held together by rubber bands.”

“I did mean his inner strength.” Ned hesitated, but Amos’s comment had brought up a whole other issue he was curious about. “Why doesn’t he eat?” Ned asked, and then wished he could swallow his tongue. It wasn’t his business.

“It’s his way of staying in control,” Amos said. “How did you know about that?”

“At school. At lunch. I watch him.”

“Oh my. How far gone you are.”

“I try not to let people see me watching him. He’s…” Ned tried to think of how to put the next part so that he wouldn’t outright offend Amos. Though Amos himself had called his son strange. “Ezer is not well-regarded among my classmates,” Ned ventured. Now that he was talking to someone who knew Ezer, he couldn’t seem to keep his thoughts to himself anymore. “I don’t understand how he got into our school to be honest, sir. I know he went to St. Hausers before, but why isn’t he still there? Is it because he can work sums that no one else in the class can handle?”

“He is very intelligent in all ways,” Amos said. “But he prefers to take his tests orally. Written exams aren’t good for him.”

Ned bit into his lower lip, considering. “Socially, he hasn’t integrated at all. Omegas avoid him. I don’t know why. I thought omegas were the kind to stick together.”

“We do. If it benefits us. What do the alphas at the school think of him?”

“Not much.”

“And there you have it. Omegas don’t want anything to do with an omega scorned by alphas.”

“He doesn’t flirt with us. He doesn’t even want our attention at all. He ignores us.”

“So to gethisattention, you and your friends beat him up?”

“No! Well, not me!” Ned sputtered. “I mean, yes, I was there, and—please, Mr. Elson, don’t remind me of what I did.”

“Fine, but only because I think your own conscience is doing a fantastic job of that by itself.”

Ned nodded. “The others—especially Braden and Finch—they think he’s disrespectful of their standing as alphas. On the first day of school, they gave him what they thought of as an opportunity, but Ezer turned it down.” Here he stopped, afraid to say what had been offered, to give it form, because then he’d be even more afraid for Ezer, and even afraid for himself. Because who knew what Ned might do if Braden and Finch went for Ezer again?

“You think they want to dominate him because he won’t act the submissive part, even though, by all rights, he should.”

“Ilikethat he doesn’t.”

“Ah, yes, it appeals to the chase instinct,” Amos said, lips smirking. “For some though, it ignites a kind of need to punish, but in others to catch and protect.”

“I don’t want them to catch him ever again,” Ned whispered, fists clenching. “I was going to kick Braden in the face if he got his own pants down. I swear, I was.”

“Mm-hmm.” Amos offered no more opinion on that.

“What should I do?” Ned asked, after taking several more sips of the hot, woodsy tea.

“School’s out for the long spring break, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I lose track of time these days.” Amos stretched, and his back creaked. “By the time school returns to session, things will be different.”

“How so?”

“The weeks ahead will make that evident.”

“You’re not going to take him out of school, are you?” Ned couldn’t handle it if Ezer was gone. He needed to be able to see those beautiful eyes and know the omega in possession of them was safe. “I promise I’ll never let them touch him again.”

“Well, I don’t have any control over his schooling now. That’s all his father’s choice. But considering how I suspect this will play out, I’m going hold you to that promise. Never let them touch him, do you understand? Not those boys, and no other alpha, either. Do you understand? Not a single one.”

“I promise.”