Page 1 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

One

COLTON

“ A re you sure this is okay?” I pulled at the front of my shirt, the fabric stretching but settling back against my body. “I feel really exposed.”

“You look incredible, Colt.”

Sabrina stood in front of me with her hands on her hips. She was admiring her work. Mike was watching from his chair, his computer forgotten for a moment. I tugged at the front again, but it wasn’t helping me feel better. My body was changing so much lately, despite me still not being able to keep food down, was ramping up my anxiety.

“I feel like…you can see…”

“You can’t! Colt, we know and we can’t tell. Just relax.”

Mike nodded in agreement. “You just look a little chubby.”

The blood rushed from my face and Sabrina grabbed a pillow off the couch, lobbing it at him. “You shut the hell up.”

“I…do I, really?”

“Colt, you look amazing. No one is going to tell. Trust me.” She glared at Mike. “This isn’t the first date you’ve been on with him. There is no need to be so nervous about everything.”

I put my hand on my chest and took a deep breath. “Sure. It’s never been a place this fancy. This is…a lot.”

Mike chuckled. “Only you would view a date at a high-end restaurant as a bad thing.”

Taking my jacket from Sabrina, I slipped my arms through. “It’s not bad. I just prefer what we have been doing. You know, home-cooked meals or takeout. I’m not built for fancy. I feel like I’m going to mess up. Or worse, embarrass him.”

Sabrina giggled. “I don’t think anything you could do would embarrass Professor Alford. That dragon loves you, Colt. If anyone took two seconds to watch his face when you walk in the room, they would know.”

My cheeks turned red, and I nudged her. “Whatever.”

“You better go, Colt. He’s waiting already.”

Gasping, I grabbed my phone, keys, and wallet. Sabrina opened the door for me as I raced out of Mike’s room and down the stairs. It was cold outside as I ran out of the frat house and down the steps. I rubbed my hands together as I jogged down the walkway to the teacher’s parking lot. My breath came out in a fog, but it still hadn’t snowed.

When I reached the lot, Marcus was leaning against his Jeep. Of course , he was dressed up. He rarely ever was dressed down. I’d seen him twice in pants other than slacks. His black hair fell to one side and framed his face beautifully.

Marcus wasn’t just handsome. To call him handsome was doing him an injustice. His eyes caught mine, and he lifted from his lean. Smiling, he took a couple of steps before reaching and grabbing my hands.

“Why don’t you have gloves? It’s cold.”

I brought his hands up to my cheek, pressing the side of my face into his. “Because I have a wonderful dragon who lets me steal his warmth.”

He hummed and pulled me in close. Marcus looked down at me over the top of his glasses before leaning down and giving me a kiss on my forehead.

“Yet, I’m stuck with the stubborn wolf, who continuously wears another man’s clothes and refuses to allow me to buy him a new winter coat.”

Rolling my eyes, I leaned back. My short five foot seven size did not help in any of our arguments. He knew it too, as he raised his eyebrow at me.

“It’s just Mike’s. I didn’t have anything fancy enough that would fit.”

“You don’t need to dress up, Colt. You have plenty of shirts that would be fine.”

This time I gave him an eyebrow raise. “We are going to L'amour Des Bouchées Savoureuses . That’s not even funny to joke about. Unless we are hiding out in the kitchen again, I needed something nice.” Blushing, I pressed my palms against his chest as his hands held my waist. “I don’t want people to question how I’m with you. If I even belong…”

Marcus pulled my chin up, a soft smile on his face. “I don’t care what anyone else says. You know that. You are mine, Colton Fisher. If anything, it’s me wondering if I’m good enough for you.”

Throwing my head back and laughing, I shook my head. “You have jokes, Professor .”

“Colt.” There he went again with his disappointed teacher tone. “I’m not joking.”

“Let’s go. We can argue this all night and it’s cold.” I backed up out of his arms.

He laughed. “You’re afraid of being late for Gaspard.”

“You’re damn right I am. That man scares me. I am not entirely convinced he isn’t an Alpha.”

Marcus walked with me around the car and I sighed, letting him open the door for me. I still wasn’t used to it. He used the fact that he was an Alpha as an excuse, but I wasn’t your usual Omega. Hell, I didn’t even think of myself as an Omega most of the time. It was too dangerous to think that.

I buckled up as he got in and pulled out of the parking lot. We headed into the city and to L'amour Des Bouchées Savoureuses . It was an expensive French restaurant, but I only allowed it because we knew the chef. It didn’t make me any less nervous that I might have forgotten the proper etiquette for using the three different types of forks and seven spoons drilled into me from my parents.

My knee bounced nervously before Marcus reached out and put a hand on my leg. I froze, closing my eyes as I centered myself on his touch. It was good his hand didn’t creep any higher otherwise we might not have made it out of the car tonight.

After Marcus went down on a knee, asking me to court him, we decided that we would take it slow. We’d already jumped the gun in more ways than one. So I had agreed at the time. Never I had I regretted a decision more in my life. His sister, Beau, teased me to no end about it as well.

It made sense that we kept our relationship under wraps at school. While it wasn’t against school rules to date a student, going public that the most eligible bachelor in the entire school was courting a shy history major didn’t bode well. At least for me. The female population would not be kind and I wanted to make it through my freshman year in one piece.

Marcus Alford was the ultimate catch. Not that everyone knew, but he was an Alpha-10. A perfect dragon Alpha. His family history was prestigious and while his love was for all things literature, he co-owned quite a few bars and clubs with his twin brother. So, not only did he have old money, but he had new money as well.

From what his sister explained to me, he used to get inundated with requests from the Council. They would push him to meet other shifters in hopes to create a perfect match. That usually meant someone with prestige, a family name, good looks, and most importantly being a leadership Alpha. Only problem was, Marcus wasn’t looking for “the perfect match”. He wanted love. He wanted to find someone that he could be happy with. Someone who looked past his designation and would want him for who he was as a person.

Funny enough, that wasn’t me. I immediately judged him on his designation. Except that I hated him because was an Alpha. Marcus was very thing I continued to run away from. Alphas were the reason I had to hide my designation. Why I, as an Omega, faked my designation to be a Beta-1 instead.

If I was caught, I would be sold in the Omega Auctions. I’d be passed around and bred like an animal. All because Omegas supposedly were only meant to be used and discarded. We had no souls. We weren’t even considered equals. Alphas abused us to get stronger Alphas before we were tossed aside when they had had enough.

“Colt, come back to me.”

I hadn’t realized I was falling down the rabbit hole until Marcus said something. Sitting up, he pulled up in front of the restaurant at the valet. My door opened and I couldn’t help but pull my jacket tighter before stepping back out into the cold.

Marcus was there in an instant, his arm wrapped around me as he tucked me into his side. He was so warm. The benefits of being a fire dragon. I cursed that I didn’t have at least a little of his warmth.

Opening the door for me, I slipped in and marveled at the interior. Last time I was here, the lights were mostly off in the main dining area. Seeing it lit up now proved that I had been right. The ceiling had been hand-painted to look like some of the older buildings in France. Marcus walked ahead of me to the reception desk but I stayed, enjoying the attention to detail they put in the architecture.

“Marcus!”

I jumped when a rotund shifter stepped forward. It was surprising to find a shifter of his size. The largest shifter I’d seen was my previous Alpha, Alpha Genesis. He’d become less active over the past few years, but his eating habits were the same. This shifter wasn’t an Alpha though. If I guessed, he was probably a bear shifter, at least with his size and height.

However, from the smile on his face, and the overall mood he was giving off, this man was perfectly happy. He shook Marcus’ hand exuberantly before motioning one of the receptionist forward. Turning, Marcus’ eyes roamed the room before they fell on me. He held out his hand, waiting for me to take it. Shyly, I stepped up next to him and slipped my fingers between his.

The gentleman who had welcomed him looked between the two of us before his face broke out in a wide grin.

“Did you…did you find your one? Is it the one that Gaspard was raving about?” The shifter leaned in, lowering his voice. “The one he gut punched you over?”

I looked up at Marcus, wanting the answer to that question as well. Had Gaspard punched him? Was it actually over me? To be fair to Marcus, we hadn’t left on the best of terms when I first met Gaspard. The head chef ended up driving me back to campus in his little French mini cooper.

“Yes. It is. And yes, I believe so.” Marcus squeezed my hand. “Raynor, I would like to introduce you to Colton Fisher. I wanted him to see the lights now that they were up in town. I knew they would be lovely last time I came.”

My eyes narrowed at him. “You mean the date you went on?”

Marcus cleared his throat and looked far more nervous than he had been. However, Raynor let out a booming laugh. He patted Marcus’ shoulder hard enough to shake him.

“I’m so glad. It’s about time. Don’t let me get in your way this evening!” He nodded to Marcus and then looked down to me. “Take care of our dear Marcus. He’s a good one. One of the best.”

Blushing, I gave him a nod. “I’ll…I’ll try.”

Another throat cleared and the receptionist was waiting for us. Marcus put his hand on my back and said his goodbyes. Guiding me into the dinning area, we were led to the table at the far end but the window. My eyes widened as I looked out the floor to ceiling windows looked out over the city. I knew we took some steps up into the restaurant but I didn’t realize it would have made such a difference in height.

“Your jacket, sir?”

I turned, embarrassed that I hadn’t been paying attention. “O-of course.”

Pulling off my coat, I handed it over and adjusted my shirt. Marcus handed over his, but he was the one that pulled my chair out for me. Sitting down, I couldn’t have felt more awkward. I was great full that there didn’t seem to be a plethora of silverware on the table. Sitting down across from me, Marcus thanked the host.

“Raynor is the one who owns the restaurant. He tends to pop in when I make a reservation.”

Nodding, I brushed my sweaty palms against my pants. “So you know both Gaspard and Raynor?”

“I introduced the two of them back in the day. It was going to be a business venture that Keith and I were going to jump into but we decided against it. Raynor was someone we knew was investing in restaurants and Gaspard needed a place to fly. So, it became this.” Marcus motioned to the restaurant.

“Do you regret it? I mean, they look like they are doing well for themselves.”

He let off a chuckle. “No. I don’t think Keith and I were made to jump into the restaurant business. We’ve got enough on our plate. Four bars, two clubs, Keith is Alpha, and I work at the university. Plus, we each have our families to worry about.”

I felt my cheeks heat up. “Families? As in…your…”

“ Us , Colton. You and me. You, me and our offspring.”