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ANGELL

K orman walked into the day room, clomping across my freshly mopped floor which had mostly dried—except where he stood. He crossed his arms, his black robe rising to show his bony ankles.

“Why aren’t you done in here?”

I was still cleaning the first of six huge windows. I shrugged.

“Why are you so slow today?”

My shoulders slumped. It was useless to sign to Korman. He didn’t know the language and didn’t seem to care to learn even though I was on his crew.

“In truth, I don’t care why. You should have been done an hour ago. Speed it up. You’ll have to skip lunch. I have other chores for you.”

I lowered my head in submission to him. That got him to turn back to the door. On his way out, he pointed at the floor where he’d just walked. “You left footprints. You’ll have to re-mop this.”

When the door shut, I turned back to the window.

Immediately, Korman was forgotten. He was a bully boss, but he didn’t scare me.

He needed me. Zilly’s never had enough housekeepers.

Everyone who wasn’t suited to mating duties wanted to cook or play nanny to the young ones or teach or work in the offices. I was a good worker. I earned my keep.

Except today. Korman was right. I was slow. I couldn’t keep my mind on any one task. My body felt tired and listless. My mind was a scramble.

I couldn’t stop thinking. About the Omega who had pierced my heart with a hook-shaped arrow and captured it forever.

Cambry.

Today was his first day doing his Omega duty. His first time ever going to the Mating Hall. He would take everything he’d been taught in the mating classes and use his body to service an Alpha in the Burn.

I would sleep alone tonight. And possibly the next night, as well, depending on how long the Alpha’s Burn lasted.

I had prepared myself mentally for this day.

We’d discussed it a couple of times in the past but mostly avoided the subject.

I let Cambry know I respected his idealism of doing his duty as an Omega.

He assured me nothing would ever come between us.

His duty was just a physical act. He had no plans to ever bond, marry or have kids.

“We’ll grow old together here at Zilly’s and I’m fine with that as long as you’re at my side,” he’d said.

I’d held onto his hand really tight, pressing his palm to my chest. I didn’t want to cry. He meant everything to me, and I knew his words were true. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him close, never wanting to let go.

We’d been raised to know and accept an Omega’s duty.

But we’d also been raised to have a choice.

Not every Omega did, but at Zilly’s, which was a large chattel farm, there were enough of us that we didn’t all have to go into Burn service.

And those of us with disabilities, like me, were automatically excluded.

That was the world we lived in. No Alpha would ever want me. That was my life lesson.

I remembered when I first learned that lesson I was both offended and secretly pleased. Alphas were scary. Sex was pretty fun, though. I had been the instigator with Cambry.

We’d grown up at Zilly’s in different wings, not meeting until we were sixteen. We were in the same class: Alpha/Omega Sex Ed. It was a required class even for those of us not going into Burn service.

What a class. Did the Omega teachers and other adults even know what it did to budding Omega boys? The information was explicit. It wasn’t really sexy, but it sure got us thinking. Even with the taboos in place, boys experimented. Of course, they did.

Cambry was the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen.

I walked up to him after class one day and handed him a note.

My behavior was completely out of character.

I always waited to be invited to play games or sit at a table in the dining hall.

But something about Cambry stirred me. Deep.

My heart threatened to beat out of my chest every time I looked at him. Where had this boy been hiding?

The note read:

Hi. My name is Angell. We have class together but haven’t met before. Would you like to sit with me at dinner? I usually eat at 6:30 at table 8. If you already have plans, that’s okay. Just wanted to check.

My face heated when I gave him the folded paper.

I turned and walked around the corner before seeing him open it.

Embarrassment heated my whole body. Immediately, I wanted to take it back.

What had I been thinking? He didn’t know who I was.

He didn’t know I was mute, but he’d find out if he asked around.

Grade school kids passed notes, not sixteen-year-olds.

My gesture was pathetic. The cutest boy in class was now going to hate me.

This was the worst mistake I’d ever made.

At dinnertime, I almost held back and stayed in my room.

But curiosity got the better of me. I arrived, got my dinner tray, and sat with the usual boys.

Hardy and Daron had rooms next to mine since first grade.

They had bossed me around a bit for years, but they knew how to read my signing. They would be good shields.

I saw them arrive just after me. They sat across from me, plates full, arguing softly about something. They said “hi,” then went back to their hushed tones as if nothing else existed.

I bent my head to my tray, afraid to look around at the rest of the hall. The din of conversation increased as more boys entered. We didn’t all eat at once. There were shifts we could choose. This was one of the busiest. There was a lot of chaos, laughter and teasing.

I picked up my spoon and set it in my chicken soup. The liquid was still steaming, so I blew across the top of the bowl to cool it off.

“Hey. Is this seat taken?”

I jerked my head up, blinking straight into the bright, ceiling fluorescents.

Cambry stood, tray in hand, looking down at me. “Well?”

“He doesn’t talk, you know,” Hardy said.

Cambry didn’t look away from me. “I know. I was waiting for him to sign.”

My mouth dropped open. I shook my head no, still afraid to use my hands to speak.

Cambry understood and set down his tray. Then he stepped over the bench and sat beside me. He was tall for an Omega, at least to me he was since I was small-framed, and prettier than ever to my shocked mind. Dark hair and bright blue eyes. Dimples in his cheeks.

“Hi. I’m Cambry,” he said.

I lifted my hand and spelled out Angell.

“I know your name. It was in the note. Nice to meet you.”

He actually understood my signing!

From then on, I followed him around like a duckling. He included me in everything he did and let me teach him more of my language so he could understand me. Either he was a good student, or I was a good teacher. He learned so fast.

The first time I took his hand in mine, my heart fluttered like a giant butterfly.

He did not withdraw. The first time I kissed him when we were alone in his room, I thought I’d melt.

Slick instantly dripped from me. My cock tented my pants so hard I thought if he brushed against it I’d instantly come.

I immediately pulled back and crossed my hands over my crotch.

“Sorry,” he said. “I thought you wanted it.”

I had to lift my hands to sign. “I do want it. So much. I’m the one who started it, remember?”

“I want it, too.” His smile drew me back into his arms.

We fell back onto his bed. His hand went beneath my waistband. When his fingers touched me bare, I came so fast and hard, my mouth open, gasping for air.

“Do you even know how beautiful you are?” Cambry asked.

I’d never felt so good. I put my hand on his hardness in awe and he came for me. We both wanted more.

I knew the halls well, and the schedules of the house dads. I was good at being silent—and a sneak. Late every night, I sneaked into Cambry’s room, and we experimented more and more. I would sleep over until dawn, then tiptoe back to my own room in the wing clear on the other side of the compound.

Our secret taboo love blossomed.

He’d promised he would grow old here with me, that he would never accept a bond or any marriage proposal.

So why now, on his first assignment to the Mating Hall, was I so distracted? I trusted Cambry. He was merely off doing his duty. Just like me cleaning the windows. Duty. That’s what Omegas were raised for. Duty and not rocking the boat.

We had our own hidden life together. It was against the rules, but it was ours. What more could I ask?

Yet I couldn’t concentrate. Cambry was giving his gorgeous body to another. We had both agreed it meant nothing. But I was still worried. Scared, in fact. Would it change him? Would he be weird about me touching him afterward?

The sky was growing pink and orange through the windows by the time I finished the last one. Korman smirked a little when I came to the storage supply room to put away my cleaning supplies.

“Okay, you’re done for the day, Angell. But tomorrow I expect you to move faster.”

I gulped, my head down.

“If you’re not feeling well, stop by the infirmary.”

He wasn’t a complete cad to notice something was off. I nodded, eyes down.

“Good night.”

I signed, “Good night,” but he was already looking at his computer by then. I’d been dismissed.

Back in my room, I changed for dinner. Tonight would be lonely. No sneaking out to see Cambry. He would be sleeping in the Mating Hall for at least one night, maybe two. Without his arms around me, I would not sleep well.

I told myself I’d get used to this. It would become a routine for me and Cambry. Our love and our taboo Omega bond was strong enough to get through anything.

Yep. That was what I told myself. Over and over as if I believed it.