Page 61 of Slow Heat

Rosen rolled his eyes. “It’s hard to understand, probably, as an omega, what betas miss out on. Our culture is set up to glorify the alpha and omega connection, the consummation and the intoxication of a heat-fueled mating.” He rubbed his paint-spattered fingers together. “I know that’s all designed to disguise the danger and precarious nature of breeding, to make the peril and lack of control seem romantic and worth it. But I can’t help thinking that having a child, a baby of your very own, would be a beautiful thing.”

“Yes, I suppose it would be.” Not that he’d ever know. In that way, he was doomed to be as barren as Rosen and Yosef. Still, it was true that he’d never thought of how it must be from a beta’s point of view—to not even have the option of a surrogate for breeding. He’d always assumed that most betas didn’t want children. After all, he’d envied them their carefree lives without heats to handle. They could be anything, do anything…well, so long as they didn’t get designs on proper alpha positions. And so long as they never fell in love outside of their gender.

He supposed there were probably all kinds of ways a beta felt hemmed in by the laws of the country and the Holy Book of Wolf. He’d just never bothered to truly consider them. Perhaps he was a good match for Jason after all. It was shameful to discover how often he suffered from the self-centeredness of the young.

They lapsed into silence again, and after watching Rosen paint for another half an hour, Vale said, “You need to feed me soon or I’ll die of starvation.”

Rosen laughed and dumped all of his used brushes in a mason jar of turpentine. “All right, come along to the apartment. What would you like? Something from scratch or a quick meal?”

“As much as I’d love one of your creations, I’ll take the quickie, please.”

“Are you sure? I could use the company over dinner.” Rosen washed his hands in the deep sink stuffed into the corner.

Vale stretched with a sigh. “I have to go soon. I told Jason he could call me after school.”

Rosen laughed, his eyes sparkling as he cast a glance over his shoulder and rinsed his hands off. “Are you going to ask after his homework?”

“You’re an asshole worse than Urho.”

“Are you going to jerk off with him again? You know he’ll expect it now.”

Vale’s cock twitched to life and he glared. “I will absolutely tell Yosef how you’ve tormented me today.”

“Oh, good. Maybe he’ll spank me.” Rosen grinned, wiping his hands and then tossing the towel into a bin next to the door. “Why don’t you see how Jason feels about that? Would he like it if you turned him over your knee? Or would he like to spankyou?”

Vale shook his head and jerked his hand up in a rude gesture before following Rosen from the studio. The smell of oil paint dragged along behind them.

“If I wasn’t so hungry, I’d go home,” he said to Rosen’s back.

“You could try this thing called grocery shopping. It’s not as hard as it looks.”

The blue sky stretched overhead and Vale shrugged. “But it’s better when you take care of me. It makes me feel loved.”

Rosen slowed his step and threw his arm around Vale’s waist. “Oh, we love you. Even when you serve us moldy cheese.”

Vale smiled and a knot inside him unwound. He had friends. No matter what happened with Jason. He had people who loved him.

“How was school?”

Vale’s voice was delicious. Jason squirmed in his father’s big leather chair, wishing he had a phone extension in his bedroom for privacy. Cleaning up the mess the other night hadn’t been easy, not with Father’s sensitive alpha nose. He’d opened all the windows and sprayed lemon-scented freshener everywhere, but he’d still worried that Father would know what they’d done. Or at least, whathe’ddone.

“Don’t ask it like that.” He opened a desk drawer to grab a piece of paper and a pencil. Maybe doodling would keep him focused this time.

“You don’t want to share your day with me?”

“Sure I do. But not when you ask like you’re one of my parents.” Jason frowned.

“How should I ask then?”

“I don’t know. Tell me about your day first. I bet it was more interesting anyway.”

“Highly doubtful. You probably learned something or interacted with someone at least. Aside from a trip over to Rosen and Yosef’s for lunch, it’s just been me, Zephyr, and a pile of old magazines I’m trying to sort through.”

“Is Zephyr a beta servant?” It was an unusual name, but betas liked to be a bit flashy sometimes to make up for not being alphas. At least that was what Father said.

Vale snorted. “No, I’m afraid I’m not of the income class to hire servants.”

“You can be now.”