Page 46 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“Hey, I’m only joking! No reason to freak out!”

“I’m not freaking out!” My fake mate gave me a sharp look, and for some reason, I just had to laugh. This whole situation was so ridiculous, like we really were trapped in some sort of romance novel. Maybe Zander could see how absurd the situation was too, because it took him only a moment to join in my laughter. It felt good to be laughing with him. Liberating. For the next hour or so, we fell into easy chatter. I asked him what had changed in Oceanport since I'd moved out (not much) and he asked me how many jobs I'd had (way too many) and how much I enjoyed them (not too much.) When I told him about getting fired this month, his face drew into a scowl.

“I can't believe people treat you like that.”

I shrugged. “It happens all the time, really. Everyone seems to believe omegas are fair game.”

Zander shook his head. “I knew it was bad, but all this time I had no idea how bad it really was. Not until I started research for my new book anyway. It's horrifying.”

“Wait.” My eyes snapped to Zander. “That's what your research was about? You're writing a book? Anewbook? That means it's not your first!”

“Why does that surprise you so much?” Zander asked. “I was writing stories even when we were children.”

“But that was different!” Even though I wasn't sure how. “I mean, it's awesome that you stuck with that! Are your books published? How many are there?” I was intrigued.

Zander gripped the steering wheel a little more tightly. Was he embarrassed? He'd always been weirdly shy about his stories. When we were kids, I was the only one allowed to read them. In a way, that had made me feel special. Like Zander was sharing his deepest secrets with me. Out of all the children in the neighborhood, Zander picked me to trust with his stories.

But I hadn't heard of his books at all.

How could you have, when you broke off contact?

Yeah, that was entirely on me. I slumped in my seat.

Zander turned the music down a bit to make conversation easier. “A couple of them are published,” he said. “But I write under a pseudonym. Not a lot of people know. My parents don't.” He scoffed. “They think I'm actually relying on the bookstore. They have no idea it's a passion project, which is funny considering they don’t think it’s profitable.”

“Why don't you tell them?”

Why did you tell me?

Zander kept his eyes on the road. “I suppose even if I told them they would never believe me. It doesn't matter. They've always dismissed my literary ambitions as a silly little hobby.”

“Your stories were so good, though.” I loved listening to them and not only because it felt like Zander was sharing something secret with me. Even as a child, he had a way of telling stories in a way that transported me. “If all stories were like yours, I'd read more.”

Zander blushed. He actually blushed. Laughter bubbled up in me.

“What?” Zander finally looked at me.

“It's so rare to see an alpha blush.”

“Alphas are human too!” he muttered. “Honestly, it’s all these stereotypes and expectations that are the real problem.”

I continued laughing, I couldn’t help myself. The grumpier he looked the harder I laughed.

Zander frowned at me and shook his head, but he couldn’t entirely hide stop a smile from taking over his lips. “Seriously, now,” he said after a moment, “don’t you want to be treated as more than an omega?”

“I guess you have a point there,” I conceded as I managed to regain my composure. “But anyway, tell me about this book you're writing.”

“The one I'm writing right now is a bit... different from what I usually write about.”

“How so?” He had my rapt attention. Whatdidhe usually write about? I had no idea.

“For one, it's aimed at children. Kids like Conner.”

“Aw, did he inspire you? That's sweet.”

Zander seemed to mull this over in his head for a moment. “In a way, yes. I guess you could say that. There needs to be more books with strong characters that young omegas can relate to.” I could tell he meant what the said by the way his forehead creased, by the fervor in his voice. He was passionate about this. About helping young omegas. What kind of alpha was he?

One of the good ones.