I give a quick wave to the others, who all wish me a quick ‘goodnight’, and then I’m off to my bedroom.
Closing the door behind me, making sure I lock it well, I slide down and lean against it. This is all going too fast, way too fast. I don’t even have time to think or to breathe. It’s all... It’s too fast and way too much.
I just can’t.
The next morning, after a rough night, full of nightmares about losing Zack, Spence, Max and Liam, full of nightmares that my parents are going to kidnap me and forcefully mate to whoever they want, I finally get up, almost more exhausted than when I went to sleep. I take my meds and have a long shower, being extra careful about using all my products
When I feel as ready as I can possibly feel, I leave my room and find Spence in the living room, already working on his laptop.
He looks up, giving me a bright smile. “Good morning. How did you sleep?”
I shrug. “I had more hours than yesterday?” I still feel wrung out, like someone squeezed all the life out of me.
He nods, eyes darkening, pained, giving me a tight smile. I’m probably not the only one with nightmares and general bad sleep right now. “There’s breakfast in the kitchen, if you’re hungry. And fresh coffee.”
“Where are the others?” I don’t see them, or hear them.
“Out. Mostly getting new clothes and a few other things. Zack refuses to buy anything for the other guys, but also won’t let them buy for him and Max and Liam were willing to put up with the guy for a few hours.” He smiles slightly. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they all come home with clothes for you and not much for themselves.”
I roll my eyes, sighing. “I’m not even... You know what? I’m not awake enough for this shit.” I shake my head and walk into the kitchen, grabbing a plate with croissants and strawberries and a big mug of coffee. Then I sit opposite Spence at the table. “What are you doing?”
He shrugs, giving a quick laugh. “Working. It seems not everyone’s lives have blown up because of last weekend. Clients want to know about their contracts and stuff like that. Not very interesting. I mostly have to delegate some of my clients to people who are actually in the city at the moment, to show them potential buildings. Be a responsible employee and everything.”
“You’re a hardworking guy.” I nibble on a croissant.
“I take pride in my job. And don’t let Zack fool you, but he’s pretty damn good at his job too.” Spence steals a strawberry from my plate and pops it into his mouth, looking pretty damn full of himself, before his face falls. “His Alpha has been giving him shit for not having a mate yet, because it would give him more ‘prestige’ with some of the clients. Like he can’t be trusted because he doesn’t have a mate, no matter how hard he works, how often he proves himself.”
I’m surprised by how angry Spence is about it. “And you?”
He shrugs. “We don’t have huge clients like he has. Our clients don’t tend to care as much about status as the clients that Zack has to deal with. You’re as good as you prove to be, not by how fancy you can deck out your Omega when you take them to a meeting.” He pulls a face.
“Is that why you two went to the party together? To give them the middle finger about mates?” I’ve not talked about it with them, too much has happened in the time since and I’d almost forgotten about their stunt at the Gala.
He flashes me a grin, though there’s also a sadness in his eyes. “Yeah, partially. Our Alphas’ companies are known to be a little... ‘conservative’.”
“Sexist, you mean?”
He nods. “Yeah, definitely. So, Zack had the great idea to ‘give the middle finger’ to his dad over pressuring him to ‘take on a good mate’ to ‘show off to the company partners’. What better mate than me, the guy who’s going to inherit his own family business? Of course, his Alpha meant an Omega, not another Alpha.”
“And you?” Because this is all about Zack, not about himself. “Why did you go along with it?”
Smirking, he steals another strawberry. “Partially because he promised to behave himself around you if I did. Partially because I got really tired of being shoved potential mate folders in my face all the time. Seemed like a way to make them stop for a while.”
I stare at him, not sure if I should believe him or not. Sure, I believe the part where Zack promised to ‘behave himself’ if Spence went along with it, seems like a bribe he’d take on, but I’m not so sure about the rest of it. Silently, I finish everything on my plate and just look at Spence for a while, running his words over in my head. They acted like they were together to get their parents off their back, because they were being pressured to take on a mate.
Sure, it’s not the same, Omegas get that pressure as soon as they turn sixteen and if they’ve not mated an Alpha by the time they graduate college, people start ‘wondering’ if something is wrong with them. But that doesn’t mean that Alphas don’t get similar pressure at some point in their lives too, especially those from prominent families and who are bound to inherit some massive company.
Which brings me to... “My parents... Has anything happened since last night?” I don’t really want to know the answer, but at the same time, I don’t feel safe if I don’t.
He shakes his head. “No. Nothing more than what we already knew. Just the same articles running over and over. Not much else. Anything specific you’re waiting for?”
I
