Omega Phoenix

by Layla Heart

  And we’ll be with her the whole night, we’ll have the pleasure of being at her side. We’ve definitely lucked out tonight, and that alone makes me not dread the party as much.

  13

  Cyra

  I tried to hide my scent as well as I could, but I might not have been able to get it all out of the dress... I couldn’t spray the thing with deodorant or something, that would be much more questionable, but also, I didn’t dare to do that with the expensive fabric.

  It’s a stunning dress and I’m sure it costs three or four times what I make in a month’s time. But I have to put that out of my mind, I can’t keep thinking of that, no matter how uncomfortable it feels to wear such an expensive dress...

  It’s not like I’ve not worn expensive dresses before. My parents aren’t exactly poor. They’re not as rich as Max and Liam probably are, but they’re not poor either, and they’ve put expensive dresses on me before, usually for parties just like these...

  This event might just be for people of mating age, but many Omegas, especially from better-off families, get dragged to ‘parties’, aka mating arrangement events, from the time they’re quite young. I remember going to one when I can’t have been older than five or six years old, around Daisy’s age. Kids at that age should be playing, not basically going to some ‘Omega show’ to be paraded around in front of potential families.

  At least I’m not one of the main events this time, and that makes me a little less nervous. Usually, all the unmated Omegas from all around are sent to these parties, so that the Alphas and Betas can ‘get to know’ them, though that sounds much too kind for the negotiations and bartering going on at these events. They’re more like meat markets than a real ‘party’...

  But today, I’m just a human, ‘just’ here to be the date for two handsome Alphas, so I’ll mostly be ignored, luckily. Hopefully.

  I’m way too impressed with the house —no, correction, castle— that we arrive at, that I have a hard time to pay much attention to anything else for a moment. When we walk through the door, our names are called out. And the moment they do, the moment they call out Max and Liam’s names, everyone in the hallway looks our way. That pulls me back to the now and I try to not freak out at how people are staring at us. But when they call out my fake last name, the one that hides who I really am, my ‘human’ last name, Cyra Ember, nobody seems to pay too much attention to it.

  We just need to get into the proper of the party, so we can sit or stand somewhere out of the way of the throng of people, and we won’t have to really pay much attention to the rest of what’s going on around us.

  But, of course, even though Max and Liam don’t seem to be the most important people around, loads of people, mostly parents, guessing by their age, still come over to them to greet them and talk to them. The guys are pretty good at the boring small talk and seem even better at getting out of small talk with a couple of kind words and a handful of smiles. Yeah, they might not be the most important around, but they’re important enough that by my quick count, sixteen different Omegas were introduced to them, mostly female, but some male too, in under ten minutes. Interesting.

  From the corner of my eyes I spot a face I recognise and when I look up, Max’ cousin, Julie, is standing at the far end of the hallway, giving me a quick and knowing smile as she sees what’s happening. Then her Alpha wife softly tugs on her arm and they disappear into one of the side rooms.

  Liam leans close, an easy smile on his lips, but it doesn’t fully reach his eyes. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m okay.” I try to keep my voice low. “You seem to be popular.”

  He laughs, a real smile now. “I don’t know if ‘popular’ is the right word. Most of those parents know that I’m a bachelor Alpha who is rich, but their offering of their Omega to me is more... performative, since we’re with Max. Max though...”

  I look around. Max was right next to us just a moment ago, but I can’t see him right now. “Where is...” How did he disappear that fast?

  “There he is...” Liam puts on a different smile, something polite, while also... mischievous? I don’t know.

  He takes a couple of steps, pushing through a wall of people, and he wraps his arm over Max’ shoulder, who looks a little uncomfortable surrounded by so many people, all trying to get his attention. “Sorry, ladies and gents, I’m going to have to borrow this guy for now. I’ll try to return him later.”

  Then he pulls Max away, while Max apologises for having to leave. As they pass me, Liam puts his arm over my shoulders too and navigates us towards the closest room we can find. “I think we’ve been out there long enough.”

  The second room seems quieter, and I realise that the group here is... Well, the average age here is a lot younger than out in the main hallway. While the parents of the Alphas, Betas and Omegas try to catch the attention of someone to marry their kid off to out there, here, it’s mostly Alphas, Betas and even some Omegas on their own, no parents around. Some people are younger than me, but most are around my age or slightly older. Here, it at least feels less like a meat market, unlike out there, and that relaxes me a little.

  As we make our way to a table in the back, a waiter comes over with drinks and Liam grabs us all a glass. He meets my eyes. “If you want water, I’ll get you some, but this is just so it looks we’re at least trying to blend in.”

  “Thanks.” I smile. “I’m good though. As long as I get something to eat in me soon.” I did make sure to eat before I left, since I knew there would be alcohol, but that isn’t going to help me all night, or even for very long, especially not with the speed that some here down their alcohol.

  “Snacks. Good idea. I can do that.” Liam stands up, putting his hand on my shoulder and something goes through me from the way he looks down at me, the caring, the kindness.

  It makes my heart flutter and heat build inside me. Oh, hell. Why does he have to look so handsome in that suit? It’s hard enough to ignore that when he wears normal clothes, but this is almost unfair...

  “I’ll be right back.” His voice is low as he walks off.

  I turn to Max, who’s been quiet ever since we pulled him away from the group of parents, and I find him frowning at a door between here and the next room.

  “What’s wrong?” I lean towards him and he quickly looks my way, a soft smile forming around his lips.

  “Nothing. I thought... I thought I saw something, but I’m probably just imagining things. Probably some paparazzi trying to get ‘juicy’ pics from the event.” He puts his hand over mine. “What do you think of it?” Heat spreads from his hand to mine and I don’t want him to let go, just that touch already making me feel safer, for some reason.

  “Of what?” I try to keep my voice light, try not to let him know how I react to him.

  “The party? The house? Other people’s clothes?” He shrugs a little. “Anything that doesn’t have to do with how appealing of a ‘mate’ anyone is. I just want someone to talk of something other than mates.”

  Ah, right. This guy really isn’t that comfortable in groups, is he? “The party seems really busy, lots of people who are dressed really well, or at least try to pretend that they are.” I nod towards a group sitting near the window. “They’re sitting like they need to be elsewhere soon. They really don’t want to be here. By the way they keep checking their phones, I’ve got a feeling that they might need to get to a shift at work or something soon. They look well dressed, but their hair is more practical than pretty, and so are their hands. They’re dressed in a way so they can quickly change into something else when they get to work. Pretty but practical.”

  Max looks the same direction, slightly frowning, then he looks back at me. “How do you know?”

  I can’t help but smile. “I’ve been like that. I’ve done princess parties in the morning and then still had to work at the cafe in the afternoon, without time for a total change of style at home. I always make sure I dress fancy enough to keep the princess style up,
but also in ways that are easy to undo for the other shift. Of course, I didn’t attend a party at an estate, but the idea is the same.”

  He laughs, a warm and deep sound, setting all my nerves on fire. Fuck, I wish he’d keep doing that. It makes him look a lot less serious, so much softer. And at the same time, I wish he didn’t, because it makes it so hard not to just climb in his arms and hide away from the world for a while.

  “You got him to laugh. It’s a miracle.” Liam is back, sliding a tray with snacks onto the table between us. “I also got us something else to drink.” He puts a bottle of water next to it. “This should tide us over until the hour is up.” He sits down on my other side. “What did you say to him to get him to laugh like that?”

  Max answers instead, his voice much more at ease. “She was just reading the room. She’s got a great ability to notice things that others might not notice.”

  Well, I have to. Not the stuff I just told Max, that was just a well-educated guess. Generally, I have to read people, make quick calculations if they’re human or shifter, and if they’re shifters, if I’d be in danger or not. So it’s not so much a fun skill for me, more something I had to learn quickly to survive in this world.

  But none of that matters when Max looks at me like I’m magical, or when Liam smiles, his eyes full of delight. They seem to like the ways in which I’m ‘weird’ or different and it makes me feel a little bad for hiding who I am from them. They make me wish I could be myself, my real self, around them. But that’s not possible, that’s not safe. So I have to play along, play the human, and hide myself, even from them.

  Then, the hallway falls quiet, and so does this room.

  Shivers run down my spine, what just happened? The whole atmosphere at the party changes. That can’t be good. That definitely can’t be good...

  14

  Zack

  “Zachary Tempest and his...” The man announcing the guests looks at the note I just gave him, frowning, glancing at the both of us, before he seems to almost shrugs as he completes his sentence. “Alpha Zachary Tempest and his companion Alpha Spencer Raiden.”

  I couldn’t convince Spence to let them call him my partner or even my date, so companion was the best I could get. Still good enough, especially with how the whole party falls quiet as we step through the doors.

  Spence’s hand twitches in mine, his whole body tense, but he’s still got his best smile on, not letting anyone see how nervous he is. I’ve been on my best behaviour all week, like I promised him I would, and now he’s my date to the party, as he promised me.

  It’s pretty fun to watch how nobody in the room seems to know how to react to us and for the first time since... Well, I don’t even know since when, since forever probably, we’re not immediately swarmed by desperate parents, trying to pawn off their Omega kids to us, to have us take even a slight glance in their kids’ direction.

  I guess that’s another advantage to doing this, to making it look like we’re two Alphas in a relationship, getting at least some semblance of calm at a party that normally has even us exhausted in just a few minutes, on top of course of pissing our parents off and probably pissing many people in this room off too.

  The whispers start from nearby and spread through the room like wildfire and I wonder if they think we’re deaf or something, or that they no longer care now we’re supposedly no longer interested in their kids. We can still hear them, they’re right next to us. Whispers of ‘are they joking?’, of ‘this is a poorly planned joke’, of ‘How dare their parents let this happen?’. Or the best one, ‘I’ve always know it, they were weird, they were too close, it was unnatural, they were too much trying to play at being interested in others’.

  I knew we’d get pushback, but even though I was aware of some of the things people were saying about us, I had no idea they’d suddenly become so open about their dislike for us. That they could really switch like this, adoring to detesting, so easily. So, so easily. It kind of takes me off-balance for a moment.

  But then I catch the furious glare of a certain someone from the other end of the room and I lean to Spence. “Brace yourself. Parental unit incoming.”

  “Who?” But as his eyes go over the room, he finds his mother glaring at us as she barges in our direction. “Oh, crap. Way out?” His first instinct is to flee, and I totally agree with him.

  I glance around, trying to be inconspicuous about it, but this room is too full. “None.”

  “Fuck.” His hand tightens in mine.

  His mother is an Alpha, she runs their family business, just like my Alpha father does ours, and in some ways, she can be even more strict than my father. She can look so sweet and kind and wholesome, that is, until you cross her...

  The woman stops in front of us, her Alpha influence almost like a mantle around her and I fight everything in myself to not cower. Yes, she scares me more than my dad does... Probably because I don’t usually end up on the other end of her wrath so openly.

  “Spencer, Zachary.” She nods at us. “How good that you could make it tonight.” She’s staying civil. She doesn’t want to cause a bigger scene than we’ve already caused ourselves.

  She must be aware of it too, aware of the whispers that our families’ companies are conservative bigoted dens, and openly being hostile towards her own Alpha son and the Alpha son of the other biggest real estate company in the city being in a relationship would not help with that reputation at all. She’s on damage control now.

  “Hello, Mother.” Spence puts on his sweetest and most poisonous voice. He’s much more used to her anger, and he’s already the calmer of the two of us, always has been.

  “Hello, Alpha Raiden.” I incline my head to her, just a fraction, just enough to be polite.

  She tries to step between us, break our linked hands, but we’re not letting go of each other. We can’t, not if we want to show that we’re being serious, but also because letting go means losing our lifeline to safety in this place, in this battle we’re fighting here.

  “Have you seen the other rooms in this magnificent house yet? This place is stunning. Imagine living in a place like this with your family. Come on, I should show you around this place. It’s so beautiful.” She tries to step between us again, but once again fails. Her mask slips for a moment, her fury visible to the both of us, but she quickly puts it back in place.

  Spence openly glances around, like he’s considering what his mother said. “Oh, no, we’ve not seen it yet.” Spence might be uncomfortable with what we’re doing, but his mum is pissing him off, big time. “We’d love to take a look around, right?” He looks at me, smiling widely, and I nod.

  “Yes. We’d love to take a look around.” I lean towards his mother slightly. “Could you show us in the direction of the gardens? We heard they’re beautiful. And we’d love to check them out. There’s nothing better for a family than having a garden where they can shift together, all the space to be their real selves. It’s the best.”

  “They... The...” Her eyes grow, but if she doesn’t want more rumours going around, she can’t explode at us out here in the open. She narrows her eyes. “Room to the right, then one more room and then you’ll be able to overlook the gardens.” She keeps her voice measured, in perfect control. She didn’t make it to the top of the family company, even though she was the third Alpha in line, without that perfect control and ability to influence the conversation around her.

  “Thank you. We’ll go check them out.” I quickly pull Spence along to where his mother indicated. Cutting this confrontation short is probably the best thing for all parties involved.

  The other partygoers quickly step out of the way when we come near. Now the whispers are different. Standing up to Spence’s Alpha mum and not backing down, it definitely makes people think that we’re serious, that this is serious. Ah, well. That’s not bad. The shifter and human communities barely overlap, so it definitely won’t make a difference to the girls who usually hang around us, and it might actually hel
p to get shifter parents to stop bugging us all the time.

  The room we step into next is also silent, and when I glance around, I find a face I definitely didn’t expect to find here.

  What’s Cyra doing here? Why is she at the party? What?

  But before I can get further than that, Spence has already pulled me away to the next room. There are barely any people in here and Spence quickly pulls me along to what looks like a quiet area in one corner, almost hidden behind a big plant.

  Once we’re there, he lets my hand go, shaking the tension out of it, and leans back against the wall, closing his eyes, exhaustion openly visible on his face. “Fucking hell. That was scary as shit.”

  “I know.” Now it’s over, I almost feel like I’ll start laughing, but if I do that now, Spence is going to seriously hurt me. “I hadn’t planned on your mum seeing that entree.”

  “No shit.” He opens his eyes again, grinning. “That was a fucking rush though. I don’t think I’ve ever felt adrenaline like that before.” He takes a couple of deep breaths. “Well, we now know how our ‘openminded’ community would react to two Alphas dating... I guess I’m glad we’re the ones doing this and it’s not someone else.”

  The initial rush has left me and I’m much calmer now. “But we’ll have to keep this up. We can’t say ‘just kidding’, that would be...” I look at him and he nods, his eyes guarded, pained.

  “Yeah, that would be bad.” He reaches out to me, raising my hand to the light slightly. “Where the hell did you get us these rings at such a short notice?”

  “Not saying. A husband has to keep some secrets, especially ones that make their partners smile.” I wink, stepping closer to him, changing subjects. “Do you know who I just spotted?”

  He looks at me, slightly confused, but shakes his head.

  “Cyra. Cyra is here with two Alphas.”