by Eva Lyra
Oh, shit!
Scrambling out of bed, he stood in the middle of the room, only then realizing he was buck-naked. Had Tiberius undressed him after they were done? Why? And why couldn’t Reese remember anything after the sex?
He’d... Oh, God, he’d begged Tiberius to fuck him. How mortifying.
And where was Tiberius now?
Reese shivered, rubbed at his bare arms. He spotted his clothes on a chair and hurried to pull them on. He was sticky between his legs but wasn’t going to use the bathroom. He should get out of there. What had he been thinking?
Right, he hadn’t been thinking. He’d been in heat, and desperate, and now...
He winced at the ache inside. He’d had sex for the first time in his life and he could barely remember it. Despite his resolve, he’d gone and been fucked by an alpha who didn’t really want him.
Great job, Reese... Great fucking job. He’d had sex with the alpha who had fired him, who’d sent him away so he wouldn’t touch him, and now...
Fuck. Pulling on his shirt, Reese hunted for his socks and sneakers, relieved when he located them by the bed. As he sat to put them on, he considered the situation.
Tiberius had taken care to undress him and put his clothes where Reese could easily find them.
Tiberius wasn’t there.
That meant that... Tiberius expected him to dress and leave.
Right.
Made perfect sense.
Didn’t explain the strange lump forming in Reese’s throat at the realization. This wasn’t good at all, this... attachment he felt to the alpha. He had to get over it, and quick. There was nothing between them. Tiberius had done him a favor, fucking him when Reese needed it. He was probably angry, even, at having been drawn into Reese’s heat as he’d been.
Reese would be the one blamed, even though he’d used his suppressants. Omegas were often accused of leading alphas astray as if the heats were something one got on purpose. It was so strange. Omegas were celebrated in the context of the family, as the ones that had kids and brought forth life—but outside of marriage, they were dangerous.
Able to cost an alpha a prestigious marriage to a high-born omega, if they got pregnant, and...
No, Reese wasn’t going to think about that now. No reason. Nothing had happened. Pregnancies rarely resulted from having sex just one time, so... Yeah.
He was getting out there and putting the whole thing behind him. He’d stock up on suppressants, study hard, find another job, make enough to live on.
And avoid a certain sexy, hunky alpha who’d touched him in ways nobody else ever had.
Wait... was there a pun in there?
Growling to himself, Reese cast one last glance to the elegant, masculine bedroom with its king-size bed and the scent of Tiberius all over—or was that on Reese’s skin?—and got the hell out.
***
It was weird.
He felt weird.
Weirdly good. It took him a full day to realize, but his heat seemed to be over. At last. He hated the dizziness and the aches that came with it. Maybe his suppressants were finally working. It was about time. It had been days since that night with Tiberius, and Reese had things to do and places to be.
Like the classroom.
And he really had to think about how to go about getting credits. The creds Tiberius had all but thrown at him the other day burned a hole through his pocket. At least he had enough for this month. Small mercies and all that.
You got this, he told himself. Chin up, Reese. You’ve been through rougher times. This is nothing. You can do it.
But concentration was eluding him. He found himself nodding off in classes that had fascinated him. He was so tired he felt that he could sleep all day. Coffee was his best friend. He wished he could inject it directly into his bloodstream. Keeping his eyes open was a feat these days.
First that strange heat, now this strange tiredness. This just wasn’t his month. Maybe he’d caught a bug. With the stress of starting here, working for the handsome alpha, then the rejection and the embarrassment over throwing himself at Tiberius, it was only to be expected that he’d come down with something, sooner or later.
He’d finished classes for the day and was thinking to go ask at the cafeteria if they needed any help there, trying not to think about Tiberius, not to wonder why he couldn’t stop thinking about him, when he couldn’t have him.
Have him. Ha. Reese had nothing. Having an alpha implied that he’d have him at his feet, wanting him as much as Reese wanted him, and that would probably never happen.
He’d always known this but for the first time, it seemed like such a big thing. A big awful thing. Like a black hole, trying to suck him in. He wanted Tiberius’s arms around him. Wanted his mouth on him. His cock in him. His scent all around him. He wanted to wake up in Tiberius’s bed, he wanted...
Too much. He wanted too much, craved what he’d never have. Especially this particular alpha who hadn’t even come to talk to him after the night they’d spent together. Talk about rejection.
Where was Tiberius anyway? Had he skipped all classes this week? Should Reese worry?
No. The answer was a categorical no. Reese should stop worrying about the alpha’s selfish ass—and why was he so upset anyway? He didn’t have the time to be concerned with someone who had everything. His friends could keep an eye on him. It was Reese who knew nobody in the Academy—because he’d spent all his free time running errands for Tiberius.
Enough already.
Slinging his backpack on, he hurried out of the school and toward the cafeteria. Safer with betas who might pay less. Safer for his heart.
And where had that come from?
He’d almost made it to the low, squat building, when a group of students stepped in his way.
Alphas.
There was no mistaking them. The peacocks of the Academy. Bad boys with tall hairdos and ink, huge muscular bodies, jaws so square you could cut glass on. They were giving off testosterone like nobody’s business, and Reese almost gagged.
What the hell. Their scent was so strong it made him want to puke. He began backpedaling, but one of them blocked his way.
“Here, here, pretty omega...” He grinned, showing off his long canines. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m... in a hurry,” Reese gritted out.
“That so?” The alpha on his other side, the one who seemed to be leading the small group, examined him from head to toe, pale eyes half-closed. “I’ve been watching you.”
“You have?”
“You smell really good. Lately, you’ve been giving off this sweet smell... You know, an omega in heat shouldn’t walk around on his own. Isn’t that so, Val?”
The alpha called Val bared his teeth in a mockery of a grin. “Me and Luke have been wondering about that.”
“I’m not... not in heat.” Reese was telling the truth, too. He wasn’t in heat, not anymore. “Leave me alone.”
“What’s the hurry?” The alpha circled him, a predator toying with his prey. “Tell me. I heard Tiberius ditched you. How come I still smell him on you?”
“What?” Reese sniffed at his hand. “You can?”
“Mm... But it doesn’t matter. He ditched you. So come be my Boi. I want you. Me, Alexander of the Crown Clan. It’s an honor for you.”
Reese flinched. The thought of being close to this alpha turned his stomach. “Uh... no. Thank you, though. Very kind.”
“You won’t get a better offer. I’ll pay you well. Extra, if you submit to me. Let me do with you what I want.”
He backed away. “No. Not interested. Sorry.”
“I’ll take good care of you.”
“I said, no.”
What was he doing? Why had he refused? That was money, good money, and Tiberius didn’t want him working for him anymore, so...
It hurt, thinking about that.
It was that glint in the alpha’s eye, he thought. That hunger. And of course, the clear hint tha
t he wanted to fuck Reese.
Like Tiberius had. God, that name stabbed like a knife in his chest.
What did the alpha want? Reese wasn’t in heat anymore. It couldn’t be pheromones. So what was going on?
“Listen, omega...”
Not waiting to hear, Reese turned and fled, breaking through the circle, incredulous at his luck—probably because they hadn’t expected him to run like that.
He raced as if devils nipped at his heels all the way to the omega building, and then he bent over and threw up his lunch.
Okay. It looked like things had just gotten considerably worse.
Chapter Nine: Tiberius
Tiberius was going crazy. He thought of Reese night and day. Couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. And he was stuck away from the Academy, at Marcus’s family home.
He felt bad for wanting to be elsewhere. Marcus was his best buddy, an asshole though he was most of the time. Marcus would’ve done the same for him.
Only if the timing hadn’t sucked so fucking much, god damn it. Why did he have to go and shift alone in a park outside town, on the border with the human lands, and get his leg caught in a trap?
Only if Tiberius had thought to take down Reese’s number... He’d one a couple of searches online with no results. He didn’t know if Reese had any friends at the Academy. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that before jumping in his car and speeding away?
He’d been worried about Marcus.
That asshole.
“You’re pining,” Marcus muttered, shifting with a wince on the bed. His bandaged leg was propped on a stack of velvet cushions.
“Shut up.”
“And being grumpy about it.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake... What the hell were you thinking? Why were you out there alone? You fucking know it’s dangerous.”
Marcus sighed. “Haven’t we been over this?”
“I have. It was a one-sided thing. A monologue. And you never replied.”
“Well, there you go. We have been over it. Besides, you don’t reply to monologues. You should have paid more attention in lit class.”
“God damn.” Tiberius raked his fingers through his hair. “You’re one annoying fucker.”
“Said the pot to the kettle.”
“Were you chasing someone? Were you following an omega? Was there any good damn reason for you to put your life in such danger?”
“None of your business, pup.”
“Oh god, just... shut up and get better, you hear? I’ve got things to do.”
“You’re so generous and kind,” Marcus said drily. “I’m so fucking moved.”
“Yeah, you know me. I’m all sugar and honey.”
“Go back to the Academy, Ty. I can’t fucking stand to see you like that anymore.”
“Like what? Fuck you.”
“Go away.”
“And who’s gonna take care of you?”
Marcus pressed his lips together. “There’s James. See? It’s all good.”
James was the family butler. Tiberius was mainly there to keep Marcus company and help with James wasn’t around. But of course, the main issue was that Marcus’s alpha father was absent. Somewhere, probably at his club, drunk off his ass, as he usually was. His omega father had died when Marcus had been a baby and his two older brothers from another omega were married and living in the capital.
Knowing Marcus, he hadn’t even told them about this incident.
“Fuck... Look, man. You know I don’t mind,” Tiberius said.
“Is that why you can’t sit still for two seconds or talk about anything? Because you don’t mind?”
Tiberius grunted, rubbed at the ache between his brows. “That’s not fair. I drove over here the moment you called me.”
“I’m all better now. So why don’t you run along home.”
“Marcus...”
“I know, dude. You’re worried about Reese. It’s more than lust, isn’t it?”
Tiberius wanted to deny it but found himself nodding.
“Good. Listen, I’m really okay. I can walk now. Gimme a couple of days and I’ll be back, good as new. All right? And keep an eye on Nero. That dude’s a hot mess.”
Tiberius shot his friend a sharp look. “Why? What do you know?”
“Nothing. It’s just a hunch.”
“Marcus. You can talk to me.” Tiberius let his hands hang between his knees and fixed the other alpha with a stern look. “About him. And about you.”
“Oh, I’m fine.” Marcus waved a hand airily. “You know me. Always getting back on my feet. Nothing can keep me down.”
“Hm...” Not convinced, Tiberius leaned back in his chair. Marcus certainly seemed indestructible most of the time.
“Now... what do you know about the witches’ intentions?” Marcus asked, a little too casually.
“What?” Tiberius blinked. “You seriously wanna talk politics right now?”
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s my leg that’s banged up, man, not my head.”
“You could have fooled me... Why the sudden interest? What aren’t you telling me?”
“It’s just...” Marcus looked uncomfortable, looking away. “Look, I always say I hate politics but I’ve been following what’s happening. Politics is important. Doesn’tmean I have to like it.”
“What about it, then?”
“Well, I find it strange that it’s all just so vague and hush-hush. The witches. The vampires. The Fae.”
“Hush-hush? It’s all my father ever talks about. He’s making me marry because of it.”
“He’s making you marry? When?”
“Fuck...” Tiberius hadn’t meant to let that slip out, but it was all he could think about.
That and Reese.
Why did he lust after him so much? They’d fucked and yet it wasn’t out of his system yet. He needed to be with Reese, naked, he needed to fuck Reese until he screamed with pleasure, again and again, and—
“Dude, you want me to talk to you, and you don’t even tell me about being forced into marriage. Are you nuts? You have to tell me about that. Is the omega the old wolf chose for you hot? Don’t tell me he attends the Lotus Academy. I’ll be so fucking jealous. I heard the omegas there are just delicious. I—”
“Marcus.”
“What?”
“I’d rather talk about the witches and Fae and politics than that.”
So much better than talking about himself and the end of his world.
***
“War?” Tiberius shook his head. “I seriously doubt that. The Fae are half-mad, the witches have been a pain in the ass for centuries, and sure, their new leader is ambitious, but...”
“They are recruiting shifters.”
“Shifters wouldn’t ally themselves with witches.”
“You don’t remember the bewitched werewolf that almost won the Royal Tournament ten years ago?”
“The one Reese’s uncle ended up winning?”
“There you go. By the way, did you notice? You even managed to insert Reese into a discussion about politics. You, my friend, are besotted.”
“What? I’m not.”
“Fucking nuts about that omega. He did smell good, I’ll grant you that, but—”
Before he knew it, Tiberius had the front of Marcus’s shirt bunched up in his fist. “You stay away from him, do you hear?”
“Whoa. Calm your tits, dude. What’s the matter with you?”
Panting hard, blinking, Tiberius stared at his own fist. He slowly opened his fingers, releasing the soft material. “Fuck...”
“Yeah. I guess that’s what you need. To fuck Reese.”
Tiberius couldn’t deny it. It was what he needed, down to the marrow of his bones.
Marcus shook his head and sighed. “Like I said: nuts. Anyway, back to the tournament.”
“That wolf was bewitched against his will.”
“Was he, though?” Marcus straightened his shirt, almost absent-mindedly.
“What are
you implying?”
“I thought that was clear, even for someone thinking with his dick right now, like you. He went willingly, siding with the witches, to get an advantage that in the end didn’t serve its purpose.”
“And so what if one idiot did that? What’s the big deal?”
“You’re not seeing the bigger picture, dick-brain.”
“Careful, Marcus. My patience with you is running low. Better not use what’s left of it up all at once.”
“Touché.” Marcus lifted his hands and bowed his head. “Just hear me out.”
“What did you overhear exactly?”
“Rumors are that the witches recruiting shifters. Offering them the power to win over the clans, become clan leaders. Then they’ll control them, and rule over the shifters.”
“That’s fucking nonsense. There’s always been peace between us. Tenuous at times, but peace nonetheless. Why would they seek to change that now?”
“It’s been going on for a while, Ty. The new witch king is ambitious. He wants control of the entire country. The shifter clans are too powerful, controlling commerce and sports, and our political presence is strong. If the witches are to control the country, they first have to control us.”
“No way...” Tiberius shook his head in disbelief. He was born into peace. His fathers, too. There hadn’t been a war in over a hundred years. “This has to be a mistake.”
“It’s no mistake and mark my words.”
“And what are we supposed to do? Attack them based on a rumor? Are you crazy?”
“No, Ty, that’s not what I’m syaing. We just have to be careful. Vigilant. The balance is about to shift, I just feel it.”
“Now you’re imagining things.”
“The humans and us, we’ve been the dominant races for too long. It was bound to change at some point.”
“I seem to remember that you didn’t believe all this shit. You said that everything thrown against the witches was propaganda.”
“But what if I’m wrong. Something is brewing, for sure. If it’s not the witches, then who is behind it all?”
“Stop with these depressing thoughts,” Tiberius said. “Focus on getting well. Leave these worries to the clan leaders, and the president of the shifters. They should know what to do about it.”