by Eva Lyra
Sounded like a plan.
And if he was pregnant... well, who knew? Marcus said that Tiberius liked him, and Tiberius himself seemed happy to have him around. Was there a universe where Tiberius might want to raise a baby with him?
The thought made him so happy that his eyes stung.
God, such a dangerous hope.
He hurried to the alpha building and rode the elevator up to Tiberius’s room to grab his wallet. He’d need to get a cab to the town.
He slowed to a stop before he reached the door. Someone stood there, an older alpha in a dark suit who looked a lot like... Tiberius?
The man turned toward him with a frown. “Who’re you?”
“I’m Reese,” he whispered. “Tiberius’s omega.”
He was that, right? He slept with the guy. It was just that he’d never put a label on it before.
“So you’re Reese. I’ve heard about you.” The man laughed dismissively. “I’m Tiberius’s alpha father. I’m here to see him. Where is he?”
“In class. What do you mean you heard about me?”
“Word gets around.”
“About what?”
“Oh, come on, don’t be coy. You know what I’m talking about. You can’t possibly expect Tiberius to stay with you, a lowly wolf from a bankrupt clan filled with traitors. Have you even told Tiberius what your fathers have done?”
Cold washed through Reese, making him lightheaded. “Please...”
“Leave, and I won’t tell him. It doesn’t matter to me, one way or another. Tiberius has a duty to his family to marry a powerful omega, and his betrothed is just the right alliance for Crescent clan.”
“His betrothed?”
“Oh, he didn’t tell you about his engagement? I guess you both kept secrets from each other. Though soon the engagement will be public and then, of course, the wedding.”
“The wedding.” Of course. Reese felt dizzy. And sick. He really hoped he wasn’t going to throw up all over Tiberius’s father’s shiny shoes. “I see.”
“I thought you might. You don’t look stupid.”
Did he expect Reese to thank him for the compliment? Was it a compliment? Reese braced a hand against the wall, trying to steady himself. “What do you want?”
“What I want? I thought that was pretty obvious. Stay away from my son. He has to focus on his studies and his fiancé, on family values. What do you have to offer him anyway? You’re cute, but that’s not enough in the long-term, is it? Looks fade, and alphas move on to greener pastures.”
“Greener...?” Reese shook his head. He thought he might pass out.
“Tiberius will inherit the family company and the leadership of our clan. He has responsibilities. Duties. He has to marry well, produce many heirs, finish his studies, form a House of his own. You can’t offer him any of that.”
“How do you know?” Swallowing back bile, Reese, forced himself to gaze steadily at the old alpha, lifting his chin in challenge.
“Feisty, aren’t you?” The leader of the Crescent clan took two steps closer, towering over Reese, a hulking, terrifying presence. “I can’t believe you have the nerve to talk back to me. Even alphas don’t dare to do that.”
Reese wondered if the wolf would swipe him away with one blow and solve the problem that way—because he was the problem the old wolf had come to solve, wasn’t it? the omega distracting his son from his duties—and braced for the pain.
But it didn’t come.
“Listen, little omega. I’m doing you a favor,” Tiberius’s father said.
“What do you mean?”
“Ask yourself, kid. What do you want? Do you want to warm his bed until his wedding? Spread your legs for him knowing he has a fiancé he’ll sleep with and knock up soon?”
“How soon?” Reese’s voice was faint in his own ears.
“Oh, soon enough. With the next full moon, if I have anything to say about it. Is that what matters?”
No, it wasn’t.
Turning blindly, keeping a hand on the wall for balance, Reese walked away.
Chapter Fifteen: Tiberius
Reese didn’t come to class.
There had to be a perfectly good explanation for it. Maybe Reese had decided to skip class and study in his room instead. He had seemed worried about lagging behind. Reese never talked about himself, but Tiberius had managed to coax enough out of him, especially in the mornings when Reese was half-asleep and could be caught off guard, to know that he hadn’t had a private tutor and hadn’t been to a private school before the Academy.
He’d been to a public school.
Tiberius shuddered. Not only was the education there inadequate—frankly, an embarrassment to the land who should care more about the less privileged—but an unmated omega would be in danger. Security was non-existent, children thrown together in classrooms before presenting, so that when they presented as alphas, betas or omegas they weren’t ready to deal with the hormonal surges. How many omegas had been raped in such places? Too many. In private schools, tests were done early, and sexes were separated as much as possible until the end of puberty.
Reese was lucky nothing had happened to him there, and Tiberius would make sure nothing happened to him henceforth. He was his to protect.
His to cherish.
He was slowly coming to terms with his feelings for Reese. They were so strong they still caught him by surprise at times, and scared him, but he was starting to face them. Embrace them. Reese made him happy.
That was a good sign, for sure.
But when Reese didn’t show up for lunch, either, and didn’t answer his text message, Tiberius started getting uneasy. What if Reese was sick? He’d been kind of unwell lately, and Tiberius was concerned about his little omega. It was time he brought up the Academy nurse again, make an appointment, to check...
Check what, Ty?
There was something about Reese’s sickness, his scent, that nagged at Tiberius, something he ought to know, some piece of the puzzle that he held but couldn’t quite remember...
“There you are.” Marcus joined him on the steps of the salon, looking ruffled. “Been trying to find you.”
“What do you want?”
“Oh, nothing. Did your father find you, though?”
“My father? He was here?”
“Yeah, looking for you. He said you had important matters to discuss.”
“Important matters? That asshole.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes at him. “What happened?”
“He attacked me when I said I wasn’t getting married to the omega he chose for me. Sold off like furniture, never asking what the fuck I want, what I need—”
“And what do you need, Ty?”
“Reese.” It came out without hesitation or conscious thought. “Fuck...”
“Well, well.” Marcus didn’t look shocked. He did look pensive, though. “And what does Reese say about that?”
“What?” Tiberius groaned. “I never... We haven’t discussed this.”
“But do you think he likes you?”
“He sleeps in my room every night.”
“So you have sex all the time. Stop rubbing that in my face. So, sex aside, does he like you?”
“I guess so.”
“You guess. You really haven’t spent much time talking, have you?”
“Fuck you, Marcus. You’re one to give relationship advice.”
“So it’s a relationship?”
“Ah fuck...” Tiberius kicked at the nearest wall, and then again. “Fuck.”
“Do you love Reese, Ty?”
“Fuck me, I think I do.”
“Does he love you back?”
“I don’t fucking know!”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. My room. His room. I was going to find him. Shit, I hope my father hasn’t found him because...”
His words died on his tongue. He stood frozen.
“Ty?”
“Fucking hell. If my father f
inds him in my room...”
“Your father wouldn’t hurt Reese, would he?”
“He almost killed me, his own son. I don’t know what my father is capable of right now. I have to find Reese right away.”
“Shit,” Marcus breathed, and as Tiberius started to run, he limped after him. “Go to him, and I’ll find you there. Hurry!”
Tiberius didn’t need to be told twice.
***
His room was empty.
He walked in a circle, frustrated and refusing to acknowledge his fear. “He must have been in his room,” he said—more to himself, even though Marcus had arrived, out of breath and rubbing his injured leg. “My father must have not found me and left.”
“Yeah. Best case scenario.”
“But then why wasn’t Reese answering his phone?”
“What do you want to do?” Marcus limped to the sofa and lowered himself on it with a wince.
“I’ll go check Reese’s room. You stay here and stay off that damn leg.”
“But—”
“If I can’t find Reese, I’ll keep looking until I do, see that he’s all right, and...” Tiberius clenched and unclenched his fists. “And I’ll have to talk to my father.”
Talk to his father, but about what? He had no intention of marrying Fennix, but he had to tell the old wolf to stay away from Reese.
How was he to convince the patriarch to do that, though? Wouldn’t telling him make it more likely that his father would go after Reese? How long could he keep Reese a secret? Sooner or later his father would know, and all hell would break loose.
As long as he hadn’t hurt Reese today. He wouldn’t. He had no reason to, and this was the Academy. There were rules.
So why did Tiberius have this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he raced across campus?
***
Reese didn’t answer the knock on his door, but when Tiberius turned the handle, the door opened and he entered.
He had only been inside Reese’s room twice, and in passing. It was a typical omega room, a poor omega, with thin drapes on the small window and a narrow bed in the middle, a desk against the wall, a closet. Typically omega, it had potted plants and soft quilts in pastel colors, a plush carpet with pillows.
Still, most omegas had fluffier tastes. One would expect to find stuffed animals, like teddy bears and plushie wolves on their beds, frilly covers, posters of flowers. Reese wasn’t like that. He was tough. He was strong.
He was perfect.
Still, some things seemed to be missing. He clearly remembered a statuette of the wolf god Anu on the desk, from the last time he’d been here. Reese’s slippers by the bed. A knife with a gilded sheath that had been hanging over his bed.
Grim, he walked over to the closet and threw it open.
Empty.
Fuck.
He ran his fingers through his hair, tugged until it hurt. Where had Reese gone? What the hell had happened?
Pulling his phone out of his back pocket, he tried Reese’s number again. Then he sent a text, asking him where he was.
Waited.
No reply.
Tiberius sat down on Reese’s bed. The place smelled like him. His pillow. His sheets. His closet. Every inhale brought images of Reese, laughing, talking earnestly, discussing a TV show. Moaning as Tiberius moved inside him. Smiling.
Tiberius’s chest felt too tight.
Something had to have happened. Reese wouldn’t walk out on Tiberius, on the Academy, just like that. He knew that the Academy meant a lot to Reese, that he was proud of being here, of doing well in class. He was so smart.
But his closet was empty. His stuff gone. Where was he?
The secretary of the Academy might know. And if not...
The dean.
***
“Tiberius! Come on in. Have a seat.”
The dean of Howl Academy was an old buddy of dear old dad, so Tiberius approached the desk cautiously. You never knew what he and his father had talked about, and the topic of the wedding still loomed dark over Tiberius, like a storm cloud.
“Sir.” He sat in one of the hard, plastic chairs the dean liked to make students uncomfortable in. “Sorry to bother you, sir, but it’s about Reese.”
“Of course.”
“You know?”
“Know what exactly, young wolf? Enlighten me.”
“Sir, I can’t find him anywhere. His closet has been emptied. It’s as if he packed up and left.”
“I see. Then what did you come to ask me?”
“Did he really leave? Did he tell you anything? Last time I saw him this morning he never mentioned any intention to go.”
“Caught you by surprise, did he? He’s your friend, isn’t he?”
“Yes, sir.” Tiberius swallowed. “He is.”
“Well...” The dean arranged a few piles of paper on his desk. “Reese did come to see me. His grades were slipping. He told me he couldn’t keep up.”
“He told you that? when?”
“Today. This morning, as a matter of fact. Thing is, without good grades, he can’t keep his scholarship.”
“He has a scholarship?”
“You say he’s your friend but you didn’t even know he had a scholarship? He’s a smart boy. I was sorry to hear he was leaving.”
Tiberius’s face burned. But worse was the guilt and fear. The fear he’d lost Reese, let him slip through his fingers because he hadn’t bothered to find out more about him. He knew that not everyone was privileged, but he’d never considered what it might mean for Reese.
His Reese.
He thought his omega trusted him. Why wouldn’t Reese tell him?
Pride. Of course, Reese had his pride. His dignity. He had trouble accepting hand-outs, even when they weren’t that, when Tiberius only wanted to treat him to good food, or wine. Having a scholarship might make him look poor.
But it also meant Reese was super smart. Why were his grades suffering?
Why would he give up just like that? Could it be... Could he have met Tiberius’s father after all? He had to find out.
Had to find Reese and bring him home, tell him all the things on his mind, in his heart, that he hadn’t dared express before. It was time.
Chapter Sixteen: Reese
He couldn’t go back to his uncle. To that town where everyone knew about his fathers, and about Reese’s scholarship.
He couldn’t face them, admit he’d failed. That he’d panicked. That maybe...
No, shit, no. He wasn’t going to even think about that right now. He had enough on his plate as it was. He’d called in a favor from a distant cousin, Ethan, and taken a job as a waiter in a town near his native home, and a room on top of the restaurant.
That was what he needed: a few weeks away from everything and everyone to set his thoughts straight. Then either he’d find the guts to return to the Academy and stay away from Tiberius, or he’d tell his uncle that he had to abandon the Academy and return home, his tail between his legs.
“Will you be okay?” Ethan asked, walking the few steps to the window of the tiny room and looking out at the street below and the buildings across. “Got everything you need?”
It was weird. Reese hadn’t seen or spoken to Ethan in years. Hadn’t seen him, in fact, since Reese’s fathers’ funeral service.
His cousin was a beta, and he’d told Reese that last time that if Reese ever needed a job and a place to stay, he was welcome to ring him up. He’d probably seen how everyone had been staring at Reese, as if he’d suddenly grown horns.
Turned traitor.
“I’ll be just fine.” Reese sat on the bed, beside his duffel bag, exhausted. “Thank you, Ethan. I really appreciate this.”
“No problem.” A pause. “Will you tell me what happened? I don’t mean to pry but I heard you were at Howl academy, and I don’t think it’s winter break yet.”
“It’s not. I...” Reese passed a hand over his eyes. He’d tried hard not to think about what had happene
d.
Maybe he shouldn’t have run. He’d felt as if someone had sucker-punched him and had to get away.
What was he doing?
“Boyfriend trouble?” Ethan asked.
Reese shook his head, but his eyes burned. He wasn’t going to cry. “No, it’s not that. I don’t think I’m good enough for the Academy, Ethan.”
“That’s bullshit. You’re the smartest cookie in this family. I always knew you could do it.”
“You did?”
“Sure. Now get some rest, you look beat. Tomorrow I’ll show you the ropes. It’s a nice diner. We have our regular customers. You’ll be all right.”
“I know.” He really had to look like shit for Ethan to try and reassure him like that. It was embarrassing and sad. “You’re a good guy,” he told his cousin, hoping Ethan could hear in his voice that he meant it. “And I owe you.”
“Nah. We’re family.” Ethan grinned, and looking at him, Reese thought that Ethan was a handsome guy, but he’d never hold a candle to Tiberius.
He closed his eyes, cursing inwardly. “Family is shit. But you? You’re great. And I’ll pay back the favor as soon as I can.”
***
Ethan had been right. The diner was a nice place, quiet, with regular customers, mostly betas and omegas. When the occasional alpha entered, Reese retreated to the back of the diner, and the beta waiters took over.
Yeah, it had quickly become obvious that the alphas reacted strongly to Reese’s scent—which made no sense, since he wasn’t in heat anymore.
So damn strange.
His life settled into an easy rhythm. Work, food, sleep, more work, more food, more sleep. On some days he could barely keep his eyes open, and it concerned him, but he told himself it was the oppressing sadness from not being around Tiberius. From finding out that the alpha had a fiancé and was going to get married to suitable omega, from a good family.
Soon.
That surely explained why his stomach was so messed up these days. Stress. Sorrow. Depression.
Tiberius had called him a hundred times, sent a hundred messages that implied confusion and ignorance of the reason why Reese had fled.
Because that was what he had done, wasn’t it? Packed his things and run, fleeing as if for his life. He had to stop his heart from breaking somehow, from cracking all the way through. That was how it felt. All his admonitions to himself not to get attached, not to feel anything or expect anything from Tiberius, and here he was: heartbroken, anyway.