If she has forgiven me yet? She didn’t tell anyone about me and what I did—what I became. Her hand in mine afterward, and the look in her eyes, they gave me hope.
I’ll make it up to her, spend the rest of my life doing so if that’s what it takes.
I’ve always sat apart from other dynamics, never really understanding where I fit in. I orbit on the edges of everyone’s understanding, just close enough to mimic belonging, yet remaining apart.
There’s always been something in me that’s off-kilter, sideways, too much or not enough. I’ve learned to hide it. Learned to shift and shape myself into what others needed in the moment. So many roles they became a blur.
But that core part of me that neither bends nor adapts stayed untouched and unknown.
Until Esme.
Maybe that’s what drew me to her right from the start. The way she saw below the surface and the face I wore, to the man beneath. She’s an omega, already rare and coveted. But to me, she’s extraordinary even among their kind.
To me she is everything.
Time for me to tell her.
Let’s hope she doesn’t tell me to fuck off… or run screaming.
Esme
I go to my allocated quarters where I pace back and forth. Diana watches me, wringing her hands. A dozen girls have come to check on me, several of the tutors too, although Diana sent them all on their way.
I can feel their worry reaching out for me, their kindness, and their fervent hope.
“Would you like a drink?” Diana asks. “How about something to eat? You have barely eaten in days. Or we could put the viewer on see if we can find something to distract you?—”
I roll my eyes.
She grimaces. “Yeah, let’s leave the viewer off…”
“You don’t need to be here,” I say. “I’m alright. Really, I am.”
“You’re not alright,” she says vehemently. “He can’t just go around making statements about claiming someone on the global news. Why doesn’t he call ahead, for goodness’s sake?”
I roll my eyes for the second time. “He’s a man.”Mostly. “And zetas appear to share some marked similarities with alphas. He might even be worse.”
“Seriously?” she mutters. “They can’t possibly be worse.”
“What if it’s not me?” The words tumble out before I can stop them, self-doubts threatening to swallow me. That familiar ache, of never being quiet enough, lending yet more suffocating weight. He’s a politician now, a member of the ruling council. Maybe he was talking about someone else, someone he knew before I gatecrashed his life. Someone with a level head who doesn’t go chasing off like a crazy person and nearly getting you both killed.
“I misplaced something after my last mission. So you know, it’s time I went and collected her.”
Only I know what those words felt like—him publicly claiming me on a broadcast that will be transmitted to the far corners of the universe.
His words play on repeat in my mind, a promise—I’m coming baby.
Please be coming. I don’t know how to be in a world where I can only watch you from afar.
Diana’s face softens. “It’s going to be you,” she says confidently. “Nothing you’ve said about him suggests that he’s cruel… Dimwitted maybe… And if he’s not here in the next hour, I’m going to call his office and give him a piece of my mind.”
“He’s a governor now,” I point out. “What would he even want with me?”
“Are you kidding?” she says, sounding incredulous. “Have you even met yourself?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I say, feeling defensive.
“You’ve been a friend to me for years,” she says. “And not just me. Do you have any idea how many omegas in the community hang on your every word?”
