Chapter one
Timingisabitch.
It’s kinda the entire story of my life. Not just as I stand here in the doorway of my shared dorm suite, watching Harrison Daiger knot the brains out of my roommate, Olive. While this truly sucks—seeing as I slept with that Alpha two weeks ago—it’s really not the worst timing in the grand scheme of my life.
I wasn’t even born on time, being eight weeks premature to my parents who had me in their early fifties. I designated as an Omega four years before my other peers, which has now had an overwhelming lingering effect on my social prowess. I didn’t even really like Harrison, but I’m twenty. My heat could start at any time. It could start before I finish my degree, and I’d have to leave campus. Sometimes I just need a knot and the stupid, giant-cocked jock was nearby and let me go for a ride. He let me take, so I took. That’s really the only thing the Alphas at this godforsaken school seem to be able to offer me—a good time and a thick knot. And who am I to deny what my baser instincts want? So I hook up with Alphas, and nothing more has ever come of it.It’s not like it bothers me or anything.
At this moment though, it looks like he’s taking from Olive, ass cheeks clenching as he ruts her on the kitchen island.
Olive’s red hair is sticking to her back, her cheeks are pink with exertion and the room smells like watermelon and patchouli. It makes me want to fucking throw up.
I clear my throat, and the two of them look at me with very little interest. My roommate, not caring at all that I’ve walked in on her fucking someone. Harrison doesn’t even look ashamed about banging my roommate two weeks after me. Honestly, it’s not uncommon at Mercy University.
You have your Omega dorms, and the Alpha and Beta dorms are mixed. Thankfully, as Omegas, we only get one roommate and private rooms that are attached to a small kitchen and living space. They even allow us to scent each other to see if there will be any hostility in the living arrangement. But after living with Olive for three years, I can say with complete honesty that I’ll never eat watermelon again in my life.
“Sanitize the counter when you’re done,” I say as I walk to my room, shutting the wood door, locking it, and nearly yeeting myself onto my beanbag chair. I’m so sick of this place. I don’t mind the school portion of college. It’s the people, the atmosphere, the fact that I don’t feel like I fit in. I’ve been here three years and still my closest friends live back home in Vermont.
I feel hopelessly homesick. I miss my mom, the smell of our house, my childhood bedroom, the cold weather. But what I miss most is our dog, Hank.
Thinking about the giant, colossal head, no brain Newfoundland waiting for me at home is what breaks me. That’s what makes me cry, not the guy I hooked up with banging my roommate, not missing my mom, not feeling alone. Thinking about the massive dog who will wag his tail so hard and will probably knock me straight on my ass when I see him is what breaks me.
I’m usually not much of a crier. Tears usually flow when I’m pissed, not when I’m sad. But being homesick has me feeling lost, I need to go home and recenter myself. My biggest regret in choosing to go to Mercy University is how far away it is, being all the way in North Carolina when my home is in New England. But you can’t just turn down a full ride. Most of the Omegas in the dorm are here on partial or full scholarships. All a part of an initiative to give Omegas more options—supposedly.
Personally, I think it’s a load of bullshit. Guess who doesn’t get full rides to Mercy University? Alphas. All of them come from extremely wealthy families. It’s basically like handing these entitled douchebags an Omega on a platter. The University boasts about the Omega dorms and being so progressive about Omega rights. It’s all truly in an effort to help these Alphas find their pack and an Omega while they’re in school. They don’t even let us attend classes after we go into heat, unless you’re bonded and find pack housing off-site.
As bitter as I probably sound about the injustice of it all, I’m not an idiot. I wasn’t turning down a free education. I can say with complete certainty that I’ve given my studies my absolute best. I plan on being a bookkeeper, which I can do virtually. Being in an office is simply not an option. You don’t have to disclose your designation on applications either. It may not be my dream, but it’s pragmatic.
It’s not that I’m fully opposed to pack life. I’ve just never met a single Alpha who has made me think that they’re a decent person. I just use them for their knots, get what I need, and dip. I haven’t had any complaints, and the part of me that’s insecure notes how none of them has ever made an attempt to get to know me better either.
I wipe at my eyes and pull out my phone, staring at the picture of Hank. He looks so stupid but so adorable with his tongue lolling out, his black long fur covered in snowflakes. Winter break can’t come soon enough. I scroll through my calendar and see that I can leave in a week and a half. I just need to get through these next ten days, and then I can be home.
On a sigh, I get out of the beanbag chair, open my cabinet, and grab a fist full of Oreos and a water bottle. I turn on my heated blanket and tuck into my bed, then text the one person in this universe who has my back. Piper, my best friend since I was four. We both grew up on the same street, and Piper has always been my rock. It makes more sense now that she designated as an Alpha. Our relationship has honestly been an Omega-Alpha relationship, minus the sexual benefits. I always worry that I take advantage of Piper, but she calls me her trial Omega. She’s on the path to become a surgeon and doesn’t have the time to settle down and treat an Omega properly (her words, not mine). So for now, knowing how to take care of me will prepare her for the male Omega of her dreams.
It’s unfortunate we couldn’t just be into each other. Not that we didn’t dry hump a few times during sleep overs, but we were truly meant to be best friends. Piper may not romantically be my Alpha, but she’s my soulmate in one of the deepest senses I imagine people can be connected.
Me:Winter break can’t come soon enough.
Piper:You’re telling me. If this is undergrad, I have no idea how I’m going to make it through the next ten years.
Me:Are you sure you want to be a surgeon?
Piper:More sure than anything.
Me:I’ll be your sugar mama while you go to school, don’t worry.
Piper:You know I was serious about Boston or New Haven if it happens for me next year.
Me:I’m thinking about it.
Piper:You better. Hot chocolate date first thing when you get in, and bring Hank!
Me:See you soon.
Piper:See you soon, Charles.
I roll my eyes at her nickname for me and put down my phone, feeling more at ease having spoken to Piper. Her offer to move into her apartment in Boston and finish school online is tempting. However, if you go virtual, your scholarship goes down in funding.Shocker.
But I know that if I lived with Piper, she would help me with the issues I have. She would help me with my social anxiety and be there for me. Part of me doesn’t want to be so dependent on her. I know she’ll be busy with school, and we won’t have a ton of time to be together, but anything has to be better than this.
