“Carolyn,” I began with a sigh.
“No please hear me out Eric,” Carolyn insisted and I stayed silent, letting her continue.
“Eloise is twenty-four and our principal ballerina in our Winter Ballet. She’s been at SFOFA since she was eleven and I’m starting to get worried that the higher ups will bump her out onto the streets if something doesn’t change.”
Twenty-four? That was incredibly old for a SFOFA omega. Most were matched off before their eighteenth birthday. What was wrong with this omega?
“So why did you call me? We don’t exactly have a great track record with SFOFA omegas.” It was true. We’d gone through courting about five different omegas in the last twelve years since we graduated university. But Leon wouldn’t accept any of them. We hadn’t even tried in the last five years despite still paying our membership. Owen and Dominic had never even experienced a courting process before.
“Eloise is an amazing young woman, an amazing ballerina and a college graduate. She deserves an amazing pack.” Carolyn continued, gushing about the omega who I only knew by name.
“Ok, so what’s the catch? Does she have a tail? A third nipple?”
“No, no, none of that.” Carolyn laughed and was it just me or was her laugh a bit nervous? Did this omega actually have a third nipple?
“I just really think you should come see her tonight before we talk anymore about this.”
“Just me? Not Leon or any of the others?”
“Just you. I don’t think you could get Leon to come if you held him at gunpoint.” We both chuckled at this. Leon wasn’t known for his love of ballet and throw in a dozen omegas prancing around and SFOFA’s Winter Ballet was the last place my prickly packmate would be at.
“Besides ifyoulike her, there is a higher chance of you convincing the rest of your pack.”
I sighed and looked over at my calendar, amazingly I had no evening commitments, was it fate?
“I’ll be there.”
Now, as I took my seat in a red velvet theater chair and stared up at the heavy red curtains I was second-guessing myself. The swirl of scents around me made my nose itch as people filed in around me, murmuring to one another. I could smell many other alphas who were coming in, their scents cloying and making my hackles rise and I had to remind myself to chill out. I plastered a genial look on my face and waved to the alphas I recognized from our many business dealings at Russo Enterprises. They nodded or waved back but luckily none of them came up to chat.
I don’t know how I let Carolyn convince me to come out to see this omega. There was no way that my pack would ever accept an omega into our midst. At least not while Leon had his hang ups about them. He had been this way ever since I’d known him and a lot of it had to do with his mother. We never spoke about it out loud but I knew that it was the reason why he seemed to distrust or even outwardly dislike omegas, every single omega—male or female—had been rejected by him within days of our courting them. My pack had, instead, resorted to being happy with superficial relationships outside of our pack other than Owen our beta.
My thoughts of my pack were forgotten as the lights in the theater dimmed and the curtain raised. The orchestra pit in front of me began the first strains of the opening scene ofSwan Lake. I watched as a prince stepped into the spotlight, keeping his steps light as he danced around the stage and enjoyed his youth. Eventually his mother, the queen, stepped onto the stage and danced around him and caged him in—prompting him to get married.
The scene eventually changed to one of the prince and his friends hunting a group of swans, the dancers springing around the stage with surprising agility. The male omegas wove in and out of the fake trees on the stage, dressed like courtesans. Their scents waft down to me, cherries, caramel, vanilla. None really make me perk up.
Finally the music changed as the prince, now alone, approached the group of swan dancers and aimed his crossbow. But before he could fire one of the swans transformed into a beautiful maiden and my breath was caught in my throat. She had a round, heart shaped face and, despite the fact that it was covered in makeup, I could see the smattering of freckles that went across her nose.
The swan maiden rose gracefully onto her toes and lifted an arm into the air and I couldn’t help but be enthralled as she seemed to embody the trapped princess who was forced to become a swan by day. I could see that she was on the shorter side, especially compared to her omega counterparts who all seemed to tower over her as she moved across the stage as if she was flying. Her brown hair was bound tightly to the back of her head and I wondered how soft it would feel sliding between my fingers.
Finally she twirled to the front of the stage and her scent hit me, instantly making me go hard and causing goosebumps to travel across my skin. She smelled like chocolate and champagne. It didn’t even surprise me when she looked out over the crowd and her eyes were the color of milk chocolate. She twirled away too soon and I leaned back in my chair, feeling a little shell shocked at just how much her scent was affecting me.
The rest of the ballet passed in a blur. I chose to stay in my seat during intermission while everyone milled around me, having conversations or sipping on glasses of liquor. I could hear a few other alphas talking about the omega and I found that I could barely suppress the growl that was building in my chest at the thought of these other alphas looking at her.
Soon the intermission was over and she was back, dancing on stage with her prince. But soon things took a turn when the evil sorcerer tricks the prince into declaring his love for a woman enchanted to look like the beautiful swan.
Heart broken, the beautiful swan returned to her lake and I watched her shoulders heave with a grief that made my throat tighten. The two lovers reunite but it’s too late now and rather than live her life as a swan she chooses to die. The prince dies with her and the swans surround them—suddenly changing back into maidens at the show of their true love, defeating the sorcerer.
Fog filters onto the stage as the lights brighten and create an ethereal glow as the prince and his beloved rise and begin a dance in the heavens as the curtains close to the applauding audience.
I left the theater a few minutes later in a daze and stood in the foyer, feeling a bit shell shocked. I had only just managed to get my hard-on under control before leaving my seat.
“I take it you liked her?” Carolyn’s voice comes from behind me and I turn to see her dressed in a silver evening gown. Her alpha Peter is with her and I catch his smirk as he kisses the side of her head before heading off to talk with some of the other alphas in attendance.
“That’s a bit of an understatement Carolyn. How is that omega still unbonded?” Eloise had garnered the attention of most of the alphas in the audience and it was shocking to think that none of them were trying to court her.
“That part is a bit complicated… follow me?” Carolyn gestures for me to follow her. We make our way through the crowd, weaving around groups of people until we reach a set of stairs. We head upstairs to an office where a group of people sit in various seats. I recognize the mayor, who is a huge donor to the Omega Academy and a few of the Academy administrators.
“Mr. Zhao, so good to see you. Carolyn told us you might be amenable to our plan.” The superintendent of the school said from her seat behind the desk. Superintendent Bells was an older omega who was bonded to a state senator and several other important members of society. She ran the San Francisco Omega Academy like a well-oiled machine. A well-oiled money making machine that is.
