My poor, amazing, broken omega. I’d never had to deal with emotions as strong and bitter as the ones that sank down on me as Quincy told his story, and in the aftermath, once he’d fallen asleep in my arms. It had to be irritating for him to nestle against me, what with post-heat aversion to touch, but some things went beyond the demands of biology.
Quincy needed me. I’d never been so certain of anything in my life. I’d thought the point of my existence was to be a good son, to do as my parents wanted me to, whether it made me happy or not, so that I would be in a position to contribute to society at large.
That was my old mission. My new one snored away in my arms, covered in tattoos, hair a bright and cheerful mop to hide the darkness inside, pierced through in several places, but nowhere near as painfully as his heart.
“What can I do?” I whispered softly against his hair, stroking his damp, tear-swollen face, fighting back tears of my own. “What can I do to help you?”
I didn’t have an answer. I wasn’t even sure there was an answer. I’d learned more than I wanted to about what happened when a bond was broken. Most of the people I’d interacted with had been severed when their mate died. Ninety percent of the time, a bonded mate died of grief within a few weeks of their other half, but sometimes, especially if they were younger and possibly pregnant, they lived on as a shell of their former self.
I’d also seen a few omegas who, for whatever reason, went through the severing procedure without their alpha dying. I remembered thinking it was horrifically unfair that the current procedure inflicted the lion’s share of the harm on the omega. Severed alphas usually walked away from the procedure with nothing more than an inability to bond again. I’d had my suspicions back when I was learning about the whole thing, just like I had my doubts now, that the procedure had been designed by alpha scientists to punish the omega for leaving when a different procedure could have been devised that went much easier on both mates.
I tried to push those thoughts out of my head. They were only upsetting me, and they weren’t going to help me help Quincy.
But how could I help him? The damage had already been done. The bond severing procedure was irreversible.
Before my thoughts could well and truly spiral, my phone buzzed on the table in the other part of the RV. I sighed, knowing it was probably my dad. He was undoubtedly furious with me.
There was no point in delaying the inevitable.
I eased away from Quincy, got up, and hurried into the other part of the RV to answer the call before Dad gave up.
Only it wasn’t my dad. It was someone named Nancy Miniver.
“Hello?” I answered, curiosity getting the best of me.
“Mr. Battenburg, hello! Nancy Miniver from the Norfolk Family Theater.”
My brow shot up. “Oh, hello, Ms. Miniver.”
“Nancy, please,” she said.
“Nancy,” I repeated her name.
“I guess you know why I’m calling,” she said in an excited voice.
“I, um, do I?”
“Yes. Your audition was outstanding, Mr. Battenburg. I don’t even need to see you at call-backs. I would love to give you a position in our troupe for the summer season. We’re doingSouth Pacific, and I would love to see you in the role of Emile.”
My heart throbbed and pinched with a dozen conflicting emotions. “Oh. Thank you. I?—”
The sound of movement from the bedroom had me turning to see Quincy slowly pushing himself up from where he’d been lying face down. He looked so ragged that all I wanted to do was run to him.
“I wish I could, Ms. Miniver,” I said sincerely. “To be honest, I thought I would be able to fit a little theater into my schedule this summer, but it turns out that isn’t the case.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Nancy said. “Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”
I bit my lip, wishing I could take the opportunity. It was everything I’d thought I wanted.
But I wanted to be a champion to my omega even more.
“I’m sure,” I sighed. “But thank you so much for the opportunity.”
We said our goodbyes, and I ended the call.
As soon as the ongoing call screen disappeared, I was faced with the home screen, which was lit up with red dot notifications.
“Jack?” Quincy called tentatively from the bedroom.
