"I-I—well…" I stammered, entirely thrown by their response.
Sure, becoming a pack was the point, but I didn't think that this was the way they envisioned it would go.
"Joon, come on? It's no big deal."
"I don't know, we had all these plans, and I feel like I ruined them with this… spur of the moment thing."
Indigo laughed, loud and warm and safe, offering me a little shrug. "Isn't it usually? I mean, most people don't send sex calendar invites like a weirdo."
"Wait, what do you mean? Who's sending sex emails?"
"Marcus," they said, like it was obvious. "Eva told me this morning before she left, Marcus sent her an email to schedule theirdate," they emphasized the last word with air quotes and a dubious look. "Which is absolutely code for I'm going to take you straight to present for me pound town, obviously."
What. The. Fuck.
A high, hollow, tinny whine was playing in my ears like static.
Marcus had woken up the morning bonded to me, after saying another omega's name midway through, and then asked her on a date.
Without so much as checking in on me to see how I was doing.
Did I have that right?
“I'm sorry, what?” I asked, sure that I'd misunderstood them. “He asked her out?”
“I know! It's fuckin’—”
“Let me get thisstraight," I interrupted angrily as I stood from the sofa, looking down at Indigo with an outright glare. My chest was heaving, words leaving me in an angry rush. "Webonded less than twelve hours ago, and that fuckhead is already trying to stick his dick in another omega?!”
Joon's handsflew to cover his mouth in horror as realization dawned on his face. "Indi, thats not—I mean it's not?—"
I blinked, watching the way the omega's body trembled, his usually sweet fruity scent going overripe and alcoholic in the tense silence between us.
He bonded another alpha. Marcus.Not you.
Someone else.
Maybe this is what my dolls felt like. Wholly realized people with wants and needs, trapped inside of a vessel that didn't offer the luxury of being able to communicate with them. My emotions tangled together like the cord of a pair of headphones, too fast for me to understand how it happened, and too complex for me to work out with any real sense of clarity.
"I'm sorry," I said after several beats of Joon stammering, my voice thick with restraint against the wave of anger making it hard to think straight. "Can you run that by me again?"
His dark eyes widened in horror. "I..." Joon started, trailing off as they stared, lips moving without sound.
Fear. I recognized the look well, but I’d never seen it pointed towards me. Not from Joon.
"Did something happen with Marcus?" I prompted, half-heartedly hoping that I'd misunderstood him.
After all the time we spent together, surely Joon wouldn’t have bonded another alpha… Right?
We were waiting until he was ready. Talking it through.
It wouldn’t make sense for him to letMarcusof all people to bond him. They barely managed to say a couple sentences to each other without devolving into an argument.
Not to mention the alpha pushed Joon at every opportunity to bond.
Oh.
I took a single deep breath, trying to quiet the horrible ringing in my ears.
