I nodded, barely, because I was. My body was used to having food at certain times, and it was long past lunch and dinner.
He didn’t ask why I hadn’t eaten. He didn’t need to. Instead, his fingers brushed my temple, light, like he wasn’t sure I’d allow it.
I opened my eyes, but kept them low. The touch was so out of the normal for what I’ve known, I wasn’tsure how to react otherwise. The ache in my chest was louder than the one in my stomach.
I didn’t answer him with words. With the smallest tilt of my head toward his hand, I gave him permission to touch me, even though he didn’t need it. Omegas never got to consent to anything. But the touch was warm. Nice.
His fingers brushed my temple again, slower this time. Not claiming. Just...present. And for a moment, the silence between us felt more like a place where I didn’t have to earn breath. Or warmth.
Just exist.
It wouldn’t last. I knew that. But I let it happen anyway.
“Are you comfortable?” His voice was low, as though it were just him and I in this place.
I nodded slowly. I was, and wasn’t. My knees hurt, rubbed raw in places from my last client I had to service, but with his warm touch along my temple, I couldn’t help but feel like I had never been comfortable in this position before.
“Good. I like you kneeling at my side.”
He took his hand away from my temple. Before I could start inwardly panicking, his fingers found purchase under my chin, lifting my face. I refused to make eye contact, keeping my eyes down.
“Look at me.” Only at those words did I let my eyes land on his face. Dark brown eyes stared at me as though he wanted me to be his entire world. A look I knew well on all Alphas when they were in the same room as me. Now was no different, even though my heart skippeda beat because his gaze wasn’t the same as others. It was kinder in a way I couldn’t name.
“Good, boy.” A pause as a thumb rubbed my chin, right below my lips. “I’m going to feed you, and you’ll stay kneeling right there.”
Yes, Sir,I thought, my words lost as he stroked his thumb along my bottom lip, as though it was an everyday occurrence.
His eyes flickered with something unreadable. Not warmth. Not cruelty. Just recognition. Then he withdrew his hand, slow and deliberate, like he didn’t want to startle whatever fragile thing had surfaced between us.
I shifted, just enough to face him more fully. My hands rested lightly against my thighs, fingers curled but not clenched.
Moore’s voice broke the quiet, muffled around what sounded like a bite of food. “I wish someone else in this room would enjoy kneeling for me,” he muttered, half to himself, half to the air.
Adrian didn’t hesitate. “Maybe you should try earning it,” he said, voice dry but sharp enough to cut.
“Oh,boy, I have earned it. But even then, Omegas don’t all like to submit in the same fashion.”
“Ignore them,” the Alpha muttered, putting a small bite of sandwich to my lips. Instantly, I opened my lips and let my tongue bring it into my mouth. The bread was soft, the meat juicy and tender. It was full of flavor, so unlike the food at the boarding house. “They feed off each other’s banter and drive me nuts more often than not.”
My stomach demanded more food, more substance, and Alpha Harris was right there, offering me another bite.
I chewed each one, savoring every moment of it. I didn’t know when I’d get another meal. I didn’t know what this Alpha’s plans would be for the rest of my time here, either. I couldn’t afford to mess up, even though I surely had.
When Alpha Harris stopped offering bites, I leaned into his leg, stomach full but mind still hollow. The conversation between the three of them drifted past me. It was muffled, distant, like static behind glass. Words meant for each other, not for me.
I was used to that. Used to being the subject, never the participant.
In the Lockswells’ house, Omegas were spoken of, not spoken to. Commanded one moment, forgotten in the next.
I had learned to take it all in stride and I trained myself to stay neutral. No expression. No reaction. Just quiet control, so no one could read what I felt.
I’m pulled out of the thoughts by Adrian. He fell to his knees in front of me, light eyes open with contentment, but also sadness. Not for him, but for me.
How could he be happy out here? How could he live in peace with what’s been done to not just me, but to his own body? How could he-
“I’ll see you again before you go back, alright?” His voice was gentle, like it had been those times I was spiraling into panic. He was the only one that knew how to talk me down, and apparently my brain stillremembered way too well how that worked. The fog was still there, but it was see through for the time being.
I didn’t know what to say in return. A part of me wanted Adrian to stay, because he didn’t fear these Alphas. I wanted him to keep talking, to tell me exactly what would happen in the care of Alpha Harris.
