But then, the other, scarier part didn’t want this Omega anywhere near me. I knew what Alphas were capable of, and if he was truly content with the life he had now, even if it were all an act, he didn’t need to see me cry soundless tears, or see the way my body would end up splattered in colors.
“I’ll see you soon.”
As if he knew that all the rules that had been fed into our brains from the day we learned what we were, Adrian didn’t reach out to touch me. His hands began to reach out to do so, but they fell flat against his legs.
His smile turned sad for a short moment before whatever thoughts he had were washed away.
Before standing, his pinky brushed my leg. It was quick, barely a whisp of contact, before it was gone once again.
Chapter 7
Charlie
I kept two paces behind him, eyes low, and steps measured. The living room opened ahead, dim and quiet, the kind of space that expected obedience without needing to ask for it.
I nearly collided with Alpha Harris as he stopped short, before catching myself. He turned enough to face me. “You don’t have to trail me like a shadow. I know you’re here.”
I froze. Not because of the words. Because they weren’t a command.
They were an acknowledgment.
I lifted my gaze a fraction, enough to see his expression. Neutral. Watchful. Not cruel.
“I wasn’t trying to be a shadow,” my voice barely audible. I was only doing what I was always supposed to do.
He studied me for a moment, then stepped aside, gesturing toward the couch.
“Sit,” he said. “Not because I told you to. Just because you can.”
I hesitated. That wasn’t how it worked. Omegas were to kneel unless otherwise told, and even then, it was to be bent over naked, waiting.
He waited.
Slowly, I moved. Not gracefully. Not confidently. Just enough to let the cushion take my weight.
It felt wrong. It felt like breathing in a room I wasn’t supposed to enter. But he didn’t correct me. instead, Alpha Harris took a seat next to me, not speaking as he reached for a remote to the TV.
Keeping my back straight, eyes pinned to my folded hands in my lap, I did everything I could to keep my breathing even. The low background of the TV was quiet enough to break the silence that began to suffocate me.
“Relax, boy.”
Although the two words were spoken nicely, it felt more like an order that I wouldn’t be able to do,
Relaxing was not in my vocabulary. I could pretend, though, but something told me that this man would see right through it.
Scooting back a little bit on the couch so my back touched the cushion behind me, I forced my body to appear relaxed. My muscles stayed tight, ready for any form of touch from the man beside me.
“You’re quiet,” the Alpha said, almost amused.
I glanced at him briefly, then looked away. There were reasons Alphas liked me. My silence was one of them.
“Tell me about yourself, Charles.” Not a request.
My mind stalled. Talk about myself? There was no script for that. No rule that covered who I was beneath obedience.
I straightened just slightly, spine aligning the way I’d been taught.
I answered with my eyes pinned to a spot that became blurry quickly. “I’m twenty-one. I follow orders. I don’tspeak unless asked. I’m clean, compliant, and trained in all standard protocols.”
