“I’ve heard of such places.” Not good things. No place was that housed Omegas was placed for shelter.
“I’m hoping when Micha turns eighteen, I can track him down. But I don’t need Adrian finding out.”
“Don’t want me to know what?” Adrian spoke, his words muffled through a yawn.
“Your birthday present. Sneaky Omega boys don’t get to know that.” Vincent was quick to say and set the bear back on the table after I handed it over.
“But that’s like three months away. Charlie’s is exactly a week before mine.”
“Oh, really?” Vincent’s gaze landed on me, brows drawn like he was trying to place the date. And maybe he didn’t know. Given everything, I wouldn’t blame him. “Good to know,” he said softly.
Birthdays weren’t something to know. Not really. They weren’t for celebrating. They were for testing. And if an Omega failed, punishment followed, swift, deliberate, and unforgettable.
I must’ve flinched. Or maybe my expression gave too much away.His voice was quiet. Sad. And I hated how true it was. Because Vincent was suddenly in front of me, hands resting gently on my shoulders, voice low.
“What’s wrong?”
Adrian answered before I could.
“Birthdays at Lockswell aren’t… they aren’t good days.” His voice was quiet. Sad. And I hated how true it was.
My last birthday had been the worst of all others. It had been a horrible day to begin with, having woken up slightly under the weather with a stuffed nose and sore throat. I may have had a fever, too. But from the start of testing, I had made mistake after mistake. I couldn’t hold my poses. I couldn’t keep eye contact well enough. I couldn’t take a plastic cock down my throat without choking.
The punishment for failing was horrible.
Hours of retraining. Hours of yelling. Hours of kneeling to prove I was obedient.
The basement had been cold, water dripping somewhere in the dark depths that I couldn’t see.
It hadn’t helped my cold, that was for sure.
But I came out alive with a reminder to always serve. I came out less of a human, though.
Maybe that’s where I began to break.
“That won’t happen here, I promise.” Vincent leaned down to meet my dry eyes. “No punishments on birthdays here. Ever. It’s a day to celebrate. Pizza, and a movie, and maybe, if you're up to it, a few gifts from the people who care about you.”
“That's us and Moore, by the way.” Adrian pressed up against my side, whispering in my ear. “It’ll be different now.”
I could only take their word for it.
“And,” Vincent added, a glint in his eye. “You get to pick one reasonable thing you want that isn’t a need.”
I blinked.
Blinked again.
And again.
“I think you broke him.”
I didn’t know what to say, what to think.
“Books. I want to read.” To learn. To soak up new things if I were allowed.
“Books? Why am I not surprised by that? You can have as many books as you want on your birthday.”
“Okay.” Would he follow through? Or would it be a cruel joke to put me in my broken place?
