Page 1 of His Stolen Omega

Prologue:

This was the spot.

Elm kicked at a pebble and twirled in a circle, eyeing the courtyard. It was late midday, and there were only two other people, a woman and her small child blowing bubbles by the fountain. The courtyard was tucked behind Wisp Mall, next to a lake where a flock of ducks currently called out to each other and swam.

He checked the time on his multi-slate, a device that acted as both a communicator and computer worn on the wrist, and nibbled on his lower lip. They were late.

This was the place, he was sure of it. Had memorized the location yesterday morning when he’d accidentally seen the text come in on Sky’s device.

Sky, his best friend, business partner, and soon to be brother-in-law, had planned to meet up with Shiloh Sobu. They’d confirmed as much in the messages, and yet…

Neither of them was here.

Elm cursed under his breath and sent another stone sailing across the uneven pavement. He couldn’t even call Sky to ask about it because that would give him away. As far as his bestie was concerned, Elm was the epitome of chill.

So what that his older brother, Kian, had returned home after years on another planet as the Dominus of the Eumia mafia.

Cool.

No big if Kian had discovered his birth family, and had brought two younger siblings back to Glyph with him, effectively waving in Elm’s face that he was no longer his only brother.

Cool, cool.

It was awesome that he’d mated with Sky shortly after, ensuring Elm now only got a sliver of Sky’s time as well.

So. Fucking. Cool.

“Relax.” He inhaled through his nose and out through his mouth. Elm wasn’t that guy. Wasn’t the type to get possessive over his own family. Wasn’t the type who felt left out or sidelined. At least not openly.

There were literally over three hundred numbers in his multi-slate, and any one of them would love to hang out with him if he called.

Any one of them except for Kian and Sky, who were always too busy sneaking off and fucking like horny gods damned rabbits on—

The kid giggled and made a run for the parking lot, his mother chasing after him. Their mingled laughter cut through Elm’s frustration and he did another breathing exercise. As soon as they made it to their car, he found himself alone.

As per usual.

Elm had friends, tons of them, but no one he was actually close to. Growing up, Kian and Sky had been his only confidants, and now that they’d paired up…

He’d thought after he and Sky had graduated college, the two of them would spend more time together, not less. Sky’s mom had gifted him a private studio in the city, and together they’d opened a ceramics shop.

Only, Elm frequently found himself working there on his own.

Kian was no better.

Growing up, the two of them had been close. At least, in that way an older and younger sibling could be, with Elm constantly following behind, idolizing his big brother. In his eyes, Kian could do no wrong, even when their parents discovered his…secret, bloody, interests. That’d been fine.

Elm could accept Kian no matter who he turned out being. What he turned out to be.

He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the beats of his heart. Admittedly, this had been a stupid idea. A juvenile, immature, idea. It’d been a while since Kian had returned to planet, bringing the Eumia mafia and his two sparkly new siblings with him…and Elm had yet to meet the new brother.

Sloane, Kian’s sister and Shiloh’s twin, he’d been introduced to. He liked her. She was nice enough. It wasn’t like they were going to hold hands and become one big happy family, but she was polite and had a sense of humor, and Sky seemed to get along with her.

Shiloh was like smoke in the wind though.

If he hadn’t seen pictures of the omega male, Elm might have even suspected he was made up.

He’d asked too. Had shown an interest in meeting Shiloh. Had been open to it, friendly whenever he brought it up to Kian, all smiles and warm welcome. It was to the point Elm had even heard Sky question Kian on more than one occasion, confused why he wouldn’t just set a simple meeting up.