Page 11 of Puck & Her Blades

I hold my breath.

“You’re late, Puck,” Roarke barks.

I wince.

Fuck, I hate that he’s renamed me. I bet that he’s the type of Alpha who names his cock things like Thor, Moby Dick, or probably, his stick.

Well, in hockey, Alphas do like to play with their sticks…

Of course, I don’t say any of that because I want to live through the night.

Instead, I frantically try to channel my Omega dad, Emiliano.

Emiliano was gentle and softly spoken. He died, when I was only nine, but I remember how kind and loving he always was with me.

My greatest regret is that I couldn’t protect him better.

He read me stories at bedtime, baked with me in the kitchen, and kissed me at night, before singing a lullaby in a language that I didn’t understand but sounded sad and wistful. He said it reminded him of his family in his homeland who he missed.

I remember how he knelt before my American Alpha parents, keeping his eyes demurely down. He never back chatted, even when they yelled at him for things that weren’t his fault.

Like the fact that I was an Omega, or that he hadn’t become pregnant again with an Alpha baby.

Emiliano tried to hide from me how devastated it made him that my Alpha parents were disappointed in him that he didn’t bear more than one child.

It made me angry on his behalf.

It made me angrier still, when they beat him. I was always locked in my room, however, when I tried to throw myself over him to stop Mom.

Emiliano was an incredible Dad. I wish that I could see him now to tell him that.

But instead, I’m forced to remember how good he was at kneeling before my parents to be scolded.

They promised that I’d never be treated like that because I wasn’t a real Omega.

I swore that I’d never act like that to my Omega.

And that I’d never kneel to anyone.

None of it was true in the end.

But if I’m acting, is it the same?

I bite my lip, bowing my head. “I’m sorry.”

Can Roarke tell how insincere I am?

Knothead.

I send out a burst of calming Omega pheromones, as Emiliano would have done, to appease Roarke.

Roarke sniffs the air in surprise.

Then the burned coffee scent eases, and his shoulders relax.

Wait, am I pulling this off?

Fuck, it turns out that Alphas are easy to play.

---