Page 67 of Juliet & Her Romeos

He was marked asdefective.

Everybody knew that Mason had been courted for months by a female Alpha who was planning to become a surgeon. He would add to her status and prestige.

As soon as she saw the Rej bracelet, however, she broke up with Mason in front of the whole class. She coldly demanded that he hand back his Promise Bond ring.

I spent the remainder of that lunch break comforting Mason, while he sobbed behind the dumpsters.

He was broken.

What could I say to him? His future had been stolen from him.

Why?

Because he wasdifferent?

I wanted to kick the ass of that Alpha who’d rejected him as much as the entire school system and his own parents.

But now, I’m marked as a Reject too.

I won’t let that stop me achieving my dreams. I’ll show everyone just what a Rej is capable of, and it seems like Benedict is trying to do the same as well.

No Rej has been hired by a ballet company before. He has an actual paid role here.

I glow with pride on his behalf.

I celebrate the success of every Omega because it helps us all.

Benedict takes an excited step toward me, pushing his curls out of his eyes. “Will you dance for me? I’ve never had anotherOmega dance to my music before but I’ve dreamed about it, many nights.”

I grin. “I’d love to.”

He slips his hand into his pocket, pulling out a keyring with a cute but cunning looking fox dangling from it, which is made out of the same velvet as his suit.

In fact, the fox reminds me of Benedict.

He may appear beautiful and formal in a Bridgerton way, but there’s a wily intelligence underneath.

Benedict strokes over the keyring like a fidget toy. “I don’t like hardness. I was trapped in a hard place for a long time with only my music to escape into. Piano keys can be pushed against. You control them. And I love soft things. I love nests. Do you?”

I wince.

Fuck, I wish that I had a nest.

I’m happy that Benedict does.

I’d give anything to be able to wrap myself in warm, soft blankets and roll around in a proper nest.

But that’s the dream.

I make the best of reality.

I nod.

Benedict tosses his fox to me. I fumble, before catching the keyring and clasping it to my chest.

Hell, it’s soft.

Benedict looks delighted. “You can stroke it too. An Omega needs sensory input, and you don’t have anything. You’re dressed in those horrible thin clothes, while I have this lovely jacket.”

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