Page 36 of Heat Me

"Yeah, I felt the same way. Ever since my pug-friend told me about you, it was like something was nudging me to call Dark Dreams. And now, here we are."

We both went quiet again. The air was kinda electric, though.

Neither of us explained exactly what strange things had pushed us to this point, but somehow, we both knew there was something unusual about how we ended up meeting.

"Yeah. Here we are."

I didn’t really know what else to add now. The idea that the ‘dog-man’ somehow played a role in my love life was downright bizarre—but then again, what wasn’t bizarre about it all?

My life had turned into one long parade of weirdness, one crazy situation after another. Honestly, being upset about it wouldn’t change the simple fact that I was sooo glad Damien had reached out to Dark Dreams…

"Anyway," I said, hesitating a moment before glancing around and gesturing casually, "let’s change the subject to something random. And less strange!" I grinned. "Why don’t you live on campus?"

Damien giggled, visibly relieved. He had to feel similar to me. The subject was far too heavy to delve into, not at this stage of our shyly beginning relationship (or was it even a relationship?).

"A good random subject. Well. I can afford to live alone, I like having my own space. I’ve never been super social, you know? I’m not the type to party or hang out with a big group of friends."

"Well, I live alone too, but not by choice. I have a house in the suburbs. It’s pretty much the only thing I got to keep after my ex-husband and I split up."

A heavy silence settled between us. The random subject pretty fast drifted toward awkwardness. Damien looked out the window. "Why did you two break up?"

I grimaced. "I’m not sure if I should get into it—it might freak you out."

"That’s all the more reason you should," he said with a cheeky grin.

I scratched my chin and pondered. Well, it was at least good that we were talking, getting to know each other, wading through the list of important topics that would come up one day anyway, right? A quality time?

Finally, I gave him a short version of what had transpired in the past with my ex and spoke quite honestly about my court case, without censoring the matter or whitewashing myself.

I didn't want to tell half-truths. I only emphasized at the end, "And for the record, I didn’t abuse my husband. I know you only have my word for it, but I’d never hurt an omega. I found him cheating, got mad, and threw his nest off the balcony. I never laid a hand on him."

Damien stared at me for a moment before saying, "I believe you. I feel like you’re telling the truth. Sorry you had to go through all that."

I blinked, a wave of emotions hitting me. This convo was a lot, like… a lot. Damien seemed to pick up on it, furrowing his brows slightly, as if he was surprised, he could feel it.

But I forced myself to speak quietly. "Well, you’ve only heard my side of the story, so I appreciate your trust. But I wouldn’t blame you for doubting me," I added with a shrug.

Damien sighed and shook his head. "I don’t know why, but I just get this feeling you’re telling the truth. And honestly, people can be really nuts. Back in my freshman year, I shortly dated a beta named Alan. You know how everyone warns omegas to avoid relationships with betas because problems always pop up?It’s true. The relationship didn’t last long, Alan was insanely jealous. He’d freak out if I so much as glanced at an alpha. He kept talking about how omegas are unstable partners because of our hormones, like I was supposed to be responsible for how biology works. He even went through my texts, emails, and browsing history to check if I was visiting dating sites. It was suffocating."

"Wow, that's messed up. I've heard that too: avoid relationships with betas unless it's just, let's say… casual sex. Betas think we'll leave them after sniffing our perfect mates, that we'll cheat on them right away."

Damien chuckled. "They’re kind of right, though. The statistics are brutal. Only a tiny percent of beta relationships with other subgenders succeed."

"Well, one of my brothers, Skye, is currently interested in a beta, and I’m really curious how it’ll turn out. But in his case, it seems to have a pretty high chance of working out."

"How do you know?"

"I suspect the guy is his True Mate. But neither of them realizes it yet, which isn’t surprising since it’s such a rarity—the beta-alpha TM thing."

There was a moment of silence, and I cleared my throat. "So, was Alan your only boyfriend?"

Damien made a grimace. "It’ll sound stupid, like I didn’t learn anything, but I tried again… with a different beta."

I raised my eyebrows and chuckled. "Well, well. What a surprise."

"Yeah… even I was surprised by myself, but in my defense, Tony was a real looker."

"Aren’t they all!" I snorted bitterly. "I fell for the ‘good-looking’ trap too."

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