Page 1 of Lonely Alpha

Chapter One

Lars

I tapped my toe on the floor underneath the table. The place I’d brought my date wasn’t the swankiest, but it was pretty nice. I came here a few times a month, but I might not be able to after the way Dylan was treating the waiter.

In fact, I had to say something.

I laid my arm across the table and put my hand atop the omega’s, hoping to calm him. “Dylan, he’s doing the best he can,” I whispered, hoping he would be gentler with the staff. So far, he’d demanded everything from extra water to cleaner silverware, even though it was spotless to begin with.

Such treatment of another person should’ve been a red flag, but I chose to overlook it, considering this was our first date. Perhaps the omega was just nervous, and it was coming out as demanding and irritated.

“Of course. I’m so sorry. That will be all.”

The food here was incredible but, with all the substitutions Dylan had made, I wondered if his dish would be any good at all.

“So, Lars, I really thought you had forgotten about me. You asking me out took me by surprise.”

Perhaps I was off my game. I shrugged. “Forgotten about you? What do you mean?”

We had been chatting through a dating app for about two weeks before I decided to ask him out. I didn’t have a lot of time to stay on my phone and chat. Plus, I hated it. Scrolling endlessly had once been my thing but, somewhere along the line, I got sick of it. There was life to live and I’d let some of that pass me by.

“I hadn’t chatted with you in days. I thought you’d ghosted me.”

“Oh. I was sure I let you know that I was working some long shifts. There was a big project to finish with a hard due date.”

One of his eyebrows lifted. “Not one moment to text me?”

“I was working sixteen hours a day last week. I barely had time to sleep.” I almost apologized. Almost. Then I realized I didn’t have anything to apologize for.

“Oh. That’s disappointing. I like an alpha who carves out time to communicate.”

As soon as Dylan muttered the words, the waiter delivered our appetizer. It was one of those large rectangles of deep-fried cheese covered in some kind of sweet-and-spicy oil. The first thing I thought of when seeing it on the menu was messy, but Dylan dug right in.

And once he pulled out his phone to take a picture…well, that’s when he completely lost me.

It wasn’t only the picture of his food. Everyone did that nowadays. It was what happened afterward. He spent the meal going on about his likes and shares and comments.

Not once did he even meet my gaze. His was on his phone.

Too bad. He was cute.

I paid the check and watched him get into the Uber alone. I thought maybe he’d be disappointed that I wasn’t taking him home but, as he got in, he said something about going viral, and that was what.

I walked home at war with myself. Not because of Dylan or the dating app but because no matter how many dates I went on, none of them were good enough.

Chuckling, I stopped at a small ice cream shop and got one of their cones. Chocolate chip cookie dough would solve anything, I hoped.

No omega would ever be my mate. No one would ever be William. I was lucky enough to have met him when we were both freshman in college. He was a part-time student, and I was full-time and lived in the dorms.

The first time I saw him, my world tilted.

No. I shook my head clear of the memories that came flooding in. I wouldn’t drown myself in what could’ve been, one more time. I refused to.

That only led to regret and a yearning I could never fulfill.

Gods, I wanted him back. And, at the same time, I didn’t. He’d broken my heart. The pieces were too tiny they were never put back together the same.

I was never the same as I was before meeting and being with my mate and I feared I never would be.

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