Page 11 of One Wild Omega

“Asshole.” Emerson stood and then hooked a thumb at a yawning Harrison. “Old man needs his sleep.”

Harrison rose to his full six-foot-six height beside him. “If I’m old, what’s that make you?”

“Hey, I’m five minutes younger,” Emerson said with a smile. “And I always will be.”

“That’s right, cuz I’m number one,” Harrison said, lightly slapping his twin on the cheek.

“If I have to hear this bullshit one more time, I might lose my dinner.” Fitz took one last drink from his bottle and rose, too, looming over his huge brothers at six foot eight.

They kept up the back and forth until they got out to the sidewalk and parted ways. Each brother went in a different direction, walking back to their respective houses—be it home or firehouses. Fitz headed toward his tiny apartment a few blocks away.

He passed groups of revelers enjoying their night in the bar district. Laughing at a couple of drunk betas who came on to him, he shook his head and kept walking.

His green-haired alien came back to mind again, and he didn’t know why—other than his conscience was shaming him again. Once home, showered, and in bed, he stared up at the ceiling, still not sure what the hell had happened. Why he’d felt so angry… and been completely unable to be the gentleman he prided himself in being.

Sure, he was stressed to the gills. He’d barely slept in weeks. And the issues with work and school didn’t make things much better.

But that was no excuse and he knew it.

Chapter Two

Rewind to Tanner’s exit…

Tanner pulled from Raimy’s grip and moved closer to the plate-glass window. He peeked inside, watching the alpha again, the unchecked lust still gripping him. His body throbbed with the beat of his heart, the aching need to be claimed screaming in his veins. It was almost equal to the shame and anger he felt coursing through him.

How could his alpha disgrace him like that?“Asshole,” he murmured under his breath.

“What was that?” Raimy asked.

“Nothing,” Tanner mumbled, still eyeing his alpha.Of course, he doesn’t know he’s mine.

Tanner used bothHeatexandScentex… products that helped mask his scent. It meant his alpha wouldn’t know him at first scent… but they’dallheard the stories. Even on the meds, an alpha seemed to somehow sensesomethingwas there. An invisible bond, drawing them closer. Tanner had always wondered what it would feel like… and how his alpha would react.

Finding himself splayed out on the floor of some bar wasn’t it. And if looks could’ve killed, he might’ve ended up dead.Maybe fate fucked this one up.

“One day you’ll find the alpha who absolutelyadoresyou,” Raimy murmured, wrapping an arm around Tanner and guiding him away.

“I somehow doubt that,” Tanner said. The instinct screamed in his head, telling him to rush back in there and beg his alpha to claim him. An alpha that appeared to want nothing to do with him.

“You’ll forget all about that guy by the morning, trust me.”

Doubtful.Tanner took a few steps before he threw up against the side of the building. His whole body tingled, and his stomach heaved. The alcohol had beensooomuch better going down the other way. Now it burned twice as bad and had him wishing he’d never come out.

Raimy held Tanner’s long, green dyed hair away from his face and rubbed his back. “I think we should call it a night and get you home. Whattaya say?”

Tanner wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He looked toward the bar where his alpha still sat. “I don’t wanna go home.”

“I think we should,” Raimy said. He got that big brother tone that usually had Tanner rolling his eyes. Raimy might not be kin, but they were definitely family. Everyone else had moved on, to the gods knew where, abandoning them. Yet Raimy was right there at his side.

“Thanks… for not taking off,” Tanner murmured.

Raimy smiled at him. “Like I’d let you wander off and get into a jam without me.”

The friends they’d lost when slipping into the bar reappeared, each with a bottle of liquor in hand.

“There you guys are!” Addy cried. “We found ourselves a new party! Come on!”

Tanner lurched and threw up a little more.

---