Page 51 of Sweet Omega
A little pathetic and maybe even creepy, if he was being honest, but the idea of going out there, of putting himself in front of alphas. That scared him more.
“Oh,” Luci said, his voice softening like he was easing into dangerous territory. “You know, meeting an actual alpha would be better.”
I know!Ludiin wanted to snap. But it wasn’t that simple for him. It never had been. The words caught in his throat and burned there.
“I know just the alpha who’d be amazing for you,” Luci continued, oblivious to the storm quietly gathering in Ludiin’s chest.
Ludiin winced, shoulders tensing.
“He’s sweet, patient, and obsessed with books,” Luci added with a hopeful lilt. “Exactly your type. We should reach out. Maybe meet for a drink.”
“No,” Ludiin said sharply.
“Please? I really want to get out of the house. Tarymn just summoned his second service omega.” Luci pulled a dramatic face and gave a theatrical shiver. “Ew.”
Ludiin grimaced. His stomach turned.Second?
“Second?” he echoed.
Luci nodded, utterly unfazed. “Aggressive alphas are very demanding during heat. It’s intense. Brutal, sometimes. It takes a special omega to handle them. Most omegas can’t handle it.” He flicked a hand in the air like it explained everything. “I don’t want to be here. You’re coming with me. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”
Ludiin exhaled. He didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to get dressed, put on a face, or sit across from some sweet, book-loving alpha while pretending he wasn’t still tangled up in thoughts he had no business thinking.
But staying?
Staying meant spending hours obsessing over what Tarymn was doing. And who he was doing it with.
It shouldn’t bother him.
But it did.
So much it made his ribs ache.
It was insane.
“Get ready in an hour. We’re going out,” Luci called as he disappeared down the stairs.
Ludiin let out a slow, resigned sigh and turned back to the Lumina sculpture. Maybe he shouldn’t finish it. Maybe making this was crossing a line he couldn’t uncross.
Tarymn was his stepbrother. And the more time they spent together, the more Ludiin found himself drawn to him, in the way he wasn’t supposed to feel about his stepbrother. He liked him. Likelikedhim.
Ludiin dropped his face into his hands with a groan. He was so fucking pathetic.
Maybe he really should consider finding an alpha.
If he was being honest, he hadn’treallytried. Just the idea of being around alphas made his lungs feel tight, his tongue twist into knots, and his body want to fold itself into the nearest crack in the floor. But that didn’t mean it was impossible. Surely there had to be an alpha he could speak to without wanting to throw up.
He could talk to Tarymn just fine now. And he’d been terrifying at first. Plus, Tarymn didn’t seem to mind his awkwardness, or at least he pretended not to.
Surely that meant something.
“I should try,” Ludiin murmured, gently placing the sculpture into a box under the workbench, his fingers lingering on the edge before he straightened with a quiet breath and went to get ready.
An hour and a half later, he was 99% sure he was going to die alone.
Not only had he managed not to stutter when meeting the alpha, which should’ve been a win, but then he spilled hot tea all over him. Ludiin wasn’t sure how it happened. One moment, he was taking the cup from the serving bot; the next, it slipped,tilting just enough for liquid to arc through the air in a glittering spray and splash across Baron’s chest.
Why Luci abandoned him with the alpha, Ludiin would never know.
