Page 76 of Sweet Omega
He should’ve thrown it away days ago. Admitted defeat, but…
“You don’t even know what I was going to ask,” Luci said behind him.
Was he still here? Ludiin scowled. The sound of his brother’s voice was like a knife in his brain, twisting and digging.
He didn’t have the energy for distractions. Time was running out. No, time had already run out.
For years, he had convinced himself that Luci would forget the promise he’d dragged from him, the one he’d wrung out of Ludiin in exchange for helping him stop his heat. But Luci hadn’t forgotten. Now, his brother was calling in that promise. Not with words, but with quiet defiance, refusing to brew him another cup of tea.
Two weeks.
That’s how long it had been since he last touched the tea. And Ludiin could already feel the changes in his body. He was starting to feel again.
Ludiin had thought his ultimate pleasuring bot would be working by now. He’d believed, after all the hours, all the sleepless nights, all the energy he had poured into it, that it would be enough. But it wasn’t. The damn thing still malfunctioned, still refused to give him what he needed most.
An alpha.
He sat there, staring blankly at the parts of the pleasuring bot —a perfect reflection of what he felt inside.
Hopeless. Utterly lost.
“You should eat something,” Luci said gently, stepping beside him. “You’ve been locked in here for almost two days. Maybe take a break, huh?”
Two days?Ludiin blinked, frowning. Had it really been that long?
He pushed back his chair and stood, a low groan escaping his mouth as he stretched his arms over his head. His joints popped in protest, the sound filling the heavy silence. Overhead, light filtered dimly through the grimy skylight, casting hazy shadows across the wooden floor.
The scent of rubber, metal, Lumina and silicone clung to the air, acrid. To Ludiin, it smelled like home. He breathed it in, letting the familiar scent steady him, dulling the sting of failure that gnawed at his chest.
But of course, Luci had to open his mouth and ruin it.
“We could get some fresh air, meet up with Baron and his friends,” Luci chirped. “He’s been asking about you.”
At the mention of that name, Ludiin’s stomach twisted. A sharp spike of shame rose so fast it made his eyes sting even after all these years.
“No, thanks,” he muttered, voice flat. He’d rather pull his own hair out than endure another round of embarrassment.
“Ludiin,” Luci whined, exasperated. “He forgave you for that time. The least you could do is meet him halfway. He really likes you, hasn’t stopped talking about you. He said you’re a challenge. Not like other omegas who throw themselves at alphas. That’s a good thing. It means you’ve got his attention.”
Luci offered a bright smile, as if that could magically erase the memory burning through Ludiin like acid.
No, fucking way was he going through that again. Ludiin still wanted to cry every time he thought of that alpha. Crawl under his workbench and never come out again. Maybe launch himself off a cliff while he was at it.
His cheeks burned hot with humiliation at the memory Luci so casually dubbed ‘That time’.He wished he could delete it, wipe it from his mind.
And now he wanted to see him again?Why?
Hadn’t he already been humiliated enough for one lifetime? Ludiin stomach twisted at the memory, his cheeks growing warm.
The alpha was crazy, he thought as his eyes dropped to the dismantled prototype on the workbench.
If only it had worked.
Then maybe he wouldn’t need an alpha. Wouldn’t need to face another round of embarrassment.
He would’ve had something of his own. Someone of his own, even if it wasn’t real.
His own alpha.
