Page 5 of Happy Birthday, Omega
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Onhertwenty-firstbirthday,April Howard receives a card.
She doesn’t open it, too absorbed by her troubles to celebrate with her secret birthday suitor.
She’s been dreading this milestone for so long that when it actually arrives, it feels like she’s watching herself from behind a glass window.
“The Omega Academy is pleased to announce that Omega April Howard is now open to applications of interest from suitable Alphas.”
Suitablebeing the key word.
Since sending out the notice to the wider community a few months ago, the academy has been fielding applications of interest continuously. April is not involved in the vetting process, as it’s considered unseemly for an Omega to pass judgment on potential mates.
The academy has been paying for her education, food and board, and extracurricular activities since she was sixteen. Now, they’d reap the reward from their investment when an Alpha pays to claim her as his own.
The entire process makes April’s skin crawl. The feeling of hopelessness has burrowed deep and taken refuge in her psyche. She is listless and withdrawn, much to the academy’s delight. They have advertised her as docile and submissive — the perfect Omega.How boring.
Today, on her twenty-first birthday, April is officially available for courtship and the academy has wastes no time. A meeting with the pre-approved Alphas is arranged under the guise of a birthday party. They invite her family to celebrate and meet the potential matches, but even without enquiring, she knows they hadn’t RSVP’d. It’s been over two years since she last heard from them and hasn’t shed a tear over them in nearly one.
Dressed in her modest academy-issued dress, April sits in the formal receiving room with her legs tucked neatly under the chair like they taught her. She delicately holds a teacup and saucer at her lap, and she valiantly manages to keep her hands from shaking. The perfect display of the docile Omega the academy promised.
Inside, she is choking. There are fourteen Alphas in the room, and it feels like the air has been sucked out and replaced by pure pheromones. She squeezes her thighs together to ward off the involuntary reaction to their presence. The academy stopped administering her suppressants completely so the Alphas can experience her at her fullest potential. She feels out of control and constricted all at the same time.
An older Alpha stands before her, nodding his head in acknowledgement and giving her a tight-lipped smile and saying, “Omega April, it’s a pleasure to meet you, finally.”
The lines at the corner of his eyes crinkle into deep crows-feet, and she counts the liver spots smattering his bald head. The Alpha is older than her. Much older.
She’s not surprised. After all, the academy only accepts courtship requests from the highest bids. Young Alphas aren’t typically flush with cash straight out of the academy. However, she can’t stop the disappointment from creeping in past her wall of melancholy. It would be nice to match with a peer, someone who she’d have something in common with.
One Alpha after another introduces themselves, with the majority being middle-aged or older. She’s intrigued to note that two female Alphas have placed a bid. She’s never considered that option. April isn’t inclined that way, but is grateful for the variety.
The last Alpha lithely steps in front of her and she fights a gasp, schooling her features to remain impassive.
Bryce.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Omega,” he says, nodding his head in greeting. He shoots her his familiar lopsided, closed lipped grin and she just about swoons. Bryce is wearing a suit that makes him look older than she knows he is, and there is a pink rose tucked into the lapel. He smells as sinful as ever.
“I, uh, it’s nice to see you too, Alpha,” she says with a stutter. Why can she never speak clearly around him? She had no problem speaking with him when they were children.
But he isn’t a child anymore. He is all Alpha. More Alpha than anyone else in the room.
“I hope you take my application into consideration,” he says formally in contrast to his heated and intimate gaze.
There are a few more awkward exchanges at her faux birthday party before a chaperone shuffles the Alphas out of the room.
April sets her empty teacup on the coffee table in front of her and sucks in a deep breath of air. The stifling press of Alpha pheromones still lingers like floating motes of dust, but she immediately feels better. Bryce’s unique blend of pine and chalk battles the other scents for her attention. She closes her eyes, squeezing them shut as she processes what just happened.
Her brother’s childhood best friend had applied to become her Alpha.
Her core clenches, and she bites her lip.
Later, in her room, after she’s bathed and decompressed from the stressful day, she opens the card from her secret birthday suitor.
Happy Birthday, Omega. Take a chance on love. I’ll be there to catch you.
A single pink rose petal falls from the envelope.
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