Page 11 of A Promise of Forever
I would have assumed someone like Sterling would have barricaded himself in here.
The sight that greets me stops me cold.
Sterling is pressed into the corner of the room, surrounded by the expensive blankets I provided but clearly having not slept a wink. His eyes are wide and bloodshot, darting between me and the door like he's calculating escape routes. The untouched soup from last night sits congealing on the table beside the bed, a testament to just how overwhelmed he must have been.
My heart breaks a little at the picture he makes. All that luxury, all those expensive furnishings, and he's chosen to huddle on the floor because it must feel safer or more familiar than the comfortable bed I provided.
Sterling flinches away from the breakfast tray when I hold it out, his whole body curling tighter into itself like he expects to be punished for not appreciating my earlier offerings. The response is so visceral, so deeply ingrained, that I realize I'm dealing with trauma that goes far deeper than I understood.
I set the tray carefully on the floor between us and sink down to sit cross-legged, making myself as non-threatening as possible. I’m not sure it does much with my bulk but it’s all I’ve got. "Can you eat a little something, sweetheart?” I reach for the toast and offer it to him, Sterling staring at it for several seconds before shaking his head. His fingers tighten around the silk sheet he’s clinging to, my mind running through every possibility but nothing makes any sense.
So, I try something different.
I take a bite.
His eyes widen a little and then he leans forward, an almost unconscious movement as I offer it to him again. His scent sweetens just enough that I know he’s interested, those gorgeous brown eyes softening as he reaches to steal it from me. The first bite seems to unlock something in him. His shoulders relax a fraction, and some of the wild panic in his eyes recedes. I take another bite of my own food, then offer him more, establishinga rhythm that feels natural despite the strangeness of the situation.
Sterling takes the offered food more readily now, color returning to his pale cheeks. He’s like a skittish little bird, a dove that just needs to spread his wings. He holds his hand out for more and this time, I don’t take a bite. I just hand him another piece of toast after scooping a small section of scrambled eggs onto it. His cheeks flush with the offering, Sterling stuffing the entire thing into his mouth.
“Thank you, sir,” he murmurs as he chews, the Omega leaning forward a little more, his body language gradually becoming less defensive. When I hold out my hand, palm up and completely still, he surprises me by leaning closer and running his nose along my skin, breathing in my scent like it's his lifeline. "I'm safe here," he mumbles against my palm, the words so quiet I almost miss them.
"Yes, little dove. Yes, you are."
He curls back into his corner after that, but something has shifted between us. The air feels less charged with fear, his eyes searching mine, his cheeks still puffed with food. I almost want to call him ‘little dove’ again, to see him flush with that shy pink color again but I refrain. There will be more time for that later.
"Do you not like the bed?" I ask, genuinely curious about his choice to sleep on the floor.
Sterling's gaze flicks to the massive mattress and then back to me. "The room is too big."
I glance around, wondering how much I thought I knew about Omegas and how much of it is actually wrong. Everything I thought would be comforting has probably been making his anxiety worse. "I'll find you something smaller," I promise, already mentally cataloging the other bedrooms in the house. There's a smaller room on the same wing that might feel safer to him. "Feel free to roam around the house today and getcomfortable with the layout. No one will bother you unless you ask for help. If you need something, let any of the staff know and they'll find me or get it for you. I'll work on getting you a phone so you can call if there's an emergency."
Sterling nods, watching me with those wide, dark eyes that seem to catch everything.
"Right, clothes," I add, realizing he's still wearing the pajamas I provided last night. "I'll have some options brought in, different sizes until we figure out what fits properly. Anything else you need?"
He shakes his head, but I can see him processing the offer, like he's not used to anyone asking what he wants or needs.
"Finish the food," I tell him as I head toward the door. "You need the strength. And there's a whole kitchen downstairs if you want something else. Just ask someone to make it for you." Without giving him a chance to say anything else, I stalk out into the hallway, my heart beating just a little too fast, my control slipping just a bit more than I’d like.
Caelan and Bryn said tonurturebut what the fuck does that even mean?
Out in the hallway, I stop and look down at my hand where Sterling touched it, where his scent still lingers faintly on my skin. The contact was minimal, barely more than a brush of his nose against my palm, but it's branded into my memory like a claim.Mine.There’s no doubt, now. But I can’t cancel my meetings to spend time with him. He’d most likely freak out and I’d go stir crazy. I can’t drag him around with me either. He doesn’t seem all that receptive of anyone else and I don’t want to stress him out.
Not knowing what to do with the one person who has my attention is fucking with me.
I can’t protect what I don’t understand.
However, I can destroy the man who hurt him.
Which means I need Caelan in my office. Immediately.
Forrest
My head is swimming with the last seventeen articles I pulled up about what to do with a new Omega and not one of them explained shit except pillows. I’m pretty damn sure Sterling doesn’t want fucking daisy yellow and lavender all around this fortress and I think I might kill someone if I have to stare at plushies all day.
I might want to protect Sterling but that might be where I draw the line. Everything else in the articles either pissed me off, freaked me out, or just confused me because there’s no way in hell that any of it makes sense. My Omega father never neededany of that and Astra, Caelan’s Omega, doesn’t embody half of what those articles suggested.
Then again, Sterling isn’t every Omega.
