Page 5 of Royal Omega

Chapter Three - Carissa

“Izzy! What are youdoing here? I thought you were taking today off.”

I pick up a stack of papers from the printer and turn to smile at Seraph, my only omega friend at the Herald. “I tried to take the day off, but then I was thinking about all the stuff I had to do, and I decided to come in.”

Seraph scoffs at me. “I don’t get why you like it so much here. It’s the most backwater paper in San Francisco.”

I look around the floor of the Golden Gate Herald and grin to myself. Desks covered in papers, people with their shoulders hunched over their computers as they frantically type out their latest story, the smell of stale coffee in the air: feels like paradise to me. “What’s not to love?”

“I mean, the pay for one thing. That’s why your dads want you to quit so bad, right? They think you could do better?”

The truth is, all my parents would much prefer that I did not work. My mother is the most vocal in her hatred of my job, but my dads are equally displeased by it. Having an omega daughter gives the Castle family a lot of bragging rights, since most omegas only reveal if they live in affluent, comfortable environments. They coddled me throughout my childhood, making things as easy for me as they could possibly be, in hopes that I would reveal as an omega.

When I did, at age fourteen, they were delighted. From the time I was fourteen until I was eighteen, my family showed me off every chance they got. Omega balls were the best way, of course, but they also set up photo shoots and slipped money into people’s pockets to put my picture in the paper. They called in tips to the paparazzi when I went out with my friends, and generally did their best to make me a celebrity omega.

And I let them; that was what I was raised for, after all. But as I got older, it became clear that the coddling, the money, and the perks were no substitute for affection. My parents were masterminds at manipulation. Everything I had came at a price, and often it was one I didn’t want to pay.

I learned pretty young that I couldn’t just be their daughter. If I was going to live off of them, I had to live their way. When I was eighteen and the whole Conrad thing happened, I realized that I needed to find my own way; if a person who loved me could turn on me like that, what would the Castle family do if I didn’t follow their rules?

Since then, I’ve been the one person I can trust.

“I don’t get it, I really don’t,” Seraph says. She runs her hand through her lovely dark hair. Her omega scent, slightly flowery and sweet like jasmine, wafts across the room. “If my parents hadn’t disowned me for refusing that heinous match, I can guarantee you, I’d be out of here. I’d jump at the chance to spend my nights looking for someone who would suit me, instead of gulping down stale coffee with these sad fuckers,” she points her chin at a group of beta writers, who look up at her.

“Hey now, Seraph, we aren’t so bad,” one of them calls out with a grin.

“Are you kidding? You stink worse than your writing,” she says. “Just ask your wife.”

The betas chuckle, and Seraph gives them a wink. When she turns back to me, there’s a smile on her face. Seraph talks a big game about the Omega Balls, but she lives for casual jabs, jokes in the office, and hookups at the local bar. She would hate the decorum of the ballroom circuit — the etiquette training, standing around for hours in high heels, juggling red punch with white gloves, the formal proposals...

I sigh, remembering last night and poor Bobby. I think he’ll be ok, if he just reaches out to Chris like I told him to. Chris is a good guy, and pretty much a genius when it comes to business. He’ll help the Kaplans turn things around.

“I don’t know what you’re sighing about, like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders,” Seraph teases. “All you did last night was go to a party.”

“I know it sounds like fun, but Omega Balls are actually pretty brutal.”

“What’s the worst part? The handsome alphas fawning over you, or the free booze?”

“The alphas, for sure. The booze is usually pretty good.” Though I’ve never felt comfortable enough to get drunk at one of those things.

“Izzy, you’re crazy. I meet like two alphas a month, and they’re usually on the edge of becoming feral. You meet all the best catches in the city. What, do you want to be alone for the rest of your life?”

“No, of course not,” I say, hopping up onto my desk and crossing my legs. I scuff one of my ankle boots against the side of the desk in the process, and frown down at it. I’m not going to be able to get that scuff out. “I just want to be with someone who doesn’t try to control me. Is that too much to ask?”

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