Page 118 of Stolen Omega

I don’t think that something can be me. I’m too close to it all, and Zane sees me as someone he needs to protect. He doesn’t see me as his equal. He might even think I’m the delusional one for not seeing what he sees.

I zip my phone into the pocket of the shorts, forcing myself to stop looking at it.

Walking away from the reception desk, I move toward the patio style doors that lead out to the pool.

It’s a bright, sunny morning out there, and the lack of air conditioning inside the building is starting to make sweat bead on my skin. The idea of going back out there and jumping in the pool comes and goes.

My stomach is starting to growl, and my mouth is still dry.

I need to eat something and drink more water.

I don’t remember seeing a mini bar in my room, so I head back toward the hotel kitchen I came across while I was looking around for Zelena.

The tile flooring is cold in the windowless box that’s filled with high spec shiny appliances and a huge prep area. It cools me down a little, but I think I should have put on the sliders that were next to my lounger by the pool. My Omega sensitivities are starting to make it feel like I’m walking across an icy pond. I dash back to the pool and get them, waiting to get back to the kitchen door to put them on.

Walking back into the room is a much more comfortable experience now, and I can see that everything inside is clean and new. This kitchen has clearly never been used.

If Zane had been making food here, there’d be crumbs on every surface.

He’s pretty much always suffered from crumb-blindness, and I put that down to his mother cleaning up after him too well when he was a kid. Anything he ever ate left a trail of crumbs behind and he never once had to clean them up because his mom was too efficient.

I’m glad he didn’t keep the beard. He’s nowhere near pristine enough to keep one of those.

I open the fridge, half-expecting it to be empty.

I’m left feeling kind of impressed. It’s packed solid with all kinds of supplies.

Meats, veggies, fruit, salad, dairy and produce. All of it seems fresh, too.

Zane planned this out, and he clearly expects us to be here for a while.

The vague sprinkling of guilt I feel as I pull out a slab of cheese can’t be helped.

I waited so long for my Alpha to wake up, to see me and realize I’m still here, that I can’t seem to ever completely lose hope that he can turn himself around.

I always wanted him to try, to make some kind of effort to keep me close.

This place is a million steps too far ahead, but I guess that’s just Zane.

Alphas don’t do things by halves, and he’s always been extreme.

I pick through the pantry and the fridge to make myself lunch, realizing once I’ve got all my supplies ready that there’s no bread for the sandwich I was preparing to make.

There are, however, bread making supplies and a new oven that would be perfect for baking.

I check my pocket and see my messages still haven’t been read.

It must have taken Zane a while to bring us out here.

That means my rescue isn’t going to be fast.

I let the phone drop back into my pocket, and I start prepping to make dough.

My bakery runs well enough with my skeleton crew of staff, so I know I don’t need to worry about it while I’m stuck here. Learning to cook was an absolute necessity if I didn’t want to keep eating my mom’s typically burnt or unseasoned food. I took it up after high school, and I seemed to have a natural affinity for it. Baking was the most relaxing and creative part for me, so that was the pastime I turned into a career.

Mom was happy to let me do the gap year thing after school, and when she realized I was getting good at something that might not require college, she offered me my college fund to start a business instead. I love her for that. She could have insisted I go to college first or told me I should raise the money myself if it was something I really wanted, but all she wanted to do was support me.

I know that’s why she wants Zane to be in my life, really. She wants to make sure I’m protected and supported, and anything less than an Alpha partner isn’t good enough.

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