Page 87 of Stolen Omega

I threw a towel over the one in the bathroom weeks ago.

The thick, black stubble on my face turned into an unkempt beard months ago, and I don’t know when I last changed my shirt, but this one has a pizza sauce stain and fuck knows how long ago I last had takeout. The microwave has been my personal chef for the last fortnight, at least.

I’m a fucking mess.

I can’t show up at Dale’s prom looking like this.

I probably shouldn’t show up there at all, but I know I owe him a proper goodbye.

He deserves an Alpha who’ll worship the ground he walks on, and the only way I can give him that is if I let him go. I’m too far gone to turn back now. I’ve lost way too much of myself.

The next couple of hours pass in a daze. I go to a couple of stores, buying stuff so I can shave and get changed into something that’s clean. Standing in the shower after my face is soft and smooth for the first time in fuck knows how long, I know I need to walk away from the dark web shit as well.

It’s not helping my state of mind, and it’s not helping me find the girl who vanished in the night all those years ago.

She’s gone, and I need to let go of her.

Dale’s carved out his own life without me, and I need to let him go, too.

Whatever my life becomes now, it needs to be something new.

I have to climb out of the hole I’ve been digging for myself, the early grave I’ve been heading toward, and I need to start over fresh.

Go to a new town. Get a real fucking job.

Find a way to connect with life.

Fuck.

It sounds hard.

Almost impossible.

One step at a time, Zane.

First step, clean up.

Second step, go find Dale and give him the goodbye he deserves.

Everything else that comes after, you can think about later.

By the time I’m ready to go, I realize my basic-as-fuck white dress shirt and black pants make me look like a waiter. Too bad I don’t have anything else I could change into. Shaking my head, I grab my keys off the lamp table by the door and head out.

It’s bright out, still warm and sunny even if it’s getting late.

Walking to Dale’s school takes all of ten minutes.

The main entrance is busy. Groups and couples of teenagers in suits and dresses are heading inside, gossiping and laughing on the way in. I could tag along with one of the groups, but it’s hard to hide my Alpha status, and that makes it impossible to disappear into a crowd.

Betas feel it when I get close. They just fucking know.

I’ll have to find another way in.

I veer off to the side of the building, not looking back to find out if Dale’s here yet.

His new rich friends are probably too cool to show up this early.

“Hey, you!” a voice calls out from ahead.

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