Page 11 of Unwanted

Something about the way he said it put me at ease; he didn’t judge these fantasies, didn’t roll his eyes, which was nice. His energy seemed pleasantly open.

"Yeah, especially the fantasy of having kids. I’d love to have them too, but I’m not a beta with alpha traits, so my sperm isn’t fertile. I can’t have my own. Thankfully, I’ve got two nephews—my omega brother’s kids—and that comforts me. My tiny house will go to one of them someday." I hesitated, unsure if I should add it, before going for it. "But I’ve never had fantasies about being in heat. It’s not my first choice of roles."

Liam bit his lip, again playing with his fingers under the bubbly water surface.

"I know most betas are versatile, but I think I’m a total bottom. Maybe that’s why heat fantasies are… tempting to me."

I remained silent, unsure if I should share such things out loud. We were still in the beginning stages of whatever this was, and I didn’t want to be overly graphic.

But… Liam asked, "And you?"

Letting out a sigh, I glanced at him. "Well. By preference, top, but life has sometimes forced me to make compromises in this regard. Sometimes you have to sacrifice what you like the most for the sake of the relationship. But being a bottom is not my first choice."

"You know, there’s this weird belief among us betas that since we can swing both ways, we have to do it, that it’s part of our nature as betas. There’s almost a pressure on it, but I personally don’t see anything wrong with the roles because to me, they’re pretty sexy…"

"Totally agree." And I grinned.

We sat in silence for a bit. I couldn’t help but glance over at Liam. The warm water and the humidity gave his cheeks a nice flush, and his lips looked almost red. His damp hair began to curl into soft waves. For a second, I imagined reaching out, threading my fingers through those delicate strands, brushing my thumb along his cheekbone, tilting his head back. My gaze landed on his scent gland, pale and untouched, waiting for something—a caress, a bite…?

Absent-mindedly, I raised my hand and slid a finger along my gums. In ABO society, everyone has mating teeth above the regular ones, but betas don’t have the hormone levels to make them emerge. We go through life without ever using them. Some people even believe betas don't have fangs at all, but that's not true—they're just covered, dormant.

When I pressed a little harder, I could feel the thin, hard ridges just beneath the surface—my hidden mating teeth, held in place forever by my low hormone levels. I felt a pang of regret. It’s not like I was an ‘alpha wannabe’. I’d accepted being a beta a long time ago. Sure, I had fantasies about alpha-style sexual domination, but they stayed in the background of my life, only bubbling up when I was alone and feeling, well, horny. Sometimes I’d close my eyes and imagine an omega I could claim as mine.

But with Liam, for some reason, something strange stirred inside me. These visions suddenly started flashing through my mind, and the intensity was gradually increasing, like short daydreams; they kept coming back whenever I let my guard down. One particular lewd vision ripped through my mind with unprecedented intensity: I saw myself fucking him, and sinking my fangs deep into his neck.

Immediately, I erased that image, knowing how inappropriate it was. But after a few minutes of struggle, Icouldn’t deny it—I was simply too weak to resist repeating it over and over again, each time in increasingly indecent ways.

This was one of those moments I was grateful for the existence of bubbles, as they hid my arousal. With a huge effort, I changed the subject, asking him more about his family life—what his childhood was like.

Liam told me he grew up in the same town as Soren. They lived close to each other. His alpha father was an engineer, and his omega dad was a lawyer. His parents were super focused on their careers, so he was mostly raised by his grandfather. They traveled a lot, and during one of those trips—died in a plane crash.

From what Liam said, it sounded like he was one of those kids who came into his parents’ lives a little too late for them to adjust their lifestyle. They were already so set in their ways and didn’t seem to enjoy parenthood. He always felt like a burden. He also got the impression they were disappointed when he presented as a beta. It was never said out loud, but Liam admitted he picked up on subtle signals. After their deaths, he found some confirmation of this when he read one of their emails.

His dad had written, "We went through such great effort to bring him into the world, and now knowing we won’t have grandchildren… it really makes me appreciate the government programs aimed at activating betas and making them fertile members of society."

That part of our conversation really grabbed my attention.

"As you know, I also work at Malden Pharmaceuticals. My CEO, Blue Lowen, was one of the scientists who helped develop the medical protocols for exactly that program, the beta activation! He was a consultant and expert for it, though he got a lot of backlash from beta advocacy groups. He even received death threats, and his company is constantly targetedby activists who believe this research could destroy the beta community—or even the entire sub-gender—by turning them into alphas and omegas."

"Yeah," Liam nodded. "I've been reading a lot about this program. I know they recently started a small trial with an initial group of candidates. Despite the public backlash, way more people volunteered than they ever expected."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Are you interested in this subject?"

Liam blushed deeply and turned his head away. I stared at his light auburn lashes for a moment. I’ve always liked light eyelashes, though I don’t know why. They suited his pale cheeks, subtly freckled. He looked so ethereal…

"Yes, to be honest, I have considered it—joining the program. It’s interesting. Experts carefully pair betas with omegas, betas with betas, or betas with alphas. The participants receive experimental hormone treatments and pheromone sprays to stimulate and activate the natural processes in their bodies. It’s still in the early testing phase, but the government is funding it heavily."

I nodded, a little surprised—and impressed—that he was into this kind of stuff.

"I had no idea you were interested in that. I’m glad to hear it, though, because it’s somewhat close to my own research. I specialize in genetic studies on True Mates and how we might identify them through DNA. That includes beta True Mates. Our CEO, Blue Lowen, developed a revolutionary way to compare genetic codes and made a major breakthrough. He figured out how to identify people who are genetically incompatible, which is a big step. A lot of matchmaking services are already showing interest in buying these tests, but it’s still too early for that. The technology is just being developed."

"Do you think we’ll ever be able to identify True Mates by testing their DNA?"

I sighed and scratched my chin, unsure of how to answer.

"You know, some people believe True Mates are about more than just genetic compatibility. They think there’s something extra, some factor we’re missing, maybe linked to our alien genetic heritage. There are theories that say our genes are evolving, that alien DNA is becoming more prominent. Did you know that the children of True Mates usually have more alien DNA than the general population?"

Liam shook his head, clearly intrigued by the topic.

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