Page 103 of Wild Omega

His brows jump. “Are you being made to do things against your will, or being abused in any way?”

“Duh,” I lift my hand toward the door. “No knots.”

He snorts, and I congratulate myself for cracking his stiff work persona.

“Seriously, apart from being bored to death and attending way too many therapy sessions, I can’t complain.” I look up and catch his gaze on me. My skin heats from the intensity in his black eyes. “I just hate feeling trapped. I didn’t feel this way out there with Rickon.”

He nods. “I just wanted to check. So I think we may have a viable route.” He digs into a leather satchel and drops a document an inch thick on the table. “This came from Director Yun. I took the liberty of having a friend of mine who specializes in entertainment contracts look over it. Both he and Ricky have left notes, and I can answer any questions you might have.”

Callisto taps a finger on the table to make sure he has my full attention. It’s not a hard ask, since he has quite the formidable presence. “Rickon says the director wants to start table reads in two weeks and have them done before your next heat. As a signed actor, at the very least the Omega Center will have to release you for employment you already have.” He grins, and a weight lifts off my chest. “Between the stress of confinement, the availability of an alpha who can take care of you, and the proximity of my apartment to the studio, we’ll be able to put enough pressure on them to release you for employment purposes.”

I hold up one hand, bobbing my head as I digest each fact but stumbling on the last one. “Your apartment?”

The highly composed Callisto Wren flushes all the way to his ears. “Um, yeah. So, Ricky’s been staying with me while the restraining order gets sorted. And his house is too small anyway. So, until he gets a new place . . .” His words hang like spiderweb in the small room, but I can’t tell if it’s to trap me or something else.

Do my eyes deceive me, or is my lawyer pleading?

My breath wooshes out with a humming noise.

He rushes on, like he’s gotta convince me all in one go. “Plus, I have a nest you can convert—”

“Fuck the nest.” It’s out of my mouth before I can stop it, but at least I hold down the accompanying shudder.

Callisto flinches. “I don’t have bad intentions, Red. I just want to do anything I can to make it up to you.”

I slap both my palms on the table. “That had better not be pity I hear, Callisto.”

He shakes his head. “It’s my pathetic apology. Just—just let me do everything possible for you that you’ll consider allowing. I regret so much the way I brushed you off, and I totally understand why you’ve drawn boundaries now. But.”

I stiffen as his eyes sheen over, and he chokes. A lump forms in my own throat.

He leans forward across the table. “I want to be close to you, Red. As close as you can tolerate. I won’t get in your way, and I won’t ask for anything. Just please, let me help.”

I massage my throat to clear it while I think. “Until Rickon gets a new place?”

His chest jerks. “Yeah.” It’s clear he doesn’t want Rickon getting a new place and a thought occurs to me. How long could he have Rickon living under his roof and not realize his best friend has feelings for him? Even if I can’t accept a deserter as my alpha, that doesn’t mean I have to spoil Rickon’s dream. I want my angel of an alpha to have everything he’s ever desired.

That makes up my mind. “Fine.”

Callisto looks up from the table, his dewy eyes filling with hope. “Truly?”

I nod. The vulnerable look on his face suits him better than I could’ve imagined. I bet being at someone else’s mercy isn’t a sensation the indomitable Callisto Wren is accustomed to. It softens him a little, and I can’t help wondering what he looked like in high school. Both he and Rickon must have been super cute. I’d better take another look at that photo I saw in Rickon’s house.

But musing over their school days doesn’t get me out of here. “What’s next?”

Callisto beams and taps the acting contract. “Once you sign this, you’ll have a bona fide employment agreement. Then we have cause to get you out, without dredging too much psychology into it.” He crosses his fingers.

I nod and flick to the end pages. Callisto leans right across the table and drops his hand on the top, forcing the pages closed on my fingers. “This one we’re going to be thorough about.”

I pout my bottom lip. “I told Rickon to take care of the details.”

He shakes his head, smiling wryly. “He did, but let’s take our time. This will affect the rest of your life. Rickon insisted we go through it together to make sure you understand everything.”

I sigh noisily and flip over the first page. “Happy?”

“Yes.”

Considering the thickness of this contract, it could take hours to go through it. This might be a ruse to spend more time with me, but at the end of the day, he’s my lawyer before anything else. I slide the pile back across the table. “Read it out loud.”

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