Page 10 of Collateral Omega

No. He hadn’t.

Holi nodded, not wanting him to think that he didn’t know anything. He’d felt stupid and unknowledgeable all evening. Holi hoped the alpha wouldn’t ask him anything specific about his family. Holi took a deep swallow of the spirit, feeling nervous all over again.

Alpha Lane laughed. “There’s no need to feel nervous. I’m a normal person. My family’s wealth has nothing to do with me.”

“It’s part of you though,” Holi said, thinking about his own family situation. It would seem, no matter what he and his father did, they couldn’t escape it.

“It is. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s inside,” Lane said, looking around them. Holi glanced at him a little impressed. “Would you like to dance?” Lane asked suddenly.

“I…” Holi looked around him, and he was surprised to see that most of the alphas and omegas were back from the rooms. Did alpha Lane want to dance with him in front of everyone? Just thinking about it caused Holi’s heart to flutter. Maybe the night won’t end badly after all.

“Let’s go.” Lane gripped Holi’s arm and pulled him to the middle of the room roughly.

Did he just change or was it just him? Holi asked himself as the music started to play. Alpha Lane didn’t even wait for Holi to orientate himself, he started to move him around.

His mood had definitely changed, Holi thought.

What happened? Holi tried to think back, find out if he said something to offend the alpha.

Alpha Lane’s fingers tightened around his hand, clammy and cold. Holi tried his best not to cringe. He forced a smile and pretended to enjoy the moment. He wouldn’t exactly call what they were doing dancing. The alpha couldn’t dance to save his life. Holi wondered why he’d insisted they dance instead of going to one of the rooms master Aeryl had set up. Maybe he wanted to talk later, Holi told himself, trying his best to keep up with the alpha as he dragged him around the dance floor.

“There he is,” the alpha whispered under his breath.

“What?” Holi asked.

“Shh. I wasn’t talking to you,” alpha Lane mumbled, staring somewhere over Holi’s shoulder. The alpha craned his neck as the object of his focus moved from view. He made a swivelling move that made Holi dizzy as he tried to keep whoever it was in his sight.

“Alpha Lane?” Holi said, trying to make him stop before he lost the little food and spirit master Aeryl had offered his guests.

“Shh…” Alpha Lane shushed him again. “He only has to see me once with you and then he would come running. You have no prospects, nothing to offer an alpha. He’d know I’m serious when he sees us together because no alpha in his right mind would want you,” the alpha rambled on as if Holi wasn’t there.

Holi froze.

Was he using him to make some omega jealous?

Holi shoved him away. The alpha flew, his arms and legs in the air. He hit the dance floor with a thud. The room suddenly went silent, all eyes on them. Alpha Lane shot to his feet, anger coming off him in waves.

“What the hell?” he screamed, advancing on Holi. “Do you know who I am? How dare you push me? Know your fucking place you little impoverished bastard. I did you a favour by dancing with you. Do you think I want you?” The alpha laughed dramatically in his face.

“I…” Holi stared at his feet, mortified.

Someone started to clap somewhere in the room. The sound echoed in Holi’s chest, making him wish the floor could open and swallow him. A strained silence hovered around the party hall as whoever was clapping got closer and stopped behind Holi. The air around Holi vibrated with an overwhelming energy that made him hold his breath.

He watched in fascination as alpha Lane’s eyes widened. He mumbled something incoherently as he took an unsteady step back. Holi had never seen an alpha tuck his tail between his legs so fast.

Intrigued, Holi turned around to see who was behind him. His eyes landed on the alpha’s massive shoulders, then travelled up to his flaming gold-green eyes. And at that moment they were settled on Holi, with a disturbing focus that made him blush as heat burned down his body.

Xaine Covus.

Holi gulped as he felt the alpha’s larger-than-life presence. He exuded so much power it was overwhelming. Holi took a step back.

“Bravo!” he said, his voice filling the silence. “Thank you for the show. Are you done? You were about to tell us how much you don’t want him. Everyone is waiting. Please continue.”

“I…I…I wasn’t…” alpha Lane stuttered, looking around the room for help. No one moved.

“Now,” Xaine said, his voice taking on a dark note that brooked no argument.

“I… he had no right to push me with his filthy hands.” Alpha Lane said.

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