Page 52 of Collateral Omega

Holi stared at the omega, reading between the lines.

“Did you decide to stay with me?”

“No. Why would I do something like that,” Blaine said. “I happen to like it here.”

Holi was silent for a beat before he poked Blaine's arm. “Thank you for staying with me. I think I would have freaked out if I woke up alone in this place.”

“Stop pocking me,” Blaine complained, but Holi could hear laughter in his voice. It made him smile a little, though the reality of their situation wiped the smile away. Blaine climbed to the top bunk and lay down.

“Holi?”

“Hmmm?”

“What are we going to do?” he asked. “I didn’t think this through. I saw you lying there, and I couldn’t leave you. I guess we can go to the authorities, and they’ll place us in another commune house.”

“No. I’m exhausted,” Holi said, clutching his head. He’d gone to the authorities a thousand times, and he still ended up here. Jobless, homeless and without the credit he’d work hard for.

He felt like screaming as everything he’d been through crushed through his mind. The torment, the anxiety, the hardship and desolation he’d suffered because of one alpha.

“But you slept for more than twenty-four hours.”

“I’ll go to him and get this over and done with.”

“Go to who?” Blaine asked. He peered at him from the top bunk. “You’re being a little weird. Did you bump your head when you fell?”

“No. I just realized something. For me to live, I must settle my past. I can’t keep running away from him for the rest of my life.”

“I think you hit your head. We should go back to the emergency room,” Blaine said. Holi got out of bed and walked towards the door. “I was joking.” Blaine ran after him.

Chapter 16

Holi

“Is he? The him you were mumbling about earlier?” Blaine asked next to him. Holi lifted his head to see Xaine Covus walk towards them. Did he get bigger or was it just him? Holi’s heart thudded hard at the sight of him.

Stupid heart.

Holi hadn’t seen the alpha since he came for him at the leisure room, but Holi always knew that Xaine was out there, searching for him.

Sometimes he got so close he could smell him. Or maybe it was just his imagination, since the alpha’s scent lived rent-free in his nose after the scarf incident.

“Fuck, that's Xaine Covus,” Blaine said excitedly. “He looks much bigger in person.”

“You know him?”

“Who doesn’t?” Blaine whispered. “He's so hot. I always found him fascinating whenever I saw him on the news sites. He has these beautiful eyes.”

“Maybe you should be his service omega,” Holi bit out softly.

“Excuse me,” Blaine said, having heard him. But before he could say anything else, Xaine came to a stop in front of them. A charged moment passed between them as they stared at each other. The alpha’s scent swirled around them. Blaine’s eyes widened as he looked from Xaine to him.

“They won’t let us leave until we pay the bill,” Holi told him, breaking the awkward silence.

“Klane,” Xaine said without breaking eye contact.

“Yes, master,” Klane said, walking away.

Holi stood up, hating that Xaine was staring down at him, exerting his dominance on him.

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