Page 26 of Broken Alpha

He slid the umbrella into the crook of his elbow before cupping my chin with his free palm, forcing me to look at him asthe restlessness and unease made my body shake. A low purr rumbled from his chest and made my heart quicken, my belly flip-flopping as the anxiety began to cool. The shaking stopped almost as quickly as it had appeared, and I sagged against him, using his body to hold myself up.

“We’ll take each aisle one at a time. If you don’t find anything you like, that’s okay, but at least you looked, and I’ll make sure to reward you for putting up with your silly Alpha later.”

He kissed the back of my hand, his eyes full of the desire and promise he was making. Hesitantly, I sighed but nodded, and the large smile on his face reassured me that this was okay. I watched as he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen that sat on a small display by the door before explaining to me how the store worked. Each item had a number that coincided with one in the back of the store. While the store had pheromone neutralizers, items were kept in the back in protective packaging to prevent any damage or scents from being attached to the products. No Omega or Alpha wanted to go home with an item that smelled like someone else. The products on display were so I could touch and feel them and decide which would be perfect for me and my nest. The only exceptions to this rule were the plushies in display bags and candles. We started with the closest aisle to us, and I reached out to touch the fabric of a nearby blanket, instantly withdrawing my hand with a wrinkled nose. Why do people even think that scratchy and crinkly blankets are ideal? How does that even remotely feel nice against your body? I heard Luke chuckle behind me, and I threw him a look before continuing.

Reluctantly, I wrote down the number of items I approved of on the piece of paper, adding a dark navy weighted blanket to the list, along with a checkered green and white soft throw. It was rather awkward as fuck as I touched everything that seemed remotely interesting. I squeezed and felt up fuzzy pillows toensure I liked the feel before deciding one or two could go on the list with the blankets.

However, buried among the pillows, something caught my eye. An otter plush animal lay nestled in the back of gray and purple pillows. He lay on his back, front paws clasped on his tan belly, with a wonky whisker that stuck out at a different angle than the others. I picked him up, discovering that he had a bit of weight, much like the blankets on the list. I looked down at him, lightly booping him on the nose before smiling softly. The otter was unwrapped and smelled of something stale and forgotten, but I couldn’t help but hold the plushy close to my body.

Otters were my favorite animal. Growing up, I often asked to go to the aquarium for my birthday and would sit and watch the otters for hours as they danced through the water, chasing each other. I loved to hear the chirps they’d make in excitement when it was feeding time and when they would sometimes sleep against the glass in a little alcove so I could watch them. I don’t know why I stopped attending the aquarium as I got older. I didn’t need an excuse like my birthday to go, especially since we stopped celebrating outside of a dinner at a restaurant of my choosing, but I had stopped around fifteen or so. I glanced at Luke, who was watching me with interest, but there was no judgment on his face as I held the otter.

“Would you ever be willing to go to the aquarium with me at some point?” I asked, turning the otter around so that his back was pressed against my front, and I wrapped my arms around his stomach under his little clasped paws.

“Pick a day, and we’ll go,” he said, smiling.

I couldn’t help but smile back, taking the otter with me as we continued shopping. I found a set of slick-resistant bed sheets in a deep forest green and a pastel lavender, adding them to the list with my upcoming heat in mind. By the time we headed for checkout, I had added another set of bed sheets, four hoodiesin various colors that I could rotate Luke’s scent out with, more string lights, and a matching set of nightstands in a dark cedar. When we got to the register, I realized I had to hand over the otter, and I didn’t like the idea at all. He had been abandoned before, and it was as if it was the only thing grounding me through the anxiety of buying nesting material. To give him up felt like a dam would break with me. Inwardly, I chastised myself. I’m an adult and needed to act like one, yet I couldn’t bring myself to put him on the counter.

As if seeing my inner turmoil, the associate leaned across her counter with a handheld device and scanned the tag attached to his ear. She put the device back into its holder and took the list of items from Luke and began to tally them up on her register. My eyes widened as I heard her ring up the total. $1580?! In what world was that price reasonable for something deemed supposedly necessary for Omegas? Jesus fuck. There is no way I’ll be able to pay any of that back, not for a while at least. Maybe this was all too much. He’ll realize how expensive it is to have an Omega, how expensiveI am,and he’ll get rid of me the first chance he gets. Maybe we should put all this back and get a refund. I shouldn’t have said yes to this.

“No.” Luke’s firm voice withdrew me from my thoughts.

Luke handed the woman his card as she looked at him questionably, but his eyes were on me, addressing me. He was watching me spiral, clutching the otter so tightly against me that he’d be choking if he were real. Luke reached out to me, pulling me tightly against his body. I inhaled his scent, clutching the fluffy fabric of his hoodie, burying my nose into the material. He purred softly, taking his card from the woman and slipping it back into his wallet. The associate gave me a sympathetic look before turning to Luke and informing him that he could take his car around to the loading dock, and the employees would load our items in the back of his car for us.

“We’re returning nothing, and you’re not paying me back. I want to do this, Aidyn. It’s okay. You’ve made me the happiest Alpha in the world today, letting me take care of my Omega.”

I looked up at him as we stepped into the cold autumn air. It had stopped raining, but the world still smelled fresh and damp, a light breeze occasionally blowing by. The clouds overhead hinted at more rain, and I hoped we were home when it did. I wanted to lie on the couch with Luke, wrapped in a throw with him and this otter, listening to the rain while we watched a movie or read our books. I just wanted to be cozy with him. It was so strange how he consumed my life and infiltrated my very being in such a short time.

“Did I really make you happy?”

“In ways you’ll never know.” He kissed the top of my head as we headed toward the car.

Aidyn

It took three trips to get everything into Luke’s apartment. We sat the bags and boxes on the kitchen bar so that it was easier to riffle through them and dispose of the sales tags and packaging. Luke stopped me from immediately digging into the bags by wrapping his arms around me and kissing the back of my neck, causing my body to shudder at the intimate touch.

“You have five minutes to strip and wait for me on the bed. It’s time I reward my Omega for being so good today.”

I stared at him with large eyes, his eyebrow raising the longer I stood in my spot. An inhuman sound left my throat as I dashed to the bedroom, pulling my sweater over my head as I went.Kicking off my jeans and underwear, I crawled onto the bed, pushing the blankets out of our way and kneeling on the sheets facing the door, my hands on my thighs.

And waited.

I could hear Luke rummaging around in the kitchen, pulling items out of the plastic shopping bags before throwing the bags away. I could hear the tearing of plastic and cardboard and the soft snip of scissors as he prepared each item for nesting. When he was done, he entered the bedroom with two of the new throw blankets draped over his arm.

“Take your glasses off and place them on the nightstand, and turn around, facing away,” he said softly, moving toward the bed.

I quickly moved to obey him as he set the blankets on my side of the bed, laying them down and tucking the edges under the mattress before crawling behind me and running his fingers down my back as he did so.

“We’re going to try something new. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes,” I nodded, licking my lips.

He opened the draw on his nightstand before he moved behind me, his front pressing against my back as he slid the blindfold over my eyes, blocking out the world.

“I want you to experience nothing but pleasure, but I don’t want you to know what I’m doing to you until we’re done. I want you to focus on my voice and what I’ll do to you. You once gave me a safe word. What was it?”

“Tea,” I croaked out, my throat suddenly dry.

“Good boy. Use it if things get too much or if you become over sensitive. I want you to also use the color system. Green is good, yellow tells me to slow down or you’re reaching your limit, and red stops, no questions asked. I will be checking in with you and making sure you’re okay. Understand?”

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