Page 6 of Bully for Sale
Doubleton Academy was Ned’s third school in as many years. There’d been a few scandals in his past, most of them not half as bad as they sounded. Luckily for him, his uncle, the powerful and wealthy Heath Clearwater, had been willing to clear up Ned’s scrapes. His most recent disgrace, though, had led to him being expelled from Peay’s Elite, along with six other alphas. Two of those other alphas had followed him to Doubleton, and as Ned stared in awe at the strange little omega he’d almost knocked to the ground, those alphas materialized at his side.
“C’mon,” Braden said, punching Ned in the shoulder. “Class starts soon.”
Meanwhile Finch spat on the ground, standing there being generally repugnant. Everything about him, from his scent to his smile, made Ned’s stomach churn. He wished Braden and Finch’s fathers had sent them elsewhere after they’d been expelled from Peay’s. Instead, the men had ridden on Uncle Heath’s coattails at Doubleton and asked for the same deal for their scandal-ridden offspring.
Lazy assholes.
“Ned, come on,” Braden said, kicking Ned’s boot and nodding toward the series of low-lying, red brick buildings where they’d spend their senior year. “Bell rang. There’re omegas to seduce and teachers to terrorize. No time to lose.”
Finch laughed, and it was ugly as always.
The little omega, still standing near Ned, looked between the three of them with cutely knotted brows, and then glanced down at a paper clenched in his shaking hand. Ned’s heart quickened. He wanted to take the omega under his arm and guide him safely through his day; he wanted to feed him, nurture him, and kiss him in the shadows behind the school. The impulse was dizzying.
“I’m not sure where I should go,” the omega said, sticking out his chin and meeting Ned’s gaze in a show of confidence. “I’m new here.”
“We’re new too,” Ned said, but he reached out to take the paper anyway, deciding hewouldguide the omega to wherever it was he needed to be. Braden and Finch jerked him away before his fingers touched the paper.
“C’mon,” Finch sneered. “That one’s going to end up a useless slut. Look at him. Couldn’t birth a decent-sized babe to save his life. Don’t waste time on him.”
Ned jerked his arm lose and turned back to the omega whose eyes had grown stony and fierce. Words caught in Ned’s throat, but as he started to speak, the second bell rang. The chaos turned into a crush, as a swath of young alphas, betas, and omegas raced through the grounds trying to avoid being late to class, cutting Ned off from the strange omega with sky-blue eyes and tiny, delicate bones. There’d been something about him, Ned didn’t know what, but he couldn’t stop thinking about him for the rest of the day.
It was thefourth day of school, a beautiful day in the city of Wellport before Ned was able to talk to the omega again.
The cerulean blue sky was full of puffy white clouds that had drifted in. The city was warm at the end of summer, but a soft breeze off the sea kept it from feeling stuffy or stale, despite the ever-growing number of people, cars, buses, ships, and trains, all of which left unseemly detritus behind.
Doubleton Academy was also situated at the top of a canyon, and the views outside the classroom windows were almost as good as the view from Ned’s bedroom at home, though not quite as stupendous as the views from the room he’d slept in last summer at his Uncle Heath’s home.
Over the summer spent with his uncle, his uncle’s omega Adrien, and their son Michael, Ned had changed. He’d come to see his striving life with his father in a very different way. The “truths” he’d taken for granted in the past—anything you truly want is worth any cost, for example—no longer made sense, and he’d spent a few days reeling from that realization after he’d first returned. Even now, in the middle of class, he felt torn between the boy his father expected him to be and the man he now knew he wanted to become.
For example, he was seated beside Braden and Finch, like always, but he didn’twantto be there. No, he wanted to be sitting across the room beside the new, small, quiet omega who worked equations all day long, even in their literature classes, and during lunch, and everywhere else. Ned had no doubt after days of observing him, that the omega even mentally worked on them during physical education, too.
There was something compelling in the young man’s ways. He was quiet, yes, but Ned saw wonderful flashes of defiance on his face from time to time. There was more under the surface of the boy, and Ned wanted to know what he might discover.
“Stop staring,” Braden said, kicking Ned’s shin.
“What?” Ned asked, denying it.
“If you want to fuck him, I’m sure it can be arranged.” Finch never minced words.
“I…what?” Ned blinked, disturbed. “I’m done with all that. I thought we’d agreed that we all were.”
Braden laughed. “An alpha who’s done with fucking omegas? Please. You and I both know we’re just biding our time until we go back to having our fun. There are plenty of omegas here who’ll want to play the naked games with us, given a little incentive.”
Ned shook his head. He’d already gone that route too many times, and he was tired of it. Before summering with Adrien and Uncle Heath, he’d never known what an alpha and omega could truly be together, what they could have. He’d thought of omegas as existing solely for an alpha’s pleasure. Though he’d always known when he was old enough, he’d have to make a longer commitment than a tumble in bed in order to score an heir of some kind, he’d assumed it would be contractual—nothing more, nothing less.
But Adrien and Uncle Heath weren’t like that. They were in love. They were happy. They respected each other and were growing a family together. Their life looked like a fairy tale from the outside.
Ned had never known so much laughter, love, softness, and adoration could exist in a family until he’d stayed with Heath and Adrien. Now Ned longed for a life like that, a beautiful one made together with an omega like Adrien—someone smart, loving, and sweet. A man who would be a good da to his children. Devoted.
Ned let his eyes wander back to the new kid. Wouldhebe like Adrien? Or was he more like the omegas his father used? Mercenary and cynical?
Those bright eyes met Ned’s, and suddenly he had a hard time breathing.
“What’s the hell’s wrong with you?” Braden bit out.
“We’ll get some Bright’s powder in him after school, and he’ll be fine,” Finch said.
Ned shrugged. He didn’t use Bright’s powder anymore either. Adrien had told him all about how his omega parent, a man named Nathan, had been a fan of the stuff and it’d damaged his heart, cutting his life short. Ned wanted to live a long time, become a strong, successful alpha, and watch his children grow up, see them have grandchildren even. Braden and Finch would call all those dreams ridiculous and stupid, but Heath had called them mature and he’d seemed proud.
