Page 2 of The Alpha's Fake Mate
I heard a door bang open.
“Hey, Holland! There you are. Dinner’s on! What are you doing out here? Are you all right?”
Of course I wasn’t all right and he knew it.
Harly came up to me, his sweet face surrounded by blond curls. “Do you need help with your crutch?”
“No. I got it.”
Harly had visited me every day while I was in the hospital. He’d put on his happy face and never let up. It made my stomach churn, but I said nothing. He was my friend. I knew he hated that I’d been hurt. He was the type who wanted to put any bad thing behind him and never talk or think about it.
He watched me struggle up with my bum leg and arm, and my aching muscles, as I got my crutch under me. I could only use a crutch for one side. My broken wrist wouldn’t hold me if I used it to support myself on a second crutch.
“How long have you been out here?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
Even though I said no to his offer of help, he still put his arm around my waist and let me lean my weight on him as he walked with me to the dining hall.
We sat side by side in the adult section now. My trial by fire had earned me my adult status. But it hurt to sit. I angled to one side for more comfort. No one brought me a pillow, or even seemed to notice. I knew they didn’t want to notice because it could have been any of them in my place. It still could be. If Alphas were not properly vetted, dangerous ones could slip through here on the farm at any time. They didn’t teach that in our health and sexuality classes.
Old Omegas who had never been mate-bonded served us our dinner. Nod, who I had known my whole life, was a hundred and fifty years old. He still had a good fifty years left in him. He brought me my tray special. He set it in front of me and said, “Take your pills now and you’ll get better faster.”
There were three big pills, green, yellow and white, sitting on the tray by my silverware. One of them was a pain pill. I got them twice a day.
I nodded, looking down at my food. I wasn’t hungry but I knew if I took the pills without food I’d have a stomach ache later.
While Harly made light, casual banter with our friends at the table, I forced the food down my throat. It wasn’t bad food. Omegas were great cooks. But my body had become frozen since my ordeal, cold and shuddery. I didn’t know how to make that stop. Maybe it would always be that way now. No matter how many blankets I used I would always be cold. No matter how tightly I clenched my muscles, I would always shake.
I focused on getting the food down, tasting sawdust. Half-way through the meal, Warden Chirl, who often walked about the dining hall checking in with everyone, stopped by my side.
“I’d like to see you in my office after dinner.”
Harly looked up with wide eyes.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
Chirl wore the black robe of his distinguished designation, placing him in a higher rank above us all. It was belted in gold. The house-dads, cooks and old servants all dressed in white robes with a hemp braid about their waists. The fresh Omegas who serviced Alphas (of which I was one now) wore white-collared shirts and loose black trousers. The kids were outfitted in blue jumpsuits.
“I’ll make sure he gets there,” Harly said helpfully, nodding at Chirl.
“Thank you, Harly,” said Chirl.
When the warden left, Harly spoke aside to me. “He’ll make everything better. You’ll see.”
We all trusted Warden Chirl. Or, at least, I had until my first mating.
Now I trusted no one. Not even chipper, smiling Harly.
I turned away from him and poked at my food, wishing the pain pill would work faster. My injuries were healing quickly, but in the meantime I battled.
I had bite marks all over my body, including my cock, which the doctors treated and promised would leave no scars. I had bruised ribs, a broken wrist and a sprained ankle, and a still raspy throat with severe bruising from almost being choked to death. My ass had been abraded but left to heal on its own without stitches.
“You were lucky,” one of the doctors had said to me.
Yeah. Right.
It wasn’t pretty. And I wasn’t going to be smiling any time soon.
