Page 31 of Omega Chattel
“From Zilly’s, right? Tarin told us a little about you. But Zilly’s has a pretty good rep, I’ve heard.”
“Not if you have one crazy pervy house-dad out to get you and no one believes you. He was going to institutionalize me because I witnessed him rape a student.”
“Wow. Tarin knows this?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re safe here, you know. Tarin would never hurt any Omega.”
I scratched my fingers hard across the velvet of the couch arm. “Tarin’s the first Alpha I’ve ever met.”
“Yeah? You never saw any who came to the farm?” Oren asked.
“Usually they come to service their Burns. The mating hall is a separate building from where we live.”
Oren’s face flushed starting at the temples and moving down to his jaw. “I’ve never been to any farms. I wasn’t sure.”
“We’re raised to perform that duty. It’s considered an honor.”
“I lived pretty sheltered. I was a mess when Tarin found me. Sex wasn’t my talent, or in my thoughts. But the streets were only about that. Or dealing. I’m not an Omega-lover like Farrell and Tev, but I didn’t think about it much so I was pretty naive. I figured I’d meet an Alpha much later in life. If ever. When Tarin took me in, I thought I was dreaming. I thought I had died and this was my mind’s last fantasy. Because everything else was hell for me. Utter hell.”
I liked Oren. He made me feel like I wasn’t such a misfit.
“Give yourself time,” Oren said. “It’s a safe place here. For now, that’s all you need to know. And Tarin is happy, as long as he sees all of us are trying.”
I didn’t dare tell Oren my deepest secret, that I wanted Tarin. That my training had set me up to crave Alphas, and if one was going into the Burn, offering myself was the right thing to do.
But more, Tarin’s presence made my entire body light up.
Only three days and I wanted more, both from myself and from Tarin.
Oren was right when he said I should give it time. I’d learn to fit in. But I didn’t need time. I wanted Tarin. And the specter of Kee made me feel more urgent. That somehow I needed to compete. I needed to be the best.
But how could I be the best if I couldn’t even complete a homework assignment without getting everything wrong?
On top of that, I feared Tarin would tire of me after a while, after having to go over every assignment with me ten times before I understood.
That would not do.
Later in the afternoon, Oren and I put on jeans—new ones had been delivered to me that day—and went into the gardens. The sunlight and the green grass and the scent of growing things bought me solace, and before I knew it several hours had passed. My hands and new jeans were dirty from pulling weeds, watering, and picking ripe vegetables and putting them in baskets.
Though I grew up on a farm, it wasn’tthatkind of farm where we grew food and harvested it.
Oren always seemed so right and proper in the house, clothes clean and ironed, pale hair perfect, his chin held high and proud. But outside he became another man. He let his shirt hang open. He laughed more. He didn’t seem to mind the dirt.
I was glad he’d told me about his life, and how he wasn’t interested in Alphas yet. I wanted him for a friend, not competition. But I kept wondering, if he knew my secret thoughts, would he disapprove? Would he despise me for being more visceral, less intellectual? Would he think I was an idiot for developing feelings for the first Alpha I’d ever met?
Farrell came out and called us to dinner. It was then I realized I hadn’t finished my assignments again. I had spent hours outside with Oren.
At least I’d enjoyed myself.
*
Though Tarin had said he didn’t toss Omegas into the street for not doing their homework, I wasn’t sure I completely believed him.
All through dinner, the guilt ate at me. I said nothing, but as I pushed my food around on my plate, I would not look at Tarin, who sat perfectly groomed and at ease, whose aura filled the space around us with confidence and security.Security for those who’ve earned it.His presence shouted to all my senses, as if the room overflowed with him because he was so big, because he fairly throbbed with Alpha energy.
My veins throbbed to sense him near me. My mouth went dry no matter how much water I drank.
