(ZEVRAN)
I sighed. "Maybe I'm being selfish by keeping you around. You've probably been looking forward to having kids."
He swallowed hard. "What if I told you that isn't what I want in life?"
"What isn't?"
"To be… used as an incubator. What if I told you I don't care if I'm ever bred by an alpha? What if I told you I'd actually prefer not to be used in that way?"
I blinked at him in confusion. "No?"
He shook his head. "I realize that will be my fate now because of my circumstances. But… until recently, I… I had bigger dreams, Sir. I only ended up at The Auction because I was desperate. I had no other options."
"You seriously don't want an alpha?" I'd never met an omega who didn't want to find their alpha. That was highly unusual.
He sighed. "Not if it's forced on me. I always hoped perhaps I'd meet an alpha in my everyday life and that… we'd… fall in love." His face was red. "That sounds so stupid when I say it out loud."
"No," I said softly. "Love is never stupid. It's important."
Asa glanced up, surprised. "That's funny to hear coming from you."
"Why?" I wrinkled my brow.
"It's just that alphas rarely speak of love. They talk about power and breeding their offspring, but I've never heard an alpha say love might be an important part of anything."
I gave a grudging smile. "I guess that's true. We alphas are very consumed with power and keeping our bloodline going."
He watched me, his expression difficult to read. "But not you," he said quietly.
I clenched my jaw. "There was a time when I was more concerned with that sort of thing." Was this a good time to tell him about Lukas? I hadn't intended to get into this conversation with him right now, but he deserved to know why I didn't want to breed him.
"Was there?"
"Yes. When I was younger, I was very concerned with power and having some offspring. It was all very calculated. Emotions weren't a part of the equation." My heart ached. "Then someone showed me there was more to life."
"Oh." Curiosity shimmered in his golden-brown eyes. "Why isn't that person here now? Instead of me?"
I turned my back on him, gathering my thoughts. I wanted to talk about Lukas without becoming emotional. That wouldn't be easy, though.
"You don't have to tell me, but I really wish you would." He sounded breathless. "There must be some reason you won't… touch me."
I glanced at him over my shoulder, taking in the stubborn jut of his jaw. He was stronger-willed than most omegas. I was surprised that I liked that about him. With his strong sense of self, I was curious about how he'd ended up at The Auction.
"You said you'd explain to me how you came to be at The Auction," I said softly. "You never did."
His face tensed. "Are you just trying to change the subject?"
"No, I'm actually interested."
"Will you tell me what I want to know, if I tell my story?"
I hesitated and then nodded. "I will. You deserve to know."
"Okay." His hands clenched into fists. "God, I'm almost afraid to tell you my sad tale."
"Really? Why?"
He met my gaze. "Because I don't want to be judged for something I didn't do."
"Why would you be?"
"Because I'm an omega."
I frowned. "You fall back on that prejudice a lot."
He narrowed his eyes. "That's because I deal with that prejudice a lot."
Touché
I leaned toward him. "If you've done nothing wrong, I'm not the type of alpha to judge you. Just as you hate being pigeonholed, so do I. How about we deal with each other at face value?"
Surprise moved through his eyes. "That sounds refreshing."
Pleased that he seemed less guarded, I sat back in my chair. "So tell me, if you hate the idea of being claimed by an alpha so much, how did you end up at The Auction?"
He rubbed his face roughly and mumbled, "It was either that or jump off a bridge."
"Were things really that bad?"
He let out a shaky breath. "Yes. My options were extremely limited."
"Why is that?"
He grimaced. "My father disgraced my family name."
Shocked, I grunted. "Really?"
"Yes."
"How?" I nudged.
He met my gaze, fear glittering in his eyes. "You promise you'll only judge me for things I've done?"
"I promise," I said gently. "Now, what did your father do?"
He squeezed his eyes shut. "He… he was a high school teacher. He taught for thirty years and was very respected." When he opened his eyes, raw pain shone there.
"Go on," I said quietly. "It's okay."
He gritted his teeth. "He… he… slept with one of his students."
I gave a sharp intake of breath. "God."
"Yeah." He avoided my gaze, and I knew he was afraid I wasn't going to hold up my promise of not judging him.
"That's disturbing."
He nodded, still not looking at me. "He's in jail for statutory rape."
"Shit." I wished he'd look up. I wanted to reassure him I wasn't blaming him for what his father had done. "So then, that affected you when news got out?"
"Very much so," he whispered. "I lost everything. M… my college withdrew my scholarship and fired me from my tutoring job."
"But, you'd done nothing wrong."
"They didn't care," he said bitterly. "My father's perverted blood runs in my veins, so I'm damaged goods."
"God, I'm sorry, Asa." I meant it too.
"It was like a nightmare." He chanced a look at me, and what he saw must have reassured him because he didn't look away.
"I can imagine. That's unfair of them to blame you."
"Yes. But the bad luck didn't stop there." He clasped his hands so tight his knuckles were white. "I was kicked out of our apartment. No one would hire me. The second they saw my last name, they all rejected me. I thought about leaving town and starting new somewhere else, but I had no money. It takes money to travel to a new place. I was… stuck."
I felt anger burning inside of me. He looked so vulnerable and young. His humiliation and pain radiated off him. "They had no right to do that to you," I growled.
"But they did it anyway," he said.
"So you felt your only option was… to sell your body to the highest bidder." I felt disgusted just saying the words. Not at him, but at our society. The fact that he'd have been blamed for something he'd had no part in was despicable.
His mouth hardened. "I'm an omega. I had few options to begin with. The dean at my college even had the nerve to say to me that if I'd been an alpha, they might have let me stay."
"What?" I snapped. "Are you serious?"
He nodded. "Yes. He said that to my face like it was no big deal. Like I should just say, "Oh, thanks for your honesty," or some crap. I… I wanted to punch him."
"God." I found myself standing and going to him. I wasn't even sure what my plan was, but I knelt in front of him. "I… I'm so sorry that happened, Asa."
He looked shocked at my gesture, but he managed a feeble smile. "It's not your fault."
"No. And what your father did wasn't yours." I took one of his cold hands in mine. I felt oddly compelled to comfort him. I rubbed my thumb over his flesh, and he shivered. "You're safe now, okay? No one will judge you if I have anything to say about it, Little Prince."
His expression wasn't a hundred percent trusting, but he squeezed my hand. "Thank you. You have no idea how nice that is to hear."
His skin against mine felt too good, so I let go of his hands and stood. I moved away to put some distance between us. "In light of our discussion, I need time to think about what to do with you. I want you happy, Asa, but I'm not sure how to go about that just yet. I say we pretend to be in a relationship for now. It often takes time to breed an omega, and no one will think much if you don't get pregnant for three months or so."
He frowned. "So, you still want us to pretend we're together… for real?"
"For now, I think that might be best. After three months, perhaps we'll know what direction to go. We'll know each other better, and I can make a more informed decision for your future."
His face tensed. "Are we telling the staff the truth, Sir?"
"Yes, we'll let the staff know the truth. That way, we don't have to play a part when we're at home. Only when we're out."
Still looking uncertain, he gave a nod. "Whatever you think is best."