BLUE
The door closes behind Gabriel, and for a moment I just stand there, staring blankly at the screen on the wall displaying the city at night.
There are moments when I question my own judgment, or even my sanity, for deciding to hire him in the first place. At the same time, though, his abilities already proved useful on day one.
The impression he gives off and the actual results he delivers really don’t match up.
A shy guy with low confidence and a nervous, slightly socially awkward attitude, and yet he acted like a full-blooded alpha protector.
Sure, shielding someone from a splash of paint isn’t exactly on the same level as stopping a bomb, but it still proves his talent is very real.
I walk over to the bed and slowly sit on the edge of it.
My hand glides over the smooth surface. There’s no nest here, no decorations, no unnecessary clutter. Just the bare minimum needed for comfort.
I’ve always slept here alone, and now there’s another man under my roof, one who’ll undress and climb into bed, his hot alpha skin sinking into the white sheets…
I sigh.
Alphas have always irritated me, especially the arrogant ones with dominant personalities.
Somehow I always ended up competing with them in one way or another.
Sure, when it came to physical strength I was at a disadvantage, but in every other area I could humiliate them, put them in their place, shut them down completely.
Some of my brothers were honestly nervous speaking around me because I always had an answer for everything they said, and usually not one they wanted to hear. The mean little brat, I was.
But Gabriel doesn’t stir those same feelings in me.
With him, I’d say there’s something…
I pause, searching for a word that almost never appears in my vocabulary.
…something adorable?
He seems emotional, but there’s an interesting depth to him. Reserved, yet there’s also something impulsive underneath, this nervous intensity mixed with stubbornness.
And today, beneath that tentative, withdrawn aura of his, something else revealed itself.
Strength.
At his core, Gabriel is still a true alpha, just like the rest of his kind.
Around me he may be submissive and careful, but when it comes to standing against other alphas, protecting someone, stepping in to defend… his instincts work flawlessly. His blood burns just as hot as theirs.
So what is he really like?
Complicated. Hurt by his ex-crush. Tangled up in tiny knots.
And for some strange reason, I catch myself thinking about what he would be like if they were untangled.
Silly thought.
Would he bloom?
I’ve always loved underdogs and cheered for them, and I’m strangely convinced Gabriel is a bud waiting to flower. He’s twenty-one, which means he’s just ending his path to biological maturity. Alphas grow until this age.
His face stayed slightly downcast all day, like he was constantly lost inside his own head. There were a few rare moments when he smiled. He should do that more often because he looks noticeably better when he does.
At the end of the day, if I had to sum all of this up, I’d say hiring Gabriel was… a good decision.
Of course, I know he’ll sometimes wander into areas I’d rather keep untouched. He’s young, and his energy moves in this slightly disordered way. But who knows?
Maybe with time we’ll get used to each other and end up working together smoothly like the perfect team.
I walk into the bathroom and look at my reflection in the mirror.
I remember that moment right before the paint balloon exploded across the table, when Gabriel pulled me into his arms.
There’s something fascinating about alpha bodies. Their hardness, their strength, no other subgender is built like that. Betas and omegas are softer, more delicate…
It’s sort of exciting, that feeling, that kind of touch, all that strength coiled beneath your fingertips.
…Tch.
Those aren’t thoughts I should indulge in. These are just physical traits, and attaching some kind of sexual aura to them is nothing more than the mind playing tricks. At the end of the day, it’s biology. Genes deciding which traits manifest in which subgender. There’s nothing special about it.
Earlier today I tried to catch Gabriel’s scent. No real reason, just curiosity. My sense of smell is far weaker than that of a fully matured omega, though it’s still stronger than a beta’s.
I tested it once. Compared to a fully mature omega, my senses, including hearing and smell, work at around twenty percent capacity, so technically I do have a slight advantage over betas.
But the only thing I caught from Gabriel was cologne and deodorant, something that smelled vaguely like green apple. A peculiar choice, but a very nice one. Alphas rarely pick scents like that, but weirdly enough, it suits him.
I catch myself smiling faintly under my breath, some odd kind of absentminded smile.
And one more thing.
I’m genuinely curious about how the next few days are going to unfold, already looking forward to the morning, and that’s something atypical for me.
Usually the only thing waiting for me the next day is another exhausting routine.
Not this time.
This time, a new challenge has entered my life.