35. Zoe
Zoe
I expected Dominic to be his usual asshole self at last night's study group for Menagerie Management, but he took it to the next level.
He insisted I need private instruction.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to go fuck himself, but then he gleefully reminded me that his feedback is part of my grade, so I don't really have a choice.
What I do have a choice in is not waiting for him for half an hour past our scheduled time. This must be his shitty way of reminding me how much he dislikes me.
I'm on my way out of the library when he stomps through the door, his glare pinning me to the spot.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Our session was supposed to start thirty minutes ago. I'm leaving."
He places a hand on my shoulder, and I want to swear at myself for how his touch heats me. "Turn around, Zoe."
My body moves of its own volition as I return to the study room and flop down at the table. "I don't know why we're doing this. I'm doing fine in the class."
Dominic slams the door behind him and leans against it, crossed arms pulling his dark blue shirt taut, highlighting his well-built chest. "I don't know about that. I've heard your participation in your study group is extremely low."
"That's bullshit, and you know it! I'm just as involved as the rest of them."
"Nah, I don't think you are. It's why we're having to do these sessions."
There is a part of me, deep down and probably belonging to my dragon, that thinks he can be reasoned with. But that part of me is stupid. This Alpha is having a power trip and looking to punish me.
"Then what are we going to study today, Dominic?"
"You can call me Alpha."
I'm sure my cheeks are bright red. "I will not."
"Why not? That's what I am to you. Unless you're rejecting me."
It's on the tip of my tongue to reject him, but I can't force the words out. I thought I was ready to give up on him, but now I'm not so sure. I get why he was upset with me for lying, on the surface, but I think he should've gotten over it by now.
His smile is sinister and taunting. "That's what I thought."
If he keeps this up, I know I'll regret not rejecting him.
He pushes away from the wall and throws himself into a chair across from me. I feel marginally more comfortable with the table separating us. "Today, we're going to work on calming down an Alpha. I find myself feeling quite worked up."
"You seem just fine."
"On the contrary. I'm just very good at hiding the fact that I am near feral." He snaps his fingers and points at the floor. "Come, kneel before me."
He must be joking. Nothing in any of the texts or our instruction has indicated that kneeling in front of an Alpha is a way to calm them down, and that's ignoring the fact that he is nowhere near feral.
He doesn't blink as he stares me down. "I said kneel, bunny." He says the pet name like a curse, and I flinch from his words. "Your grade depends on it. If you're okay with failing…"
Am I okay failing? I mean, I'm an Omega, so I don't need to have a Beta job. Does it really matter what careers they assign me? What is the likelihood I'm going to be able to carry on a job after Ilota has me "right the wrongs in the realm"?
Yet, I don't want to give him the satisfaction of my backing down. It's what he's expecting of me.
I rise from my chair and round the table before lowering myself to the ground, glaring at him while I kneel at his feet.
He clicks his tongue. "You're not supposed to look a feral Alpha in the eyes." My teeth squeak from how hard I grind them together before I look down at the floor. "Ah, I'm feeling much better already."
The silence in the room is oppressive, and my knees start to hurt as I wait for his command. If I ignore the fact that I'm on the hard floor and this is all because of Dominic being an asshole, I can almost appreciate how my mind is going fuzzy and blank.
I have carried so much on my shoulders since I touched that garnet. The Goddess gifted me a life I never wanted to live with minimal instructions. There has been no relaxing.
I'm unsure how much time has passed when he reaches down and touches the back of my head, stroking my hair softly. I hate that I lean into his touch and nearly purr from how satisfying it is.
My guard is let down by his gentle touches when he speaks again. "On your hands now, bunny."
It takes a minute for my brain to catch up. "What?"
"Hands and knees."
There's a moment where I think I may deny him, but it's gone in a flash, my dragon surprisingly quiet as I move into the position he demanded.
I've barely gotten my bearings when his feet hit my back.
He doesn't place them carelessly or with too much gusto, holding most of the weight off of me, but he's using me as a footstool all the same.
"I thought Omegas were supposed to be protected, revered." The strength I wished filled my voice is nowhere to be found. Instead, my words sound almost like a whine.
"They are. But you want to be treated like a Beta."
"You'd use a Beta as a footstool?"
I don't look at him, choosing to keep my eyes trained on the floor so I don't have to see his smug expression. "Betas do what they have to to calm an Alpha down. Maybe it's this, maybe it's cuddling, maybe it's washing the Alpha's hair. It depends on the beast."
"And your beast wants you to treat me like this?" It doesn't make sense to me. My dragon wants him and his beast terribly, knowing who he is to us. Why would his sabertooth allow him to treat me like this?
A small sound of distress escapes him before he clears his throat. "My beast isn't the one in control here."
There it is. A crack. Dominic and his beast are not in sync. If I were a better student, maybe I'd know how to exploit it, but right now all I can do is hope that his beast will soon overpower him.
"Why does it offend you so much that I didn't tell you the truth?
" I've been wondering it from the beginning.
He has felt like he deserves my secrets, but he has done nothing to earn them.
"Can you not understand why, now that you've seen what I am, who Blessed me, I would need to keep it a secret? "
"No, I can't."
My elbows start to shake even though he's not putting his full weight on me, but I will not speak out about it or admit weakness.
"If I could have told you, I would have, but Ilota asked me to keep it a secret."
His book hits the tabletop. "She spoke to you?"
"Yes. Do you think I chose this? That it was my idea to hide what I am?
You have to see how this is harder than just accepting that I'm an Omega and getting the support that comes with such a huge change.
" The pressure of his boots lifts from my back, and I don't wait to be told I can sit up.
My knees are so sore that kneeling isn't an option, but I stay on the floor, crossing my legs and looking up at the dark-eyed Alpha.
"I could've helped you."
I scoff. "You still could, but you're not. You're making things worse."
His features grow stormy. "Yeah, well, you're a liar, bunny. And I don't entertain liars."
"Oh, did your mother lie to you and tell you that the presents that appeared during the Summer Solstice were from Kashmyre himself, and you felt betrayed when you found out that wasn't the case?"
At my words, his eyes grow stormy and his expression perfectly blank. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"How can you claim to be my Alpha and punish me for this?"
"I'm not your Alpha, Zoe. And I never will be."
For the third time since I met him, Dominic leaves me behind, hurt and nearly broken on the floor.
And I'll be damned if there is a fourth.