Chapter 1
The fog machine was really working overtime tonight.
Sky coughed and waved a hand in front of his face as he and Elm entered the living room, ignoring the way his best friend rolled his eyes at his dramatics.
Admittedly, he was laying it on thick—though not as thick as the damn machine casting opaque tufts of white and gray over the ground. The fog came up mid-shin on him.
“I didn’t want to come,” he reminded Elm, practically screaming over the beat of techno music that blared from four massive speakers set in the high corners of the room.
The living space was packed, bodies writhing to some semblance of the tune, or crowding the couch and loveseats. Pheromones mixed with perfume, cloying at Sky’s sensitive nose almost immediately, and he resisted the urge to cover himself to block it out. It would be considered rude.
Not that anyone was paying attention to him.
It was the first Saturday of Samhain, and the excitement and thrill of the season was palpable.
Students had come out in droves, filling the streets surrounding Firethorn University, darting from one party to the next.
Some arrived in costumes, ranging from cheap convenience store finds to extravagant ensembles with lace and leather.
Sky hadn’t bothered with any of that.
Even though it’d been four years since the incident with the masked alpha, Sky’s body always tensed up in settings like this, specifically on this night of the year.
He’d actively avoided parties altogether their entire Freshman year, something Elm still ragged on him for.
He couldn’t blame him, since he’d never told him what had happened the night he’d presented.
Sky had never told a soul.
And he didn’t plan to.
“It’s our Senior year, dude!” Elm elbowed him and then shook his head, gazing down at his outfit, which consisted of a black t-shirt and jeans. “Come on, live a little.”
“The holiday doesn’t cease to exist simply because we’ve graduated,” Sky said back, willing to die on this hill.
“Why do you hate Samhain so much?” It wasn’t a new question, but it always went unanswered. Seemingly used to that by now, Elm didn’t even wait to see if he’d get a response this time around, spinning on his heels to search the room for… “Holy shit! Pera is here!”
The female omega his best friend had been obsessing over for the last four months was standing by the open entranceway leading into the kitchen, chatting with a group of girls.
“Go say hi for me.” Elm elbowed him again, not bothering to tear his gaze from Pera.
“No way. Do it yourself.”
“I’m not friends with her like you are.” He scowled. “You’re friends with everyone. It’s totally wasted on you.”
It hadn’t always been like that. Growing up, Elm had been the popular one, with Sky trailing behind like his silent shadow.
Things hadn’t turned around until his Freshman year of high school.
A couple of years later, Sky experienced a growth spurt and bulked up a bit, leading many to believe he’d present as an alpha.
Personally, he’d been devastated by the possibility.
There was no way Kian would want another alpha.
It was laughable now, years later. He’d been so na?ve back then, to even hope that someone like Kian would show any interest in him at all. Proof was in the fact that he hadn’t heard one word from the alpha since he’d suddenly dropped out of university and enrolled at the Academy four years ago.
“Whatever.” They shouldn’t both be wallowing over relationships that never happened. Resigning himself to his fate, Sky headed toward the other side of the room, clearing the way for them as he went.
If this holiday weren’t so popular, he’d skip it.
Elm was right about that. Ever since he’d presented at a party just like this one, Sky had held a negative association with Samhain.
Even now, his skin prickled, and his senses went into overdrive, every glance or brush from another person causing his anxiety to spike.
He isn’t here, he told himself, the same thing he’d said last year, and the year before that. Either it was true, or the guy who’d slept with him that night didn’t care to come out, because Sky hadn’t seen him since.
The masked man had taken his virginity and vanished.
Maybe he’d been one of the spirits said to slip through the crack between worlds during this month.
The corner of Sky’s mouth quirked up from the ridiculous thought, just as he reached the small group and the female omega spotted him.
“Sky!” Pera flung her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. “You’re here!”
“I am.” He pulled away and pointed at his best friend. “I came with Elm.”
“Right.” She smiled at the nervous beta standing a little too close to Sky’s side. “We have chem together, don’t we?”
“Yeah.” Elm nodded vigorously. “Three rows back, to your left. That’s me.”
She laughed, and it didn’t sound like she was making fun of him for the odd remark, so that was good. The two started chatting about the professor, leaving Sky to occupy the other two girls in the group.
“He’s so obvious,” Bella leaned in and said into Sky’s ear.
“I know. He really likes her,” Sky said.
“I think she means,” Trish tapped Sky on the arm and then motioned over his shoulder, “that guy. The one staring at you with heart eyes?”
Sky checked over his shoulder and caught sight of Kenta, an alpha who’d been flirting with him recently. As soon as he waved, the alpha headed toward them.
“Are you interested?” Bella gave him a little shove in Kenta’s direction. “Go talk to him!”
It was like a bad movie. Sky stumbled forward, and Kenta picked up the pace so he could catch him.
“Sorry.” Mortified, Sky cleared his throat and righted himself. He’d reached out to support himself against the alpha, but dropped his arms to his sides, waiting for the other guy to do the same.
But he didn’t.
Kenta kept his hands lightly on Sky’s hips and flashed him a charming smile. “Are you already drunk? Maybe you should slow down.”
He shook his head. “I just got here.”
“So you haven’t even had one drink yet?” He smoothly moved and took one of Sky’s hands. “Let’s fix that.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to turn him down, but Sky stopped himself. Why should he? Because he’d been secretly holding out hope that his childhood crush would magically appear like some prince charming and whisk him off his feet?
Yeah.
Right.
This was no fairytale, and even if it was, Kian Erskine would never be Sky’s prince. Someone like that, someone who hated sharing his things, would never settle for a dirty omega like Sky.
One day, when they’d been kids, Kian had even come home with a busted lip because he’d gotten into a fight over someone borrowing his stylus without asking.
Sky hadn’t just been borrowed. He’d been taken.
And he hadn’t even hated it like he should have.
Unbidden, images from that night four years ago rose to the forefront of his mind.
Hot breath against his ear.
The way it felt to be pinned down.
Fucked.
How desperate he’d been for a stranger the second he’d presented and his omega instincts had taken control over him.
Would he call him easy? Would he find him disgusting, the same way Sky found himself disgusting? It wasn’t like he’d been saving himself for Kian or anything, but it certainly would have strengthened the odds in his favor.
Now…
“Pick your poison,” Kenta’s warm voice pulled him from his thoughts, and Sky realized the two of them were standing in the center of the kitchen. A table covered in various bottles and cans of alcohol, surrounded by other partygoers, greeted them.
“Something strong,” Sky said, eyeing the table. There wasn’t really anything he didn’t like. He wasn’t picky when it came to things like food or drink.
“Can you hold your liquor?” Kenta reached across the table and snatched up one of the glass bottles containing a vibrant blue liquid.
Setting it on the side of the counter, he used the edge to pop the top.
“I only ask, because I sort of intend to come onto you tonight, and I don’t want to accidentally take advantage by plying you with alcohol beforehand. ”
That was…sweet.
An alpha who didn’t want to get an omega wasted and have their way with them? That was everyone’s dream. That was proper, and theirs was a proper society. It was certainly the type of guy Sky had always pictured ending up with.
So why did a bit of the attraction die at the words?
What the fuck was wrong with him?
He forced himself to smile coyly and accepted the bottle, lifting it to take a long drag, while maintaining eye contact all the while.
He could do this. He could fall head over heels for a good guy like Kenta James.
Could rid himself of all these twisted, messed-up desires that night four years ago had planted within him.
He’d done a bit of research and was pretty sure it was because of how he’d presented. Apparently, that sort of thing mattered psychologically. Because his first time as an omega had been in a charged, semi-forced situation, his body associated sex with that. As a primal, wild, thing.
All Sky had to do to fix it—to fix himself—was start over.
Teach his subconscious that they could get off just fine without needing an edge of danger or an adrenaline rush brought on by fear.
It might be too late for him and Kian, but that didn’t mean Sky’s dream of the perfect mate and the white picket fence had to be.
He could still have everything he’d always wanted, even if it was with someone else.
He could still be normal.
Who cared if all attempts since had gone to shit? That alpha pheromones didn’t seem to work on him where it counted most? Kenta wasn’t like most. He was a prime alpha.
Just like Kian.
Prime alphas were the elites of the alpha hierarchy. They were stronger, had heightened senses and healing abilities, and they could use their dominating pheromones against others, not just of their kind, to cow them.