Chapter 1 #2
Even though Sky was also a prime omega, up until this point, he’d only ever tried to hook up with regular alphas. A part of him had secretly hoped if he avoided the prime candidates who took an interest, maybe he could still carry some favor when Kian eventually came home.
Pathetic.
Hypocritical too.
Which was why he’d made a promise to himself that this season would be different. Sky was over pretending everything was fine. He was broken? He’d fix himself, once and for all, and if that meant getting into bed with someone like Kenta James, so be it.
The alpha next to him was taller by a few inches, with striking silver-blond hair and pretty green eyes a shade lighter than Sky’s. He wasn’t as broad-shouldered as Sky typically liked, was leaner too, but it wasn’t in a bad way.
Maybe Kenta wasn’t the one, but he was attractive and attentive, and if what he’d just implied was any indicator, he was interested and a nice guy. Pretty much everything Sky was looking for in a rebound.
A rebound with the potential for more, he corrected himself. It wasn’t like he was ruling Kenta out altogether. Who knew. Maybe the sex would be just as explosive as when he’d been held down and ravaged by—
Nope.
Not going there.
He was done with that. Done with thoughts of masked men. Done with thoughts of finding prince charming, too, for that matter. He didn’t need or want the devil or an angel anymore. Sky would just be happy with a regular person. An alpha who would care for him and treat him right.
And besides, regular sex didn’t have to mean boring sex…right?
“I’m not a lightweight.” Sky hooked a finger daringly into the loop of Kenta’s belt and tugged him an inch closer. “But I probably shouldn’t drink too much if we plan on having a good time.”
Kenta’s brow winged up, clearly caught off guard by his sudden burst of boldness. “Yeah?”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t think you were that into me. I figured I’d give it one more shot, and if you turned me down, I’d leave you alone.”
“Well, that’s very sweet,” Sky drawled, “but I’m not turning you down so…?”
He grinned. “Want to go find somewhere more private?”
“Considering I’m not big on exhibitionism, yeah.” Sky allowed the alpha to take his hand again, following closely so as not to be lost in the crowd as Kenta led them out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the stairs.
Sky had only managed to chug half the bottle he was still holding, and he tipped it up and sucked the rest down a little desperately as they went. It was on the strong side, so maybe he’d manage to get a bit buzzed. He was determined to go through with this, but liquid courage couldn’t hurt.
He’d never slept with anyone else before—not that he really thought what he’d done with the masked man even counted. That hadn’t been anything as gentle or romantic as “making love”. He couldn’t even really refer to it as sex. It’d been fucking. Claiming. Raw.
Dangerous.
Scary.
Wrong.
He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and turned his head toward the living room just as they were passing the open entrance way.
He had no idea why he did it, why he’d gotten the urge to look, but the second he did, his eyes locked onto a familiar mask, and it was like the whole world came to a screeching halt.
His legs stopped abruptly, rooting him to the spot, forcing Kenta to jerk and pause as well. Not that Sky noticed. All of his attention was for the masked alpha on the far side of the room, the one mostly shrouded in shadows.
Was he staring back at him? Had he seen Sky? The dark eyeholes in the mask made it impossible to know for certain, but the shiver that zipped up Sky’s spine made him feel like he was, in fact, being watched.
It couldn’t be him. It couldn’t be. All these years, and Sky hadn’t gotten a single sign from anyone that they were the alpha that had so brutally and carnally taken him the night of his presentation.
And yet…That was the metallic blue mask that haunted his dreams and nightmares.
Those were the shoulders he recalled cornering him against the bathroom sink. The arms he remembered caging him in…
“Sky?” Kenta stepped in closer and called over the pulse of the music and the rapid beating of Sky’s heart working overtime, words only just cutting through the noise in his head enough to draw his attention away from the masked man.
“Sorry?” He licked his lips, blinked, and turned back, but the mask was gone. He tried to search around, but there were too many bodies packed into the room, even more than when he’d arrived earlier, and it was no use.
Probably for the best, he told himself.
Whether he’d been mistaken or not, it was better to avoid whoever that person was. It wasn’t like he wanted a repeat—he didn’t. Wasn’t that why he was currently squeezing Kenta’s hand, about to go upstairs with him?
He’d bed a nice, safe alpha and rid himself of these tormenting desires.
That’s what he would do.
What he needed to do.
“Sorry,” he repeated, this time lightening his tone. He offered a pleasant smile and then motioned toward the stairs with his chin. “I thought I recognized someone. Let’s go.”
“Who?” Kenta glanced over his shoulder into the living room, but this time Sky was the one pulling him away, making a beeline for the stairwell.
The first three rooms they checked were occupied, and Sky felt his nerves starting to get the best of him just as they finally reached a door at the end of the hall that’d been left ajar.
He exhaled in relief when they found it was empty, and he pulled Kenta in and practically slammed the door shut, stripping out of his jacket and tearing his shirt off over his head before it was even fully closed.
“Whoa, slow down,” Kenta chuckled awkwardly, but welcomed Sky into his arms when the omega rushed him, mouth latching onto his in a heated, desperate kiss.
The desperation wasn’t for this alpha, though.
Sky couldn’t stop to think about it, if he did, he feared he’d chicken out.
This wasn’t the first time he’d tried to wipe his slate clean by getting screwed by someone else.
It was like he was constantly standing on the edge of a precipice.
On one side, there was his undying devotion to his childhood crush, and on the other, there was his lust for his masked assailant. Neither would do him any good.
The alpha unsnapped the button on Sky’s jeans, hands slipping down the front of his pants to cup him through the thin material of his boxers. When Sky moaned against his mouth, Kenta grinned, and the second he backed him up to the bed, he shoved.
Sky tumbled backward, breath catching in his throat as a wave of desire spiked within him from the mildly aggressive play. He shook his head, taking a moment to inwardly scold himself while Kenta was busy stripping out of his shirt. He couldn’t find that hot. That would defeat the purpose.
Kenta was in great shape, and Sky forced himself to give him an appraising look as soon as his chest was bared. He was muscular and lean, with a tattoo of something scrawled in cursive over his left hipbone.
“What does it say?” Sky asked, sitting up to bring himself closer. He reached out, wrapping his hands around the alpha’s warm torso. Then he leaned in and flicked his tongue against the script.
Kenta exhaled through his nose, his cock straining in his pants. “Good Light. You’re so sexy.”
Sky chuckled, a bit embarrassed by the compliment. What would this alpha think if he confessed his only experience came from fantasizing?
He’d always wondered what Kian’s skin would taste like…
Fuck.
“Use your pheromones.” Sky released him and crawled back, sprawling out on the bed and widening his thighs pointedly.
“You sure?” Kenta draped himself over him, careful not to crush Sky beneath his weight.
Which was…killing some of the buzz.
Double fuck.
“Yeah.” Sky threaded his fingers through the alpha's hair and yanked him down for another scorching kiss, chasing after that spark of attraction he’d felt earlier. He needed it. Needed to get his dick back up all the way before Kenta noticed he wasn’t at full mast.
Needed to get there without having to pretend this was someone else he was kissing.
Someone wearing a partial mask.
Someone who would pin him down without caring if he squished him in the process.
Sky moaned.
But it wasn’t for Kenta.
“Pheromones,” he demanded, a bit more insistent this time, and Kenta must have sensed it, because a second later, a flood of heady alpha pheromones burst from his pores, filling Sky’s senses.
His head fell back against the pillow, and he presented his throat, groaning when Kenta’s tongue lapped at the spot under his jaw and then trailed lower.
It wasn’t the same all-consuming experience he’d had before, but it was a million times better than when he’d attempted this with regular alphas. Sky felt slick ready his entrance, not a lot, but enough to get things going.
One of Kenta’s palms slid up his chest, his thumb gently rolling the hard bud of Sky’s nipple.
Too gently.
“More,” Sky growled, wincing at himself as soon as the word was out.
No, no, no. That was wrong. Bad.
He wanted soft and sweet, damn it.
He wanted—
“What the hell?!” Elm burst through the door, practically shooting across the room. He shoved Kenta off Sky and the bed with one hard push, then pulled Sky up. “Are you okay?”
Sky blinked at him, completely at a loss for words for a full thirty seconds before he managed to ask, “What are you doing?”
Elm froze. “Hold on…You sound…Are you not wasted right now?”
He frowned. “Huh?”
“Whoa.” Kenta got to his feet slowly and held out both hands. “Whoa. What’s going on? I’m sorry, man. I didn’t realize the two of you—”
“Ew, no,” both Sky and Elm said in unison, causing the alpha’s expression to turn perplexed.
“Dude, my bad.” Elm let go of him and straightened, sending an apologetic look Kenta’s way. “I heard Sky was drunk and someone had brought him up here to take advantage of him. If it’d known that wasn’t true, I would have never interrupted. Shit. Are you okay? I didn’t mean to shove you that hard.”
“No, no, it’s all good.” Kenta cleared his throat and then moved to grab his shirt off the floor. “But, uh, I’m gonna go.”
“Hold on.” Sky got to his feet, but the alpha shook his head.
“Mood is kind of ruined. Maybe another time? Like next Saturday, at the carnival?”
Was he asking him out on a date? That wasn’t what Sky had been after, but…
“Yeah,” he was nodding before he could think better of it. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
“Cool. I’ll catch you sometime this week so we can go over the details.” Kenta tugged his shirt back on and then bowed his head to Elm before leaving the room.
“Fuck.” Sky plopped back down onto the edge of the bed and dropped his head into his hands.
“I’m really sorry,” Elm said.
“It’s fine.”
“I can try to convince him to come back, if you really want?”
“No, don’t worry about it.”
There was an awkward silence, and then, “I didn’t realize you were into Kenta.”
“I’m not, really.”
“Then why’d you just agree to go out with him?”
“He’s nice?” Kenta was the ideal mate. He already had a job lined up after graduation, came from a stable household, and all of his exes collectively referred to him as the sweetest alpha they’d ever dated.
“Dude, what?” Elm rolled his eyes. “That’s no reason to date someone.”
Sky quirked a brow.
“Okay, maybe it is. I don’t know. I’m a beta. Don’t listen to me.”
Being a beta didn’t mean being celibate, but Sky didn’t bother pointing that out. Elm really meant he wasn’t ever going to have to worry about the same thing Sky had to. Omegas and alphas could date betas, but there were caveats to that kind of relationship.
Alphas and omegas produced pheromones, which needed regulating and stabilizing to keep the person healthy.
Betas had pheromones, but they were weakened, and they lacked the ability to sense pheromones in others.
They also didn’t have to deal with ruts or heats, cycles alphas and omegas went through every three months.
“I’d rethink that whole nice-guy thing though, if I were you,” Elm said. “Word is it’s an act.”
Sky rolled his eyes. “That’s the same story you’ve been telling me about your brother. Get some new material.”
“Hey, I’m just looking out for you.”
“Cock blocking is more like.”
“Dude, whatever.” Elm snatched one of the pillows and whacked Sky over the head with it. “We’re too young to worry about settling down anyway.”
“When did I say I was looking for that?” Sky had agreed to one date, not a marriage proposal.
“Speaking of my brother. I just heard from my mom that Kian—”
“What about Kian?” He perked up, and Elm scowled.
“You really have to get over this boner you’ve got for him. Just because he helped you with your homework a couple of times when we were kids doesn’t magically make him a good person.”
Sky didn’t take offense to the comment. Elm didn’t care if Sky and Kian ended up together, what he cared about was the fact that it was never going to happen.
He’d discussed this with Sky before. How he didn’t like seeing him pining over Kian, a guy who barely showed him the time of day when he did live on planet.
Then there was the reason the alpha was gone.
Elm didn’t know all of the details, but he’d overheard his parents yelling at Kian, ordering him to drop out of Firethorn and get his act together.
Kian had left to enroll in the Academy, a military training facility on Unspoken, shortly after, and Elm was convinced it was because their mom had made him even though there was no proof Kian had done anything bad enough to be banished from home.
“Is he…” Sky swallowed. “Was he talking about settling down with someone?” Was that why Elm had brought him up?
“I don’t know.” Elm admitted. “I didn’t catch the whole conversation. Maybe he met an omega in training, though.” He blew out a breath. “Sorry, man.”
“It’s fine.” It wasn’t. He’d known this was coming eventually, but it still felt like someone was ripping out his heart with their teeth. He stood. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah,” Elm agreed. “I’m not really in the partying mood either.”
“No luck with Pera?”
“She’s after an alpha.”
“Sorry.”
“Whatever. Milkshakes at Spikes?”
“A world of yes.”