3. Iri
3
IRI
I really love my class.
I love teaching.
I love talking about the history of our species and how we were born—or created, depending on how you look at it—out of a test tube, and that we overrode what had once been.
Some things in the world haven’t changed.
All of history talks about the trafficking of omegas.
It was rampant, violent, and absolutely deplorable.
It became even scarier at its height when they began trafficking genetically altered betas, thetas, and drugged alphas.
History was—and is still—terrifying.
But history isn’t lost.
The breeders aren’t trafficked, to my knowledge, but the breedables are.
It’s a pandemic that’s running out of control.
There’s a prediction that if it’s not gotten under control, in as little as fifteen years, which is within my lifetime, there will be more breedables on the black market for purchase than there are breedables born into the world.
On the one hand, it was people in these darker underbellies of society that created the theta, and because of them, their entire species was made extinct within a couple hundred years as the theta gene took over.
Maybe these underbellies will unlock the key to easier male breedable conception.
Or maybe they’ll accidentally create another new species that will send our species to extinction, just like our ancient ancestors before us.
It’s terrifying to think about.
I step outside and immediately see Luken waiting for me.
My heart flutters as I head for him.
He’s had this effect on me since the moment our eyes met as children.
I knew he was mine.
Everything inside me knew he was mine.
Everything except my goddamn uterus or whatever.
He wraps me in his arms, and my feet leave the ground.
I sigh, closing my eyes to breathe him in.
I love his deep, earthy scent and the way it floods my system.
Everything in me relaxes.
Everything says mine.
“Have you a good day, precious?” Luken asks.
I nod.
He shifts me and swings my legs up, catching his arm under my knees.
I laugh, keeping a tight grip on him.
He’d never drop me, but that feeling of maybe I’m going to fall still makes me grip him as if I’m going to.
Luken turns and starts down the sidewalk with me in his arms.
I press my forehead to the side of his face and watch the people pass by.
I love how…
peaceful Alyra is.
It smells like flowers, and there are smiles everywhere.
I’ve seen pictures of other cities, and they even look scary.
There’s less greenery there, and even through pictures, I can feel how they’re less happy.
There are always people looking over their shoulders.
The streets are filled almost exclusively with breeders because being a breedable means you’re a target.
The thought never ceases to make me shiver.
Right here, with Luken, I’m happy and safe.
If I can conceive his baby, I can keep him .
It’s a sick feeling that grows daily.
Made worse every morning when that test is negative.
I can’t live a life without him.
I can’t.
I won’t.
But what does that mean?
Alyra and the family cities are created for the breeding program.
A very important program that I want to contribute to.
But the thought of a life with someone else?
I close my eyes and pretend it’s not a thing.
If we’d focused on creating a pack, it might be different right now.
Maybe there would be someone within the pack that I’m genetically breedable with.
Then it wouldn’t matter.
That’s not what we did, though.
We’ve talked about a pack a lot.
It’s something we both want.
But…
I don’t know.
I guess maybe we wanted this time alone first.
A pack would come.
Though maybe now it’s too late.
“We can stop at the flower shop on the way home and bring your parents some flowers,” Luken says.
I smile, rubbing my nose under his jaw.
“Okay.”
We live three doors down from my parents and a block away from Luken’s.
I love our families.
They’re so happy and supportive.
They’re wonderful parents, and we have the best siblings.
I’ve always thought that our family, the one Luken and I create, would be just like them.
“You’re quiet today,” Luken says, nuzzling my head.
“What’s wrong, my love?”
I’m scared.
Time is running out.
How do I make time slow down?
I can’t think of a single thing to say outside of what I’m thinking, so I just sigh in response.
“It was a good day,” I report.
“My students are so smart and eager to learn. They all passed their pop quiz, and we had a fantastic discussion afterward that truly illustrated just how much they’re retaining. I’m so proud of them.”
“You’re a wonderful teacher,” Luken says.
“And I’m not just saying that to be the teacher’s pet for special privileges.”
I grin.
“Thank you. I try to be. Everyone has that one teacher who makes them think, ‘ I want to do that when I grow up .’ I know I did. I’m hoping to be that for students, and maybe in later years, when they meet the opposite kind of teacher, they’ll still be able to foster their love of learning when they think back on my class and what school should be about.”
“I had a teacher like that, too,” Luken says.
“And when I watch your class, I think about how much more I’d have liked school if there were teachers like you around.”
“You’re such a suck up,” I tease.
He kisses my forehead and then sets my feet on the ground just outside the flower shop.
Luken takes my bag from me and throws it over his shoulder before taking my hand as we step inside.
My nose crinkles right away.
Flowers have always been far too strong for me.
They make me sneeze far too often.
I love flowers, but I definitely can’t be in the shop for long.
Already, my nose is twitching.
I tug on Luken’s arm.
“I’m going next door. You pick out the flowers.”
He smiles and I know he was expecting it.
He kisses my forehead.
“I’ll meet you there in a minute.”
Nodding, I hurry out of the shop and take a deep breath.
It’s quickly followed by a sneeze and then my sinuses are blissfully clear.
Beside the flower shop is an old-fashioned everything store.
There’s literally a little bit of anything you could possibly look for.
I often wander the aisles while Luken grabs flowers.
It’s a nice way to pass the time.
Every aisle, every shelf is different.
Random items that come and go and there’s only ever a few of each.
Sometimes, if you peek behind the first row of things, you’ll see that there are different items behind them.
There’s also no rhyme or reason to the store.
I head down a random aisle and find I’m in what can loosely be described as an apothecary section.
There are tonics and bandages and pillows and smelling salts and hair growth elixir.
I don’t look anywhere but at the row directly at eye level, reading all the labels on the containers, boxes, bags, or whatever the product is in.
When I see a different package behind what’s in front, I carefully move things so I can see what’s in the back.
I’ve found some really fun things this way.
I’m never looking for anything, but I find a lot.
Today doesn’t appear to be a day that I find a hidden gem, though.
Not until I reach the middle of the aisle and find something in a dark glass container.
The glass clinks as I move things around to reach it and turn the label to face me.
Conception Juice.
I raise a brow and read all the words on the label.
One pill and guaranteed increased chances of conception.
Just one pill a day until breeding is successful.
More than a single pill can be harmful.
Your stress is over.
Conceive now.
My heart nearly stops.
As a rule, I don’t put a lot of stock in these supposed remedies.
There’s rarely any science behind them.
Just some random ingredients claiming to be an all-natural solution to many of life’s problems.
But…
if it’s all-natural, what harm can come of trying it, right?
Any little thing can help.
If it doesn’t work, we’re not any worse off.
But if it does work…
I try very hard not to hope.
Hope is incredibly dangerous.
After looking at the price—ouch—I stick the jar back on the shelf and shove it all the way to the back so no one can see it.
I take a minute to arrange everything else to form a wall, hiding it as best I can so it doesn’t disappear while I find Luken for some money.
Hurrying out of the shop, I take a breath to hold in my lungs so I can enter the flower shop again.
Luken is always easy for me to find.
My eyes always land on him as soon as we’re in the same space.
To me, it means that his life force is tied to mine.
Not quite a bond because bonds are illegal unless you’ve conceived.
But I still think it’s a bond.
Luken turns almost as soon as I step inside and smiles.
I weave my way through the crowd until I’m at his side.
With his hand between mine, I reach up on my toes to kiss him.
“Can I have 80?”
An eyebrow raises.
“Okay…”
I release his hands and take the array of flowers from him.
Immediately, I sneeze, making Luken chuckle.
He counts bills from his wallet and trades them for the flowers.
“Thank you,” I say.
Before I can move away, he grips my chin in his fingers.
My eyes meet his, and everything inside of me turns to fire.
His smile is…
so sexy.
Small and sensual, and reaches all the way down to my groin.
He kisses my lips, wet and lingering, before letting me go.
I’m licking my lips on the way out.
Then I sneeze again.
Damn flowers.
Hurrying back into the shop, I dig through the wall of things until I can find the little glass jar.
With a heart racing, I head to the front and purchase it.
Then stuff it in my pocket along with the change.
He gave me far more than eighty.
Luken is on his way into the store as I reach the door.
He takes my hand in his as we head down the road.
I love visiting my family, but I’m so damn anxious to get home.
I want to try this.
I know I’m putting far too much faith into it, but I’ll try anything at this point.
I think Luken knows I’m in a hurry to get home, so we only stay for a few minutes.
I leave him in the entry as soon as I kick off my shoes and race into our bathroom, shutting the door and locking it.
My heart is pounding.
What if this doesn’t work?
What if it does ?
I read the words on the label over and over.
Just in case.
I don’t want to miss a single detail.
Then I twist the lid off, peel away the security wrap, and pull out a pill.
There are a dozen inside.
That means I have twelve chances.
That’s it.
Setting the little pill on my tongue, I turn the water on and then stick my face under the faucet to drink directly from it.
It’s a small pill so I have no problems getting it down.
Then I strip out of my clothes and let myself out.
Luken is standing outside the door with his arms crossed.
His eyes widen a little when he sees me naked and, of course, my dick hard.
It’s pretty much always hard when we’re together.
“Breed me,” I say, breathless.
His eyes hood, and I instantly smell his arousal.
“Come here,” he says, reaching for me and wrapping his arms around my waist.
His free hand picks up a glass of water and hands it to me.
“Drink it all. You need to stay hydrated for what I have in mind.”
A chill of anticipation runs down my spine, and I chug the water.