SKYE.2
"Well, I know you’ve got some decent cash from your part-time job at Nathaniel’s company, and your parents are well-off, so that’s the only thing you need if you want to enjoy the helping hands of our friends."
I have to admit, I was intrigued by this, and I even liked the whole mystery surrounding it. The fact that it was a closed group especially tempted me. Less risk of health hazards and just a more intimate feel overall.
"I like this whole… exclusivity of the group," I murmured.
"Yeah, a lot of us feel the same way. We’re all friends beyond that—we sometimes party together and hang out. We don't want to hire professional escorts; we prefer to keep it, so to speak, in the family. You know, we all use protection, it’s just safer that way."
"Well, then show me the pictures," I motioned to him, and he opened Facebook.
On the screen appeared the face of some alpha—not very handsome, but still bearable.
"This is Mark. The only alpha you can go all the way with."
"Have you ever used his services?" I asked, somewhat uncertainly.
Alvin squirmed a bit and then said, "You know… I’ve used the services of all our friends, just as a matter of principle, to know how things are going. But I’ll admit I have my favorites."
"Then tell me something about each of them, just a few words to help me decide."
"I’m not gonna discourage you from anyone; that’s not the point. Everyone should have an equal chance. Mark is fine if you’re into alphas. There’s also another alpha, Robin. But he doesn’t offer the ‘a’ service." He showed me Robin’s picture. The guy did look really attractive, with a pleasant smile. But I’ve never really been interested in alphas. Yeah, my freshman year, I fooled around with a few guys, exchanged some handies, but nothing serious.
"Now I’ll show you our omegas," Alvin said, opening more profiles on Facebook.
They were fairly decent-looking, but none of them really caught my attention. I felt almost disappointed since I had a rather specific taste—I only liked tall, slender guys with long black hair, and for some reason, I could never bring myself to date any other type. None of the omegas met my criteria.
Finally, Alvin opened three beta profiles.
"This is Sean, one of the two betas who offer the full package. I gotta say, he's quite charming. Sometimes I use his services, even though he's pricier than some omegas. But personally, I think it’s worth spending a few extra bucks because he’s pretty enthusiastic." Alvin cracked a smile.
Sean had curly red hair and big green eyes. Yes, for a beta, he was quite attractive.
"For full disclosure, Sean dated Archer for like a… month just before the fuckbuddy club started, but they split. Archer is into redheads, you know. But Sean couldn’t handle his… um, conservative approach to dating."
Archer furrowed his brows. "Dated? Gosh, Alvin, we went on a few dates, and we just didn’t click, that’s all!"
I chose not to comment on that, especially because I already knew from Alvin about Archer’s weird, not-very-progressive approach to relationships, so it probably wasn’t the best idea to start the topic altogether.
"And this is Frank," Alvin showed me another beta's picture, but this one didn’t catch my attention at all. I frowned slightly, slowly losing hope. "Oh no, also not my type," I muttered.
"Picky, huh? Okay, bad news. That’s your last chance. Although, I wouldn’t really call it a chance. This is our… alpha- basher, Soren," Alvin chuckled, pointing to a face in his friends list.
"Alpha-basher?" I raised an eyebrow, lowering myself a bit to focus on the tiny, pixelated picture.
"Yeah, Soren is a whole other… world. He’s technically in our group, but he only does services for one of our beta patrons and for one omega. He absolutely hates alphas! There’s only one alpha, Don, whom he tolerates around, but I doubt if he even received one handie from him. Soren doesn’t do alphas in general. The thing with him is… he’s bitchy and never in a good mood. So, since you’re an alpha, I’d say he’s off the table. Slim chances of a hj and no chances at all for a bj."
I leaned in closer to get a better look at Soren and… froze, recognizing the guy! I'd only been at this college for two weeks, so I'd attended just a few lectures and labs, but I couldn’t miss this particular beta—I noticed him right away.
"What the fuck? I can't believe it; I know this guy! Well, 'know' might be a stretch, but I've had dealings with him." I grimaced.
"How so? Did he rub you the wrong way? Wouldn’t surprise me; he's quite the character," Alvin replied with a nasal-sounding chuckle.
"Yeah, he's in my major, and we have most of our courses together. On the first day, I tried to sit next to him, and he ostentatiously moved a few seats away. Another time, I said hi to him in the hallway, and he straight-up ignored me. And once, there were no other seats in the cafeteria, so I asked if I could join him, and he said he was waiting for someone. So, I ended up eating on the windowsill. And guess what? No one ever came—he just sat there alone at the table," I explained, frowning.
Alvin snickered. "Doesn’t surprise me at all. Soren can be impossible. To be honest, I seriously debated whether to involve him in our little circle at all, but his friend Sean convinced me because Soren has some financial troubles related to his late father’s medical bills. That’s the only reason I agreed, because that guy can be super nasty."
"I noticed. He was looking at me like he wanted to kill me," I muttered.
Alvin leaned in slightly and added in a confidential tone, "There’s a whole story behind that, you know. Sean leaked it to me, but promise you won’t spread it around."
"Sure, sure, now that I know so much, I can keep one more secret."
"It's an interesting case, kind of similar to yours and Martin’s. Soren dated one alpha all through high school—high school sweethearts, that kind of shit. They went to college together, and Soren was supposedly head over heels in love, planning a future together. They were about to get married! Everything seemed perfect, romantic, until one day his fiancé met his High Mate! He'd met his Half Mates before, but… he always chose Soren over them. It probably got Soren’s hopes up that it’d stay that way. But this time, his fiancé couldn’t resist, and he ultimately broke up the engagement. You know, the High Mate charm—the next best thing apart from finding your True Mate."
"Don't even talk to me about it," I muttered quietly, since the same thing happened to me. My ex left for his High Mate, although we weren’t engaged, but we dated for a year and a half, and I was pretty smitten with Martin.
"Yeah. He took it really hard. Sean told me Soren even attempted suicide, and then he changed—a total personality shift. Apparently, he completely stopped smiling, became gloomy, aggressive, and constantly sour. He transferred here from another college for his senior year, so you see, it's a very similar story to yours. Now Soren hates alphas and doesn’t trust them. He believes betas shouldn’t get involved with us at all because it’s a sure thing they’ll be abandoned sooner or later. Talking to him is usually unpleasant; he’s bitter and hostile."
I stayed silent for a moment, staring at Soren's photo. He looked quite unique, definitely different from the others and… very much my type!
"I feel sorry for him…" I muttered, still fixing my eyes on the picture with a strange intensity.
Since I’d seen him in person, I knew he was pretty tall, probably around 5'11", maybe even a bit more. Of course, compared to me at 6'6", he was still quite a bit shorter, but objectively, he seemed slender, with a harmonious, shapely figure.
On both sides of his neck, he had some black spiky tattoos that climbed up to his cheekbone and temple. His ink-black hair was shaved above his ears, fading upward, and long on the top and back of his head, reaching the middle of his back. It was kinda like a faded mohawk haircut variation, but with long hair on top and back. He also had a bunch of piercings—in his right eyebrow, the right corner of his mouth, his left nostril, and a whole bunch in both earlobes, all silver and some artistically shaped.
As for his face… It definitely caught my eye. He was quite pale, but undeniably intriguing, a very striking beauty. He had somewhat sharp, almost cat-like features, high cheekbones, a delicate chin, and slightly slanted eyes the color of a bright, stormy sky. His lips were the most beautiful—full and softly outlined, maybe even sweet, although whenever I saw them in person, they were always twisted in a contemptuous or haughty grimace.
"Feeling sorry for him doesn’t mean you’d want his services, does it?" Alvin asked with a raised eyebrow. "It's unlikely he would agree anyway."
"He's in my major, I see him daily…"
"Well, that’s true. He’s really into programming, and he’s pretty good at it. We both took a few of the same programming courses, and I saw how he breezed through all the assignments with ease. From what Sean told me, Soren’s been working part-time at DevApp for over a year already."
I perked up. "Really?! DevApp? My older brother Winter works there too, as a head of one of the departments. Wow, Soren must be something if he managed to secure even a part-time job there. I heard it’s tough to get an internship in DevApp, let alone a job."
"Yeah, Soren’s a real geek. Besides what he does for us, he never goes anywhere, always studying, doesn’t hang out with anyone. I can count on one hand the times I’ve seen him at a party. Only when there’s free food!"
"Interesting. If he works there, why does he need extra cash?"
"He is paying off the high medical bills of his dad. The man was basically dying for a decade after a horrible accident that left him almost completely immobile, and Soren inherited the debt even after his dad died. The insurance didn't cover everything."
"Damn, tough situation."
"Yeah, pretty tragic. Soren basically raised himself, since his dad was bedridden, but he’s fighting hard for his future. He already secured a promise from DevApp HR that after he finishes the year, he’ll have a full-time job there. With their salaries, he’ll pay off the debts quickly."
"That’s true, they pay their specialists well. I heard even junior programmers earn decently."
Alvin nodded. There was a brief moment of silence, as I thought about the news I’d heard, feeling sympathetic to Soren’s situation.
"So, what’s the verdict? Anyone you ‘fancy’ in particular?"
"Stephen and Sean seem okay, pretty attractive," I said, purposely omitting Soren. For some reason, I didn’t want to talk about him right now.
Alvin frowned. "No! Not my favorite Sean!"
I shrugged. "He's objectively attractive. You said when someone new joins, they need to know the password."
"Oh yeah, of course. Without it, don’t even try to arrange anything. The password is ‘Kingdom of Promises’. We also call our club that."
"Oh, that’s so dramatic, but alright, I’ll remember."
"Jerk, don’t complain."
"Alright, thanks a lot for letting me into your secret club, or… kingdom." I grinned crookedly. "I need to think about who I'd like to, let's say, try out."
"Take your time. If you can't decide, you can always fuck me for free!" He winked and gave a somewhat awkward chuckle.
Archer shot him a contemptuous look.
"No, thanks…" I made a sour face.
It wasn’t the first time Alvin jokingly offered himself, but he wasn’t my type, not in the slightest. Not that he was ugly, I just wasn’t into his type of somewhat obnoxious personality.
"Your loss. Okay, I'll let them know that a new person is joining. I'll also inform our patrons."
"Patrons… what a name."
"Yeah, sounds classy, right?" He grinned and added, "Just spare me the details if you pick Sean. I don't need those to be happy!"
I went back to lying on my bed, noticing Archer's strange glare out of the corner of my eye. For some weird reason, I couldn't get Soren out of my mind. That dude was getting on my nerves with his insolent behavior from day one because I didn't understand what I did to deserve it. Now that I knew his story better, I got his motives, but it still felt strange, remembering his hostile gaze and how he ostentatiously moved away from me in the lecture hall…
Yet, I couldn't stop thinking about him.
This evening, while showering and jerking off, I tried to fantasize about fucking my ex, Martin. I usually did so for this exact purpose, despite the fact that it could be considered self-torture. But as soon as I closed my eyes and pictured Martin's pretty face, his long black curls, and his willowy body under me, moaning and begging me to fuck him harder, I couldn't shoo away the overlay that superimposed itself on Martin's face.
His steel-blue eyes turned into stormy gray, and a tattoo grew on the sides of his face. Also… earrings pierced through his skin. It wasn't long before it was Soren under me, begging, "Yeah, go deeper, Skye. Fuck me, crush me, plow me, devour me!" It's funny how the imagination works, right? I finished superfast, and I splashed my cum all over the shower wall, feeling surprisingly satisfied. For sure, this new fantasy was a welcome addition to my mental sex file cabinet.
***
The next day, as I walked to class, I noticed a group of people standing to the left of the building entrance, smoking cigarettes. I immediately recognized Soren and Sean, and there was also some alpha with bleached blond hair standing next to them. The trio was talking—or rather, Sean was doing most of the talking, engaging the blond guy. Soren smoked, taking deep drags and glancing off to the side toward the park, not seeming particularly interested in the conversation, or maybe even slightly miffed by it.
As I walked past, our eyes met for a brief moment. From this distance, I couldn't make out his facial expression very well because it was obscured by smoke, but he immediately turned his head, looking over to the distant buildings, not giving me any indication that he even noticed me—not that I cared. I just felt this weird shiver down my spine, as I already knew that it was Soren whose services I’d want to purchase, even if just for a handjob. Despite how he treated me. Yeah, he said he didn't do alphas, but maybe he would if I gave him a good price?
Well, it was a nice idea.
I entered the lecture hall and sat in the back row to be able to observe the whole room. Two minutes before the lecture started, Soren walked in. He and I shared most of the courses. He looked around and saw me sitting in the seat he usually took, and then ostentatiously turned to the side and sat two rows in front of me.
Throughout the lecture, I kept glancing in his direction. He was wearing a thick black hoodie and tight black jeans. His long hair was tied up in a ponytail that fell down his neck and back, and I noticed his unusually pale skin. I didn’t know why, but throughout the lecture, my eyes kept wandering toward him, my gaze sliding over his exposed, white neck, but of course, I didn't make any move.
The same thing happened in the cafeteria. Soren met Sean there, and they had lunch together. I sat nearby, within sight of Soren. I knew he glanced at me a few times, but he was very careful not to let our eyes meet, as if he didn’t want to give me any satisfaction. I noticed that other students didn’t even try to approach him; evidently, they already knew his ways.
Then came the next lecture, during which Soren sat on the opposite side of the room from me. It was almost strange how he kept away from me. There were plenty of other students, but somehow, he singled me out, ostentatiously distancing himself from me in all the lectures and labs.
What was his deal? He treated others with indifference, sometimes sitting next to one of the other students, but he avoided me like I was the bubonic plague.
I observed Soren over the next few days. He didn’t have many friends; he mainly hung out with Sean. I guess since he transferred here for senior year, he still hadn’t made friends with all the students in our major—Computer Science and Engineering—but he’d been here the whole semester longer than I was, so he probably felt less like a ‘new guy’ than I did anyway.
Sometimes he talked to one of the omegas, whom I recognized as Tim from Alvin’s list. Occasionally, Mark, an alpha from the same list, joined them for a short chit-chat with Sean, but Soren ignored him pretty consistently. Unfortunately, there was someone else who often hovered around them—the bleached alpha. I didn’t recognize him from the list; maybe he was a patron or their colleague. I remembered Alvin mentioning some Don, but I had no idea if that was him.
Slowly, I was gathering the courage to approach Soren, but it wasn’t until a week later that I noticed a suitable opportunity.
One day, I arrived early before class and saw Soren standing alone, leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette, waiting for the lecture.
I felt my heart racing. Although I didn’t smoke, I had bought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter a few days prior, just to have a pretext to approach him.
Slowly walking, I came closer, feeling my heart pounding. The only advantage of me being an alpha and him being a beta was that he couldn’t hear my heart, since betas had much weaker hearing than alphas and omegas. But to my surprise, I noticed that his heart sped up significantly when I stood about six feet away from him and took out the cigarettes! I could hear it quickening: thump, thump, thump… Did I somehow affect him?
I lit my cigarette, trying to appear casual, but I didn’t intend to actually smoke; it was more for show.
Soren didn’t look at me; his silvery, stormy eyes were fixed on the campus park, where it was raining, everything drowned in gray. There was silence as we stood about six feet apart.
And his heart continued to do it… thump, thump, thump! So quick!
But why?
There were still twenty minutes until the lecture, so there was plenty of time for a conversation. Finally, I took a step toward him and extended my hand, saying, "Hey, I'm Skye."
But to my disappointment, his cold eyes glanced at my face for a brief moment, and then a disdainful grimace formed on his beautiful lips. He turned away, didn’t shake my hand, didn’t say a word. Instead, he took a deep drag, walked to the ashtray, put out his cigarette, turned around, and headed toward the lecture hall.
Well, that didn’t go as planned. His hostility remained firm, and I couldn’t understand why he only acted this way toward me—he just ignored the other students. Pretty strange.
I quickly ditched my cigarette and followed him into the lecture hall. To my surprise, he sat in the front row, almost directly across from the professor’s podium. That was a clear signal: ‘stay away from me’.
Unsure what to do, I passed by him slowly, but he didn’t honor me with a glance; he just stared at his phone screen, ignoring everything around him.
Well, my plan went up in smoke. Literally. I lost the courage to approach him again.
The next opportunity came two days later when I noticed him sitting alone in the cafeteria. This time, he was at a three- person table, so he couldn’t easily explain that he was waiting for a friend.
As I grabbed a tray, my heart pounding, I approached his table and just sat down without asking. I came from behind on purpose, so he couldn’t see me and run away. I noticed he flinched slightly in surprise when he heard the clink of my tray next to his elbow.
"Hey, mind if I sit here?" I asked, but only after my rear was already on the chair.
I saw a grimace of anger on his face. The cafeteria was pretty crowded, and no other tables were available, so he couldn’t easily escape my company, especially since his tray was still full.
Up close, his face seemed even more hostile, with tightly clenched lips and narrowed eyes. But it also looked even more… eye-catching.
He didn’t say anything, just leaned over his tray and sped up his eating, obviously wanting to finish as quickly as possible so he could get up and leave me as usual.
But his heart did it again; boom, boom, boom.
"I noticed we’re in almost all the programming courses together. I’m new here, just transferred from Dornel College."
Silence. He didn't even raise his eyes, just continued to focus on his food, only his heart was galloping. I didn’t know what else to say, except to get to the point. I was almost about to utter the password Alvin had told me, but something held me back. Shyness?
After some hesitation, I started to eat, saying nothing. So pathetic. The strange thing was, I had never been a particularly shy guy, so why did Soren evoke this strange timidity in me? The next few minutes passed in total silence until I suddenly heard footsteps… and saw Sean approaching us.
I could almost see the brief flash of relief on Soren’s face when he saw his friend.
Sean sat down next to us with a cheerful smile.
"Hey, Soren, care to introduce us?"
"I don't know him," Soren said coldly, not even looking at me.
"Oh, okay. Hi, I'm Sean," the redheaded beta greeted me, smiling and holding out his hand.
I shook it. He was unquestionably attractive, but somehow, he didn’t appeal to me.
"I’m Skye, nice to meet you."
"Likewise!"
"Sorry for intruding on you like this, but I’m new here and don’t know many people yet," I said, though I was already sick of constantly repeating that I was new. It sounded so lame.
"Oh, where did you transfer from?" Sean raised his eyebrows slightly, and when I told him the name of my previous college, he murmured, "I see," and raised an eyebrow. "You probably have a lot of catching up to do. No offense, but I heard Dornel College doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to programming courses."
"I’m not offended because it’s true. Right from the start, I can see how much I have to catch up on, especially with Python. It’s intense here."
"Soren could help you; I’ve heard he’s the best with Python," Sean suddenly said, glancing at Soren, who was eating with his head bowed low over his tray. Soren twitched slightly at the sound of his name and then glared at Sean.
"You're crazy. I don't have time for this!" he growled instead of responding normally.
"Of course, not for free—"
"No way," Soren cut him off sharply, shooting a murderous glance at his friend.
"Why did you decide to transfer here?" Sean asked, still cheerful, apparently used to Soren’s behavior and not fazed by it at all.
I hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say. Then, suddenly, I decided to tell the truth.
"The reason is pretty pathetic… a broken heart. My longtime boyfriend left me for his High Mate. That’s when I decided to move away. And I ended up here for the last semester of my studies. I know it sounds crazy, but I just couldn’t stay and watch him walk around campus with his new boyfriend, holding hands and kissing."
I noticed the quick glance Sean shot at Soren before he said, "Well, that sucks, but it happens more often than you’d think."
An awkward silence fell. Soren was eating really quickly now, shoving food into his mouth and deliberately avoiding eye contact with me. His fingers, adorned with silver rings and black nail polish, seemed almost clenched on the fork.
"Isn’t it hard to transfer during senior year? It seems crazy, if not impossible. I bet college policy is against it," Sean pressed, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from ‘exes leaving for a better mate’.
"It is, but my brother’s ex, Finn Delgado, is a professor here. I’m on good terms with him. We’ve kind of been friends for years, and he helped me with all the formal stuff."
"Finn Delgado, the geneticist? I’ve heard of him. He’s hot, to be honest."