Chapter 03
DARIUS
“I’ve got a couple of candidates for you,” said Zendius, shuffling a few papers in his hands as he entered my office. “They’re coming in later this morning to meet you.”
I groaned and put my head in my hands. “Fuck! That’s all I need,” I grumbled.
“ ‘Thank you’ would be more appropriate,” he chided, slipping into the chair in front of my desk, “But whatever.”
A couple of sheets of paper landed on the desk in front of me with a splat and the remainder were added to a pile off to the side.
“That’s the report on the new omega house,” he told me, inclining his head towards the pile.
“For you to review later. But you need to look at these now, so you know something about the guys coming to see you. If you don’t like their profiles, there’s still time to cancel.
There were quite a few applicants, but I’ve whittled it down to these two. ”
Reluctantly, I picked up the first profile. The company name and slogan in bold print across the top of the page did not inspire confidence.
‘WILD DATING SERVICES – Come get wild with us!’
Ugh. It sounded like an escort agency or an adventure holiday enterprise. Definitely not the sort of company a responsible Pack Alpha would be considering. Sigh . What choice did I have really?
“Is this the only dating agency in town?” I asked Zendius. “It sounds a bit… you know… dodgy?”
“It’s the only one with male omegas on their books, so unless you’re willing to compromise on your preferences…”
“Yeah, no, okay. If I’m forced to take a mate, I at least want it to be one I’ve got some chance of making it work with.”
I took another look at the profile. The omega’s name was Aran.
Aran . Twenty-seven years old. Job: Wants to be a home-maker. Interests: None. Favorite Color: Blue.
“Favorite color? Really?” I pulled a face, squinting as my eyes met Zendius’. “How is that relevant?”
He shrugged. I sighed. Something told me I was too old for this mating agency business.
There was information about his current pack, family, education, etc. There was a photo too. Aran was blond, with a cherubic-looking face. He looked freshly eighteen, even if according to his profile he was actually twenty-seven. I felt no attraction at all. Sigh . Maybe it was just the photo.
I put the profile down and picked up the second one, hoping this one might strike a modicum of interest from me.
Brendan . Thirty-five years old. Job: Architect. Interests: Looking after my alpha. Favorite Color: Green
Brendan had long brown hair and hazel eyes. His face was narrow and his lips thin. He had a soft dreamy look about him, which many would have found attractive, yet I still didn’t feel anything.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Neither of these guys really seems like my type. I honestly think we’d be wasting their time bringing them in.”
I thought Zendius would argue with me, but instead he nodded.
“That’s all I could get from the Agency,” he admitted.
“The others were...” His nose wrinkled and he shook his head.
“I’ll tell them not to bother coming in.
We can wait and see if the Agency comes up with something else.
It’s only been a couple of days, after all, though from what they told me, you get the most activity in the first couple of days of your profile going live. ”
“That doesn’t sound too promising,” I said glumly.
“Well…” Zendius hesitated.
I looked up expectantly when he didn’t continue. “What?”
“I do have one other option, but I don’t know if you’d go for this.”
“What is it?”
Zendius rummaged around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a crumpled bit of paper. He hesitated before flipping it around and laying it face up on the desk. It was a photo.
“This is the nephew of a guy I know. My friend took him in when his parents died, but he’s twenty-four now and it’s time to find an alpha for him.”
I stretched across the desk to get a good look at the picture. Holy Goddess! My breath caught in my throat. The guy was gorgeous.
“Wow! He’s… stunning,” I murmured. I slid the photo across the desk.
I couldn’t draw my eyes away from that face, the intelligent green eyes that stared out with attitude from beneath thick feathery brows, his fine-boned elfin face with its faint smattering of dark stubble, and the messy dark brown hair artfully draped across his head and curling around his ears.
Oh, my goddess, this was one hot bastard, and I could just tell he had attitude in spades.
And sex appeal.
And… “I’ll meet him,” I blurted out.
“Um,” Zendius blinked, eyebrows shooting up. But Zendius was rarely off balance for long, and he recovered quickly.
“You don’t know anything about him yet,” he cautioned me, but I was scarcely listening.
This omega had my attention. Yes , I could tell he was going to be trouble, but when had I ever been interested in meek, lay-down-submissive guys?
Never. Maybe this was why I’d always struggled to make a connection with any omegas I’d met.
They were mostly very submissive and I wanted someone who would challenge me, make me feel alive.
And this guy? Well, I hadn’t met him yet, but he’d already made my pulse kick up, and my dick was letting me know I should pay attention too. Fuck me, could this be my mate?
“I want to meet him. Tell me more about him.”
“I don’t know that much,” admitted Zendius. “His parents died when he was fourteen and that was when he went to live with my friend. He hasn’t been educated – the entire family are alphas and they’re traditionalists, so educating an omega wasn’t going to happen. He can read though.”
Huh. Poor guy. Just because he was an omega didn’t mean he didn’t have a brain.
And denying him an education restricted his employment options, rendering him dependent on the very alphas that had denied him education in the first place.
It was a great way to keep an entire demographic under control.
I huffed, annoyed on behalf of this unknown omega who was already getting under my skin.
“And he’d be okay with this arrangement? He’s willing to be mated to an alpha he’s never met?” With a guy this attractive, it hardly seemed possible.
“From what I understand, he’s keen. He has limited options where he is and you’re a good match. And I also believe he can’t wait to get away from his cousins.”
“As long as he doesn’t see this as a ticket to freedom, and then pisses off once he’s set up. He’ll have responsibilities as Alpha Mate after all.”
There was a risk that he’d accept the mating because of the financial security it would provide him, but neglect his duties, or even leave the pack.
If he’d led a sequestered life, which was likely if the family was traditionalist, someone bristling with attitude might well decide he wanted to leave the obligations and ties of the pack and strike out on his own.
It was a risk I had to take. It was a risk I wanted to take.
“What’s his name?” I asked. “And how soon can we set up a meeting?”
“His name is Xander. I’ll let his uncle know you’re interested. I imagine he’ll want it all finalized as soon as possible.”
Xander. I rolled the name around in my head. I could get used to that. I smiled to myself.
“We need to meet first, and make sure he’s onboard with this. When they give us a time and date, I’ll book a table somewhere so we can get to know each other a bit.”
Zendius wrinkled his nose. “Don’t make it all romantic and shit. You don’t want to give him the wrong idea. It’s a transactional arrangement. It’s not love.”
I looked again at the green eyes scowling at me from under bushy brows.
With time, it could be.