Chapter XXX
Today is the big day. Arius has been training for weeks, ending his leave prematurely to get started. Now, it’s time for the certification test designed for Alphas who have studied for positions like this for a minimum of two years.
Ari did an accelerated version of the course in a few months.
I don’t doubt that some of the questions on the exam will be entirely guess-work, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s Arius.
I’ve also been his study partner, helping him prepare and giving him pop quizzes while we took Luna on walks and spoon-fed her a million different mushy baby foods to see what she likes. Peas, carrots, and bananas for the win. Mango and sweet potato are her personal nemesis.
Nervously, I step onto the concrete production floor where we have a beta model of the new software set up along with the complex machinery for assembling parts.
Gone is StarPoint, replaced with something similar, but intimidatingly modern.
Hands clasped behind my back, I stroll around the small lineup, testing my own knowledge, noting the safety levers, conveyors, ventilated enclosures, touch screens, calibration tools, measurement spectacles.
It’s a lot to take in.
My skin heats, and a shiver skips up the back of my neck. I glance to my right, finding two stern scientists strolling toward me with my mate strutting behind them confidently. One is holding a clip board, ready to assess Arius’ knowledge on the advanced machinery before us.
With a nod, I step back, remaining politely out of the way, but close enough to observe the proceedings.
It seemed necessary that I be present for the unconventional plans I set into motion.
Arius locks eyes with me and nods once. The Alpha with a clipboard, Dr. Eliza, kicks things off with a brief overview of how this will go.
She’ll ask a few key questions and allow Ari to present and demonstrate his understanding of the operating processes. He needs to score one hundred percent on the proceedings to pass. Straightening his lab coat, my courageous mate stands tall, ready for the task that determines his future.
Forehead cascading sweat down to my eyebrows, a tense cramp of anxiety forms in my shoulder blades as the test begins.
“Can you show us the tools required at each station?” Dr. Eliza asks and Arius answers.
Moving efficiently, he points out every item by the correct name and confirms that they are all appropriately placed for the beginning of production.
I can tell that the two judges are just waiting for him to mess up, but we’re prepared for any questions they might throw at him.
During study sessions, we figured that they would throw curve balls at him.
Dr. Eliza interrupts him constantly with rapid-fire questions. Undeterred, Arius answers them with speed and clarity. Until he draws a blank.
“If the system undergoes a reboot, what is the process for restarting the machines?”
I swallow heavily, annoyed that the question isn’t directly related to operating the stations.
Specific scenarios and troubleshooting aren’t typically exam criteria, but I suppose, it’s something Ari would need to excel in if he’s expected to oversee production on this equipment.
He takes in a deep breath, thinking hard on the question as the judges stare him down with unimpressed expressions, waiting for him to fail.
His nerves grow through our bond. Reflecting on the question, I try to recount it myself.
Restarting the systems after a reboot is slightly different than restarting them in general.
I remember reading this section of our study documents while Luna had decided to drop her frog-shaped pacifier directly into Air’s coffee cup.
I laughed and he groaned with disgust. He was too distracted by that to pay much attention to his studies.
But I wasn’t.
After a reboot, turn on the main power switch, then start the program on the computer monitors. It won’t start up on its own, that’s the difference. Once it’s loaded, verify that the station ID number is correct and that the status is in operation mode. I believe that’s all.
Arius takes another deep breath, beginning to fidget with his hands as he searches for the answer.
His eyes drift to me with a pleading sheen of desperation and disappointment in himself.
Then they widen. I stare into his dark-blue eyes, confused by his sudden expression of shock.
Like he’s seeing a ghost in the place that I stand.
Within a second, he snaps his gaze away, facing the judges once more. He clears his throat.
“After a reboot, I would turn on the main power switch,” he begins with far more confidence. “Then, I would start the program manually, because it won’t start up on its own. Once it’s loaded, verify that the station ID is correct and that the status is in operation mode.”
Heart slowing to a heavy thud, I hardly believe my own ears. How the fuck did he do that? Did I just… Did I just tell him the answer? I didn’t say that out loud, did I?
The judges nod, visibly annoyed that he got it right while I stand here, struggling to reign in my shock.
They move on and Arius performs the rest of the exam with ease.
But I can hardly celebrate by the time we’re heading up to my office with his brand-new certification and the secured future for his Omega operators.
“Baby?”
“I know,” he mutters as we walk the halls, but he turns down a different corridor than I expected.
“Where are you going?”
“To Dr. Ritza! Why on earth are we seeing into each other’s minds, Knox?! That doesn’t happen through normal bonds!”
“You think it had something to do with the quantum transfer beds?” I scan my badge at a pair of white double doors, allowing us through the exclusive area.
“I think it had everything to do with the transfer beds!”
Before I can respond, a tantalizing smell reaches my nose, and it makes my dick twitch with interest. Stunned by the sudden scent of my mate's incoming heat after it’s been gone for a while due to the baby, I hardly register someone else entering the hall.
“Knox and his Omega. How are you?” Dr. Ritza’s impersonal voice greets us as we clash in the hallway. Tablet in hand, hair wound up in a tight bun, she peers at us over the rim of her glasses.
“Knox made me cheat on my test,” Ari throws me under the bus immediately and I look at him with betrayal.
“I didn’t do it on purpose! You looked right at me and read my thoughts, Arius.”
Dr. Ritza looks intrigued, eyes bouncing between us with a sharp eyebrow raised high.
“No I didn’t! He’s been sneaking into my dreams, too! This is impossible!”
“Wasn’t trying to. I just ended up there. And you kept dreaming about the same thing.”
Ceasing the argument, we both turn to Dr. Ritza, waiting for her expertise on our odd predicament.
“Fascinating,” she mutters before turning on her heels. “Follow me to my office.”
Heels clicking away, I share a look with Ari and then we trail after her.
Using advanced technology, she pulls up images across a display of monitors reflecting brain scans from both of us.
Current scans, and scans from before the transfer beds.
My mate sits in my lap, and I hold him close while she assesses the imagery, trying to determine why we’ve been experiencing telepathic communications that shouldn’t be possible.
“And this only began after your trip to space?” she asks while pacing along the displays.
“Yeah,” I respond, kissing my mate on the cheek.
“Not after you were mated?”
I think about it for a minute, so does Ari.
“Not immediately. It began after we were mated and after I had my memory back,” I answer.
Dr. Ritza hums in thought.
“Well, the scans are normal. No discrepancies.” She turns around to face us, “It’s not your brain. It’s your bond,” she concludes.
“Really? But why?” Ari mumbles, nestling into my neck. “And how?”
“I don’t know. I guess you’re just one of the lucky few.”
She powers off the monitors, done with her research on us it seems.
“There are other couples like us?” I ask.
“Oh, please,” Ritza rolls her eyes. “Haven’t you heard the fables of true mates and whatnot? Some believe it isn’t a matter science. It’s fate.”
My body tingles at the spiritual word.
There’s beautiful irony in the idea of two scientists being hit with such an inexplicable force of nature.
A telepathic bond destined to us because our souls were always meant to be together.
I’m sure there’s a scientific explanation, but regardless, our strange abilities are here to stay as they are whether we can make sense of them or not.
Relaxing our shoulders a little, we try to accept it for what it is and focus on the major achievement from earlier.
With the help of our magical bond, Ari nailed that exam.
Back in my office, we pop a bottle of champagne and lock the door, so that Jaimie won’t interrupt.
Not that he would. He’s plenty preoccupied with his therapy sessions and Chet sessions.
I’m glad Luna will have a friend soon. And maybe a little brother or sister too.
Wearing nothing but his lab coat with the new pin of achievement he earned for it, Arius bobs his tight lips around my cock, driving me wild. Legs open for him as I sit back and take his gorgeous mouth, I run my fingers through his hair, matching each swallow with a shallow thrust.
Those midnight-blue eyes stare up at me the entire time, glazed over in ecstasy and I can sense through our bond just how far away he is. His heat returned out of nowhere with ferocity, but we decided not to go home for it, staying in my office for old time’s sake.
Humming around my dick, his eyes roll back as he reaches down to ease his throbbing erection.
His scent permeates the air between us, telling me he’s close, and I pull myself out quickly so that I don’t accidently knot his mouth.
Squeezing the base of my cock with ragged breaths, I watch him jolt through a quick, but powerful orgasm on the floor, thighs trembling as he squirms on his knees.
“F-fuck, Alpha!” he shudders hard before me, lips glossy with saliva and precum while I reach down to stroke his messy hair, massaging him until he recuperates.
Nowhere near fully satisfied, Ari lurches forward, spitting on my dick before sucking it into his hot, wet lips again. A deep and raw sound of pleasure vibrates through my chest, overstimulated by my mate’s ravenous appetite. Ari in heat is something I’ve only ever dreamed about.
My deepest, darkest secret of always wanting to take him like this is coming true.
I was upset with him for not coming back to me, but beyond that, I was also holding back from going after him and hunting him down myself.
It’s no secret that Omegas go to boarding school to experience their first heats safely.
I didn’t deserve him back them, but it was worth the wait to have him now.
It’s almost too much. I almost pull him off me until he lifts up with a pop and climbs onto my lap to take me for a ride on the sofa.
Throw pillows discarded on the floor, his tight hole squeezes my shaft up and down in an overwhelming rhythm while I grip onto his waist. Grunting and sucking in air through my teeth, I thrust through the hot slick flowing like lava between us.
“Oh, yes, Knox! I need it!” Ari begs beautifully as I give him every inch. But I know what he really wants. My knot is already beginning to swell.
“I’m so proud of you, baby,” I rasp, choked up by the emotional impact of both his heat, his success, and just the fact that he’s back in my life again.
The stench of our lovemaking in the air heightens my arousal, turning me into a primal beast as I breed my Omega.
His face is twisted with pleasure, a deep blush spreading as his hands trail up his body to toy with his pointed nipples.
Head tossed back with a moan; he quivers as I grab his dick.
With deliberate strokes, I work him to the edge, teasing the underside of the crown with my thumb until he’s panting and jerking uncontrollably above me.
I can’t believe this Omega is mine. All mine. I already won in life the second we met in the sandbox as toddlers. I’ll do anything to keep him by my side forever and ever.
My body takes that statement literally and my knot begins to expand fast. Ready to lock us together for as long as possible. The first inflation has Arius crying out and cumming hard across my fist and my abs. I lose it when he locks eyes with me through the peak of his orgasm.
With a long groan, I drive up into him and plant my seed, knot blooming to its full girth which draws a continuous orgasm out of my mate. It becomes a battle of sensations with his convulsing muscles and my expanding knot, both our bodies chasing the final twitch of pleasure.
Connected like a puzzle, Ari drops onto my chest, breathing with me until our heart beats match one steady pace. It’s poetic almost. A metaphor for the life we share.
You have no idea how much I love you; I say the words passionately in my mind while caressing the dip of his back.
“Oh yes I do, Alpha,” Ari mutters quietly, his breath tickling my chest.
The next wave of his heat strikes hard a moment later, igniting my desire to breed him some more. This time, I’m predicting we’ll get our son, Triton. An Omega who will have the power to be anything he wants to be in the future because success is already written in the stars for him. I can feel it.