Allen slid the shirt over his head, closing his eyes as a small whine coming from the bed behind him filled his ears. He turned, albeit reluctantly, taking in the Omega wrapped up in his nest. He had dyed his hair recently, so now it was a silvery color, and it stuck out in odd angles. A fake pout graced his swollen lips, brown eyes fluttering mischievously.

“What?” Allen tried to keep the annoyance out of his tone. He was hoping that Danny wasn’t going to wake up.

“Are we seriously not going to talk about this?” He questioned in that annoyingly innocent tone, allowing the sheets to fall away as he stood up. Despite his irritation, his eyes still trailed down the Omega’s body. It was littered with bruises and bite marks from last night, Allen noted with some satisfaction. Danny really was a beautiful Omega. It’s too bad his personality was shit.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” He muttered gruffly, stepping away as Danny reached out to him. “I have to go meet my parents.”

Danny huffed and crossed his arms over his chest but watched as he threw his hoodie and shoes. He left the dorm, quietly promising himself that was the last time he would spend the night with the Omega, knowing full well that was a lie.

Once he was in the car and on his way to some restaurant, he allowed himself to think about brunch with his parents. What they could possibly want was beyond him. He was already in the college they wanted, finishing his degree in political science and foreign affairs. His grades were good, and he hadn’t gotten into any legal trouble in years. Maybe they just wanted to see their son, but that thought was laughable.

He pulled up to the designated restaurant, feeling on slightly underdressed in his casual clothes. He attempted to smooth his hair down before going inside. Maybe he should have woken up earlier and showered, but it was too late now.

The waitress looked at him skeptically as he stepped instead, but her smile was professional. “Do you have a reservation sir?”

“Uh, yeah, Perez.” He gave his last name, and her eyes widened considerably, indicating that his parents had already arrived.

“Of course, right this way sir.” She led him toward a secluded area, past the groups of housewives who had nothing better to do with their lives than get drunk on Mimosas at ten in the morning and gossip. Most of them were trophy Omegas, with too much money and too much time on their hands.

“Son.” His parents smiled as they approached. The hostess set a menu at his seat before disappearing to her post. Allen kissed his mother’s cheek before sitting down. “How’s school going?”

“Fine. I’m attending all of my classes and keeping my GPA up.” Allen assured, looking over the menu. He was a little hungover making food seem unappealing, but it would make his headache go away.

“Good.” His father nodded approvingly, but his eyes were focused on Allen’s neck. Danny must’ve left a hickey, he realized with some irritation. He really should have taken stock of his appearance before coming here. “Not partying too much, I hope?”

“Not much.” He lied. Fortunately, their waiter showed up then, sparing Allen from the scolding he was about to get. His parents were strict about their beliefs, which included sex before mating and monogamy and all of that bullshit. Allen personally didn’t have an issue with any of it. Once they’d ordered, Allen was quick to change the subject. “So, how was Guitia, Mom?” She was an incredibly famous fashion designer, her work mainly catering to Omegas, despite her own status as an Alpha. She was away a lot, drawing inspiration from her travels or something.

“Oh, it was lovely, honey. Guitia is always so pretty this time of year.” She smiled pleasantly, clearly not too keen on making small talk with her son.

“Is there a reason why I’m here?” He finally asked after a few moments of silence.

“Can’t we just spend time without our only son?” His mother asked with mock sadness. His mother would never pay him any attention unless it benefitted her. Allen shrugged in response, sipping his water, waiting for her to spill. Fortunately, it didn’t take long.

“We got a letter for you in the mail, because your official residence is still our house.” She smiled saccharinely sweet, reaching her meticulously manicured hand into her purse, and pulling out a thick, cream colored envelope with the official seal on it. “The crown sent a letter to every available bachelor kingdom wide. It seems our new King is seeking out a mate.” She explained, and he hated the gleaming triumph in her eyes, probably already picturing the royal lifestyle. She didn’t even like King Scott, who had been crowned barely a month ago. He remembered last month’s dinner, how both of his parents were red in the face at the idea of a King who was barely twenty, but even more upset that he was an Omega.

Her words made him frown. He wasn’t in the market for a mate. Especially a royal mate who had a reputation for sleeping with his servants. King Scott was probably spoiled too, used to getting his way in one way or another. However, he knew outright refusing wouldn’t do him any good.

“And if I refuse?” He asked wearily, eyeing the envelope with disdain. This was definitely going to be a loosing battle.

“We’ll cut your funds.” She said simply, as if she were discussing the weather and not Allen’s financial support. “It’s just an application honey, who knows if you’d even get drawn.”

That’s what ultimately kept him from arguing too much. The King was only offering this to fifteen people in the Kingdom, only five slots for Alphas. He’d be more likely to win the lottery or get struck by lightning.

When he went to fill it out though, he found the application to be more invasive than necessary. Why would they need to know what his parents did for a living, or how many languages he spoke? Still, he answered truthfully, and became even more skeptical when he went to the government office and they took a picture of him. There was no way any of this was random.

Weeks passed, and he forgot about the whole thing. Well, except for the fact that it was plastered all over the media, from Facebook articles to radio talk shows. Not to mention, no one in real life would stop talking about it either. He’d pretty much forgotten that he’d even entered himself though.

Nearly two months later, Allen found himself in front of the TV in the dorm room, with his roommate, Kyle, for a program from the Palace. The program system wasn’t used very often, except for national emergencies and occasional announcements from the crown. Though it wasn’t mandatory, he was sure everyone in the Kingdom was watching. Everyone was excited by the prospect of the King mating. King Scott had never shown any interest in it before, and a lot of people speculated that he didn’t know how to run the Kingdom by himself. Allen figured it was a publicity stunt.

“Man, imagine if one of us gets picked? I bet they’ve got some really good food.” Kyle grinned, settling down beside him.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” Allen scoffed with an eyeroll. Leve it to Kyle to think about food above anything else. Soon, King Scott was on the television. He had always been pretty, people often talked about how beautiful he was, and it definitely showed even through the television. He was young, around twenty, but the bags under his eyes were unmistakable even with makeup. The throne, that used to be King John’s, was much too big for the Omega, and despite the golden crown nestled in his hair, he looked like a kid playing pretend.

He began introductions, his voice clear and confident as a King’s should be.

“Do you think he was forced to do this?” Kyle asked, shoving his hand in his bag of Doritos, and stuffing his face with them.

“I don’t know. Does it really matter though? I don’t think Omegas can really lead without their mates.”

“That’s kinda sexist isn’t it?”

“How is that sexist? It’s just-“

He was cut off by the sound of his name coming from the television. His head snapped up, taking in his face on the screen, his name appearing above it.

Kyle was screaming, but Allen sat stock still, watching as two other names flashed across the screen before they moved on to the Betas and Omegas. Once the announcement was over and the television went black, his phone rang.