“Pyka, stop being an ass,” Angie snapped. 

It sounded far away though, hard to hear anything past the rushing blood in my ears. Pyka didn’t know as much as he liked to believe, but he was good at reading me. If I gave him the satisfaction of letting him see anything…he’d win. 

Sometimes it was difficult being his friend. 

“No wonder I’m not getting as much attention as before. Guess I should say thanks for the new gossip,” I laughed. 

It was good, believable. Light. 

No one knew what Brynn made me feel. They only speculated that I had an interest in her because of the rumors about me going into heat with her and Phil around. Pyka was sniffing for a weakness, but I wasn’t going to give him any openings. 

The teacher came in before the conversation could continue. While everyone had turned forward in their seats, listening to the teacher, Pyka’s gaze lingered, whole body still twisted in my direction. 

I smiled at him cluelessly, which he didn’t buy at all, before he finally turned around and paid attention. 

The rest of the day carried on quickly, and routine settled back in place. A bunch of the Omegas wanted to go to the lake after school, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted deal with the Alphas. It was one thing for the Omegas to get over what happened, another thing entirely with the Alphas. 

I tried using the excuse of having to cook dinner for Mother, but when Angie and Galen offered to come help me, I knew I wouldn’t get away with the lie. Mother was away on Alpha business and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. 

Feeling a little defeated, I ended up in my same spot by the lake, plucking the drying grass between my fingers as the others swam and joked around. I watched them, feeding off the carefree smiles and total freedom they deluded themselves into feeling. 

“It’s nice to see you out and about again.”

My head snapped up.

Phil and Nina stood beside me, looking out onto the lake. Phil plopped down on the grass next to me while Nina bent down to kiss him, wave at me, then head over to her friends. 

I was still gaping at them when she disappeared. 

“What are you–?”

“Everyone already knows, Cal. Why hide it anymore?” Phil grinned at me. Then, to my horror, waved over two more Alphas. 

“Phil–” I warned, feeling the panic rise in me. 

Talon Redwood and Kai freaking Hemming came jogging over. 

I’m literally going to be sick. 

Talon was a large male, bigger than most of the Alphas his age. His long black hair was plaited neatly down his back, emphasizing his massive shoulders. He sat beside me, though seeming to notice my discomfort, he added a significant amount of space between us.

Kai…well Kai was the perfect Alpha. Smaller than Talon but had this impressive aura that made everyone else seem small. His short black hair was slightly disheveled, falling into those piercing green eyes. Kai was the Alpha everyone talked about, that all Omegas wanted. Well except me.

He was intimidating. 

And he was sitting a few feet away on the other side of Phil. 

Before I had even realized, my head was bowed low in submission, shoulders hunched to make myself smaller. 

“It’s okay, Cal. You don’t have to do that,” Phil tried to tell me, but I couldn’t stop. My instincts wouldn’t let me. 

Three Alphas…three high ranked Alphas. 

I needed to roll over, show my stomach, show the ultimate submission. Every bone in my body begged to. 

I whimpered. 

“Should we go?” Kai asked, concern leaking in his tone. I didn’t want to look up to confirm it though. I had to be small. I had to submit. 

“No. He needs this,” Phil said. “Caleb. Look up.”

There was command in Phil’s tone. Command that he never used with me. Command that as an Omega, I was helpless to disobey. Looking up immediately, I fought the water in my eyes. I wasn’t crying though. It was like my body was overproducing, malfunctioning in bodily functions because I hadn’t properly submitted. 

“These are my friends, Kai and Talon.”

Each Alpha waved at him in a friendly manner. 

“Hello,” I murmured, fighting past the abundance of saliva that had gathered in my mouth. 

“They are good Alphas. I want you to be friends with them too.” 

And then they continued on, laughing and joking like everything was normal. They invited me into their conversations, asked me questions, tried to make me feel comfortable. 

I wasn’t, not really, but it was strange. I wasn’t as afraid of them as I was of other Alphas. They didn’t have the same aura as Phil, the same comfort and safety, but Talon was Sherry’s Alpha and he seemed as devoted to Sherry as Phil was to Nina. It made me feel a little safe. 

Kai on the other hand, was an unbetrothed Alpha. He should have made me nervous, but…I’m not if it was insulting or comforting, he had no interest in me. It honestly didn’t seem like he was interested in any Omegas. He was so focused on his studies and training to be a leader, it was like he barely had the time for it. 

And that made me…a little comfortable. 

When the two finally left to go join some others, Phil looked down at me. 

“How do you feel?” 

“Why did you do that?” I asked, ignoring his question. 

“Because we don’t have to hide anymore, Cal, and I’m determined to show you that it’s actually a good thing.”

I didn’t say anything after that and we watched the community in silence. Listened to the laughing, the screams, the loud chattering. Watched the sun bathe the world in gold.

For once I felt light. I felt happy. 

And I wasn’t alone.