Read A Cursed Obsession [OMEGAVERSE] :: Chapter 5

Summer passed quickly.

The pheromone party never came up in the group chat again.

North hadn't gone, his family had started talks with another elite family, as was customary in those circles, arranging for him to meet a young omega from the other household. North didn't seem particularly thrilled, but he was obedient when it came to his family. He was the only male alpha, his two sisters were betas, and the family business needed an heir. He was first on the list.

Jared had gone quiet. Neither of them found out whether he'd gone to the party or not. At some point photos started appearing on his profile, a paradisiacal somewhere, family trip, no further details.

That was the first time Leo heard that the Rickdorf family was actively searching for a partner for Jared, someone from within their social circle, at his level. Unlike North, Jared was the sole heir to a name that carried serious weight in the business world. Leo had never fully grasped just how large the Rickdorf empire was, but according to North, the problem wasn't finding candidates, it was finding the right ones. High-class omega women with enough standing in that world were rare. Jared had cousins, but as the direct heir, it came down to him. From what Leo understood, the family had spent decades ensuring an overwhelming majority stake in every business to keep outsiders, anyone outside the direct bloodline from gaining influence. A very closed circle.

There was one candidate in a comparable position, but she was a dominant omega. And within those circles, dominant pairings were avoided. There were cases of dominant alpha and omega couples where the alpha ended up sublimated to the omega and Jared, as direct heir to that empire, couldn't afford that risk.

Leo was aware that without his school record, he never would have set foot in that institute. Most of his classmates came from money. He found it fascinating and unsettling in equal parts, a world with its own rules, its own logic, its own gravitational pull. He could read those rules in the things Jared never had to explain.

A week into university, and he still felt a quiet thrill walking through the main entrance every morning.

The central building was imposing — thick wooden portals, immaculate staircases, stone worn smooth by decades of use. One of the oldest universities in the country, and they kept it in extraordinary condition. He still couldn't quite believe the acceptance letter had been real. His mother had wasted no time redirecting any credit away from luck and straight toward her son and she wasn't entirely wrong. During his last year of high school he'd joined a lab project for a professor who taught here. The man had been impressed enough to put in a recommendation.

Still, the coursework wasn't what he'd expected.

He had high standards for law, and so far the material felt light. Getting ahead over summer had probably cost him the surprise factor. The excitement was still there, just quieter.

That morning he'd arrived early to check the announcements board near the main hall. He was thinking about offering tutoring in exact sciences, time to start making money. He felt a familiar presence a second before the hug hit him from behind.

The laugh. The scent. The weight.

Jared. He knew him well enough that the contact alone told him what he needed to know and he was taller.

Leo turned around.

"You grew," he said, genuinely surprised. How was that still happening past eighteen? Deeply unfair, he thought. His blue eyes met those honey-colored ones and something in his chest did its usual thing.

Jared smiled wide.

"Only you would notice something that small."

Leo glanced past him. Jared wasn't alone, a group of classmates waited a few steps back. Leo nodded at them.

"Are you in Law?"

"Could you unblock me first?" Jared said, brow furrowing. "I had to hear from North that you'd gotten in here."

Leo couldn't see the group's reaction, but he could imagine it.

"I still hadn't unblocked you?" He said it with complete sincerity — he'd genuinely forgotten. He'd blocked him the day North told him about the family's search for candidates. Knowing Jared, he'd have been the first call the moment someone came into the picture. Leo pulled out his phone, found the contact, unblocked it. "Done. What are you studying?"

"Economics." Said with minimal enthusiasm. A smile that was more obligation than feeling. "We're in the building next door. I'll text you, we can do lunch. Which Social Ethics section are you in?"

"Morning."

He regretted it the instant it left his mouth. Jared's expression confirmed it — he already knew.

Someone from the group called him. Leo held back a smile, Jared hated that. He went serious, said goodbye, and left with them.

Economics. I thought you wanted something else.

Leo watched him go and said nothing.

From that point on, lunch was Jared's. Except on the rare occasions Leo had something specific to handle, every midday meal belonged to the blonde. Leo genuinely would have preferred distance. It seemed structurally impossible.

North joined them not long after, studying something in social sciences, which surprised both of them. He also mentioned that the young woman his family had introduced him to was at the same university, but that things weren't moving. There was no spark. Leo noticed something off in North's tone and filed it away.

Jared, living in a world that revolved around him, noticed nothing.

When they said goodbye that day, Leo asked North to come with him to the library, he needed a text. North followed, confused. Once they were far enough down the hallway, out of sight, Leo stopped.

"You okay? You seemed somewhere else."

North looked at the floor.

"That obvious?"

Leo nodded. North looked up with a conflicted expression.

"I met a beta."

A beat.

"And the woman my family introduced me to doesn't want a real relationship, she wants a union. She told me straight out she doesn't care if I have other partners. She'll have hers."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't want anything with her," North said. No hesitation.

"You won't be able to have children with a beta. That's going to be hard for your family."

North looked stricken. Leo kept going.

"That's the reality. Now, would the beta be willing to accept an arrangement like that?"

"No." A slight flush. "And that's the problem. I don't know how to get out of this. She has me cornered. And if he finds out—" He stopped. "You're beta, right? What would you do? Would you be with an alpha?"

Leo looked at him, somewhere between confused and amused.

"You're asking the wrong person given certain recent experiences." He paused. "Purely logically? No. I wouldn't do it. Because I'd spend the whole time waiting to be replaced by an omega. I'd feel like love was never going to be enough."

North stared at him.

"He's not like that." Another flush. "He's actually more — combative. We're not officially anything yet, but it's starting to weigh on me." A pause. "Could you not—"

"I'm not telling Jared anything." Leo cut it short. "Though if you're going to pursue this seriously, you need to deal with the woman before it gets out. Jared has prejudices the size of a building, but he wouldn't go to your family. Her, on the other hand—" He thought for a moment. "If you give me the relevant details, I can put together something that makes the union look genuinely unfavorable for her side. A case."

"Really?"

"I can try. But it'll depend on her. If she's decided, nothing you say will matter and then you'll have to go to both families directly."

He met the beta not long after.

Lenny was medium height, a swimmer. The kind of build that could sell an entire line of athletic gear and an intensive training course in the same breath. Tanned skin, dark eyes, brown hair, pink lips. When North introduced them, Leo registered it immediately, kind eyes, threatening presence. He understood North's concern.

They were heading to the cafeteria before Jared arrived. Lenny had run a quick scan on him, Leo caught it and held back a laugh. He knew that look. Does this person represent a future problem, yes or no?

Then Lenny spoke.

"Are you actually beta? You should switch specialists, you read as alpha. Though there's something... off."

Leo had no idea what he was referring to. It had been a while since anyone had commented on his subgender.

North elbowed Lenny. Leo started laughing. North looked between them, lost.

"I like you," Leo said. Lenny glanced at him sideways, then laughed too.

North watched from behind and decided it must be some kind of beta code, because he had no other explanation.

When Jared arrived at the table, he stopped. Lenny was sitting next to Leo. Jared took the seat next to North, who quietly told him to keep his pheromones in check. Jared, who normally talked through every meal, ate quickly and spent the whole time very deliberately not staring at Lenny.

Leo wondered if they knew each other.

When they finished, Lenny pulled Leo into a brief hug that seemed to surprise even Leo. North looked more confused than he had all day.

Leo said his goodbyes with a wide smile, it was project time.

"Since when is that idiot your friend?" Jared asked.

Leo looked at him, surprised. Before North could get a word in:

"Recently. He's a year ahead, he's going to help me get ahead on some subjects."

Jared clicked his tongue.

"You don't need help. You never did."

"In this case I do. He can clarify things about courses I want to get ahead on." Leo paused. "Do you know him?"

Jared's frown deepened.

"Everyone knows him, Leo. HE'S A THUG."

Leo tilted his head slightly.