...

Just ten more minutes...

Zaire thought to himself as he packed the shelves in the small food market he worked at on weekdays. It had been a long day at work and he was ready to clock out. It had started raining a while ago after a hot day, and he was glad that he remembered to bring an umbrella. He bent over to pickup the last few boxes of cereal to refill the shelves before feeling a presence behind him, making him quickly look up. A man; probably in his forties, was standing there... just staring at him. The man's brown eyes raked over his body that was covered in a big hoodie and work vest with baggy jeans.

"Uhhm... may I help you, sir?" Zaire asked, wearing a small polite smile that his manager always insisted that the workers wear when addressing customers.

The man stepped forward a little bit, like he didn't want anyone else to hear what he was about to say. Zaire caught a whiff of the man's scent and he took a little step back. The stranger was an alpha and Zaire preferred to avoid those like the plague. "Aren't you a cute one. I'm Frank. Are you getting off work anytime soon? I would like to take you out or I could drop you off at your place."

"I'm a beta." Zaire said simply before turning back to his task. The man would eventually leave because alphas weren't attracted to betas. Betas didn't have the charm and enticing scent that omegas had, so he had no reason to keep trying to flirt with Zaire. 

"That can't be right." Zaire heard before feeling a hand on his lower back, slightly drifting lower and he jolted backwards. "A body like this certainly cannot belong to a beta." Zaire's expression soured as he grabbed the now empty basket he was using to restock the shelves and stormed off towards the front of the store. He saw Gina quickly look away, pretending like she didn't see what just happened and he scoffed in bewilderment before he went to change out of his work clothes in the back. He was ready to just be gone for the day. He was already collecting the last of his items when he heard Terry, another one of his co-workers calling him. 

"Gina wants to talk to you." Terry said before walking off. Zaire swallowed down the lump that was forming in his throat as he walked to where Gina was... the old man from earlier was also there with her and Zaire already knew what Gina was going to say. He knew exactly how those situations would play out every time.

"Zaire... this man has a complaint about your attitude. Says that you stormed off while he was speaking." Gina explained, her eyes narrowing at Zaire in disapproval.

"Did he forget to mention the part where he touched me?" Zaire asked calmly.

The man scrunched his face up, "See? If you just offered me an apology, I would have let it go."

Zaire wanted to walk away from the conversation but he knew that would get him in trouble with Gina and he genuinely needed the job. He remained quiet before Gina spoke. "You heard him, Zaire." Zaire's face started heating up in anger as he stared at her incredulously. He knew that she saw what happened but since the man was an alpha, Zaire was not allowed to stand up to him and he was tired of it all.

His eyes started to blur with tears as he took a sharp breath in. "Three times..." he whispered, trying to fight the tears away. He hated how the first urge his body had when faced with confrontation was to cry. It made him feel weak. "This is the third time that this is happening and I am always the bad person just because he is an alpha and I am not! Well, I won't apologize for him putting his hands on me and I quit!" Zaire snapped, clutching the strap of his bag tighter before he brushed past the man and left. Tears streamed down his face before he wiped them away with the sleeves of his hoodie. He sighed remembering that he hadn't texted his sister to pick him up. He pulled out his phone before he heard a familiar voice call out to him and when he looked up, he saw his sister's car already waiting. He rushed in with a small smile, glad to not have to bump into that man again and buckled up his seatbelt then dropped his bag next to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Destiny asked as she started driving. Zaire nodded, giving her small smile. "Do you think I didn't see you wiping your eyes out there? What happened, Zaire?" She asked, concern written all over her face as she took a quick glance at him before looking back onto the road. "Are you going into heat or something?" She guessed randomly because of how tired her brother looked. He looked like that when his medication was refusing to keep the heats away. She couldn't tell heats signs from anything else besides her brother's appearance because she was a beta. She couldn't pick up on pheromones at all and Zaire envied her because he hated being able to detect pheromones... especially alpha pheromones.

"No..." he breathed. "I quit." He said lowly. He didn't want to disappoint his sister but he had no other choice. She didn't push for an explanation... she never did but Zaire wanted to tell her. "An alpha came in right before my shift ended and he touched me."

Destiny scrunched up her face before glancing at her brother quickly in concern, "What the fuck?"

"Gina saw it happen." He sighed as he fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie. "It has happened before... twice and she told me to apologize for being rude to the customer."

Destiny cursed under her breath as she slowed down the car and got ready to make a u-turn, "That bitch is going to see me today." 

"No, Destiny... let's just go home. I don't want to go back there again. I will just find another job somewhere else."  

"Are you sure, sweet pea?" Destiny asked making Zaire chuckle at the name. Their mother used to call him that all the time. He nodded and she sighed as she calmed down a little before continuing to drive home. "Next time... please tell me when something like that happens."

He nodded, "I will." They settled into a short silence before Zaire spoke. "It's like no matter how much I tell people that I am a beta... my face and body keep telling the truth. It is already hard enough to get work as an omega but even when I pose as a beta, it doesn't work." 

"You know, you don't have to work so hard... I am here for you. You can take a little break from working until you feel like you're ready to be outside again. I know how hard it is for you to even be outside." Destiny suggested and when Zaire made a move to protest, she held her hand up. "No discussion... you are taking a break, even if it's for a week and if you ever need to talk about what happened, I am right here." Zaire muttered a small "okay" which earned him a smile from Destiny as they pulled up to their house. He made quick arrangements  in the kitchen for a simple dinner while Destiny showered upstairs. Destiny slept early everyday because she never wanted to be late at work and Zaire didn't want her sleeping without eating something. He stood by the stove as he felt a ball off fur brushing against his leg and he smiled.

"Doll, did you miss me today?" Zaire asked as he crouched down to pat his cat. A purr rumbled from Doll as she leaned into his touch. "We will spend some more time together while I am not working... I promise." He smiled at her as he brushed her fur softly.

Destiny walked in the kitchen with her night clothes on, a small smile dancing on her lips as she watched her brother and his pet cat. "I swear she is not like that when she is with me."

"She is always this sweet." Zaire defended his baby.

"She is the devil incarnate, trust me." Destiny said making Zaire laugh for the first time that night and she smiled discreetly. She watched as Doll brushed up against her brother as she remembered all the times that cute cat tried to jump her but as long as Zaire loved it... it would stay. Destiny loved it when her younger brother was happy more than anything else. "I'm still going to beat up Gina tomorrow... just so you know." She mumbled as she shovelled down her food and Zaire chuckled. 

Have at it. He thought to himself.

...to be continued.