1. Luca

1

Luca

The pain is nearly unbearable and it's taking every last bit of concentration to stay upright, my gaze focused on the pitiful reflection in the mirror. The man I should be staring at has withered into someone I don't recognize, his eyes sunken in and chestnut curls plastered to a sweaty face. Even the bright blue of my irises has dimmed to an ugly gray, nothing precious about the Omega I used to be present in my reflection.

I let out a small pained breath as I reach up to the bandage on the left side of my neck covering my Alpha's bite. It takes me several moments to build up the courage to pull it back, grimacing as the wound oozes onto the gauze, a thin film stretching between the bite and where I'm pulling away. It looks infected, worse than it did yesterday. Gray and yellow splotches cover the sensitive skin, my Alpha's bite resembling the failing bond between us.

Hudson's always been rough but lately, his idea of pleasure is my nightmare, including his obsession with reclaiming me every time he strangles me into bed. The last few weeks, he's been especially mean with his touch. Bruises and bites litter my entire body from what he calls my duty. I'm just an Omega and I'm supposed to submit to my Alpha.

It doesn't matter that I didn't choose Hudson. It doesn't matter that this infected wound on my neck is the result of greedy parents needing support from an Alpha who only wanted an Omega to impregnate. It doesn't matter how many times I used to call my mother and scream for her to take me back.

None of it matters.

The papers show that Hudson Carter is my legal guardian, my Alpha, and my husband although he's too cheap to afford a ring. Not that I would wear it. The less people who know who my Alpha is, the better.

I poke at the wound and hiss as pain shoots through my left side, all the way down to my toes. It needs to be looked at but that would only bring more trouble back home. Hudson doesn't like attention and he hates it when I don't follow the rules. The few freedoms I'm afforded are because I don't ask questions and I'm always home before him so that he can use me as he needs.

It's the only way I've gotten away with having a job at the diner a few streets over.

Needing something more than a bird bath to soothe my aching wounds, I draw up a bath and pour an obscene amount of descenter into the water. Hudson's scent is all over me, caked into cuts and bruises that I would love to forget are there. His scent has never been my favorite—a mixture of cigarettes and an unsettling darkness—that has only strengthened over time.

His scent strikes fear in my heart rather than love or adoration for the Alpha who is supposed to be my partner.

Tears gather in my eyes as I grab my phone to sit at the edge of the tub and then retrieve a small soap bottle from the cabinet. Hudson has never seen this and I don't plan on showing it to him. The strong scent of a sweet pear spreads through the room as I pour a healthy amount into the water, bubbles forming across the surface.

By the time I slip into the bath, my mind is focused on how to escape this life I've been forced into. The minimum wage and tips from the diner are barely enough to cover my necessities as Hudson provides nothing other than the bed I sleep in. There's no way out of this life unless I turn myself into an Omega Center and accuse Hudson of abuse.

At 23, I'm far past the age they take in battered Omegas. I'd be thrust into a room with several scent cards, a nurse pleading with me to choose one before sending me on my way. The problem is that battered Omegas are rarely treated well within their new packs. There are a few that have found heaven after hell but those are far and few between. Most of us wither away without anyone else to take care of us, unmated Alphas preying on our insecurities and our need to be loved.

We succumb to the slightest invitation, only to find ourselves thrust back into the world without a pack. Without a family. Without love.

It happened to my older brother and I refuse to be another failed Omega.

Bubbles sift around me as I run my fingers through the warm water, my head slipping down just enough so that only the top half of my face can be seen. My body embraces the warmth, my shoulders sagging with a mixture of relief and agony as the water covers my neck. The heat from the water gives me something else to focus on but the infection burns with the added sensation. I'm torn between screaming and relishing in the pain that I think I deserve.

Thoughts of sinking a little lower to see how long it would take to end this pain run through my head.

It would be so easy to end it all.

To give into the temptation.

To let Hudson see what his aggression does to an Omega but it won't help.

He'd just grab someone else and fabricate some story for why I was no longer walking this earth.

I can't just leave, either. I don't have enough money but even if I did, no person in their right mind would give me the time of day. Omegas have very few rights out in the big world, especially ones who still have their Alpha's bite in their shoulder, regardless of how infected it is.

My phone vibrates beside me and I press the green button, expecting Hudson to start yelling at me for not being ready in the bedroom. He just fucked me but his urges take precedence over everything else. It's not him.

"Hey, Champ. Can you swing a shift tonight? Had a few callouts and could use the extra hand."

I shouldn't. I should tell Shelly, my boss, that I need the night off but my stubbornness has me agreeing and hanging up so that I can't change my mind. Hudson has a security shift this evening so he won't be looking for me. This is the perfect time to grab a few extra dollars to stock the fridge.

Settling farther into the bath again, I rest my head back against the edge, the tears I've been holding back finally falling down my cheeks. My grandmother used to talk about fate and how it would find me, how I would find my perfect Alpha and live my life the way I had planned.

None of that happened. My parents sold me out to the highest bidder and nothing I do is ever good enough. A small breath leaves my lips as my lids slide closed, the image of one man who I used to believe would be my everything flitting into my head. His warm brown eyes hidden behind large glasses would follow me everywhere I went. His cheeky smile and horrid jokes kept me on my toes, the need to both please him and be beside him warring for my attention.

Another sigh leaves my lips as I dip a hand beneath the water's surface and grab my stiff cock, stroking it a few times to bring it to full mast. Slick gathers between my thighs, a moan tearing from my throat as I focus on the one man I've fantasized about for years. His sweetened pear scent is my favorite thing in the world, so much so that I surround myself with it whenever I get the chance.

Hudson has asked me more than once why I fill the kitchen with pears and other sweet fruits but I won't tell him. No one needs to know.

Just me.

My hips begin to move and I ignore the pain shooting through my limbs. I need this. I need to pretend that my life was different, that it is my beautiful Blake stroking me and telling me how I'm his perfect Omega. A few years ago, I might have been. Now? I'm no one's perfect anything.

Still, I give myself over to the fantasy, knowing that it'll never happen.

I can never have Blake.

For one thing, he's already mated to two other Alphas.

And the other? He's an Omega too.