4. Aleks

ALEKS

You're a fucking idiot.

I groaned, collapsing back into my chair and running my hand along my head. 101 Riverside housed several unbonded omega residents. I felt a duty of care over all of them but Hazel Wu of 14A just brought something else out of me entirely. She was a vivid whirlwind, and just when I thought I understood her, she did something that upturned my idea of her all over again.

Yes, I knew what she did for work.

No, I wasn't a subscriber.

If I knew what she looked like when she came I would never be able to look her in the eye again.

I picked up the grainy photocopy of the alpha's licence. Remington Blake. The man had a last name for a first name and a first name for a last name. Clearly not someone to be trusted.

I briefly considered a prominent sign for the other staff.

DO NOT ALLOW ENTRY.

I crushed it into a ball instead and discarded it with a little too much force.

I grimaced at the desk phone. Should probably own up to what I did though. I dialled Hazel's room number, drumming my fingers restlessly as it rang.

"No, Aleks, I did not do more online shopping. That package is for a very elaborate scam I'm running."

I laughed despite myself. Goddammit, she was just making this harder for me.

Rip it off. Like a bandaid.

"I kind of, sort of insulted your gentleman caller," I admitted in a jumbled rush.

"My gentleman caller!" Hazel repeated but with an accent more at home in the deep American South. "Why, Aleks, what could have possibly made you behave in such an unsightly manner?"

I really didn't have a good answer. "That's not important," I bluffed. "But I'm letting you know so you hear it from me first."

"Aleks," she said, her amusement clear. "Do you think he's going to tell on you?"

My phone call was making less and less sense with each passing second. "No, I…he…"

"Did you offend him so mortally that he might never come back?"

If only.

"No, nothing like that."

"Then it doesn't sound like it's any of my business." I supposed I should be grateful that Hazel already sounded over the whole thing. "Did my package arrive, by the way? Don't tell me I paid a stupid amount for same day shipping for nothing."

I glanced at the huge bubble wrapped square leaning against the wall.

"Yes, it did." I couldn't resist needling her a bit. "I saw your name on it and threw it out straight away."

She didn't miss a beat.

"Great, I'll be down in a sec to fish it out of your bin."

I could say I didn't watch the numbers light up as the lift descended but that would be a lie. Hazel made her way over to my desk and it would also be a lie to say I did not notice that she was freshly showered and smelled nothing like Remington Fucking Blake.

Her eyes went straight to the bulky package.

"You're a lying liar."

I shrugged. It was true.

She frowned slightly and picked at the edge of the thick wrappings.

"You could open it here and I'll dispose of the extra packaging for you?" I offered.

We worked together to cut through the duct tape and layers of bubble wrap to reveal…

"Is that a dartboard?"

Hazel looked incredibly pleased. "Oh my god, it's perfect." She stepped back and admired it. "Juno's going to love this once I put that asshole's face on here."

What?I pressed my fingers to my temple. "I don't think I want to know."

She didn't scoff or roll her eyes at me like I expected. Instead she regarded me with a serious look. "Aleks. What do you think about bond dissolution?"

Bond dissolution?

It had certainly been in the news a lot lately. The National Omega Commision had recently announced they were offering bond dissolution to the general public after years of successful clinical trials. Many unhappy couples and packs had raced to sign up. It was a relief to those who had lived separately for years or bonded young to incompatible scent matches while caught up in a pheromone haze.

But I was pretty sure Hazel wasn't asking me about that particular brand of bond dissolution.

She was asking me about one-way bond dissolution. The controversial one. Lifetime omega/alpha bonds capable of being broken for the first time with only one party needing to consent.

Bonding an omega only took when they were high off happy hormones with their alpha.

Or when they were out of their mind with need during their heats.

The people seeking one-way bond dissolution were overwhelmingly omegas who had been subdued and bitten when vulnerable.

It was an issue that sat on my periphery. It wasn't like I had time for a relationship. As a beta, I wasn't the natural choice for pack life. And beta bonds, whether they were with an alpha or an omega, weren't that common and they faded after a while anyway.

But no one should be trapped with someone they couldn't stand.

"I think it's long overdue, really," I said finally.

"Good," she approved.

Hazel and her gigantic dartboard disappeared into the elevator.

I watched the numbers rise.

I trudged through my front door several hours later. My hackles went up instantly when I saw the cold blue flicker of the TV screen from the darkened living room. I let my bag fall from my shoulder and rushed over, hoping I wouldn't find my grandma sitting exactly where I'd left her.

Fuck.

Did he not even have the decency to turn on the light so she wouldn't be in the dark?

"Babulya," I said gently, crouching down next to her. "Have you been watching long?" I tried my best to keep my voice light so I wouldn't alarm her.

"Alyosha." Her blue veins were stark beneath her paper-thin skin as she laid her hand on top of mine. "How was work?"

When was the last time she ate? Drank?

I looked at the screen and saw a gritty crime drama playing. "Why are you watching this? None of these guys are your type," I said, falsely cheerful as I helped her onto her feet.

She tsked. "The one with the moustache is ok."

"You always think the one with the moustache is ok, babulya," I told her dryly. "We have to do something about your standards."

She reached for her walker but I offered her my arm instead. We shuffled together down the corridor and she waved me off once we got to the bathroom door. My temper roiled and I fought to keep the wild, gnashing sensation at bay.

Don't make it worse.

My father was in the kitchen when we entered. I ignored him, set a water glass in front of my grandma and quickly got to preparing something simple for us. I was relieved to find one last portion of borscht in the freezer.

Mental note: batch cook more this weekend.

"Are you making enough for all of us, son?"

The fucker always had something to say.

Always looking for something to take.

"If there's some left after grandma's had enough you can have it," I replied shortly.

I'd figure something else out for myself.

Instead of replying, Dad simply snorted.

I set a bowl down in front of my grandma and ladled a dollop of sour cream on top. "Make sure you wait so it doesn't burn you," I said warningly.

"Alyosha, this is not my first time eating borscht," she said primly. But I was thankful for the twinkle in her eye.

There were times these days where it did feel like it was her first time eating her favourite meal. Staring at the spoon like she'd never seen one before.

It wasn't the only incident like that if I was being honest with myself.

I was pursuing nursing part-time while being a caregiver for my grandma. It had started with driving her to appointments. Now she needed help getting around the house.

Her waning independence and reliance on me had crept up on us steadily. It felt like I was running against the clock. Eventually nothing I did would be enough. It was stupid, really. I couldn't fix whatever was happening to her.

But I had to feel like I was doing something.

I fit 101 Riverside shifts around my classes and studied anatomy textbooks under my desk. I wished I could be full-time but Dad needed me to contribute to the household expenses.

Like a man.

I did not ever get to see the person grandma told me stories about.

I only knew the widower who lost his omega giving birth to their son.

Even though the unfairness of it burned, I poured the remainder of the borscht into a second bowl and set it in front of my father. He began eating without so much a glance my way, reminding me of a corpulent boar slurping at a trough.

I opened the cupboards, even though I knew I wouldn't find anything since I hadn't been able to get to the supermarket.

"You gonna go to the shop soon?" Dad asked, not even bothering to stop eating to talk.

"Literally just got home from work but sure, I'll go," I bit back before I could stop myself. "It's not like there's someone here who clocks off at 3pm and could've gone himself."

He had me pinned against the cupboard in seconds, my head knocking hard against the cheap wood.

Should've fucking kept your mouth shut.

"Ivan." My grandma's soft protest pierced through me.

She hated it when we fought.

"Are you comparing your soft desk boy work to what I do on the site, son?"

His brawnier bulk pressed against mine. Not that that was much of a feat. We'd always been physically unmatched. Skinnier, weaker, lesser. The crush of his natural dominance was a boot to my spine, smothering and humiliating.

"No. I'll go now."

He released me. I couldn't bring myself to look at my grandma's face. "Get me a slab of beer too," he added, turning back to his bowl.

I wondered when I would stop paying for the crime of being an inferior beta son to an alpha father.