Page 9 of Galaxy Between Us

Face twisted, I march down the street, seething with rage. I want my Omega. Six weeks. I waited six fucking weeks to see him and he’s gone.

Dropping the flower, I smash the clay figure in my hands on the pavement. It shatters to bits, impossible to restore.

“Yo, Knox!” Chet’s voice catches up to me, but I don’t slow my pace as I stomp angrily down the street. Not sensing my mood, he jogs up to me, excited that I’m back. “Knox! Hey!”

Seeing red, I shove him hard in the chest, making him fall to the ground.

“What the– Ow! What was that for?!” he complains with a pained voice as I leave him behind.

It’s nothing compared to what I unleash in the confines of my bedroom. I can’t stop the storm. Neither can my parents. All I can do is let it run its course unless someone brings me my Omega.

I want him back. Now. Not years form now. Not on holiday. Not on the phone. Now. He’s mine!

The stupor hits me hard over the next few weeks. I barely leave my destroyed room. I avoid my parents and my telescope, trying to distract myself with other hobbies. Eventually, Chet barges into my room, my parents having let him in assuming he might be able to cheer me up.

Feeling guilty, I end up apologizing for pushing him and confessing why I’m upset. I thought that maybe he would bully me out of being so heartbroken, but he was uncharacteristically understanding.

“I bet you fifty bucks you’ll have him back some day,” he said optimistically, patting me on the back.

As an Alpha, he at least understands the possessiveness that I’m feeling. Talking it out with him helped a little bit and even got me out of the house as we started going to the park again. But the depression and loneliness still loom over me until I receive a letter in the mail. It’s from an astronomer at Comet XI. Unfolding the fancy paper, I read the name at the top.

An Alpha named Alejandro Del Muendo. Chairman of Innovative Sciences on the board of directors. I don’t believe it. He says he wants to sponsor me.

Heart pounding, my eyes scan the letter a million times to make sure it isn’t a farce. I bring it to my dad for confirmation, and he can hardly believe it either. Comet XI wants to sponsor me!

The revelation hits me like a train, snapping me out of my Omega troubles.

I can’t be unfocused right now. I need to get my shit together, this is huge!

Chapter V

Week one, establish my routine. Check. Week two, sign up for a club. Pending.

I pass the sign-up tents every day, but if I stop and chat, I won’t be able to get to my next class ten minutes early. Logically, I know that’s stupid. I have plenty of time. I can allocate a minimum of four minutes to stop at one booth and register with minimal small talk. Then, I will reach my class with five minutes to spare. It’s doable, but the thought of being late makes me nauseous.

Late to my standards anyway.

As I step out of the building a little earlier than usual due to the professor not feeling well, fresh sunlight warms my skin beneath the impending autumn breeze, and I begin the increasingly familiar journey to my next class which is biology adjacent. We learn about how Alphas, Betas, and Omegas differ down to the cell, but it’s mostly focused on reproduction and sex specifically. Yuck.

Books clutched to my chest, my lungs expand deeply behind them, catching the essence of freshly mowed grass and the potent, sweet scent of Omega.

The school is designed in a way that makes it feel open and welcoming, but the entire campus is surrounded by a fortress of a wall with restricted access and barbed wire at the top. Not to keep us in like prisoners. But to keep Alphas out.

That was a shocking and disturbing lesson from orientation. It makes me wonder just how much I’m going to change physically. I’ve been so worried about my personality being altered that I hadn’t even considered the physical things that will change about me. Things that will make Alphas regard me as more than a friend.

Shivers prickle my neck just thinking about it.

Ahead of schedule, I begin to pass the club tents. The colorful canopies line the sidewalk, each of them competing for the attention of all the Omegas scrambling around between classes. My jaw tenses when I accidentally lock eyes with a recruiter. Her pig tails are as high as her smiling lips. Caught on her hook, she reels me in.

“You look like you could use a friend!” she shouts with a preppy grin, holding out a flyer for me to take, “Join us every Saturday in the library for book club! We have treats, games, and more!”

With a tight smile, I accept the paper, but I don’t stop walking as her speech travels after me. Skimming the flyer as I go, I consider actually joining this one. The deadline to sign up for something is around the corner and I’ll need some hobbies.

She wasn’t entirely wrong either. I haven’t made any friends yet. My roommate, Becky, is cool, but all of us first-year students are very timid and shy, sticking to ourselves as we navigate this new world.

And I like books. Actually, I love them. Reading would be a simple and fun hobby, but as I read the fine print of the flyer, I frown at the contents, slowing my pace on the sidewalk to look it over.

“Understanding an Alpha’s desires,” I mutter the listed book title under my breath, disgust clear in my tone. “Book one of six!”