Page 2 of His Stolen Omega

But Elm knew why.

The reason Kian kept brushing him off and saying maybe later.

It was because he’d seen right through Elm.

It was humiliating, but it didn’t change the facts.

Elm was jealous.

He didn’t want to meet Shiloh to welcome him to the planet or befriend him. Didn’t want to give the younger man advice.

He wanted to stare Shiloh in the eyes and see with absolute certainty that there was no competition there.

That just because the two of them shared blood, that didn’t mean Shiloh’s relationship with Kian was any stronger or better or important or real than the one between Elm and him.

He wanted to see that he hadn’t lost.

Pathetic.

Shame had him hanging his head and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his mustard pea coat. The one Kian had bought him for Yuletide this year.

Sloane had shown up the other day wearing one in magenta.

Did Shiloh get the same gift as well?

A part of Elm felt incredibly guilty for thinking this way. Sky didn’t tell him much, but he’d shared that Shiloh had gone through something super traumatic, that he’d been kidnapped and forced into a breeding den.

That he’d been mounted by an alpha there, against both of their wills.

Elm couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. As a beta, he never had to worry about things like heats or ruts taking control of his body.

The people on Glyph and Synastry had two genders. First gender was the typical male or female. Second gender could be either alpha, omega, or beta.

Alphas and omegas both experienced mating periods, called ruts and heats respectively, but betas had nothing of the sort. Aside from the horrors that could come along with it, Elm had honestly always secretly wondered what having a mating period would be like.

As a beta, he still had a lot of sex, but it wasn’t the same. His hookups were casual, his reputation for being laidback helping to turn the entrance to his bedroom into a revolving door. The problem with that was, it also meant people left as often as they came.

That was another thing alphas and omegas had that betas didn’t.

The claiming bite.

A mark that bound two people together forever. It was a serious act, irreversible, and something Elm had always considered to be romantic.

There was security in something that permanent. In knowing your mate couldn’t be turned on by anyone else ever again. That they wouldn’t leave you.

That they’d chosen you above all other options.

The bite made a person special.

Elm had never been special.

But it would be ignorant not to acknowledge there was a dark side to that as well. Like with anything, it could either be used appropriately or weaponized. Technically, an omega had to mentally accept the claiming offer when bitten, but everyone knew in the throes of passion, they were easily coerced or threatened into doing so.

If the alpha Shiloh had been paired with had lost control and bitten him, they both would have been stuck with each other for the rest of their lives.

Breeding dens were illegal, but they still happened, especially on Synastry where Shiloh was from. As a prime omega—known as dominant omegas on that planet—Elm imagined Shiloh was considered a serious catch. Whether it was for that reason or his connection to the Eumia, Shiloh had spent two days with his captors, drugged to induce his heat, and made to sleep with a stranger.

According to Sky, they knew the identity of the alpha, but Sky wouldn’t reveal it. Only said he was someone super scary and powerful.