AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Benajamin Hendrix
Read: Here’s your email, dumbass. Next time check your messages better since I already sent this to you before.
I tamp down a groan of both frustration and arousal as I open the proposal and look over it quickly. It’s too much information for me to see by scrolling, so I head to the legal secretary’s office and have the proposal printed. Something Benjamin should have done.
Gods, I don’t know what Bert Matthews saw in him.
Okay, that’s a lie. Benjamin is invaluable as my assistant. He’s knowledgeable, prompt, and very organized. But his scent and how he gives me a strange fluttering in my belly every time he breezes in and out of my office grates on my nerves. I go home every night with his fragrance in my nose and have to start the cycle again the next day.
Blowing out a long breath, I shake my head at the absurdity of the situation. No omega, my ex included, has made my head so foggy and had me so confused. I’m not a confused alpha. I graduated at the top of my class in high school, undergrad, and law school. I don’t have time for confusion.
Except when it comes to Benjamin Hendrix.
The law clerk hands me my proposal, snapping me out of my thoughts. I thank him, handling the papers more roughly than I should. Of course, Benjamin invades my thoughts even when he’s not around.
He will be the death of me.
Checking my watch, I see there’s about ten minutes before this week’s law review session begins. These sessions are something Bert came up with about forty years ago when he started practicing. He understood how omegas still didn’t have a lot of the rights and freedoms they should have been afforded. As an alpha, he knew he could do something about it.
He and like-minded attorneys started getting together to go over any archaic laws they found and try to get them repealed. There were some that took longer than others like omega/omega matings, and some that were rolled back with the stroke of a pen, like omegas owning their own businesses instead of having it be in the name of an alpha mate or alpha family member. That law he was especially proud of appealing, as his mate wanted to open a bakery.
Since I took over for Mr. Matthews, I vowed to follow in his footsteps, since I feel very strongly about omega rights. I was raised by my single omega father when my alpha father ran off to start a new life and new family. He was the strongest man I knew and he deserved the world. Unfortunately, he was taken from me before I started this work. I told myself after his funeral that I would do what I could to make sure omegas were afforded the same rights I have.
I’m snapped back from memory lane when I’m approached by a haggard looking omega. “Are you Rome Stewart?” he asks, pushing his glasses up on his face. His tired looking eyes and prominent wrinkles make me worry for him.
“I am,” I answer softly, giving him a small smile to try to set him at ease.
“I got your name from Mr. Matthews.”
If Bert sent him to see me, it must be about a law we haven’t caught yet.
Waving a hand, I indicate a bench just outside the courtroom doors. I check my watch, seeing I have about five minutes. Oh well, the other attorneys can wait until I’m done with this quick consultation.
“How can I help you?” I ask, turning to face the omega, giving him my undivided attention.
“I’m Maximus,” he says and I shake his hand. “I need help. My alpha isn’t well. He was recently diagnosed with liver cancer. He’s fighting it, he’s really strong.” I nod, flipping the proposal over and taking a pen out. “He is estranged from his family, but when they heard he was sick, they tried to swoop in to get his money. I received this in the mail.” He hands me a large manilla envelope.
Pulling out the papers, I scan the first page, eyebrows furrowed. The injunction that was filed is against him, saying that he has no legal standing in the event that his alpha dies. Scoffing, I ask, “Can I keep this?”
“Please.” Maximus takes a shuddering breath, rubbing under his eyes. “We don’t have much, but we live comfortably. My mate, George, has a great retirement plan and we own our home. We’ve been in that house for twenty years. Now his parents are saying that since we never had children, I have to move out when George dies so they can take ownership.”
I curse under my breath. One of the very laws we’re fighting to change. About one hundred years ago, a court ruled that a union between an alpha and omega couldn’t be considered consummated if the couple didn’t have children. It’s an outdated law that no one bothers to enforce, unless you hire a snake attorney that will do anything he can to win a case that shouldn’t even go to trial.
“Don’t worry,” I tell Maximus, scribbling quickly on the back of my proposal. “We can figure something out. Call my office and my assistant will set up an appointment next week unless that’s too late.” I say that last part delicately. I’m not sure how ill his alpha is, but next week is the soonest opening I have. We need to get ahead of this sooner rather than later, however.
I’ll bring it up during our session today. There’s no reason why after twenty years their union shouldn’t be considered legal and binding.
“Next week is perfect,” Maximus says, taking the card I hold out to him. “Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Stewart.”
“Call me Rome.” He nods, then strolls out of the courthouse, seeming a little lighter on his feet.
Taking a calming breath, I slide my pen back in my pocket and push into the court room.
“Here he is, gentlemen,” says the speaker, an older alpha that co-founded this group with Bert. “Now we can get started.”
I look down at the proposal I have, the one that I worked on for almost three weeks to bring attention to omegas not getting fair loans and mortgages, then I think about Maximus. I’ll have to bring both laws forth for consideration.
“Sorry I’m late. Looks like it’ll be a long night.” Unbuttoning my jacket, I sit down and unfold my proposal and begin to read.
