-

He'd fumbled for a new bag, his eyes drawn to the numbers. He tasted Omegas; he tasted Alphas but none of that rich delicious concoction that had sent him to his knees. He'd stared, lost and incredulous, quietly sipped on a few more bags. He went through the entire box, hid the remains of it in the trash when his mates returned.

They didn't expect a thing. And Icarus had rose later at night just to purchase three more boxes.

Icarus would spend countless, useless hours tasting disgusting blood in amounts that a royal vampire would never need. And then he laid upon the bed later in the wee hours of the morning, quiet and forlorn, with the runes on his neck itching. The familiar heat that he yearned for was gone, quietly slipping out of his soul. His cock was no longer jolting and quivering for more.

Disappointment flooded him, so did frustration.

An Alpha. He pursed his lips, exhaled. His body humming, his throat already dry despite the countless bags down his throat, and bulging at his belly. But his body only sang for one. It must have been his Alpha. His brows had furrowed, and suddenly there was fear trickling up his spine. His eyes grew wide at the thought of wanting an Alpha, of pretending to like an Alpha.

The disgust boiled in his throat.

He turned, went to sleep. He would regret it later. If he acted quicker, he could have fished out the first bag from the trash, could have run the numbers, traced the Alpha in a day. But he waited, he paced. And so, he lost her taste.

*

Quinn

She was on her knees in a second, her head to the ground in a symbol of servitude. And her heart was pounding, soaring as she prayed to whatever God there was in the world for mercy. Rowan seemed crazed, a drawl on his lips as he hissed to her words that she understood.

You might be able to make me cum.

It had been a new spell created by the fey in Euodia's court. They'd discovered that a simple twist of the mind, the careless embed of hesitance and a drop of disgust would make orgasm difficult.  And so, a word of influence upon that part of the brain could end an Omega's ability to cum.

Rowan had merely been one of the few that experienced the new form of punishment. She'd stopped dishing it out because all that was inflicted by the curse died. And only one remained alive, Rowan.

Rowan who would now suffer endless, painful heat with no relief. Rowan who was whimpering in his nest due to Euodia's actions. Quinn did not respond to his words, squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for him to recognise her face.

She waited for him to scream.

But he didn't seem to notice her fear, already acting on his needs. The noise that continued spilling from his throat was unmistakable, and for a moment, he seemed to lose interest in her. There was a soft whine from the Omega, then the wet slaps of hands around a swollen cock. He was masturbating.

Masturbating in his nest.

Quinn winced. She knew Omegas were nothing like themselves in their Heat, would boil in the flames of need and lose all traces of decency. It had made it so easy for Alphas to take advantage of them, and that had eventually resulted in the imbalance in gender equality. Her eyes darted to the ceiling. The cameras spun, settled upon her, did not stray towards the Omega for modesty.

Her gaze went back to the cart of supplies, careful to keep her bow. She returned to her useless act of cleaning, searching for glass and splinters on the ground. A bitter smile biting at the corner of her lip. Her mind connected to her old office, to the asshole that had ruined her life, to the women that knelt and scrubbed the carpets that the men dirtied.

And here she was cleaning the floor of an office for a man.

What a fucking shame. The bitterness filled her. She stood taller now, a rag in her hand as she began to work on the cabinets. She was in a blind spot that appeared to be out of the camera's line of sight. Her eyes darted to the Omega, the icy winds spilling around her frame, drowning out his gorgeous scent and flooding her lungs with fresh air. Her body quivered.

The Omega was plastered to the sheets, body flexing. His hips lifted high into the air lewd and desperate, and his cock stood, hard and thick in the air. He didn't give a damn about her presence, too lost in the need to cum, fucking his fist madly with broken groans, muffled into the sheets.

His fingers were wrapped tight around his length, swollen and so red that the ruddy colour stood out brightly against his flesh. Pearly strands of semen was spewed web-like all over taut abdominal muscles. And the sticky liquid that glistened in the trail of downy hair that started from his belly button and ended at the base of his cock.

He moaned, and Quinn cursed felt a shiver run down her spine.

She would die if she touched him. And perhaps, she would die the moment she stepped out of the room for going against orders. She exhaled, slow and steady, tried not to taste him on her tongue, and dream of how good his cock would feel deep within her folds, filling her and making her whole. She tried not to picture how good it would be to hold him close and draw deep staggering breaths of his sweet nutty scent.

Fuck, his scent was clouding her mind, she bit her lips and closed her eyes. Thank fuck she was Beta because she didn't know how they could possibly stand it. The way his scent teased at her throat, her clit throbbing with the strangled moans that escaped his lips.

"Alpha."

Her eyes shot open; her hand froze on the desk. The rag wet against her fingers. He was looking at her now, looking at her with his gorgeous, chiselled face. His eyes glazed, barely lucid and a small, adorable pout on pink lips. He was at the edge of his nest, head tilted back, hips just as high as before. But he was watching her, staring at her, soft pants escaping him.

"Alpha," he repeated and this time the word was a whine, a sultry glance her way. Her heart was pounding so hard she swore it could almost soar into the beyond. "Alpha, come here." His voice was soft, a raspy baritone groan with a timbre like raw honey. "I want you."

Shit. She was frozen, heat licking through her, the words going straight to her cunt despite everything. The Omega was so different from the wolf she knew, so different from the shifter that had openly declared his hatred for Alphas. The shifter that had torn out the limbs of an Alpha just because they'd been rude, and then had laughed like killing women was just a fucking sport.

"A-Alpha," he was whimpering now, his neck was exposed, skin dewy with droplets of sweat. His cheeks flushed with a pink that travelled all across his body, marking the dips. The silver of his mates was bright on his bitten throat. "M-my cock. Just," he let out a strangled moan, his clementine eyes darting to her, and she sank further into the darkness, tried to clean and yet could not keep her eyes off him. "Just s-suck me. Suck the head, please?"

He hissed, a whine twisting through. He panted, brows furrowed, his fingers moving to the head to fasten at the frenulum. His body shivered, his voice growing rough, hoarser as he twisted. He was so hard, so close. And Quinn was stupidly transfixed by the throb of his cock, like an idiot she stared at the way it swayed and bounced. The single thick vein running along the glossy shaft. It was goddamn beautiful.

What a shame.

She hissed, pinched her thighs, bit back a whimper of her own.

"Harder," he begged, "suck harder. A-Alpha, please. Want your tongue in my slit, in my hole. Wanna feel you fluttering on me. Want you inside me. Please, oh Alpha, please. Please come to Rowan."

Christ. Her eyes only grew wider.