Eric swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Don’t go, I changed my mind, I need you, I can’t live without you.
But he steeled his heart, knowing that this was the right thing to do. If he couldn’t have Hugh, he’d rather not get false hopes every time Hugh acted like his alpha. He’d rather have his heart broken once than every time Hugh kept him at arm’s length.
“What about the imprint?” Hugh said, without turning around. His voice sounded strange.
“Imprints fade,” Eric said. “Not seeing you constantly should help with that, correct?”
“Correct.” Hugh’s voice was absolutely toneless now. “But what if your hormonal imbalance is back?”
Eric bit the inside of his cheek. “Then I’ll handle it. It’s no longer your problem, Hugh. Go back to your old life. I’ll go back to mine.” He was proud of how firm his words sounded.
His eyes still burned with unshed tears as Hugh walked away. Out of his life.
Eric hated that a part of him hoped until the very last moment that Hugh would ignore his words and turn back.
But Hugh didn’t. He gave up on him that easily.
It was… It was fine. It was for the best, really. Hugh didn’t want him. He never had and never would.
“Who was that?” Jules said, materializing out of nowhere. “Was that him? The alpha you’re in love with?”
Eric flinched at the word.
“I’m not—” I’m not in love with him, he wanted to say, but the words got stuck in his throat.
“Doesn’t matter,” he said tonelessly. “He doesn’t want me, Jules.”
Jules opened his mouth and pursed his lips without saying anything. He wrapped an arm around Eric and pressed their cheeks together. “Then fuck him. It’s his loss. You don’t need that alpha to be happy. You know what? You should totally stay. Fuck the gossip. Don’t go back to Kadar. Everything you love is here. Your home is here.”
Eric’s heart felt hollow. He wasn’t sure how true the last statement was anymore.
But he would have to make it true. Jules was right: he had nothing to go back to Kadar for. Hugh wasn’t—he wasn’t his. Eric was nothing to him.
In a few months, Hugh probably wouldn’t even remember his name. Eric would be just another silly little omega who had fallen for his unavailable, mated doctor way out of his league. A cautionary tale.
That was all he would ever be.
Part II
Chapter 15
3 years (and 7 months, 11 days) later
Eric had been helping the maids clean the house after his birthday when he came across the card. It was a generic birthday card, not even signed, probably part of the present sent to him by one of his relatives. It had generic birthday wishes, wishing him happiness, love, and a life without regrets. But the words hit unexpectedly hard.
He stared at the card numbly, his throat closing up.
Happiness, love, and a life without regrets.
Right.
“Mr. Ascott, do you want the flowers here or in your bedroom?”
Eric closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the card dropping to the floor.
“Mr. Ascott?” the maid repeated.
“Here is fine, Dora,” Eric said tonelessly and walked away.
He wondered if it was normal to feel like his life was over at the ripe age of twenty-two.
It wasn’t that he felt depressed. He just… he didn’t feel like his life was going anywhere, and he knew it wasn’t going to change. He had nothing to look forward to. Nothing to be excited about. Nothing that made him happy. He wasn’t unhappy, per se. Just… not happy.
Normally, Eric was content enough with his life. Content enough was a good way to describe his married life, actually.
Greg Ascott was an old family friend, and Eric had known and liked him prior to their marriage. They’d been married for more than two years now, and their life was comfortable, if unexciting.
Eric and his husband had a friendly, amicable relationship, even if they didn’t have much in common, which was probably to be expected, considering that Greg was a middle-aged alpha of fifty-six who was into sports and physical activities, and Eric was a geeky introvert who very much wasn’t. It probably didn’t help that Greg had no interest in sharing Eric’s bed. It was fine. Eric had no interest in Greg that way, either. It was a marriage of convenience, after all.
Their marriage served its purpose. While the scandal hadn’t been forgotten, it was no longer all that spicy now that he was a married omega. Marrying Greg had also fixed his health issues, since their pheromones were compatible enough, and living with a compatible alpha had stabilized his wayward hormones.
Sometimes Eric thought he had gotten much more out of this marriage than Greg had, but then again, Greg was also using him: Greg was in a long-term, tumultuous secret relationship with a married alpha, and marrying Eric had shut up those rumors for good.