Chapter 98: Reality
Chapter 97
Ciel
I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.
The air smells like fried dough, laughter, and too much sugar. The park is loud, bright, chaotic—and perfect. I feel normal.
I drag both Jack and Nolan from one thing to another like a child high on cotton candy. Rides, games, more rides, more food. I even win two plushies—well, technically they win them for me. Jack and Nolan get caught up in this ridiculous "who’s stronger" competition at one of those ring-toss booths, both too proud to back down.
Jack wins me this huge blue bear, and Nolan wins me a similar even bigger blue bear,to which Jack rolls his eyes. But continues, and gets a puppy plushie for Nolan, and he turns the cutest shade of red.
I try to return the favor, but since I’m neither strong nor coordinated, I only manage to win a tiny charm from a claw machine. Still, Nolan looks at it like it’s a rare treasure and hooks it onto a bracelet he buys from a souvenir stand.
It’s... adorable.
We eat next—corn dogs, fries, and something suspiciously purple that Jack swears is edible. The food’s a mix of amazing and awful, but the cotton candy and candy apples absolutely make up for it.
Now I’m sitting on a bench, content and sugar-drunk, waiting for them to return. Jack’s gone to the bathroom, Nolan’s off buying some treats that look like sculpted flowers on sticks. The sun’s warm, the laughter around me is soft. It’s... peaceful.
And that’s when my anxiety creeps in—the quiet kind that whispers this isn’t real. That this is borrowed happiness, and any second, the world will remember I don’t deserve happiness for some reason and take it away from me.
I force myself to breathe. Jack isn’t like the others, I remind myself. He’s different.
The second batch of thoughts gets interrupted by a voice I don’t recognize.
"Hey," someone says.
I look up—and there’s a man towering over me, blocking the sun. Broad-shouldered. Smiling in that way that isn’t kind. My stomach drops.
My anxiety level goes from zero to a hundred in a flash.
I freeze, hands tightening around the edge of the bench. My chest is suddenly too tight, my breathing too shallow.
"I’m with my alpha here," I manage to say, forcing the words out even though my throat feels like it’s closing up.
The man in front of me smirks. "Is that why you’re walking around without a collar?"
He takes a step closer, and I want to disappear. His pheromones flood the air—sharp, acrid, wrong, suffocating. The scent burns at the back of my throat, heavy and invasive, like gasoline and smoke.
"He’ll be here soon," I say, trying to keep my voice steady, but I can already feel my body trembling.
He scoffs. "Oh, I know your type. Omegas like you—coming to public places, hoping some alpha will notice. You all act high and mighty until you get a whiff of the real thing."
I instinctively lean back, my body seeking distance that isn’t there. The bench bites into my lower back, and my eyes dart left, right, anywhere,but people are pretending not to see. No one wants to get involved.
"What? Looking for a way out?" he sneers. "Am I not up to your standards, omega? Think you’re too pretty to look at me?"
His pheromones crash over me again, heavier this time. My body reacts instinctively, traitorously, my skin prickling under the weight of his dominance. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to fight the reaction.
Anyone... please. Please come back.
He leans closer, grabs my jaw, forcing me to look up at him. His grip is rough, fingers digging into my skin.
"Look at you," he says with a cruel smile.
"You smell like you’re asking for it. Don’t worry, I’ll forgive your attitude—since you’re pretty."
Before I can even blink, his body jerks violently. There’s a sickening thud, and suddenly he’s on the ground, sprawling, clutching his face.
Nolan is here.
"You okay?" he says, voice shaking with fury and concern. His hand reaches for mine, grounding me, pulling me back to reality.
I shake my head. "No," I whisper, because I’m not.
The man staggers to his feet, spitting blood. "What the fuck?"
Nolan steps in front of me, posture defensive, eyes burning. The energy rolling off him is sharp, protective, primal.
"Back off," he growls.
The alpha flinches, before observing us — and then bursts out laughing. Actually laughing.
"This is fucking hilarious," he says between wheezing breaths. "Is this your alpha? A fuckingbeta
?"The laughter grows louder, meaner.
Nolan’s posture sharpens — shoulders squared, jaw tight, the quiet tension before a storm. I can feel the air around him shift, see the faint tremor in his fists.
No one moves. No one ever moves. The world just keeps watching.
Reality, is such a cruel mistress with her wake up slap to remind me this is all I am.
An omega.
That’s all I am.
My body betrays me again, trembling as traces of the alpha’s pheromones still linger — gasoline and ash, choking, heavy, disgusting. My instincts react even as my mind screams not to.
"Nolan, let’s go," I whisper. My voice is too soft, too small. But he hears me.
He doesn’t move at first. His entire body hums with restraint — he’s seconds away from snapping, from making this worse. I know that look. If he swings first, he pays for it. Always.
The alpha smirks, circling like a predator with an audience.
"Aww, how sweet. A beta and an omega , star-crossed lovers." His tone drips venom.
Nolan’s fists tighten until his knuckles crack.
I reach for him. He glances back at me — our silent language passing between us. He exhales sharply, then helps me stand. I move behind him, my fingers gripping the back of his jacket. His broad shoulders block me from view, from the stares, from him.
"Oh, come on, little omega..." the alpha sneers, voice low and cruel. "Surely alpha dick is better than—"
A sickening crunch cuts him off.
The sound echoes. Followed by the thud of a body hitting the ground.
Lavender.
Jack.
He’s here.
My heart lurches, shame burning through me. I can’t even bring myself to look up, to meet his eyes.
I stay hidden behind Nolan’s back, trembling, wishing the floor would just open and swallow me whole.