Page 74 of Daughter of Garnet

It takes a minute for my brain to catch up. "What?"

"Hands and knees."

There's a moment where I think I may deny him, but it's gone in a flash, my dragon surprisingly quiet as I move into the position he demanded. I've barely gotten my bearings when his feet hit my back. He doesn't place them carelessly or with too much gusto, holding most of the weight off of me, but he's using me as a footstool all the same.

"I thought Omegas were supposed to be protected, revered." The strength I wished filled my voice is nowhere to be found. Instead, my words sound almost like a whine.

"They are. But you want to be treated like a Beta."

"You'd use a Beta as a footstool?"

I don't look at him, choosing to keep my eyes trained on the floor so I don't have to see his smug expression. "Betas do what they have to to calm an Alpha down. Maybe it's this, maybe it's cuddling, maybe it's washing the Alpha's hair. It depends on the beast."

"And your beast wants you to treat me like this?" It doesn't make sense to me. My dragon wants him and his beast terribly, knowing who he is to us. Why would his sabertooth allow him to treat me like this?

A small sound of distress escapes him before he clears his throat. "My beast isn't the one in control here."

There it is. A crack. Dominic and his beast are not in sync. If I were a better student, maybe I'd know how to exploit it, but right now all I can do is hope that his beast will soon overpower him.

"Why does it offend you so much that I didn't tell you the truth?" I've been wondering it from the beginning. He has felt like he deserves my secrets, but he has done nothing to earn them. "Can you not understand why, now that you've seen what I am, who Blessed me, I would need to keep it a secret?"

"No, I can't."

My elbows start to shake even though he's not putting his full weight on me, but I will not speak out about it or admit weakness.

"If I could have told you, I would have, but Ilota asked me to keep it a secret."

His book hits the tabletop. "She spoke to you?"

"Yes. Do you think I chose this? That it was my idea to hide what I am? You have to see how this is harder than just accepting that I'm an Omega and getting the support that comes with such a huge change." The pressure of his boots lifts from my back, and I don't wait to be told I can sit up. My knees are so sore that kneeling isn't an option, but I stay on the floor, crossing my legs and looking up at the dark-eyed Alpha.

"I could've helped you."

I scoff. "You still could, but you're not. You're making things worse."

His features grow stormy. "Yeah, well, you're a liar, bunny. And I don't entertain liars."

"Oh, did your mother lie to you and tell you that the presents that appeared during the Summer Solstice were from Kashmyre himself, and you felt betrayed when you found out that wasn't the case?"

At my words, his eyes grow stormy and his expression perfectly blank. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"How can you claim to be my Alpha and punish me for this?"

"I'm not your Alpha, Zoe. And I never will be."

For the third time since I met him, Dominic leaves me behind, hurt and nearly broken on the floor.

And I'll be damned if there is a fourth.

CHAPTER 36

Zoe

It's been weeks since I've heard from Ilota, and I am starting to get antsy. I have no idea what I need to do for her. I feel like I am in a holding pattern, and if I weren't acutely aware of my dragon, I'd be convinced that this has all been a bad dream.

Cliff nudges my foot under the table. "You're not eating."

I look down at my plate, the pasta having lost its appeal three bites ago. "I'm not hungry."