Micah

Seeing all of my items sitting outside my door when we arrived at my apartment would have been the icing on the cake for such a shitty situation. I tried to keep the tears from falling from my eyes. He only texted me a few days ago. He really didn’t give me any time to give him the payment. My stuff was wet, and all of the art supplies I had saved up and sold myself for just for it to be ruined. Everything I had worked so hard for was gone in just a blink of an eye. It was evident that people had picked through some of my items which made my stomach turn. 

What would have happened if I didn’t let Alistair take me to his place? Would the creep have entered my apartment while I was there, begging to be fucked by an alpha? He probably would have taken full advantage of me too. It was obvious that his eyes would roam my way when I would see him helping any of my neighbors out, and I just so happened to be doing something on my days off. 

I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket, scrolled down to his name, and pressed the button to call him. Alistair stood beside me, almost as if he were my bodyguard or some shit. The phone rang a few times before he picked up the phone. 

“Hello.” A scruffy man's voice answered the phone. 

“Why did you kick me out?” I tried to sound normal, but it was evident I was upset. I couldn’t hold back any longer. The tears of frustration, sadness, and anger trailed down my cheeks. “It's only been a week. I was in heat.” I ground my teeth together. 

“Look, I told ya, if ya late ya out. Ya didn’t pay on time, ya out. Had another omega lookin’ for a place, and he was willing to pay more in rent.” He said nonchalantly. Almost as if he didn’t just ruin my fucking life. “I could make arrangements for ya, though. I just need rent and a little somethin’ extra.” He said. 

My stomach sank, and I scrunched my face up in disgust. I would have thrown my phone through the window if I had the money to replace the phone, fuck the building, though. That sick bastard could replace the damn thing. I couldn’t believe that sick bastard really said that. Like, I’d do anything extra for his greasy ass. 

I pulled the phone from my ear, my hands were shaking, and my blood was boiling. I so badly wanted to lay down on my soaked mattress and cry. I didn’t even know what to do. I considered it possible but didn’t think it would happen right now. I closed my eyes, and my shoulders slumped forward. In that moment, I wanted to die. 

Nothing would fix this situation. 

Alistair placed his hand on my shoulder, breaking me from my thoughts. 

“Are you okay, Micah?” His yellow eyes met mine. His voice sounded like it was muffled, almost as if he were miles away from me. 

I didn’t know what to respond with. I, of course, was far from okay… 

I didn’t even have enough money to rent another apartment. I mean, I probably could get a hotel or something. 

“Micah.” Alistair’s voice brought me back to earth. My stomach was still knotted, and I was cold. “What happened?” He asked. 

“He kicked me out…” I managed to say through my tightened jaw. I was shivering from the shock of it all. 

“Let’s look through the items and see if there's anything salvageable.” He responded calmly. “At least you’re okay. That’s all that matters.” 

“You don’t get it,” I said through my clenched teeth. “That was all of my things.” I cried. The burning in my throat kept building more and more. “I’m an omega! I can’t just find a new place to live. No one is going to accept me!” 

“You can live with me–” He began, but I quickly cut him off. 

“So I can be your whore? I’d rather die.” I snapped. 

“We don’t need to do anything. Again, I’d prefer you were in a safe environment. I’m hardly home anyway. You’ll mostly be there by yourself. I work long days.” I began to laugh at his proposal. “Micah, I’m just trying to–” I raised my hand to stop him from whatever dumb shit he was about to say.  

“No. I will find somewhere else to go.” I replied, pulling myself away from him. The omega in me, though, was a stubborn bastard who wanted nothing but attention from the alpha. He wanted to smell Alistair’s scent, much like while I was in heat. To fight with my inner self to get down on my knees and rub my face all over his crotch, where his scent would be the most pungent, was one hell of a battle to fight. 

“At least let me see if I can–” He started. 

“I will be fine. Thank you for your help. Can you please just leave me alone for a moment to collect myself?” I asked quietly. 

“I’m only a phone call away, mouse,” Alistair replied. 

“Thanks,” I said. 

“Anytime, mouse. I’ll call you later. If you haven’t found accommodations by then, let me know. I promise you that you will have a place to stay with me. I have three other bedrooms in that place.” He said, and for once, I could tell he was being absolutely genuine with me. 

I closed my eyes and heard his steps retreating down the sidewalk and to his car. I waited until I heard his car leaving the area to drop down on my knees. 

I let out a cry is sadness or anger, and I didn’t know which one it was. I just knew I had no plans. I didn’t know where I could even go. 

I let myself have the moment of pity I deserved. I couldn’t control anything that was going on, and I was devastated more than I was when my parents kicked me out—more than when I was living on the streets. This was worse because I had worked so hard for everything I had. 

Once, I had collected myself and picked through everything to see if I could even salvage anything. I knew I could take my clothes to the laundromat and wash those, at least. But I only had the bag I had brought to Alistair’s. It looked like the rest had been picked through. 

Just looking at my stuff was depressing. 

It made me wish that I had taken Alistair on his offer to take me home with him. But I knew that would be admitting that everything wasn’t okay. That I didn’t know what my next step was. I tried calling Xari first, but he said that he and his mate were expecting a child soon, but he would see me at work the next day. 

“Where have you been?” Sherri’s honey voice answered the phone. 

“I was in heat. I’m sorry.” I apologized. 

“Well, I’m sorry, Micah, I had to find someone new to cover your shifts. You know the law….” She responded. And what a stupid law that was. Legally, I was allowed four days leave for a heat. Otherwise, my employer could fire me because a heat going longer than four days was practically unheard of. The question of whether she would let me stay with her while I apartment searched flew away, and I shook my head. Responding to my own thoughts. 

“So what was I supposed to do?” I asked. “Come to work in heat?” I swallowed. “I thought you were my friend.” 

“I am Micah, but you and I both know I can’t run the ship on a two-person team. I’m sorry. I’ll let you know when I have another position open.” She replied. 

“Whatever.” I put my hand to my chest and pulled the other that held my phone to my ear away, ending the call quickly. 

At that moment. I felt alone, much like when my parents kicked me out for being gay. I knew I would need to suck up my pride, and I tapped on Alistair’s name, waiting for it to dial him. I stared at the screen, feeling the phone vibrating while waiting for him to pick up. 

“This is Ace.” He said into the phone. 

“Please come back,” I begged. I could feel another round of tears brewing up. “I don’t have anywhere to go.” I could hear Alistair sigh in relief. 

“I’ll be there in a few, okay?” He said. “Just stay there, and we’ll see if there is anything that we can take back with us.” 

I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me currently. “Okay.” 

“Good. I’ll see you in a little, okay?” I hummed in response and ended the call. 

Maybe it was a crazy move to take someone on an offer when I hardly knew them. But maybe, just maybe, things would be okay. I couldn’t always hold onto the thought that everyone was bad if I didn’t even give them a chance. I was thankful I at least had one job and could contribute rent, so I didn’t have to think about the other means of payment, much like my old landlord had suggested. That was also something that Alistair and I could hash out at a later time. Maybe we would be able to live together amicably. 

I could only live in the now. I couldn’t live in the fear of “What ifs.”