The engagement period between an omega and an alpha was a somewhat complicated situation. Because of their traditions and the history of conflicts between the different packs that exist, before celebrating a wedding that unites an omega and an alpha, a long period of courtship must take place, to make sure that the two were compatible, and furthermore, that the omega was a worthy and pure mate for an alpha.
In their society, there are three types of genders: alphas, betas, and omegas. Most people are betas, ordinary people, who have no pheromones and cannot sense them. Above the betas are the alphas, powerful beings with strong pheromones, who are destined for greatness. And below the betas, as the weakest beings in society, are the omegas, delicate and sweet beings, who serve only to be the companions of the alphas, with whom the alphas can bond, and who have sweet pheromones that attract both betas and alphas to them.
In the past, when all the packs were at war and everything was in chaos, those who suffered the most were the omegas. Being so delicate and defenseless, they were easy prey for any beta or alpha who wanted to take them and abuse them. So during these wars, many omegas were abused and branded, something that took away their only value to society, as an impure omega has no value to an alpha, and due to the aftermath of the wars, courtship periods were created.
Before a wedding between an omega and an alpha, there is a period in which both the alpha and the omega spend time together, getting to know each other, and approving the other as their life partner. This is because a wedding between an omega and an alpha is not like a wedding between betas, since when an omega and an alpha married, they were to bond for life, to become mates, so both the alpha and the omega must be sure that they want to marry their fiancé since if they both get along badly, after their wedding there will be no escape but death to their union.
Because of this, the courtship periods are not only done to find out if the newly betrothed couple is a good match for each other, but also as a test, in which the alpha must check if the omega is pure and virtuous, to find out whether or not it is worth marrying his betrothed. While the omegas do not have as much say in the engagement since even if they do not like her betrothed, they must marry the alphas out of obligation to their parents and their pack. The courtship period was created so that an alpha could know if omega was a virgin and submissive enough to accept the betrothal, and in that society, omegas could not have a voice or a vote in their fate, only being able to bow their heads and silently accept their fate being decided by others.
But in more optimistic situations, as was most often the case, all alphas and omegas understood the importance of the courtship period. So omegas had to strive to make their best impression for their alpha, proving that they were pure and virtuous beings, as it was their obligation to marry. While the alphas only had to decide if the omega's personality and appearance seemed right to them, since if the omega had a difficult character or was unattractive, they could reject them and choose a new mate. Because a rejected or tainted omega had a terrible reputation, so if it was known that they had been rejected in a courtship period, it was unlikely that they would be able to get a new marriage proposal. An alpha could seek a new mate if he didn't like the omega to whom he had been engaged, but if an omega was discarded his hopes for marriage were most likely over for good.
And under those conditions, all alphas and omegas sought to obtain a profitable engagement and marriage, since a good marriage could be the best alliance between families, to obtain more wealth or a better position in the herd. In Alexis' society, it seemed that love between an omega and an alpha meant nothing, and was only a means of exchange for more important things.
In this way, Naiya, who was Alexis' younger sister, had obtained a profitable engagement with the omega son of a powerful family from a distant herd, the Kuznetsov family. They came from a city on the other side of the mountains, near the cold northern beaches, from a city that Alexis had never heard of but seemed to be very powerful. Through letters, Alexis' father got that juicy engagement for Naiya, and finally, after several months of waiting, the engagement had been accepted by the omega's family, and the courtship period began that way.
The Romanov family, which was where Naiya and Alexis came from, was a generally alpha family, all their ancestors had had those characteristics, and they were always the leaders of the city and their pack. But just as there are families of alphas, there are also families of omegas, such as the Popov family, which is the family where Maddie comes from, which is a family that generally has omegas. And likewise, the Kuznetsov family was a family of omegas, and it was the family that Naiya's fiancé came from.
So as profitable as the reunion and marriage of his sister with the Kuznetsov family could be, Alexis as the leader of his pack had to take care of that union, since it meant a strong and very important alliance between both cities, an alliance which Alexis could not waste and had to secure for his next projects. And although it seemed somewhat painful to him, Alexis could not procure his sister's happiness, for even if Naiya did not like her betrothed, she would have to marry for the sake of her city and her pack, and Alexis had to make sure of that.
"Do you think your sister has met her fiancé yet?" Maddie asked as they continued on their way in the direction of the Romanov mansion.
"I don't think so" Alexis answered truthfully: "Following the traditions of courtship time, she should meet her fiancé at dinner, when both of them should be introduced in front of their two families. And until we arrive the dinner won't start, so I don't think they have seen each other so far."
"I hope not, I really want to see your sister and her fiancé meet for the first time, it's surely going to be something very romantic..."
Maddie could tell she was very excited about Naiya's new engagement, like any omega, Maddie was very excited about weddings and new engagements, so she wanted to see the whole process of the courtship period for herself, hoping to see the new "love story" emerge of Naiya and her fiancé.
"I don't know if it will be romantic, but I guess it will be interesting" Alexis replied.
That was the first courtship period Alexis would be able to witness as a spectator, as not including his own courtship period with Maddie, Alexis had never been able to see the courtship period and all the ceremonies between an alpha and an omega, so she also couldn't deny that he was curious about it.
After a couple more minutes traveling in their car, driving through the streets outside the city, they finally arrived at the Romanov mansion, the mansion of Alexis' parents. That was one of the oldest houses in the city, a historical monument, with large gardens full of cherry trees, with its white facade and a house of traditional architecture, the whole mansion was striking for its big size, in which there were many rooms and wide spaces.
The Romanov's house had its history since in past times it was the home of the whole pack, when they settled in that place, Alexis' ancestors built such a big mansion intending to have the whole pack living together, since at that time because of the wars and all the social problems that existed, the best thing was to stay united to survive.
But over time, when the hostilities between the different packs ended and everything began to modernize, the herd that led the Romanov family began to leave the mansion, building their homes in what was the city that everyone knew today. And so, over the years, the mansion came under the ownership of the Romanovs as their home, being a symbol of their power and the history of the entire herd.
Getting out of the car and helping Maddie out as well, Alexis began to make his way inside the mansion, crossing the large gardens that surrounded their home, carrying along with Maddie the bottles of wine he had bought in town. Even though it was a small gathering, even from outside the mansion Alexis could already hear music and see all the lights on, surely his parents had prepared a large reception dinner for their guests.
Calmly opening the door to the mansion, Alexis let Maddie in first, then went inside himself and headed for the mansion's dining room, where all the dinner attendees were likely to be. However, upon arriving at the mansion's dining room, Alexis turned pale, stopping walking and staring ahead in disbelief.
Seeing her son and his fiancée enters the party, Alexis' mother quickly approached them, angrily claiming: "Where were you? Dinner should have started 20 minutes ago, I don't want to keep our guests waiting..."
"Excuse me Mrs. Inna, Alex and I entertained ourselves a bit buying gifts for the occasion," Maddie said with a smile, showing the bottles she and Alexis were holding.
"Still it was very reckless, this is a very special occasion, you should have been more careful with the timing," Inna said with annoyance, looking sideways at Alexis.
However, Alexis could no longer listen to his mother or heed her claims, for at the back of the room, near one of the dining room windows, Alexis saw that omega, the boy who always haunted his thoughts. Like a ghostly vision, the young man with golden eyes and brown hair was looking at the moon, but even with his back turned Alexis could recognize him, it was the omega of his dreams.
Alexis finally had in front of him the person he had hurt the most in his life, but whom he could never forget.
Feeling panicked, Alexis leaned against one of the walls in disbelief, trembling slightly at the terrible scene he had just experienced. Alexis couldn't believe it, even though he had seen it with his own eyes, he absolutely refused to believe that the omega was in his house.How was it possible for him to be there? Alexis didn't remember much of the time when he met him, but he could be sure that the omega wasn't part of a family as respectable as the Kuznetsov's, he was just an ordinary omega, probably from a family of betas or something like that. But everything seemed to cloud in his head, as if Alexis wanted to block all the memories and experiences he had about that omega, not being able to remember clearly if he was a real nobody or if he really belonged to such an illustrious family.Amid all his confusion at seeing that omega, Alexis had begun to think he was hallucinating."Have you seen him yet, what he looks like, is he beautiful?" asked Naiya from a
He could still remember that omega, his soft scent of flowers, in the middle of that dark night and among the trees. How he had held his body, and how that delicate omega had placed his hands on the alpha’s cheeks looking into his eyes."I love you, Alexis..." Luka had whispered, looking into his eyes.Snapping back to reality, coming out of those memories that so disturbed his mind, Alexis looked down in embarrassment. He could remember everything about Luka now, those memories that his mind had so deeply repressed were now clear to Alexis. And in his hands, he could still feel Luka's delicate skin, the taste of his kisses, and that sweet flowery scent that wafted from his body when he released his pheromones. But now Alexis was no longer 17, and he couldn't appreciate the beautiful flower that omega had become, he had lost her chance to make things right with Luka long ago."I don't think it's profitable for an omega to drink alcohol" Alexis replied in a
Keeping silent at his mother's words, feeling very strange for what she had just told him, Alexis replied: "But mother, I don't understand, he is an omega from a very good family, from the family my sister's fiancé belongs to, how could someone like that be such a bad person?"Looking sideways at Alexis accusingly, Inna replied: "Even in good families, there are problems with rebellious children..."Feeling alluded to, Alexis lowered his gaze in shame. He didn't dare to criticize anyone for being rebellious with his parents or for having broken the laws since in his youth Alexis was a rebellious young man, who made his parents suffer a lot with his bad attitudes and bad decisions, so Alexis was the living proof that in the best families there can be bad people."In an alpha, a son being rebellious is not a cause of a big problem, after all, it is attractive to see strong and determined alphas, who do not submit for the laws or their parents, it means stre
Hearing his bold proposal, Alexis doesn't know what to answer him, should he refuse? Should he accept? Luka creates incredible confusion in the alpha's head just with a few simple words, and that's something the omega notices, bursting into laughter as he notices the confusion on the opponent's face."You can dream of doing that..." says Luka, turning back in the direction of the window.Taking courage, Alexis enters the study completely and closes the door behind him, then says: "The guest rooms are on the other side of the mansion down this same hallway, you shouldn't be here.""I'm not stupid, I know this isn't my room, I'm not lost.""Then why are you here?""Is it forbidden? Your mother said that the whole mansion is at my family's disposal, I could come to your room to throw myself on your bed if I feel like it" Luka says without losing his cool: "The right question is: why are you here?""It's my damn house, I'm the one who can be in
With a sigh, Nikolai stepped out of his car in front of the Romanov mansion. He had awakened very early in the morning to an alarming call from his cousin, who had invited him to meet at the family mansion to discuss an 'urgent' matter.Nikolai Romanov was the cousin of the pack's alpha, and the two had a close, but also somewhat complicated relationship. Nikolai was older than Alexis by a couple of months, and being a direct descendant of the family that led the pack, many people from birth wanted Nikolai to take over the pack and replace his cousin; Alexis was a beloved leader, but even beloved leaders have detractors.However Nikolai and his family never had any interest in power, and although it was debatable whether Nikolai was a stronger alpha than Alexis, the second alpha in the pack's line of succession preferred to have his own way. Nikolai aspired to become the general of the pack soldiers, to be the strongest alpha after the leader, and to stand out not only
He opened his eyes lazily, feeling his shoulder being tapped to wake him up. Not wanting to get out of bed, but knowing that he had already prolonged his time to sleep too long, Luka lazily got up, looking straight ahead at one of his servants, who in a smiling manner was trying to wake him up."What time is it Ivan?" asked Luka, stretching his arms and back slightly."Around noon sir, you'll have to hurry so you can leave with your mother and the other omegas to the city," Ivan said, noticing himself somewhat nervous."Hurry up? I don't see the need, let's take everything calmly..."With his usual relaxed and somewhat irresponsible attitude, Luka let his personal servant put a tray next to him on the bed, where he had his breakfast ready, prepared even several hours ago. But still taking it easy, Luka picked up his cup of coffee and took a leisurely sip.Standing by his bedside, not knowing how to rush him even though he had received direct orders
Still holding that image in his mind, that clear picture of those golden eyes, full of fury and resentment, Alexis thought he would die of embarrassment."Okay, enough, let's take a break."Opening his eyes at his cousin's words, Alexis tried to reply, "I'm fine, we can continue."Leaving the documents they were reviewing together at the city hall, Nikolai asked, "Really? Alex, you were falling asleep."No longer able to deny that he was exhausted, stifling a yawn, Alexis replied, "Okay, let's take a break.""It's already noon, let's get something to eat."It didn't matter if Alexis hadn't been able to sleep because of the worry he felt the night before, or if he was so worried that he couldn't stop thinking about Luka, no matter his situation, Alexis had to behave like the leader of the pack, and he had to do his chores around town without stopping.But that morning, because of that insane worry that consumed him, and because of the
Not being able to believe what he just heard, Alexis immediately refused: "I'm not going to do that.""You won't?" Luka asked making a face of slight sadness: "That's a shame... But well, I guess your family is going to enjoy knowing what kind of person you are, Alex.""Listen, what are you trying to get out of all this? If you want to have sex with me just say so, you don't have to go with so much spin if you want it.""Who said anything about sex?"Looking even more confused, Alexis said: "But you just asked me..."Smiling amusedly, Luka stood up from the edge of the window, and with calm steps approached the alpha, starting to walk around him, making Alexis slightly nervous, as if an alpha like him would be afraid of an omega like Luka."I find it funny how... You forget things so easily, how everything you lived by my side, everything you did to me has left your head so quickly" Luka whispered."What?" Alexis asked increasingly co