While he waited, he ate the leftover scrambled eggs. He tucked his dirty clothes into a concealed laundry hamper at the back of Linus’ closet, which was also where he hid his thin bedding during the day.
Sometimes, he thought about renting an apartment in this building instead of secretly living in his omega’s home. But none of the surrounding units were available for rent. All the unoccupied units were too far away; Storm needed to be close to Linus to make sure he was safe.
And so he slept under Linus’ bed at night, the closest he could get to his omega without touching him.
He filled his travel mug with water and pulled out his laptop, his thoughts moving on to the tasks he still had to complete.
Except a key slid into the front door.
Storm froze, his heart thudding.
Linus wasn’t supposed to be home early. He had a lecture at 5PM, and Storm had planned on heading back to the college to accompany him home.
The bedroom still smelled like musk. The shower was still wet. And the stew hadn’t been carefully hidden away.
It didn’t matter what Storm had or hadn’t done, though.
The door opened.
4
THE MYSTERIOUS ALPHA
Linus staggeredup to his front door, his head pounding.
What was going on? He had been fine this morning. Then he had felt steadily worse throughout the day—a headache, a telling prickle at the back of his throat. Moments of dizziness.
By his third class, he had to clutch his desk to keep himself upright. His throat felt like it had been scraped raw. His head seemed to contain a huge drum that someone kept pounding on.
He fumbled with the key at his front door, struggling to insert it.
With the door unlocked, he struggled again to get the key back out. Black spots danced in his vision.
It took too much effort to get the door open. Linus stumbled in and pressed his forehead against the cool wall.
“Professor, I can expl—What happened to you?”
There was someone in his apartment.
Linus barely had the strength to panic. He cracked his eyes open.
And there, in a tank top and sweatpants, was the alpha from earlier.
In his home.
Linus squinted, certain that he was hallucinating. “What are you doing here?”
“Never mind me. Are you okay? You don’t look okay.”
Linus shook his head. If this was a figment of his imagination... Well, it could be worse. This alpha was handsome and clever. Linus already trusted him because of his laid-back presence in his classes.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” the alpha said, leaning closer.
“Head hurts,” Linus rasped. “Throat too.”
“Fuck. C’mon, sit down. I’ll get you some meds.”
Strong hands grasped Linus’ shoulders, gently pulling him away from the wall. They guided him forward one step at a time. When his legs bumped against the couch, the hands turned him around, helping him sit.
