“Class, we’ll be dividing into groups for our first project. Please change desks accordingly.”
Ned couldn’t believe his luck when he was put into the new omega’s group.
Ezer.
Ezer Fersee, the teacher had called him. Which meant that he was one of George Fersee’s four omega sons. Ned’s heart convulsed with joy. Fersee was in the peerage, too. They were of the same class. That meant whatever Ned was feeling every time he saw Ezer? It wasn’t completely hopeless.
Still, he couldn’t bring himself to speak to Ezer, and the omega didn’t speak to him either. They sat in the same group of four and worked on the project in silence, though Ned couldn’t help but notice Ezer never wrote anything down. He contributed his thoughts in a confident, quiet voice, and the rest of the group put them onto paper.
At one point, Ezer dropped his chewed-up pencil on the floor, and Ned stooped to pick it up. Lifting his head, he beheld the wide, sky-blue beauty of Ezer’s eyes, and his heart pounded so violently he felt lightheaded and dumb. Too lightheaded to speak as he’d passed the pencil back to Ezer’s delicate-looking fingers.
Embarrassed, and sure everyone around him knew what effect Ezer had on him, Ned tried to bury himself in his textbook, feigning a sudden dedication to their project, when he just needed time to figure out why his blood was rushing so hard and, despite taking deep breaths, he still felt dizzy. Was he developing asthma?
“You need to stay away from him,” Braden said over lunch, sneering as he picked out the direction of Ned’s gaze. They sat with a redheaded alpha named Riley, also new to the school. Braden had befriended him a few days before, and his father was a supplier for Finch’s father’s business.
“Huh?” Ned tore his eyes away from where Ezer was picking at his sandwich and soup. “Stay away from who?”
“That cocksleeve,” Braden said, using the crudest term possible, one reserved for an omega of exceedingly low class and breeding, if not an outright prostitute.
“He’s George Fersee’s son,” Ned said, blinking in confusion. “You can’t call him that.”
“I can actually,” Braden said with a smirk. “And you would too if you knew.”
“If I knew what?”
“Everything I know.”
“And what do you know?”
Braden shrugged. “Plenty.”
Riley piped up between crude bites of his ham sandwich. “Rumor has it he’s a transfer from St. Hauers Academy.” He lifted an auburn brow.
Ned blinked. St. Hauers was a school for omegas with severe learning difficulties—Braden and Finch had uglier words for it.
Braden’s lips twisted up in a hateful smile. “Ah. See? So he’s stupidanda whore cocksleeve’s son, making him a cocksleeve himself. Like I said.”
Riley frowned. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“Well, I would.”
Riley shrugged, but something about the way his face changed made Ned think he wouldn’t be sitting with their group in the future. Smart of him.
Braden went on. “Besides, we know all about him and his da.”
“Do we?” Finch said, lifting his brows at Ned. “He clearly doesn’t.”
“He doesn’t need to, either. Look, Ned, stay away from him,” Braden commanded like he was the boss of him. “You’re too good to wet your dick with that filth.”
Ned gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to “wet his dick” with anyone. That wasn’t what he wanted from Ezer.
Riley caught Ned’s eye. “He’s not very handsome anyway.” He seemed confused by Ned’s interest and the other alphas’ nasty warnings. He ticked things off on his fingers: “Not bright, not handsome. Rich, sure, but that just means he won’t die a virgin.” Riley looked pained to have to admit these things. “I’ve heard some of those greedy jerks talking about him and what he’s worth.” He nodded toward a table of middle-class alphas Ned’s peers spurned. “They’re plotting for him.”
Of course they were. They’d be happy to take on a “less attractive,” “less intelligent” omega for the chance at status and money. And George Fersee had both.
Ned wasn’t immune to the lure of status and money either. His father had run through all his inheritance ages ago and constantly asked Ned for access to the funds Heath had set aside for Ned and his future.
Marrying an omega from the Fersee family would put an end to his father’s money worries. But Ned didn’t plan to marry until well after college, once he could afford to buy the heat of a quality omega. One who would hopefully have eyes like Ezer Fersee.
