Chapter Text
Chapter 1
It started how every romance novel is supposed to start.
With two people meeting in a coffee shop.
It's cliché.
But that's probably the only thing in this story that is.
It was the smell of freshly roasted beans and the steaming of milk that warmed her senses in the early morning commute of a Tuesday morning. The gentle chatter as people waited for their respective orders to be called was a light buzz over the deafening roar of grinders and foaming milks.
"Flat White?"
She moved without thinking. Her hand was about to close around the cardboard cup, she didn't expect her knuckles to bump into someone else's.
"I'm so sorry," Emily apologised instinctively as she stepped to the side. Let it be said her mother raised a polite southern girl.
"My mistake," The gravelled tone of the woman made her look at the poor soul she had collided into. The woman in question was tall, a full head and a half taller than Emily herself who stood at a measly 5'2. Along with being tall she was thin, in a lithe muscular way, her dark blonde locks pulled into a loose bun at the base of her neck showing her tan neck and chiselled features.
"Flat White?" The barista's bored tone pulled Emily from admiring the woman, because well she was beginning to stare and staring was rude.
"I'm - uh- sorry for stealing your coffee," Emily repeated her earlier words as she pushed her own auburn hair from her face.
A one sided smile tugged at the corner of the woman's lips as she poured the sugar in the cup, "an honest mistake." There was a one shoulder shrug to match the smile. "Besides, who has a single train of thought at 7.30am."
Definitely not Emily, who was nodding stupidly along with this tall stranger.
"Anyway," the woman looked on with a glance at the clock on the wall. "It was nice talking to you."
Emily gave a small wave as she watched the woman adjust the leather strap of her bag and walk out.
Now this is the point in the story where a normal narrator would tell you that Emily's real fascination was on how beautiful the woman was or how they repeatedly saw one another (the latter will happen later) but no, that isn't this tale. This tale is a little different.
Emily's fascination was on how beautiful the woman was, she was in a Jill Scott kind off way but more strikingly, the woman was an alpha.
The world was typically broken up into select groups, the binary, male/ female, heterosexual. But that also included a dynamic. A characteristic inbuilt into the brain that meant there were certain reactions, emotions, scents. Yeah, the way they have a smell to specific groups too. As with every modern society we'll start at the top.
Alpha's. 75% are male, strong, protective, leaders. 15% female.
Next were beta's a mix between the two sexes. Calm, level headed, often the most relaxed of everyone in a heated situation.
And lastly, Omega's. 75% women, there was still a disparity on whether society had influenced the enhanced number of females in the dynamic or not. Often seen as nurturing, welcoming, gentle souls. Whilst Emily fell in this dynamic, she hated that she presented this way.
Back to Emily and her fascination with this tall tanned stranger was linked to her dynamic, as previously stated, alpha women were normally 15% of their dynamic which makes up 17% of the world population, which translated to rare. Emily had never come across a female alpha before, nor were they a particularly encouraged topic of conversation growing up.
Growing up, Emily was kept to her lane, after all women were 90% likely to be omega's or beta's. Emily had fallen into the former category when she was 13. Both her brothers were alpha's, one a state footballer the other a manager within her fathers company. Both respected and authoritative. What true alpha's were meant to be. Emily had been the curve ball their family didn't need. After watching her brothers succeed a little too well, despite her omega dynamic she had demanded to go to college. It had taken months of convincing until her father had caved. He had caved but with a number of conditions, she was to go to a college with her friend, so someone could watch out for her. That would be Madi, Emily's closest friend. And to study a course that wasn't too outlandish. Her heart had already been set on Art History and here she was several years later, in her grad school. And in those several years she had never come across a female alpha. At all. And now here she was, taking up space in Emily's brain as she walked into the art history offices of the history building. She could imagine her mother huffing at her fixation, that it wasn't polite nor healthy. Emily was inclined to agree.
Walking into her small office which she shared with two others. She found a familiar face thumbing through his phone.
"If you're not careful you'll stick your thumb through the screen," Emily teased as she unpacked her bag for the day.
"I was about to call you," He said without looking up, his blonde brows drawn tightly together. "I have a dilemma."
Emily hid her smile behind her coffee cup. "Of course you do."
Jason was her only other close friend at the college. She had inadvertently made an irreplicable friend when they were in their second semester and were paired together on understanding the dynamic renaissance of the 12th century French masterpieces. They had been largely joined at the hip ever since.
"I have a date with that soccer player tonight at 8," Jason explained, chewing his thumb in deep thought.
"I'm still waiting on your dilemma?"
"I need to find somewhere to go."
"You know I don't know anywhere around here," Emily shrugged, he knew this and it wasn't new information to the omega in front of her.
"I'm well aware of that, Grandma," Jason huffed, setting his phone down. "I need to work out where to go to decide on my theme."
"Theme?"
"Yes, theme. Is it a ‘coffee shop get to know me’ situation or is it a club? You know a, ‘get ready to fuck me till I can't walk straight’ situation?"
"Why beat about the bush?"
"Well that was my thought, you see, but some alphas are put off by the confident type," He jabbered on, oblivious to her blush at the crassness of his thoughts.
"You can't still be embarrassed about sex," Jason teased as he cottoned on to her blush. Leaning against her desk, she looked up at his gleeful gaze.
"I'm not embarrassed."
Jason didn’t miss a beat. "Then, why are you blushing?"
"Because you talk about it like you’re going to get groceries."
"Because that's exactly what it's like," Jason snarked, waving his painted nails in a flourish. “I mean aubergine, cucumber-”
“Please stop,” Emily groaned with a roll of her eyes. “All I’m saying is that maybe you don’t sleep together on the first date?”
"Why?” Jason asked, raising a thin eyebrow. “Are you telling me you didn't want to rip Matt's pants off on the first date?"
"No, I didn’t," Emily sighed in irritation. "And we're fine."
"Fine?" The condescending tone never left.
"Yes."
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"Friday," she felt smug for all of five seconds.
“And?” Jason challenged, his eyes alight with the prospects of her words.
Emily for all her vices wasn’t a newbie when it came to gossips, like her friend, so she shrugged. She could be nonchalant. “And nothing.”
“Nothing?” Jason repeated. Emily gave a hum to confirm that yes, nothing happened. Mainly because nothing did happen. She remained focussed on her computer, logging on getting her paper open.
She could see him out of the corner of her eye, his own eyes narrowed. "Really?" Jason squinted. "Nothing happened?"
Emily should have known he wouldn't drop it. She turned to him, her chin propped on her hand. "Nothing happened, Jas. We made out a bit. We watched a movie, he left. That's it."
Matt Clark was a nice enough PoliSci Grad. This would have been the third month of seeing him and she was quickly losing interest in him. Her brother had set them up which should have been red flag number one but she had persevered on. He was the perfect southern gentleman that her mother would love. He was just a bit boring with little interest in anything she shared. She found when she was speaking about dynamic politics, he was dismissive. A call back to her own family's beliefs a little too closely. So, she was distancing herself as much as she could without being rude.
"So we're going to give Matt a miss, that's cool," Jason shrugged, moving back to his chair opposite her. "I'll inform Madi."
Emily suppressed her smile the best she could. Jason was her closest friend alongside Madi. Jason, her thin very gay omega best friend, was the rebellion in her. Or so Madi teased. He stood for everything her family was against. Outspoken, flamboyant. His painted nails and bright bleach blonde hair was only the tip of Jason's rebellion against the binary. Madi was much more subtle in her rebellion. Like Emily she had grown up in Franklin, a small conservative town in between Atlanta and Columbus. They had been friends since they were in preschool, Madi's father worked with Emily's own on and off for years and their parents moved in the same social circles like her other friends. Her other friends who were currently still in Franklin and blowing up her phone.
"Is that the pack?" Jason asked without looking up. "Are they missing their partner in crime?"
Emily only rolled her eyes. It was her friends, all omega's except Madi, the odd one out who had presented as a Beta. Emily's surprised she didn't get out of the friend circle with that excuse but Emily wondered if she knew too much that it would be damaging for Chantelle to let her go. Emily wondered what they would make of her interaction this morning, likely clutching their pearls in horror.
"Can I ask you something?" Emily put to her more liberal friend sat across from her.
Jason hummed in agreement, his fingers darting over the keyboard.
"Have you ever met a female alpha?" Emily asked, her voice wavering with caution.
He turned slowly in his seat. His eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"I met one this morning in the coffee shop."
Jason slowly nodded, clearly trying to find the underlying question. When he didn't find one, he sat back, shrugged and said, "Sure I've met them. They’re normal people like the rest of us."
It was woefully unhelpful. Her curiosity at someone she had never encountered before peaked. She dropped the subject and went back to grading the papers in front of her. Emily hoped throughout the day her curiosity would lessen instead it only peaked. When she hit a roadblock with a student's paper citing a book she knew was in the library she headed out to find it. As fate would have it, she didn't find the book in its designated area.
"You haven't come to steal my book too have you?" Of course she would be here. Emily chewed her lip as she looked down at the tall woman, sat on the floor, with long legs sprawled across the aisle. Beside her a pile of several books sat stacked.
"Not unless you have the one I need," As she spoke the teasing words, her eyes found the pale blue cover. The tall woman stood and blue eyes found her own. Shaking herself before she got herself lost in them, she stuck her hand between them. "I'm Emily, by the way."
"I must have your book," Dimples flashed for a second. "I'm Kate."
Emily let the gentle laugh escape her before wrapping her arms around herself. "You actually do."
A laugh fully escaped the woman as she turned to the two large piles. "I knew it. Which one?"
"The 17th century women in art" Emily pointed and Kate grinned, pulling the book from the pile.
"What no-" Emily protested as the book was placed in her outstretched hands. "You're using it, I can just wait till you're done."
She couldn’t, she needed it for the end of the week to make sure the students were citing it correctly.
"It's ok, I was just using it for light reading. I don't need it," Kate admitted, scooping up the remaining books.
"Thank you."
Kate smiled politely, "It's alright you can buy me coffee next week in return."
Emily wasn't sure if she was teasing or not but she couldn't finish her work without the book, so she could sacrifice $3 for a coffee. "You're on."
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