Omega's Folly - Signed Paperback

With an arranged marriage awaiting him back home, Eli has come to visit his favorite small town for the summer one last time. However, he never expected to find his true mate, especially in the handsome Alpha with the green eyes.

Now Eli must choose between an easy life back home where he’s forced to be someone he isn’t, or a life with Nathan, the barista making his coffee each morning. As much as he knows he shouldn’t keep going after Nate, he can’t help himself. Something inexplicable is drawing them together. But when Eli’s fiance shows up, all hell breaks lose.

Will he choose what's expected of him or will he follow his heart?

TROPES: standalone, arranged marriage, hurt/comfort, alpha wolf, forbidden love, found family, strict roles, and hea.

Chapter One:
Finally, a rest stop. I’d been driving down the highway for hours, needing to pee for at least the last twenty-five miles. I was about to just pull over and jog into the woods, but the road provided just in time. Pulling into the parking lot, I parked in front of a faux log building, the roof peaks filled with glass to make the glorified bathroom look fancier. I wasn’t sure why Michiganders insisted on making everything look like log cabins, but that’s what it was. It was almost charming, a definite contrast to the adobe and harsh modern buildings I was used to out west.
I was out of my truck and jogging up the sidewalk. As soon as I walked through the door, I was overwhelmed with the scent of cleaners and urinal cakes, not to mention everything that went along with it. I forced my wolf's senses back, blocking out as much of it as possible. Rounding the corner into the men’s bathroom, I saw half the urinals were occupied. Not wanting to whip my dick out next to a stranger, I took the open stall at the far end, slamming the door behind me.
Relieving myself, I tipped my head back, closing my eyes. It had been a long fucking drive, to say the very least. I’d spent the past three days in my car and was sore from head to toe. Standing up for a few moments was enough to remind me how stiff I was. Still, it was worth getting away for a few weeks. Things were getting a little too heavy back home, work was sucking me dry, and I needed to get out of there for a bit. Of course, I was still going back at the end of the summer, but for now, I could forget about it. My life of obligations was behind me for a moment, and I would relish it for as long as I could.
I finished up and started tucking my dick away just as a slight movement caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Glancing that way, I saw a hole cut into the side of the stall. My heart began to race immediately as I stared, knowing fully what it was. The edges had been duct taped to keep off splinters, and graffiti was plastered all around it. There were names of men listed with phone numbers, telling people to ‘call them for a good time’ or listing how many times they’d gotten off in that stall thanks to the glory hole. I looked down at myself, my cock still hanging from my pants.
The thought was intriguing, although I had no idea how to ask someone to do what I was thinking of. My dick didn’t seem to care as it lengthened and grew hard, anyway. But I was no fool. Sticking my cock through a mysterious hole was an excellent way to end up hurt. The person on the other side might not like that, and it would be all too easy to make me regret it. But then again… if they wanted to suck me off… they could. Or maybe they’d turn around and ride me, milking my cock with their tight ass.
Then again… if I was really lucky, maybe I’d be the one who’d get to ride one.
There was a flash of movement beyond the hole, and I audibly gasped, my hand going to my mouth. A long moment passed, nothing but the sound of my heart drowning out my senses. Just when I started to breathe again, I saw another hint of movement. A second later, a thick half hard cock slid through the hole, balls and all.
I stared, open-mouthed, at the perfect opportunity in front of me. It was almost like the guy on the other side of the wall had read my thoughts. For a long moment, I just stood there. But then, almost reflexively, I took a step forward. I’d never been this close to any dick besides my own. My wolf senses kicked back in, the pheromones in the air filling my nose. They were pungent and masculine, so much different from the women I’d been with throughout my life. The guy was definitely human and some sort of mechanic. I could smell the stale cigarette smoke and motor oil on his clothing. Even with all that, I was so mesmerized by his girthy rod that I could barely think.
Reaching out a hand, I trailed one finger down the shaft of his dick, feeling it pulse under my touch. I thought about kneeling down right there and taking him in my mouth. It was something I’d been thinking about for years at this point. Not necessarily in a rest-stop bathroom, but it was discreet, at the very least. No one around here knew who I was, and nobody could see me. I could do whatever I wanted, what I’d been dreaming about since I was fifteen. All I had to do was get on my knees and start.
For years I’d been pushing this down, forcing myself to fuck women to look normal. My pack wasn’t precisely the accepting kind. In fact, we were harshly traditional. Men dated women. Women had pups and raised them while men got factory jobs. The old-fashioned family unit was the foundation of the pack, and its function was the most sacred of traditions. Eventually, my parents got tired of me not settling down and went to extreme lengths in conjunction with another family.
But I was away from all that now. That’s why I was on my way to Marquette in the first place. My cousin Leo was the Beta of a pack there, and I’d visited him as a younger adult. Now that I was nearly thirty and had no mate in sight, things had changed at home. This was my last chance to explore who I was before I went back for good. I’d kept it hidden for all those years, and now time was running out.
As stupid as it was, I’d hoped my first time with a guy would at least take place in a more pleasant setting that didn’t stink of piss.
A rapping on the side of the stall startled me; my hand flew back to my side as I took a step back.
“Hurry up, bitch,” the man on the other side growled. “Suck it or get the fuck out.”
His voice was gruff and mean. Although I had nothing to fear from a human that might pick a fight with me, something about his tone kicked my common sense back into gear. Not to mention, the smell of him was starting to make me go soft. I hated the scent of mechanic garages, and cigarettes were disgusting. No, I finally realized that I wanted nothing to do with him.
Tucking my dick away and buttoning my pants, I pushed my way out of the stall. Another man was leaning against the wall just outside as I approached the sink. He barely looked at me as he went inside. In the mirror, I watched him get down on his knees, immediately slurping up the cock sticking out of the wall with the door wide open for all to see. The water barely touched my hands before I headed out of the bathroom. I had sanitizer in the car. That would have to do.
I’d barely sat down in the driver’s seat and pulled my door shut before two police vehicles pulled into the spaces next to me. The cops got out of their SUVs, clearly here to use the rest stop themselves. I watched as they meandered into the building, conversing back and forth. Once inside, they took the corner and disappeared into the men’s bathroom. My heart raced at the thought of what they’d find and what would happen to the men doing it. They’d probably be arrested or at least ticketed. It might even go on their permanent record, which would be public information anyone could access.
If I’d done what I wanted to, following my sex-starved cravings, it could have ruined my life. My pack could have found out, maybe even my parents. I would have been driven out, labeled an outcast, and banished from my home forever if it had been any other pack. But that’s not how things worked back home. My uncle, the asshole he was, liked telling this story about a wolf he knew growing up in the seventies. He called him all sorts of terrible names that I couldn’t bear to repeat. Needless to say, the other wolves spent a lot of time beating him up because they thought he was gay.
Then one day, out of the blue, the kid just up and disappeared. Nobody asked questions, nobody went to the police or the pack Alpha, and nobody bothered to remember his name. But my uncle… well, he loved to tell that story as often as he could, with a prideful grin. There was no proof of foul play, though, and there never would be. I hated my uncle and how happy he seemed that the other wolf had gone missing. Needless to say, going against the grain wasn’t something tolerated in my pack.
And that’s why nobody could find out about me. It was why I had to run so far away just to get a summer to myself. And it was why, when the summer ended, I was going back home to the fiance my parents had picked out for me. It didn’t matter how far I went. If word ever got back home about me… well, I was terrified of what might happen.
My phone buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts as I crept through the parking lot. I pulled off into a parking spot for a moment. I glanced down at the screen, seeing the name that filled me with anxiety. It was from my fiance, the one I’d never wanted to begin with.

Sarah: Hey Eli! I hope your trip is going well! Let me know when you get there. I want to make sure you made it to Marquette in one piece. It’ll be a long summer without you.

Ugh… Sarah. She was every straight wolf’s wet dream. Her family was even more traditional than mine, which was horrifying to think about. I’d watched them manipulate her into being everything they thought a woman should be, which meant she had almost zero personality and no free will. At least, not anymore. She had some when we were young, and we’d become best friends in grade school. But by high school, she’d taken on a different form. In fact, I could almost pinpoint the moment it had happened, our freshman homecoming, when she’d gotten mouthy with her parents at the football game. I’d heard rumors, but she never admitted what had happened that night. Considering she had a black eye the next day at school, I could only assume the worst. And soon, she would barely speak about anything that wasn’t about being a good wife.
From birth, she’d been trained to cook, clean, make herself pretty, and say ‘yes sir’ to any decent request a man asked her. It was disgusting, and I could barely stand to look at her sometimes, the sassy best friend I’d known all but dead inside her. The guilt I felt for her was immeasurable, but she was so brainwashed that I doubted she’d see the light even if it struck her full in the face. It was a horrifying transformation to watch.
My only consolation for marrying her was that I could keep her away from other guys in the pack that would use and abuse her. She may not get the perfect husband with me, but at least she wouldn’t just be a piece of meat. The best friend I knew was gone, but I still respected and cared for her. That was a lot more than she’d get with anyone else. I felt responsible for saving her since I’d been powerless to stop whatever happened back in school. If my life was going to be dictated by others, this would be my one good contribution to the world, something they couldn’t take away from me or force down with their nonsense.
Picking up my phone, I started to type back to her.

Me: I’m almost there. I’ll let you know when I get settled.

I paused for a moment, not sure how to respond to her last sentence. Eventually I sighed, my fingers padding across the screen.

Me: I’ll miss you too. Try to have a nice time while I’m gone. It’s only for a few weeks.

Sarah: I’ll make sure to keep a smile on my face just for you. I love you.

I rolled my eyes. Love me? She’d barely spoken to me since high school twelve years ago. We’d been on three supervised dates so far, and none of them had yielded any real conversation. But her parents had ordered her to love me, and like an obedient woman, she did just that. It made my stomach turn sour.
And yet, I had to reply in kind. I had to keep up appearances. The last thing I wanted was someone flying out to Marquette to collect me.

Me: Love you too.