Chapter Text
Jack sat in the café the family of his potential mate had chosen for their first meeting. It was nice enough, quiet. Not in one of the “scene” quarters of Flint so he was spared with the sight of hipsters or whatever those cool young people liked to call themselves nowadays. It was a safe neighborhood for Omegas to move around without having to fear an inappropriate meeting with an Alpha. Although no Omega left the house without at least one bulky Beta Bodyguard not more than a few feet away from them.
Jack ran a hand through his dark brown hair and let out a long sigh. He only had a picture of the girl, because she wasn't more than “a girl” in his mind with her 20 years, with him so that he would recognize her as soon as she walked through the door.
20, he thought, old for an unbonded Omega but he wasn't after a mate that was still stuck with one foot in the playground and would rather spend her time playing with dolls. He knew enough Alphas who suffered under infantile childwives. It brought only problems with it; dissenting world views, unmatching intellectual capacities, different expectations from the relationship, or even physical problems because they got pregnant while their body was still on their way to become the one of a woman.
Pedophelic preferences weren't uncommon amongst Alphas and unfortunately not very frowned upon, while it was a felony crime for Betas. Not really fair but that's what you got when the highest courts were staffed with Alphas only.
He wasn't after a childwife. They were not his cup of tea and she was probably happy that an Alpha had even agreed on meeting with her. This social trend for Omegas to be young and submissive to get a mate before their 18th birthday was disgusting. He remembered how he had been as an 18-year old and that person was so vastly different from the man he was now but for Omegas it wasn't the same. Another unfairness in their society that was due to the Alpha rate in political and juriditial top positions.
Jack let out another deep sigh and looked down to the photograph in his hands. So that was his future wife, mate, mother of his children, he thought. Honey blond hair, blue eyes, full lips, slightly curved nose. Her thick brows were beautiful on her, many others wouldn't be able to have them and still look feminine but she could. They gave her a strong, but all in all, classical beautiful look, yet the expression in her eyes spoke of a bright mind as well. Another point for her. On the back of the photograph her mother had written the girl's basic data:
Name: Grace Florentine Chasseur
Age: 20 years
Height: 5''5'
Weight: 130 lbs
It felt a bit like assesing a horse rather than thinking about the potential mother of his future children. He glanced at his silver black watch. Should she come on point he would still have to wait for a few minutes. Jack let his green eyes wander over the other people in the café. There weren't many there and most of them looked like him: Suit, standard haircut, shaved clean, and with designer glasses on the bridges of their noses. He could filter the Alphas from the successful Beta fairly easy. Not just because of their physical build but also from the way they carried themselves. Alphas sat straighter, squaring their shoulders more even without meaning to, constantly seeming in control of their surroundings.
He was one of them but he preferred to stay where nobody could analyse him like he did right now. It wasn't like he was shy but he had never been a very social individual. Not if he could avoid it, that was. As senior partner of his father's firm he was forced to socialize with way too many people already so in his little leisure time he preferred to be at home and alone. Well, if he was to get a mate after today that would be over. Well, every good thing had a bad side to it, right?
Suddenly a whiff of a sweet scent made him turn his head to the door. The other Alphas did the same and followed the movements of the young woman who had entered the café a second ago. She scanned the room from behind her catlike sunglasses and gave Jack a few additional moments to look her up and down. She wore black pants, baby blue high heels matching her flowery high-necked blouse and handbag. Her hair was up in a high bun, leaving her slender neck free. Dangerous in her position as an unclaimed Omega to walk into a café full of Alphas. Was she bold or stupid?
“May I sit down?” she asked and made him snap out of his thoughts, “You are Mr Hunter, aren't you?”
“I am, please sit.” Jack stood up and wanted to pull out the chair opposite from his for her, but Grace was too quick for his well-mannered gesture to unfold.
When they both sat across from each other they spend a minute just looking at the other intently. Had they seriously photoshopped her picture for him? He didn't remember noticing the little beauty mark a little bit under her left eye and one over it on her left temple.
“Disappointed?” she asked eventually, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her busty chest.
Jack pursed his lips without answering.
“Did my mother tell you about the things I wanted you to bring here today?”
He nodded and pulled out his favorite movie, record, and book.
“An odd request,” he muttered.
“Not really. We are suppose to spend the rest of our lives together and I already passed my expiration date. No time to lose.”
“You're 20 years old.”
“Too old for my mother's taste. In her mind I should already be pregnant with my second child,” Grace sighed and took a closer look at the items he had brought with him here: Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, the best of The Beatles, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
“Interesting,” Grace mumbled and flipped through the book. Jack couldn't say how many times he had read it but it must've been somewhere between 100 and 150 times. “And dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“Either you picked this book because you wanted to gauge my reaction to the motive of miscarriage and creating life from death or you actually like this book so much.”
“And why would gauging your reaction be considered dangerous?”
The left corner of Grace's mouth twitched upwards and fluttered with her eyelashes before she answered with a breathy voice, “A soft, fragile Omega could lose her mind just from the mere mention of death and losing one's child.”
Her face returned to the cold composed mask she had put on for this meeting. Her little act had a big impact on him. His chest felt tight, his hands itched to touch her soft skin, and he felt the overwhelming need to protect her. Jack clenched his jaw to keep himself from growling like a giant cat.
“My mother told me you are from a wealthy family. Well, of course, my mother would never give her little daughter to a random Alpha. But you seem to be rich enough to deserve the right of this conversation with me.”
“You are a very odd Omega,” Jack said and squinted his eyes when she didn't even react.
“You're a very quiet Alpha. I never got to talk that much when I met the other candidates.”
“How many did you meet?”
Grace looked to the side for a second. “I am not supposed to talk about other Alphas while I'm with you.”
“Says who? I asked, I would like an answer.”
“I met five Alphas before today.”
“And they didn't meet your expectations?” Jack was very interested in hearing what had been wrong with them ..and what he could do better. He wanted her on more than just an animalistic level.
“They just didn't fit. Someone who brings 50 Shades of Grey to a first meeting can't be a good mate.”
“That movie was awful.”
“Because the book was even worse,” she retorted with a snort. Jack smirked and leaned back more relaxed. She was smart and beautiful and she had a good sense of humor.
“What about you?” he asked still smirking.
“What about me?”
“What's your favorite book, movie, record?”
Grace dipped to the side, picking up her handbag from the floor. A second later Jack reached to take a closer look at the three items she had pulled out. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, and ..the best of The Beatles.
“Coincidence,” he said with a lop-sided grin and held up the record.
“Maybe I hired a PI and he told me what you listen to so that I can pick the same and you think I'm perfect.”
Now she smirked and it was beautiful.
“Did you hire a PI?”
“No,” Grace replied and laid her head to the side, “what's your best quality, John?”
“Jack, nobody but my mother calls me John,” he corrected her before answering, “I guess my wealth is my best quality.”
“No, that's just a circumstance. Coming from a wealthy family is no self-earned achivement. You didn't do anything for it.”
Jack stayed quiet for a moment and thought hard. “I'm a stable person. I'm not very moody like other Alphas I know. I love routines and I am patient.”
Grace nodded approvingly. “What's your worst?”
“Wait, is this an interrogation?”
“No, we are supposed to get to know each other and I'm sure you have more important things to do than waste your time with useless small talk. This is a conversation without the redundant weather stage.”
“So I can ask questions myself? Good. What's your best quality?”
“I am obedient, well-read, and young.”
“Not as young as other Omegas on the market.”
Market, he saw her mouth as she shook her head involuntarily. “Children who are sold to men for their amusement.”
“That's the world we live in.”
“The world we created,” she sneered slightly and cleared her throat before repeating her previous question, “Your worst quality?”
Jack looked to the side and chewed the inside of his cheek before he lifted his gaze back to her and said lowly, “I'm a liar.”
Her only reaction was a little twitch of her left eyebrow. “So, everything you just told me was a lie?”
He shook his head and waited for her second conclusion. “You're honest.”
Jack nodded. “I was never sure if that was a good or a bad quality but I encountered more uncomfortable situations when I chose to tell the truth when I should've better lied.”
“I see honesty as luxury. I can't be honest or I would face serious consequences. Alphas have that luxury.”
“Omegas have luxuries as well.”
“Like?” Grace huffed. Everything his mind came up with was stupid so he chose the third option, keep his mouth shut.
“As far as I'm informed, everything is already planned to the last detail for our Uncollaring Ceremony. The only thing missing is your “yes” and we'll be husband and wife in less than a month,” she said after the pause had been long enough to be uncomfortable and awkward for both of them.
“Even after I just told you that I'm a liar? Wait, I don't know what's your worst quality.”
Grace got up from her seat, taking her belongings, and smirked when she said goodbye in that breathy voice she had used before on him. Jack was about to jump up and follow her but could stop himself last minute.
What the hell?, he thought and huffed a short laugh when she was gone through the door. He had never met someone like her and he wanted to make her his.