Chapter Text
Hob tapped his fingertips nervously on the table, checking his watch for the third, or fourth time in the last hour. He knew he was early, but the omega that he was supposed to be meeting was far later than he’d expected. Of course, he’d been told by the agency that this would likely happen, and it was even possible that he’d be stood up. Like a lot of dates he was set up with by the agency, he was a training date for the omega to get back into the dating pool after several horrific experiences with alphas. The benefit of being a beta who tended toward the alpha side of things. He was less intimidating and was easygoing as it was, and it made it easier for them to gain some confidence back.
He’d wait for another thirty minutes, finish his second coffee, and then email the agency to let them know that this omega, Dream Endless, based on what his email said, hadn’t shown up. Not through any fault of his own, of course. Hob hadn’t read the file beyond hearing that there had been traumatizing alpha experiences before he’d shut it and decided that was more than enough for him to understand. If Dream never wanted to date anyone who smelled remotely like an alpha, he wouldn’t blame him, not after those sorts of relationships.
The bell over the door tinkled again and Hob turned to look, mostly out of reflex, and felt his mouth go dry. He stared, even as the omega who’d paused in the doorway looked around the place, his eyes narrowed and assessing. Hob waited until those eyes met his and he offered a small wave. There was a brief blink of confusion and then the omega was stalking toward him. He’d happily be prey for this omega any time he damn well wanted, though he ordered himself to keep that reaction to himself.
Instead, Hob stood up and offered his hand to the omega. “Robert Gadling. Call me Hob. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Dream,” Dream answered, shaking his hand once before settling into the chair with a scowl. “I feel I should warn you that I am here under direct pressure from my sister and the agency, who are determined to make me no longer feel like I’m broken.”
“You’re not broken,” Hob said immediately, frowning.
Dream let out a harsh laugh and tossed his head. “I assure you, I am quite broken. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? With a training alpha?”
Hob watched Dream for several long moments, the clear defiance in his posture, and how ready for a fight he clearly was. He’d muted his scent with suppressants, and taken something on top of it. If Hob hadn’t been looking for it, he would have assumed that Dream was a beta by scent alone. But beneath all of it, the sweet, tantalizing scent that begged him to come closer was there, and he smiled despite himself.
“You’re here, because you expressed interest in the agency finding you a match,” Hob said, looking at him as he took a sip of his coffee. “Same as I am, I expect. But since throwing you in the deep end with an alpha likely wasn’t going to go well, I was asked to come on this date, see if I could help get you used to alphas again.”
“I do not want an alpha,” Dream snarled, his eyes flashing. “Never again. Not ever.”
Hob nodded once. “I can understand that.” That, at least, seemed to throw Dream off enough that some of his anger fled his posture. “Why don’t we have a cup of coffee, because if nothing else, I did make sure to recommend a place with good coffee.” That got him another confused blink and a nod as Dream settled back in his seat. “How do you take yours?”
“Black,” Dream snapped and then forced himself to inhale, gentle, and shook his head. “With two pumps of french vanilla sweetener.”
“Coming right up,” Hob agreed, standing up to head to the counter. “I’ll be right back.”
Dream leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling of the small coffee shop, cursing his sister once more for her demand that he come here and meet with this beta who was supposed to get him ready for dating an alpha again. He shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself, taking a deep breath. The lingering scent of Hob, the beta that he was on a date with, had him relaxing despite himself and he took a slower, deeper breath of it. He’d never smelled something so good, and he wanted to bury himself in the scent.
It would be a luxury to have Hob return and surround him with such a pleasant scent, and it was a welcome change compared to the overwhelming scents of his family at all times. A cup of coffee was placed in front of him, a familiar, comforting image, and Dream lifted his eyes to look at the beta sitting across from him, pleasure now tinging his scent at having pleased him.
“I believe I am too broken for a match,” Dream said as Hob sat down once more, all of his posture at attention, focused on him. He wanted to squirm under such clear regard, especially at the kindness in those brown eyes. He didn’t deserve that sort of attention. He didn’t deserve any of this. “That does not mean I do not wish for one.”
What he wished for had resulted in nothing more than indulgent chuckles at the agency. A True Mate, just like the stories. He’d imagined it a thousand times over, a scent that felt like home, that he wanted to curl up in and never leave. A partner, who wanted him just as fiercely, just as strongly, who found the same in him. But it was never to be. He understood that now. No matter how many times he had thought at last he had found what he wanted, it had burned out, a fire destined to burn too bright and too strongly.
At the very least, this beta, Robert Gadling, smelled like everything good and comforting in the world. Dream could picture himself crawling into his arms and burying his face in Hob’s neck to inhale his scent for hours. Of course, he would do nothing of the sort, because that was not the sort of omega that he was any longer. He would be restrained, he would practice going on dates again, because it was what his family expected, and then when it had been appropriately long enough, he would end things and inform the agency they were a poor match. Even if every instinct he had was telling him otherwise and that he should cuddle up close, drink in his scent, and then sink his teeth into this beta and claim him right then and there.
“I can understand that,” Hob repeated when Dream’s attention finally lifted from the coffee cup back to him. He’d spent several minutes staring at it in contemplation, and whether he thought it held the secrets of the universe or something else, Hob wasn’t entirely sure. “I fell in love with someone, an alpha, though she never truly felt like one, who wasn’t my True Mate. When I lost her, not long after, I promised myself that I wouldn’t mate again unless I found them, even if that’s old fashioned.”
Hob shrugged sheepishly under Dream’s intense look. “I know, I know. I shouldn’t wait for the fairytale. But I can’t-”
“On the contrary,” Dream interrupted, lifting the coffee Hob had procured for him to his lips. “I admire that, more than I can say.”
Hob blinked, his eyes widening before he smiled and relaxed back into his chair. “What do you say that we start over and give this date a proper try?”
Dream hummed in delight at the taste of the coffee bursting across his lips. Perhaps giving the date a try would not be a poor idea. He nodded once. “Very well,” he agreed.