"Ethan, I have to go to work every day," Viona said, breaking the quiet with a soft, practical tone. "Most days, I won't be done until past six, so I'll probably get back around 6:30 or 7:00 PM. If I happen to run late, please don't wait up for me. You can just have dinner and go to sleep, okay?"
Having finally cleared the mountain of wrapping paper and ribbons, Viona let out a satisfied sigh. She shifted on the cushions to face Ethan, who was still sitting perfectly obediently beside her, waiting for her next prompt like a subject awaiting orders. Now that the distractions were gone, she wanted to map out their daily routines and weave their lives together.
There was one glaring elephant in the room, however, that Viona deliberately chose to ignore: their marital bed.
Given how awkward and fragile things felt between them, she firmly believed that bringing up sex right now would be a massive mistake. Viona was well aware of her own biology; she was at an age where an Alpha's instincts and desires ran incredibly hot. Yet, the thought of initiating intimacy with an Omega who was practically vibrating with tension felt entirely wrong. She didn't want Ethan to misread her as some textbook, hedonistic Alpha who only valued him for his body. She could control herself. She would wait until they built real trust before she took the step to mate with him, mark him, and truly claim him as her partner.
Ethan, conversely, hadn't even factored his own comfort into the equation. To him, the concept of a marriage bed wasn't about romance; it was a duty. If Viona demanded his body to satisfy her desires, he would submit without a second thought. An Alpha was absolute. It was an Omega's purpose to please them.
Because he believed his opinions carried zero weight, Ethan didn't bother offering any thoughts of his own. He simply listened to her itinerary, nodding dutifully and offering short, practiced murmurs of agreement.
Whenever his brief responses died out, the room would plummet back into an uncomfortable silence. Viona, determined to keep the thread from snapping, would quickly brainstorm another question to pull him back.
He wasn't talkative by nature, but beneath his quiet exterior, a part of Ethan desperately wished he could converse with her as easily and freely as she did with him. But every time he thought about opening his mouth, a wave of caution stopped him. What if he said the wrong thing? What if he sounded too familiar? In his experience, an Alpha's temper was a volatile thing; if he spoke to her as an equal, she might despise him for stepping out of line.
Old habits don't die easily. For Ethan, silence had always been the safest shield. Besides, it wasn't as if he had any happy stories or pleasant anecdotes to share with her anyway.
Noticing that Ethan was slipping back into the dark, internal labyrinth of his own thoughts, Viona pressed on, eager to anchor his attention back to the present.
"So, what about you?" she asked gently. "I assume you don't work?"
In their society, the vast majority of Omegas stayed home. While some were forced to seek employment due to harsh financial constraints, finding a job was an uphill battle. Most employers viewed their sub-gender as a liability—vulnerable, disruptive to the workplace dynamic, and an inherent source of complications.
Ethan's voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes resolutely fixed on his lap. "I actually work as a waiter at a restaurant. It's been about three months since I started."
"Oh, I see..." Viona paused, processing the information. "Do you... still intend to keep going there?"
Viona had no desire to stripped him of his independence, but a sudden, sharp pang of possessiveness flared deep within her Alpha core. He was hers now. The thought of him working as a waiter in a public restaurant made her deeply uneasy. It was a dangerous environment for an unbonded Omega; predatory, unprincipled Alphas were always lurking in places like that, looking for vulnerable, unprotected Omegas to exploit for a night.
She couldn't bear the thought of her husband being put in harm's way, yet she fiercely resisted the urge to lock him away in the house like a prisoner.
Logically, she knew the easiest solution was to collar and mark him. A mating mark would broadcast her claim to the world, signaling to other dominants that he was taken. But even then, a mark wasn't a flawless shield against a desperate or malicious Alpha. The mere realization that Ethan could be exposed to danger triggered an primal, protective instinct she hadn't known she possessed. Still, she forced her voice to remain calm, refusing to order him around.
Sensing her hesitation, Ethan offered a small, compliant chuckle, though the sound was entirely devoid of mirth. "If you want me to stay home, I will stay home. It really doesn't matter. I don't earn much money anyway."
Viona's chest tightened. She could hear the quiet defeat slicing through his forced compliance—the sound of someone giving up on something they cared about because they assumed they had no choice.
"It's okay, Ethan. I won't force you to quit," Viona said, offering her most reassuring, comforting smile. "I just want to make sure you're safe, that's all. If you want to go to work, you should go. You don't need to stay cooped up in this house all day on my account."
Despite her gentle tone, Ethan's expression remained perfectly flat, a mask of unreadable indifference.
The lack of reaction hit Viona like a physical blow. A toxic mix of frustration and genuine hurt flared in her chest. For an Alpha, once the mental shift occurred—once they looked at an Omega and accepted them as theirs—it became virtually impossible to turn that instinct off. It cut deep to think that he might actively dislike her, or worse, view her with resentment.
She had already chosen him. He belonged to her by law, and she fully intended to make him hers by nature when the time was right. She was a capable, stable Alpha—the kind of provider Omegas were supposed to dream of. She resolved right then and there that she would win her husband's heart. She wouldn't settle for being just an Alpha to him; she wanted to be his Alpha.
"I will think about it," Ethan replied softly.
And just like that, the heavy, suffocating silence descended upon them once more.
Taking a slow breath, Viona reached across the small distance between them. She didn't try to touch him this time, but her voice carried a profound, unyielding warmth. "Mmm... well, we are husband and wife now. I truly hope we can build a happy marriage together. I want to learn everything about you, Ethan. Please... look after me."
Viona grinned as she watched him. For a fraction of a second, a sudden, bright spark flickered in the depths of Ethan's eyes.
For the first time all evening, a wave of genuine tranquility washed over Ethan. Her gentle words and the stunning, soft smile she offered him felt like a physical warmth. The dangerous, addictive greed for this comfort roared back to life in his chest.
'Do Alphas actually treat their spouses differently?' he wondered, his heart pounding a frantic, hopeful rhythm. 'Will she really be kind to me... just because I'm her husband?'
Even as the hopeful thought bloomed, the ghosts of his old life clawed at his mind. The dark shadows of his father and brother were heavy, jagged memories that refused to be easily displaced. The terror they had inflicted over two decades had grown into a massive, deeply rooted tree within his psyche; it couldn't be chopped down by a few kind words.
He didn't dare hope for love. He simply prayed, with every fiber of his being, that Viona would continue to be a little bit kind to him.
What Ethan didn't realize was that Viona wasn't just being kind; she was being gentle specifically for him. In her mind, the parameters of her life had shifted permanently. She had a new purpose, a new world to shield from the harsh realities outside: her innocent, fragile husband.
'I will mark him,' Viona promised herself, watching the subtle soften of his shoulders. 'But only when he is completely ready to accept me of his own free will. Until then, I'll wait. And when that day comes, he will truly be my Omega.'
With a silent vow to protect the fragile peace they had just found, Viona contentedly looked forward to the future, determined to give her husband the sanctuary he so desperately needed.