To Be Loved

CHAPTER 01

The bumps on the road were expected as the car carrying all the omegas was being driven towards the 'O Festival'.

This was Louis' last chance at the age of twenty seven and he could see the pitying looks everyone kept giving him. He paid no mind to them as he turned the page of the book he had brought with himself—not that anyone cared.

"Louis?" One of the newest omegas called out to him. He placed his finger on the page, pushed his spectacles up his nose and turned to look at the young girl not more than sixteen years of age staring back at him with a lost expression on her face.

"Yes love?" The only people in his pack who talked to him or cared about him were the other omegas. Whilst the omega parents steered clear of him, the younger ones tried their best to talk to him.

She fiddled with her fingers and looked at him. "What if they don't want me?" She asked with the same hope Louis had in his eyes when he was just seventeen and had newly presented.

Louis offered her a soft smile. "An alpha will choose you Penny. Don't worry yourself. If an alpha doesn't, you have next year." He was right in the sense that she would be chosen because Louis was the only returning omega who had been returning for this long.

Penelelope—Penny—gave Louis a sad smile as her lips formed into a pout. "I'm sorry," she apologised.  Louis tilted his head slightly in question.

"What for?"

Her voice fell into a hushed whisper so that Mister Martin, the beta driver would not be able to hear. "I know it is your last year. I'm sorry. I hope you get picked, Louis." Louis smiled at her. She was naive to believe that Louis would get chosen because naive seventeen year old Louis believed the same thing. He believed that he would find an alpha that liked him, but he was naive and now he was not. He knew he would not be chosen. He knew what followed the end of this year's festival.

"Do not worry about me Penny. I will be fine." A lie. "Nothing will happen to me." Another lie. She gave Louis a bright smile before leaning back against her seat and sighing, her mind probably racing through thoughts of her future alpha. It was something Louis gave up on his third year of attending the 'O Festival'. Apart from him being a male omega, Louis' scent was unflattering—he had been told on multiple occasions.

Louis' last year on this disgusting planet had only been made bearable by the books the little old librarian let him borrow. He clutched the book tightly as the familiar surroundings come into view. They wre here. Mister Martin parked the car and opened the door for Penny and the others while Louis was left to open it himself. He did not hesitate when he took off in a small sprint towards the familiar tree he always hid himself in.

With practiced ease, he pulled himself up onto a low hanging branch, lightly concealed by the overhanging leaves and branches of the willow tree. He flipped the page to where he had stopped and resumed reading after pushing his glasses into place. One last time. Louis sighed as he got lost in the familiar and comforting world he called home. A world in which he could cry for people that did not exist because he could not cry for himself anymore.

««««««☽︎☀︎︎☾︎»»»»»»

Harry pushed past a terrified beta as he made his way into the festival he was forced to attend. "You are not getting any younger my dear. You are thirty years old and you do not have an omega. Your pack will lose faith in you. Our pack needs an omega." His mother's words echoed in his mind as he made his way forward.

Off the bat, he could tell that he did not want any of the omegas that glanced at him flirtatiously. He moved forward with only Zayn by his side. His pack omegas mingled with the rest of the gathering as he made no effort to seek out an omega. The second he stepped foot inside he could smell the overwhelming scent of alpha and omega. He grunted as the scent of alpha intensified leading to a headache. He hated these kinds of festivals. They were barbaric in his opinion, but it was tradition and unfortunately Harry was not one to break it.

He placed his hands on the table, his rings making a light noise when it accidentally tapped a glass. He sighed when he noticed all the omegas eyes on him and the intensity at which the alpha scents were growing. He knew his scent was stronger than most alphas, but he really underestimated how much. He should have eaten some scent neutralising herbs.

He pulled his phone out and answered a few emails as he avoided all the eyes that were watching him. After a while, his head snapped up as his nostrils flaired. He surveyed the crowd and almost missed the small figure running towards a tree. His first instinct was to see if anyone was following the omega, but when he found no one, he straightened himself and watched the figure climb up onto a branch with practiced ease.

He must have looked puzzled because an omega just hid himself instead of mingling with the crowd. He watched the omega for a moment, hidden behind the long branches of the ageing willow tree. He was distracted by Zayn bringing an omega towards him. He sighed when the girl looked at him with a sultry smile and hopeful eyes. He did not blame her for her attempts at seducing him nor did he blame any omega here at their attempts of seducing the alphas. He knew that it was expected of them to find a mate and that their worth lay there. It was why Harry never liked the 'O Festival' all that much.

"Alpha this is...." Zayn's words fell on deaf ears as Harry continued to focus on the omega who he kept getting a peek of when the wind swayed the branches. "Alpha." Zayn's firm voice broke through his trance and he turned to face the beta with a scowl. Zayn gestured towards the girl who was fidgeting with a blush.

"You can leave," he addressed the omega before going back to staring at the omega hidden behind willow trees. On a rare occasion he saw someone approach the tree and the omega and Harry's body grew tense involuntarily and his jaw ticked, but then they walked away briskly with a sour expression on their faces.

For some reason that made Harry feel smug. He wondered why everyone walked away knowing that the omega smelled heavenly. The soft scent of lavender with rosemary was so easy for Harry to pick out even within the overflowing gathering of omegas and alphas. He leaned back and ignored every omega Zayn brought and paid no mind to the glaring alphas and ogling omegas. His focus stayed on the willow tree as the evening bled into night, waiting for the perfect opportunity, knowing that the festival ended well into the early hours of daylight.