The Seven Red Flags of HAKON University [Omegaverse Alien Reverse Harem]

8

Rue did not attend orientation.

There was no point in sweating with a bunch of boys potentially doing plenty of manly things that could expose her gender. She didn't have to go but already she knew that it involved measuring dicks and bad Omega jokes. And hiding the truth would be difficult when faced with manly, cloth-less activities.

But for her absence, she received a buddy, someone tagged to her just because she missed every talk and thus didn't have the information necessary when it came to an all-Alpha school. Theodore was her new best friend, a short alien with a head of red curls and a smile that brightened his eyes. He had two tongues, which led to an accent that nibbled and curled over vowels, and scales that glistened purple and rough on his skin.

He was sweet; happily mated into a pack. A picture of his mates dangled around his neck like a claiming bite—a pretty Omega, a female Beta and another Alpha who was two years their senior. She liked him immediately just because he didn't judge the tattered look of her outfit and the obvious lack of money. Nor did his nose wrinkle when he caught a whiff of her fake Alpha scent so generously applied over her neck.

She'd made her aunts milk that guy at the den till he was dry and weeping just for her education.

"The buffets come on a subscription basis. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner all year round at the cafeterias," he explained, leading her down the aisle of fresh produce. "But there are grocery stores on campus including this one if you're looking to cook. And a kitchen within the shared space of your dormitory."

It had the energy of an emergency room, blinding in brightness and teeming with activity. The shelves rotated goods to appease those with a non-existent attention span, with priorities that made no sense. She dodged a display that rattled and swerved—a basket of bread vanished, exchanged with a selection of artisan butter.

Rue was used to shelves packing with items from aeons ago, used to expired cans that dripped and grew grey with mould. She wanted to see a kid with a calculator and a bag of drugs at the counter. His parents arguing behind doors, always something about money.

Boxes that filled the spaces till it became a fire hazard—a maze that required balancing acts from its customers. A grocery store in her town was a domicile that smelled like salty, wet preserves, and the most expensive thing would never top five credits.

"Anything cheaper than ten credit biscuits and fifty gold talon meat?"

Rue tapped a finger on the luxurious display, felt herself grow cold at the disgusting display of wealth. The full pincer was placed on a charcuterie board, surrounded by the decapitated heads of animals she'd never seen in her life. She could buy ten houses with that money.

The price tag was vomit-inducing, and she dropped a head of lettuce that was worth two kidneys back into its bowl. The vibrant green was washed in a fog of edible antiseptic and polished off with morning dew. It glittered.

"I know everyone's coming from money in this place," she sighed, dropping her hands and stepping away from the display, "but I've got to eat."

Theo paused as he led her through the store, seemed to contemplate his words. "It's a station away but vans linger three bus stops outside campus," Theo answered with a hesitant smile. "Underground, but inexpensive. Black market."

"Drugs and cabbages?" Rue snorted, dropping her gaze away from fancy sauces and packet noodles. Nothing was within her budget.

"The food's mostly a decoy," he admitted. "They've got other things, but students have to turn up with something if they do get caught."