Hunger

Chapter One

"Did you seriously just do that?"

Luca rolled his eyes and glanced up from his phone as he leaned on the peeling faux granite counter in the back of the bar. His supervisor, Killian Jones, narrowed a pair of eerie yellow eyes at him as he let the swinging door wobble back into place behind him.

"He fucking grabbed me," Luca responded venomously, his gravelly voice low as he looked back at his phone, watching with despair as he spent the last of his hard earned cash on fucking suppressant medications. He'd taken too long to save up. They were going to be delivered a day late. He was going to be a day into his heat before those things landed on his doorstep, which meant even the delivery guy was probably going to break his door down and try to fuck him.

Like the fat tub of lard out in the bar who'd grabbed his wrist and tried to swing him around into a soggy lap stained with beer and onion ring dip.

Shuddering in revulsion, he raked a hand through his white hair that fell back into place near his shoulders. Which was a whole other problem in itself. He needed a haircut bad. He was starting to look like his mother and the thought made his skin crawl.

"You can't deck a guy because he grabs you," Killian snapped, making Luca scowl without looking up. Killian cursed and marched over, snatching the cheap cell phone out of Luca's grasp and Luca whirled on him with a downright animalistic snarl. Killian reared back at that, his eyes widening and Luca hesitated, then curled his lip and took advantage of Killian's surprise to snatch his phone back.

"I don't like to be touched," Luca replied in a growl, turning away. Killian pressed his lips together for the longest time, staring at the omega across from him. Luca had been employed with him for two years. His uncle had been the one to hire Luca before he passed away, had insisted they protect the omega. It made sense; Luca was downright... beautiful. Not in the traditional omega way, definitely not. Luca was more muscular than your average omega, leanly built like a dancer, with long legs that wouldn't quit. Then there was the fact that he was albino, making him some kind of rare gem.

Long white hair that fell to his shoulders in straight locks, thick white eyelashes that flipped up like a dove's wings, revealing glittering rubies. Skin the color of freshly fallen snow. Perfect white teeth with canines that were a bit too sharp for Killian's tastes, considering he'd been on the receiving end of them at one time.

Yes, Luca was definitely a beautiful omega.

But he was a fucking liability, a lawsuit waiting to happen.

The incident with fatso in the bar was the third incident in the past week where Luca had gotten physical with a customer. He'd punched an alpha in the kidney, punched a beta in the nose, and put another one into a chokehold that left the poor fucker unconscious. All of which Luca had replied with "I don't like being touched".

Except, he worked in a fucking bar, Killian thought angrily. A fucking bar, where all of his staff had been inappropriately touched at one time, including himself. And he was an alpha down to the marrow of his bones. But he didn't clock anyone for it. He used it to get more business.

Everyone, except Luca had accepted that fact.

Luca just couldn't get with the program.

Killian should've expected it, of course. After all, the biting incident was how they met. Killian had come to take over when his uncle had gotten sick and the one time he'd touched Luca on the shoulder, the guy had spun around and bit him on the shoulder. It had taken a lot of begging and pleading from his uncle to not fire the guy, let alone straight up beat the shit out of him.

Luca wasn't normal.

He'd never been normal.

He wasn't delicate like a lot of omegas Killian knew, but he also wasn't polite like most of them. Luca had a foulmouth, a quick temper. Worst of all, the little fucker was incredibly smart. He knew damn well Luca wouldn't be able to afford all of his suppressants on the salary he earned at the bar. No, the omega was finding other ways. Ways Killian wanted to pretend weren't happening under his nose.