Phoenix Harcourt, a single father who was kicked out of his home when his parents found out that he was an Omega. After losing his Alpha mate, Phoenix turned his focus to his daughter and the successful company left in his care. With a threat to his life, Phoenix hires a bodyguard, a man who wants to protect more than his body. He also want’s to posses Phoenix’s heart for his own.
Hired to protect an Omega, Lucius Payne had one goal; do his job nothing else. Lucius never mixes business with pleasure. Finding an Omega mate was never in his plans, especially when it is the man he is supposed to protect. His job becomes more complicated than he was expecting. Can Lucius convince Phoenix to trust him with his heart as well as his body?
Hired to protect an Omega, Lucius Payne had one goal; do his job nothing else. Lucius never mixes business with pleasure. Finding an Omega mate was never in his plans, especially when it is the man he is supposed to protect. His job becomes more complicated than he was expecting. Can Lucius convince Phoenix to trust him with his heart as well as his body?
Print Length: 170 pages
Publication Date: December 12, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0765M5ZX2
Publication Date: December 12, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0765M5ZX2
“Welcome back, Mister Harcourt,” Joyce Bailey greeted Phoenix Harcourt, CEO of Phoenix English, Inc.
“Good morning, Joyce,” he greeted his executive administrative assistant, as he stopped by her desk before heading to his office. “Alissa,” he greeted to Joyce’s assistant who nodded at him before he looked back at Joyce. “Come and see me in twenty minutes, I need to look over a few business reports.”
“Yes, sir,” she said writing down his instructions.
Phoenix walked into his office, and set his briefcase down on the chair in front of his large mahogany desk. He loosened his tie just a bit before taking off his suit jacket, resting it on the back of his chair as he sat down. He glanced at the stack of mail that had accumulated in the week he’d been out of the office.
Returning to work after taking care of his daughter, Jasmine, who’d caught a nasty bug from school, was both a relief and a guilt trip. He loved being a dad, but being a single father had its ups and downs and having a sick child was certainly one of the down moments. “I thought Joyce would’ve gone through all this already,” he muttered to himself.
Logging in to his computer, he pulled up the latest business reports from his management team and checked on his company’s stock. Everything seemed to be in good standing, the holidays were always profitable for Phoenix English, Inc. While Phoenix tried to get as much paperwork done while he was at home, Jasmine needed him more. He followed the motto that Maxwell English had ingrained in him and their employees: family always came first.
Phoenix turned around in his chair and stared out the window. He never thought his life would turn out the way it had. There were three hierarchical statuses in society: alpha, beta, or omega. Phoenix was a male omega, a status in society that some considered to be rare with their androgynous beauty and his unique ability to bear children. However, no matter how rare omegas are, they have a low standing in society and, in most cases, not seen as leaders and are supposed to be submissive to their mates.
Alphas, on the other hand, were respected and recognized as leaders, with their abnormally handsome features, strength, and intelligence, they were perfectly compatible with their omega mates or that was what the fates and gods wanted society to believe.
Betas made up the vast majority of society and were more humanistic in appearance and physique, they were also a step down from alphas. Betas could mate with an omega, but they were unable to have children together.
As Phoenix considered his status, he shook his head to remind himself that as an omega, he was running a multibillion-dollar cosmetic company with his name on it. And that made him smiled. Hearing the sound of ice rain hit his window, it reminded him that the holidays were a few weeks away. The holidays always made him think of Max, the man who became more like a father to him than his own father. He missed Max. He was there for Phoenix when he needed him, right after his parents kicked him out.
He hated thinking about his parents, especially the way they shunned him after they found out he was an omega. At sixteen, there were a few things that happened in his life. Puberty. Some experience it a couple of months before or after their sixteenth birthday. But around sixteen was the age when teenagers found out if they were an alpha, omega, or beta. When Phoenix turned sixteen, he found out two things that he had accepted about himself: he was gay and an omega.
However, it seemed his parents were having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that he was an omega. He remembered that day, as if it was yesterday. It was six months after he and his twin brother, Anthony, or Tony to his family and friends, turned sixteen and he noticed that his parents were acting cold towards him. Tony was an alpha and he was also acting strangely towards him.
Phoenix and Tony had always been close, they shared everything from clothes to secrets. There were a few things that Phoenix noticed when it came to his brother, that he was forgetting conversations they had or places they’d been to. Although they were twins, Phoenix had always thought that their parents loved them, equally acknowledging and accepting that they had different personalities. His parents had portrayed themselves as open-minded and willing to listen to everyone’s problems. They were always preaching to Phoenix and Tony that they should be more tolerant of all mankind and their differences.
Phoenix had heard stories of banishment happening to other kids and never fathomed that he would end up being one of them. No matter how many times he begged, his parents refused to reveal the reason why they were rejecting him. He could never forget the words spewing from his father’s mouth.
“You’re worthless to us,” James Harcourt yelled at him.
“Dad, why are you saying that,” Phoenix cried.
“Don’t call me that,” James snapped. “Don’t refer to me as your father. You are not mine.” Phoenix had never seen the look of anger and hate on his father’s face before. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he looked at his mother and brother, his eyes begging for them to say something in his defense. To talk some sense into his father.
“Mom, please,” he begged. Lilith went to move, but Tony clamped a hand down on her shoulder. “Go, Phoenix, just leave us alone and whatever you do, do not come back,” she told him then turned her back to him. Tony wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear.
“I’m giving you fifteen minutes to get your shit and get the hell out of my house,” James told him.
“Da— ” The sound of a loud crack reaching his ear stopped him when he realized what he heard was his father’s hand meeting his cheek. The sting made him understand that his father was not the man he thought he was.
“Do as I say, boy.”
Phoenix nodded and ran to his room, grabbing everything he could fit in one bag, including his three-month supply of suppressant pills, and ran out of his parents’ house without looking back.
At the time, Phoenix wracked his brain for a reason. It wasn’t as if he was a terrible student. In fact, he was the model student getting straight A’s. He was respectful to his teachers and coaches and he was captain of the basketball and baseball teams. He was also popular with girls even though he had no interest in them, which was why his parents’ reaction to finding out that he was an omega surprised him. It wasn’t as if he was the only omega in the world and they would miss out on having a grandchild.
That was one of the beautiful things about being born an omega, he would provide and care for his children. It seemed to Phoenix that there was a societal misconception that omegas were weak and easily influenced. Phoenix had never considered himself as a weak-minded person, in fact, most of the omegas he interacted with never saw themselves as weak.
Phoenix hoped he was changing society's views when it came to omegas. That was one of the things he loved about Maxwell. Maxwell never saw him as just an omega but as a person. He’d cursed his parents for their close-mindedness when it came to him. He had been on the streets for only a few weeks when he had a bit of luck, in his opinion. He sniggered thinking how silly he was trying to steal someone’s wallet. A pretty wealthy guy's wallet as a matter of fact.
There was a knock at his office door, pulling him from his thoughts. “Come in,” he answered, turning his chair around.
Joyce entered and walked over to him with a coffee cup in her hand. “You looked like you could use a pick-me-up.”
“Bless you,” he said with a smile, taking the cup from her and swallowing a large sip. “Please tell me I don’t have a packed day.”
She gave him the “are you kidding” look. “When have your days been anything but packed?”
“Just tell me I get to leave in time to pick up Jasmine.”
“Don’t I always take care of you, sir?” Joyce asked. “I’ve been taking care of you since I worked for Max.”
“You know I hate when you call me sir,” he told her. Joyce had started working with Phoenix English a year or two before him. She was Maxwell’s executive assistant before she became his.
“I’m well aware, but it is office etiquette,” she told him with her glasses sitting down by the tip of her nose. “Why must we go through this every day?”
“Because you refuse to call me Phoenix.” She stared at him and made it clear she wasn’t going to change her mind. “Fine, let me hear how my day will go, at least tell me I have time for a lunch break.”
She scanned down her list and then looked back up at him. “I scheduled a lunch break for two minutes around one.”
“Oh wow, a whole two minutes, thank you, Your Majesty,” he said with a smile, and he got her to chuckle. “Okay, lay it on me.”
“At noon, you have a lunch meeting with Brook Shafter from. . . ”
Phoenix leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee. While he listened to Joyce, his mind started to wander off again. Thinking back, he couldn’t believe how tempted he was to return home and beg his parents to forgive him for being an omega. At least at home he would have been safe from any alpha that caught a whiff of his pheromones. And have had a decent meal, since he’d resorted to begging for change just to get something to eat. Phoenix lived on the streets for two months. It might not have been a long time, but it was enough for him to realize how sheltered his life was when he saw how many omegas were living on the streets. The only thing that kept Phoenix sane were his suppressant pills. Omegas were required to take their suppressant pills weekly to help mask their pheromones to alphas and prevent pregnancies.
He knew what some of the omegas did when they were going through their mating cycles was demoralizing. But he couldn’t fault them. They did what they had to do for survival. They disappeared for days, hiding in abandoned buildings, hoping their heat would pass before they gave in to any alphas that approached them. Some sold their bodies to earn the money they needed to buy their suppressants and to survive. Phoenix couldn’t believe that a society that prided itself on caring for its people would turn a blind eye to omegas suffering in pain.
Phoenix knew sooner or later that if he had stayed out on the streets he would have resorted to the same tricks. Which was why he worked tirelessly to have the laws changed. Until about three years ago, it was illegal for omegas under the age of eighteen to receive their suppressants without parental permission. With his wealth and influence, Phoenix was able to get that, and a few other laws, changed. Thank the gods he didn’t have to sleep with anyone to get what he wanted. No matter what people thought about him, he was not a slut. All he had to do was kiss a few asses and pretend he cared about other minor issues to get his foot in the door. Coughing to suppress a snort over some of the other influences he had employed, Phoenix turned his attention back to Joyce.
“I’m sorry, sir, did you say something?” Joyce asked him.
“Um . . . no,” he said, clearing his throat and sitting up in his chair while pretending that he heard everything she said. “Joyce, can you get me another cup of coffee?”
“Sure,” she said, getting up and taking his empty cup from him. She stopped and looked at him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You seem to be far away today,” she told him.
“It’s the holidays, it always makes me think about Max,” he told her.
“Ah . . .” she said in understanding. “I’ll get you another cup.” Then Joyce turned and walked out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts.
Phoenix got up and walked to his window, touching the cold glass as his memory of the first time he met Maxwell came flooding back to him. He was in a coffee shop when Maxwell English, CEO of English Cosmetics and Fashion Empire, walked in. Phoenix had no idea what Maxwell English was doing downtown when he lived uptown, but he figured English would be an easy target. Copying what he’d seen another of the omegas do, Phoenix walked up and bumped into him, intending to reach into his coat pocket and grab his wallet without the man noticing. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned. Before Phoenix could reach into Maxwell English’s pocket, a hand clamped down on his wrist, stopping him.
Phoenix was scared and waited for Maxwell to do something like call the cops on him. It was as if Maxwell saw something in him and made an offer to take him home.
“Fuck off,” Phoenix said and snatched his hand away. “I’m not going home with you and become your fuck toy.”
Maxwell stared at Phoenix before he burst out laughing in his face. The man was filthy rich and a notorious playboy who made it clear that he wasn’t going to settle or change for anyone, not even his mate.
“You might be an omega, cute one at that, but you’re much too young for my taste.”
“Then what the fuck do you want?”
“To help,” Maxwell said with a shoulder shrug.
“No one does anything out of the goodness of their heart anymore. Especially, a rich guy like you. So, what do you want?”
“Nothing,” Maxwell said to him. Phoenix didn’t believe him even though he was starving and running low on suppressants, he still wasn’t going home with the man.
Maxwell stared at him and walked out of the coffee shop leaving him alone. Phoenix didn’t expect to see the man again except for on magazine covers, but Maxwell came back day after day for an entire week and asked him to go home with him.
“Come on, kid, I’m giving you a chance here,” Max said to him.
“Why do you keep coming back? Why me?” Phoenix asked him. “There are many omegas out here other than me. I’m not your mate.”
“I’m not looking for a mate, kid, a friend maybe,” he said with a sigh. “As much as you’re trying to be tough, you are not going to make it out here for long. Once your supply runs out, you’re going to be like all the other omegas. You’ll jump at the first alpha that comes close to you. Can’t you see I’m trying to save you?”
Phoenix wanted to ask Maxwell how he knew about his supply that he kept hidden from all the other omegas. Maxwell was right, he wasn’t going to make it for very long. “Can I think about it?”
Maxwell reached into his pocket and handed a packet to him. Phoenix took it and looked inside—it was suppressants that could hold him off for a couple more weeks.
“Look,” Maxwell said to him. “The holidays are in a couple of days. If you want to be somewhere clean and warm for a few days or longer, come to the address on the card.”
“You still haven’t told me why I should trust you,” Phoenix said to him.
“Because I just want to help you,” he answered.
“How do you know that I won’t steal from you?” Phoenix asked.
Maxwell looked down at him and smiled before he turned around and walked away, not looking back. On Christmas Eve, Phoenix swallowed his pride and fear and went to the address on the card. That was the night his life changed for the better.
The phone on his desk rang, pulling him out of his thoughts. “What is it, Joyce?” he asked, answering the phone.
“Sir, Mister Meadows is asking to meet with you in the conference room.”
“When?”
“In twenty minutes, sir,” she told him.
Phoenix sighed and looked at the clock on his computer, he really wasn’t in the mood to talk with Meadows. “Fine, tell him not to make me wait.” Meadows was the vice president of Phoenix English, he was also a close friend of Maxwell’s. Meadows was under the insane impression that Maxwell should have left the company to him and not Phoenix.
When he started working at Maxwell’s company, Phoenix didn't want anyone to know the close friendship between them. He wanted to prove to everyone, and himself most of all, that if he got far up in the company, it wasn't because of Maxwell but because of his hard work. And although it took him a while, a few years after graduating from college, he had finally made it to his own corner cubicle. Working for Maxwell was challenging and that helped build up his confidence. Even though Maxwell saw him as a son, Phoenix felt he had to prove his worth as a team member of the English Cosmetics and Fashion Empire. It also surprised him when rumors started to spread that Maxwell was sleeping with his protégé.
The rumors used to anger Phoenix but always made Maxwell chuckle. The rumors got worse for Phoenix when he earned his place as one of Maxwell’s advisors because of his keen business sense. The rumors died down for a bit, but after Maxwell had a heart attack and died leaving everything he owned to Phoenix, the rumors started again only they were more vicious than before. The day of the funeral, Maxwell’s attorney handed him a letter. He knew it was from Maxwell because he recognized his handwriting. Because of his grief, it took Phoenix a couple of weeks to open and read the letter. He closed his eyes, holding back a tear that threatened to roll down his cheek just thinking of what was written to him.
You asked me time and again over the years why did I pick you out of all the omegas on the streets. And each time I gave you the same answer, that I wanted to help. Phoenix, that was only half of it. The truth was I needed you just as much as you needed me. You were the only good thing in my life. Having you in my life kept me from being alone.
Having a mate was never in the cards for me. Hell, if I had one, I never looked for him. It would have meant putting your feelings aside. I know you would have been happy for me, but I didn’t want anyone to come between the father-son relationship we’d built. Don’t feel guilty, it was my choice. You became important to me the day you tried to steal my wallet. It killed me to walk away from you that cold winter day, but I had to so that you could come to me on your own. I needed it to be your choice. I didn’t need a mate to make me happy, I just needed you. Live a happy life, my son.
Thank you, Phoenix. Thanks for making me a better man. Thanks for making me your father in all but blood.
Maxwell was the only man he recognized as his father. Since the day his parents kicked him out, he hadn't seen or heard from them once. Before meeting Maxwell, he wondered if his parents worried about him and regretted their actions. After Maxwell had come into his life, they became an afterthought.
With his taking over the company, Phoenix decided to change the name to make it his but still kept the traditions that Maxwell had established. Maxwell will always be a part of the company he’d built and Phoenix didn’t see the need to change it completely only dropping Maxwell’s first name and adding his. The company advanced from being fashion and cosmetics adding technology and a few other things that improved their stocks.
A couple years after Maxwell died, Phoenix met Corey. Corey was older than Phoenix and worked for the Kent police department along with being an alpha. It was not love at first sight for him and Corey, more like lust and an omega in heat. They met on a night that Phoenix wanted to throw caution to the wind and have some fun. He’d gone clubbing for the first time in years and forgotten the talk where sweat and endorphins can play a big part in releasing an omega’s pheromones.
The memory was almost a blur, but Phoenix went from one dance with Corey to experiencing his first full-blown heat. Their mating wasn’t perfect, and they both knew it, but there was nothing they could do about it. The only time they weren’t arguing was when they were having sex. It was never making love. Because there wasn’t any sort of love between them.
Phoenix knew that Corey felt threatened by the fact that he made more money in their relationship. It was the alpha’s job to take care of his omega not the other way around. Even though he had to work late many nights or go on business trips that took him away for days, sometimes weeks, Phoenix often pointed out to Corey that being a cop was just as demanding. There was a time he thought about giving up his position as the CEO to satisfy Corey, but he couldn’t. The company had been Maxwell’s life, and he’d left it in his care. One argument in particular came to mind. He’d gotten home late from being in meetings all day and Corey was sitting on the couch with a drink in his hand.
“Where have you been all day?”
“Work, you know that.” Phoenix took off his jacket, resting it on the sofa. He wanted to go over to his mate but saw the “don’t come near me look” on his face.
“Yes, I forgot how fucking important you were. The great Phoenix Harcourt.”
Phoenix sighed and rolled his eyes. He was debating whether to bring up that he was going on a trip in a couple of days and wanted Corey to go with him. He walked over to Corey, took the drink out of his hand and sat on his lap.
“Let’s not argue. I missed you today.” That was true, he missed his mate.
“You missed me so much that you rushed home to be with me.”
Phoenix ignored Corey’s jab. “I was thinking.” He leaned in and kissed Corey on his neck, slowly moving up to kissing him on the corner of his lips.
It took Corey a few seconds to loosen up and wrap one of his arms around his waist. “What?” Corey asked while Phoenix tilted his head to the side showing his neck to his mate. Corey licked a stipe from his neck to his chin.
“How about we go away for a couple of days. I need to go on a business trip to Hawaii for a meeting but after that I’m all yours.”
Corey pulled back and looked at him and smiled. “Sure. I can take some time off from work.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, we didn’t really get to do the whole honeymoon thing. So why not.” Corey smiled and for a split second he was happy that his mate gave in. He couldn’t hold back his joy and kissed his lover. “Just let me know the name of the hotel you want to stay in and I will make the reservations,” Corey said when they pulled back from their kiss.
“You don’t have to. My secretary is already taking care of things for us. I can just tell her to change a few things.”
“You couldn’t let me do it, could you?”
“Do what?” Phoenix couldn’t understand why the sudden shift in Corey’s attitude.
“Pay for our vacation. What, you think because I’m a cop I can’t pay for an expensive vacation?” He shoved Phoenix off his lap and he landed on his ass. Corey didn’t seem to care and stood to his feet. “I don’t need your fucking money.”
“I never said you did,” Phoenix said getting up. “Corey, you knew that I had money when we got together. I never hid that fact.”
“No, but you haven’t stopped throwing it in my face.”
Phoenix sighed holding back his anger. “I’ve never done that. And you’re being ridiculous.”
“Bullshit, that’s all you do. We live in your fucking apartment. Do and go wherever the fuck you want to go. You pay for everything!”
“Fine, if it will make you feel better, then you pay for everything. I’m sick and tired of arguing.”
That night he slept in their bedroom and Corey slept on the couch. Phoenix also went on his trip alone, he had hoped that Corey would have joined him but it didn’t happen. Phoenix had always assumed that Corey cared about him, but not loved him. Truthfully, after they were together for two months, he couldn’t say if he loved Corey either. It was during their third month together that Phoenix found out he was pregnant. When they’d found out they were going to have a baby, it was the only time he could remember that he and Corey were happy.
Despite being happy about the baby, Phoenix was scared out of his mind, he worried about raising a child in a loveless mating. He hoped that everything would work itself out in the end, that Corey would see his child and realize that they made her together and they would try to make things work.
If only Corey had lived to see Jasmine being born. Corey was killed during a traffic stop gone wrong. Phoenix didn’t have time to mourn Corey’s death because Jasmine came not long after the funeral. Corey was his mate, and he’d cared about him, however, Phoenix wasn’t sure if he would be willing to open himself up to finding another mate. He wasn’t willing to risk his daughter’s happiness with a loveless mating, once was enough.
Jasmine reminded him so much of Corey, she had his curly hair and beautiful honey-brown eyes. She was the light of Phoenix’s life and was so intelligent that sometimes he forgot that she was only six and not thirty with how grown she could sometimes be. Jasmine also had the sweetest infectious laugh that lit up her entire face.
Sighing, he cleared his thoughts, he needed to get to work in order to leave early to start his Christmas shopping before picking Jasmine up from school. Phoenix could give Alissa a list of names and the type of gifts to get them, but he loved finding that one gift for the special people in his life just to see the happy expression on their faces.
Time to get to work. I’ve spent enough time thinking of the past.
Phoenix glanced at his watch and noted that he still had fifteen minutes before he had to meet Meadows. He reached over and grabbed the stack of mail, sorting through the ones that needed his attention right away. He frowned when he saw an envelope with no return address on the front, just his name.
Confused, Phoenix picked it up, turning it over to look at the back, it was also blank. He set it back down and stared at it, not sure if he should open it or not. Phoenix had a feeling what was inside; it would be the third one he'd received in the past couple of months. He had no idea why he was getting the letters, he was a good man and used his wealth to help others. When he received the first letter six months earlier, Phoenix thought it was someone playing a prank on him and he ignored it.
Could it be someone from within the company doing this? There are some who were angry with Maxwell when he left the company to me. I angered them even more when I changed the name to Phoenix English, Inc.
Even though Maxwell died almost ten years earlier, some of the alphas in the company had a hard time taking orders from an omega, someone lower than even a beta on the hierarchy chain. Phoenix tried not to let it bother him, but he couldn’t help it. He had to assert his authority as their boss. Phoenix closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t want to open it. He didn’t want to see what was written inside.
The first one told him, in short, that what he had, he was going to lose. He’d shredded the first one, along with the second one he’d gotten three months after the first. He hated to think what the one on his desk was threatening this time. Only two people, other than himself, had access to his office: Joyce and Alissa, her assistant. He opened his eyes and stared at the envelope before grabbing it as he got up from his desk and walked to the door.
“Joyce,” he said getting his secretary’s attention.
“Yes, Mister Harcourt.”
“When did this get here?” he asked, holding up the unopened envelope.
She stared at it for a second before answering. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, sir. I’ve never seen that envelope before.”
That couldn’t be, thought Phoenix.
That was the third one he’d gotten, and they’d all shown up at his office. He felt as if he was going out of his mind. He couldn’t ignore the problem any longer. It wasn’t a prank. He walked back into his office and closed the door. He opened the envelope and pulled out photographs. He gasped when he saw it was pictures of him and Jasmine. The pictures fell from his fingers. He closed his eyes, trying not to break down. He opened his eyes and stared down at the pictures. His stomach churned when he realized they were pictures from the day before while he was at home having lunch with Jasmine.
Who the fuck is doing this?
Someone was stalking him and he didn’t know what to do, but he knew who to call. There were only four people he trusted and one of them was already dead. The other three were Jasmine, Lacey, and his twin brother, Tony, who showed back up in his life not long after Corey’s death. He’d tried to push everyone away after Corey’s death, but there were some who refused to leave his side.
He looked at the pictures on his desk and noticed that there was a bright red circle around Jasmine’s face and his heart stopped. They were going after his baby. Thinking quickly, Phoenix picked up the pictures and ran out of his office. He needed to get to Jasmine. He needed to make sure that she was okay, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate until he had her in his arms.
“Good morning, Joyce,” he greeted his executive administrative assistant, as he stopped by her desk before heading to his office. “Alissa,” he greeted to Joyce’s assistant who nodded at him before he looked back at Joyce. “Come and see me in twenty minutes, I need to look over a few business reports.”
“Yes, sir,” she said writing down his instructions.
Phoenix walked into his office, and set his briefcase down on the chair in front of his large mahogany desk. He loosened his tie just a bit before taking off his suit jacket, resting it on the back of his chair as he sat down. He glanced at the stack of mail that had accumulated in the week he’d been out of the office.
Returning to work after taking care of his daughter, Jasmine, who’d caught a nasty bug from school, was both a relief and a guilt trip. He loved being a dad, but being a single father had its ups and downs and having a sick child was certainly one of the down moments. “I thought Joyce would’ve gone through all this already,” he muttered to himself.
Logging in to his computer, he pulled up the latest business reports from his management team and checked on his company’s stock. Everything seemed to be in good standing, the holidays were always profitable for Phoenix English, Inc. While Phoenix tried to get as much paperwork done while he was at home, Jasmine needed him more. He followed the motto that Maxwell English had ingrained in him and their employees: family always came first.
Phoenix turned around in his chair and stared out the window. He never thought his life would turn out the way it had. There were three hierarchical statuses in society: alpha, beta, or omega. Phoenix was a male omega, a status in society that some considered to be rare with their androgynous beauty and his unique ability to bear children. However, no matter how rare omegas are, they have a low standing in society and, in most cases, not seen as leaders and are supposed to be submissive to their mates.
Alphas, on the other hand, were respected and recognized as leaders, with their abnormally handsome features, strength, and intelligence, they were perfectly compatible with their omega mates or that was what the fates and gods wanted society to believe.
Betas made up the vast majority of society and were more humanistic in appearance and physique, they were also a step down from alphas. Betas could mate with an omega, but they were unable to have children together.
As Phoenix considered his status, he shook his head to remind himself that as an omega, he was running a multibillion-dollar cosmetic company with his name on it. And that made him smiled. Hearing the sound of ice rain hit his window, it reminded him that the holidays were a few weeks away. The holidays always made him think of Max, the man who became more like a father to him than his own father. He missed Max. He was there for Phoenix when he needed him, right after his parents kicked him out.
He hated thinking about his parents, especially the way they shunned him after they found out he was an omega. At sixteen, there were a few things that happened in his life. Puberty. Some experience it a couple of months before or after their sixteenth birthday. But around sixteen was the age when teenagers found out if they were an alpha, omega, or beta. When Phoenix turned sixteen, he found out two things that he had accepted about himself: he was gay and an omega.
However, it seemed his parents were having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that he was an omega. He remembered that day, as if it was yesterday. It was six months after he and his twin brother, Anthony, or Tony to his family and friends, turned sixteen and he noticed that his parents were acting cold towards him. Tony was an alpha and he was also acting strangely towards him.
Phoenix and Tony had always been close, they shared everything from clothes to secrets. There were a few things that Phoenix noticed when it came to his brother, that he was forgetting conversations they had or places they’d been to. Although they were twins, Phoenix had always thought that their parents loved them, equally acknowledging and accepting that they had different personalities. His parents had portrayed themselves as open-minded and willing to listen to everyone’s problems. They were always preaching to Phoenix and Tony that they should be more tolerant of all mankind and their differences.
Phoenix had heard stories of banishment happening to other kids and never fathomed that he would end up being one of them. No matter how many times he begged, his parents refused to reveal the reason why they were rejecting him. He could never forget the words spewing from his father’s mouth.
“You’re worthless to us,” James Harcourt yelled at him.
“Dad, why are you saying that,” Phoenix cried.
“Don’t call me that,” James snapped. “Don’t refer to me as your father. You are not mine.” Phoenix had never seen the look of anger and hate on his father’s face before. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he looked at his mother and brother, his eyes begging for them to say something in his defense. To talk some sense into his father.
“Mom, please,” he begged. Lilith went to move, but Tony clamped a hand down on her shoulder. “Go, Phoenix, just leave us alone and whatever you do, do not come back,” she told him then turned her back to him. Tony wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear.
“I’m giving you fifteen minutes to get your shit and get the hell out of my house,” James told him.
“Da— ” The sound of a loud crack reaching his ear stopped him when he realized what he heard was his father’s hand meeting his cheek. The sting made him understand that his father was not the man he thought he was.
“Do as I say, boy.”
Phoenix nodded and ran to his room, grabbing everything he could fit in one bag, including his three-month supply of suppressant pills, and ran out of his parents’ house without looking back.
At the time, Phoenix wracked his brain for a reason. It wasn’t as if he was a terrible student. In fact, he was the model student getting straight A’s. He was respectful to his teachers and coaches and he was captain of the basketball and baseball teams. He was also popular with girls even though he had no interest in them, which was why his parents’ reaction to finding out that he was an omega surprised him. It wasn’t as if he was the only omega in the world and they would miss out on having a grandchild.
That was one of the beautiful things about being born an omega, he would provide and care for his children. It seemed to Phoenix that there was a societal misconception that omegas were weak and easily influenced. Phoenix had never considered himself as a weak-minded person, in fact, most of the omegas he interacted with never saw themselves as weak.
Phoenix hoped he was changing society's views when it came to omegas. That was one of the things he loved about Maxwell. Maxwell never saw him as just an omega but as a person. He’d cursed his parents for their close-mindedness when it came to him. He had been on the streets for only a few weeks when he had a bit of luck, in his opinion. He sniggered thinking how silly he was trying to steal someone’s wallet. A pretty wealthy guy's wallet as a matter of fact.
There was a knock at his office door, pulling him from his thoughts. “Come in,” he answered, turning his chair around.
Joyce entered and walked over to him with a coffee cup in her hand. “You looked like you could use a pick-me-up.”
“Bless you,” he said with a smile, taking the cup from her and swallowing a large sip. “Please tell me I don’t have a packed day.”
She gave him the “are you kidding” look. “When have your days been anything but packed?”
“Just tell me I get to leave in time to pick up Jasmine.”
“Don’t I always take care of you, sir?” Joyce asked. “I’ve been taking care of you since I worked for Max.”
“You know I hate when you call me sir,” he told her. Joyce had started working with Phoenix English a year or two before him. She was Maxwell’s executive assistant before she became his.
“I’m well aware, but it is office etiquette,” she told him with her glasses sitting down by the tip of her nose. “Why must we go through this every day?”
“Because you refuse to call me Phoenix.” She stared at him and made it clear she wasn’t going to change her mind. “Fine, let me hear how my day will go, at least tell me I have time for a lunch break.”
She scanned down her list and then looked back up at him. “I scheduled a lunch break for two minutes around one.”
“Oh wow, a whole two minutes, thank you, Your Majesty,” he said with a smile, and he got her to chuckle. “Okay, lay it on me.”
“At noon, you have a lunch meeting with Brook Shafter from. . . ”
Phoenix leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee. While he listened to Joyce, his mind started to wander off again. Thinking back, he couldn’t believe how tempted he was to return home and beg his parents to forgive him for being an omega. At least at home he would have been safe from any alpha that caught a whiff of his pheromones. And have had a decent meal, since he’d resorted to begging for change just to get something to eat. Phoenix lived on the streets for two months. It might not have been a long time, but it was enough for him to realize how sheltered his life was when he saw how many omegas were living on the streets. The only thing that kept Phoenix sane were his suppressant pills. Omegas were required to take their suppressant pills weekly to help mask their pheromones to alphas and prevent pregnancies.
He knew what some of the omegas did when they were going through their mating cycles was demoralizing. But he couldn’t fault them. They did what they had to do for survival. They disappeared for days, hiding in abandoned buildings, hoping their heat would pass before they gave in to any alphas that approached them. Some sold their bodies to earn the money they needed to buy their suppressants and to survive. Phoenix couldn’t believe that a society that prided itself on caring for its people would turn a blind eye to omegas suffering in pain.
Phoenix knew sooner or later that if he had stayed out on the streets he would have resorted to the same tricks. Which was why he worked tirelessly to have the laws changed. Until about three years ago, it was illegal for omegas under the age of eighteen to receive their suppressants without parental permission. With his wealth and influence, Phoenix was able to get that, and a few other laws, changed. Thank the gods he didn’t have to sleep with anyone to get what he wanted. No matter what people thought about him, he was not a slut. All he had to do was kiss a few asses and pretend he cared about other minor issues to get his foot in the door. Coughing to suppress a snort over some of the other influences he had employed, Phoenix turned his attention back to Joyce.
“I’m sorry, sir, did you say something?” Joyce asked him.
“Um . . . no,” he said, clearing his throat and sitting up in his chair while pretending that he heard everything she said. “Joyce, can you get me another cup of coffee?”
“Sure,” she said, getting up and taking his empty cup from him. She stopped and looked at him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You seem to be far away today,” she told him.
“It’s the holidays, it always makes me think about Max,” he told her.
“Ah . . .” she said in understanding. “I’ll get you another cup.” Then Joyce turned and walked out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts.
Phoenix got up and walked to his window, touching the cold glass as his memory of the first time he met Maxwell came flooding back to him. He was in a coffee shop when Maxwell English, CEO of English Cosmetics and Fashion Empire, walked in. Phoenix had no idea what Maxwell English was doing downtown when he lived uptown, but he figured English would be an easy target. Copying what he’d seen another of the omegas do, Phoenix walked up and bumped into him, intending to reach into his coat pocket and grab his wallet without the man noticing. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned. Before Phoenix could reach into Maxwell English’s pocket, a hand clamped down on his wrist, stopping him.
Phoenix was scared and waited for Maxwell to do something like call the cops on him. It was as if Maxwell saw something in him and made an offer to take him home.
“Fuck off,” Phoenix said and snatched his hand away. “I’m not going home with you and become your fuck toy.”
Maxwell stared at Phoenix before he burst out laughing in his face. The man was filthy rich and a notorious playboy who made it clear that he wasn’t going to settle or change for anyone, not even his mate.
“You might be an omega, cute one at that, but you’re much too young for my taste.”
“Then what the fuck do you want?”
“To help,” Maxwell said with a shoulder shrug.
“No one does anything out of the goodness of their heart anymore. Especially, a rich guy like you. So, what do you want?”
“Nothing,” Maxwell said to him. Phoenix didn’t believe him even though he was starving and running low on suppressants, he still wasn’t going home with the man.
Maxwell stared at him and walked out of the coffee shop leaving him alone. Phoenix didn’t expect to see the man again except for on magazine covers, but Maxwell came back day after day for an entire week and asked him to go home with him.
“Come on, kid, I’m giving you a chance here,” Max said to him.
“Why do you keep coming back? Why me?” Phoenix asked him. “There are many omegas out here other than me. I’m not your mate.”
“I’m not looking for a mate, kid, a friend maybe,” he said with a sigh. “As much as you’re trying to be tough, you are not going to make it out here for long. Once your supply runs out, you’re going to be like all the other omegas. You’ll jump at the first alpha that comes close to you. Can’t you see I’m trying to save you?”
Phoenix wanted to ask Maxwell how he knew about his supply that he kept hidden from all the other omegas. Maxwell was right, he wasn’t going to make it for very long. “Can I think about it?”
Maxwell reached into his pocket and handed a packet to him. Phoenix took it and looked inside—it was suppressants that could hold him off for a couple more weeks.
“Look,” Maxwell said to him. “The holidays are in a couple of days. If you want to be somewhere clean and warm for a few days or longer, come to the address on the card.”
“You still haven’t told me why I should trust you,” Phoenix said to him.
“Because I just want to help you,” he answered.
“How do you know that I won’t steal from you?” Phoenix asked.
Maxwell looked down at him and smiled before he turned around and walked away, not looking back. On Christmas Eve, Phoenix swallowed his pride and fear and went to the address on the card. That was the night his life changed for the better.
The phone on his desk rang, pulling him out of his thoughts. “What is it, Joyce?” he asked, answering the phone.
“Sir, Mister Meadows is asking to meet with you in the conference room.”
“When?”
“In twenty minutes, sir,” she told him.
Phoenix sighed and looked at the clock on his computer, he really wasn’t in the mood to talk with Meadows. “Fine, tell him not to make me wait.” Meadows was the vice president of Phoenix English, he was also a close friend of Maxwell’s. Meadows was under the insane impression that Maxwell should have left the company to him and not Phoenix.
When he started working at Maxwell’s company, Phoenix didn't want anyone to know the close friendship between them. He wanted to prove to everyone, and himself most of all, that if he got far up in the company, it wasn't because of Maxwell but because of his hard work. And although it took him a while, a few years after graduating from college, he had finally made it to his own corner cubicle. Working for Maxwell was challenging and that helped build up his confidence. Even though Maxwell saw him as a son, Phoenix felt he had to prove his worth as a team member of the English Cosmetics and Fashion Empire. It also surprised him when rumors started to spread that Maxwell was sleeping with his protégé.
The rumors used to anger Phoenix but always made Maxwell chuckle. The rumors got worse for Phoenix when he earned his place as one of Maxwell’s advisors because of his keen business sense. The rumors died down for a bit, but after Maxwell had a heart attack and died leaving everything he owned to Phoenix, the rumors started again only they were more vicious than before. The day of the funeral, Maxwell’s attorney handed him a letter. He knew it was from Maxwell because he recognized his handwriting. Because of his grief, it took Phoenix a couple of weeks to open and read the letter. He closed his eyes, holding back a tear that threatened to roll down his cheek just thinking of what was written to him.
You asked me time and again over the years why did I pick you out of all the omegas on the streets. And each time I gave you the same answer, that I wanted to help. Phoenix, that was only half of it. The truth was I needed you just as much as you needed me. You were the only good thing in my life. Having you in my life kept me from being alone.
Having a mate was never in the cards for me. Hell, if I had one, I never looked for him. It would have meant putting your feelings aside. I know you would have been happy for me, but I didn’t want anyone to come between the father-son relationship we’d built. Don’t feel guilty, it was my choice. You became important to me the day you tried to steal my wallet. It killed me to walk away from you that cold winter day, but I had to so that you could come to me on your own. I needed it to be your choice. I didn’t need a mate to make me happy, I just needed you. Live a happy life, my son.
Thank you, Phoenix. Thanks for making me a better man. Thanks for making me your father in all but blood.
Maxwell was the only man he recognized as his father. Since the day his parents kicked him out, he hadn't seen or heard from them once. Before meeting Maxwell, he wondered if his parents worried about him and regretted their actions. After Maxwell had come into his life, they became an afterthought.
With his taking over the company, Phoenix decided to change the name to make it his but still kept the traditions that Maxwell had established. Maxwell will always be a part of the company he’d built and Phoenix didn’t see the need to change it completely only dropping Maxwell’s first name and adding his. The company advanced from being fashion and cosmetics adding technology and a few other things that improved their stocks.
A couple years after Maxwell died, Phoenix met Corey. Corey was older than Phoenix and worked for the Kent police department along with being an alpha. It was not love at first sight for him and Corey, more like lust and an omega in heat. They met on a night that Phoenix wanted to throw caution to the wind and have some fun. He’d gone clubbing for the first time in years and forgotten the talk where sweat and endorphins can play a big part in releasing an omega’s pheromones.
The memory was almost a blur, but Phoenix went from one dance with Corey to experiencing his first full-blown heat. Their mating wasn’t perfect, and they both knew it, but there was nothing they could do about it. The only time they weren’t arguing was when they were having sex. It was never making love. Because there wasn’t any sort of love between them.
Phoenix knew that Corey felt threatened by the fact that he made more money in their relationship. It was the alpha’s job to take care of his omega not the other way around. Even though he had to work late many nights or go on business trips that took him away for days, sometimes weeks, Phoenix often pointed out to Corey that being a cop was just as demanding. There was a time he thought about giving up his position as the CEO to satisfy Corey, but he couldn’t. The company had been Maxwell’s life, and he’d left it in his care. One argument in particular came to mind. He’d gotten home late from being in meetings all day and Corey was sitting on the couch with a drink in his hand.
“Where have you been all day?”
“Work, you know that.” Phoenix took off his jacket, resting it on the sofa. He wanted to go over to his mate but saw the “don’t come near me look” on his face.
“Yes, I forgot how fucking important you were. The great Phoenix Harcourt.”
Phoenix sighed and rolled his eyes. He was debating whether to bring up that he was going on a trip in a couple of days and wanted Corey to go with him. He walked over to Corey, took the drink out of his hand and sat on his lap.
“Let’s not argue. I missed you today.” That was true, he missed his mate.
“You missed me so much that you rushed home to be with me.”
Phoenix ignored Corey’s jab. “I was thinking.” He leaned in and kissed Corey on his neck, slowly moving up to kissing him on the corner of his lips.
It took Corey a few seconds to loosen up and wrap one of his arms around his waist. “What?” Corey asked while Phoenix tilted his head to the side showing his neck to his mate. Corey licked a stipe from his neck to his chin.
“How about we go away for a couple of days. I need to go on a business trip to Hawaii for a meeting but after that I’m all yours.”
Corey pulled back and looked at him and smiled. “Sure. I can take some time off from work.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, we didn’t really get to do the whole honeymoon thing. So why not.” Corey smiled and for a split second he was happy that his mate gave in. He couldn’t hold back his joy and kissed his lover. “Just let me know the name of the hotel you want to stay in and I will make the reservations,” Corey said when they pulled back from their kiss.
“You don’t have to. My secretary is already taking care of things for us. I can just tell her to change a few things.”
“You couldn’t let me do it, could you?”
“Do what?” Phoenix couldn’t understand why the sudden shift in Corey’s attitude.
“Pay for our vacation. What, you think because I’m a cop I can’t pay for an expensive vacation?” He shoved Phoenix off his lap and he landed on his ass. Corey didn’t seem to care and stood to his feet. “I don’t need your fucking money.”
“I never said you did,” Phoenix said getting up. “Corey, you knew that I had money when we got together. I never hid that fact.”
“No, but you haven’t stopped throwing it in my face.”
Phoenix sighed holding back his anger. “I’ve never done that. And you’re being ridiculous.”
“Bullshit, that’s all you do. We live in your fucking apartment. Do and go wherever the fuck you want to go. You pay for everything!”
“Fine, if it will make you feel better, then you pay for everything. I’m sick and tired of arguing.”
That night he slept in their bedroom and Corey slept on the couch. Phoenix also went on his trip alone, he had hoped that Corey would have joined him but it didn’t happen. Phoenix had always assumed that Corey cared about him, but not loved him. Truthfully, after they were together for two months, he couldn’t say if he loved Corey either. It was during their third month together that Phoenix found out he was pregnant. When they’d found out they were going to have a baby, it was the only time he could remember that he and Corey were happy.
Despite being happy about the baby, Phoenix was scared out of his mind, he worried about raising a child in a loveless mating. He hoped that everything would work itself out in the end, that Corey would see his child and realize that they made her together and they would try to make things work.
If only Corey had lived to see Jasmine being born. Corey was killed during a traffic stop gone wrong. Phoenix didn’t have time to mourn Corey’s death because Jasmine came not long after the funeral. Corey was his mate, and he’d cared about him, however, Phoenix wasn’t sure if he would be willing to open himself up to finding another mate. He wasn’t willing to risk his daughter’s happiness with a loveless mating, once was enough.
Jasmine reminded him so much of Corey, she had his curly hair and beautiful honey-brown eyes. She was the light of Phoenix’s life and was so intelligent that sometimes he forgot that she was only six and not thirty with how grown she could sometimes be. Jasmine also had the sweetest infectious laugh that lit up her entire face.
Sighing, he cleared his thoughts, he needed to get to work in order to leave early to start his Christmas shopping before picking Jasmine up from school. Phoenix could give Alissa a list of names and the type of gifts to get them, but he loved finding that one gift for the special people in his life just to see the happy expression on their faces.
Time to get to work. I’ve spent enough time thinking of the past.
Phoenix glanced at his watch and noted that he still had fifteen minutes before he had to meet Meadows. He reached over and grabbed the stack of mail, sorting through the ones that needed his attention right away. He frowned when he saw an envelope with no return address on the front, just his name.
Confused, Phoenix picked it up, turning it over to look at the back, it was also blank. He set it back down and stared at it, not sure if he should open it or not. Phoenix had a feeling what was inside; it would be the third one he'd received in the past couple of months. He had no idea why he was getting the letters, he was a good man and used his wealth to help others. When he received the first letter six months earlier, Phoenix thought it was someone playing a prank on him and he ignored it.
Could it be someone from within the company doing this? There are some who were angry with Maxwell when he left the company to me. I angered them even more when I changed the name to Phoenix English, Inc.
Even though Maxwell died almost ten years earlier, some of the alphas in the company had a hard time taking orders from an omega, someone lower than even a beta on the hierarchy chain. Phoenix tried not to let it bother him, but he couldn’t help it. He had to assert his authority as their boss. Phoenix closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t want to open it. He didn’t want to see what was written inside.
The first one told him, in short, that what he had, he was going to lose. He’d shredded the first one, along with the second one he’d gotten three months after the first. He hated to think what the one on his desk was threatening this time. Only two people, other than himself, had access to his office: Joyce and Alissa, her assistant. He opened his eyes and stared at the envelope before grabbing it as he got up from his desk and walked to the door.
“Joyce,” he said getting his secretary’s attention.
“Yes, Mister Harcourt.”
“When did this get here?” he asked, holding up the unopened envelope.
She stared at it for a second before answering. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, sir. I’ve never seen that envelope before.”
That couldn’t be, thought Phoenix.
That was the third one he’d gotten, and they’d all shown up at his office. He felt as if he was going out of his mind. He couldn’t ignore the problem any longer. It wasn’t a prank. He walked back into his office and closed the door. He opened the envelope and pulled out photographs. He gasped when he saw it was pictures of him and Jasmine. The pictures fell from his fingers. He closed his eyes, trying not to break down. He opened his eyes and stared down at the pictures. His stomach churned when he realized they were pictures from the day before while he was at home having lunch with Jasmine.
Who the fuck is doing this?
Someone was stalking him and he didn’t know what to do, but he knew who to call. There were only four people he trusted and one of them was already dead. The other three were Jasmine, Lacey, and his twin brother, Tony, who showed back up in his life not long after Corey’s death. He’d tried to push everyone away after Corey’s death, but there were some who refused to leave his side.
He looked at the pictures on his desk and noticed that there was a bright red circle around Jasmine’s face and his heart stopped. They were going after his baby. Thinking quickly, Phoenix picked up the pictures and ran out of his office. He needed to get to Jasmine. He needed to make sure that she was okay, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate until he had her in his arms.
