Lake quietly opened his door, hoping to avoid his nosy apartment neighbor.
But there was no hope of that because this was the usual time he often went out.
Avery was standing right in front of his own apartment, blatantly waiting to catch him before he left.
Lake pretended not to see the male Omega staring back at him as he tried to walk past him.
But he knew well that Avery wouldn’t let that slide, especially not when he was holding a traveling bag.
"Lake! Hi, I hoped to catch you before you left for work," He said cheerily in that tone he always used that felt fake as plastic.
"Did you need something? I’m kind of in a hurry." Lake said flatly, his knuckles white where they gripped the handle of his bag.
"Are you heading somewhere?" Avery immediately latched onto that line of conversation, his sharp eyes scanning him.
Lake was gratefully that he had wrapped his scarf snugly around his neck, so the male Omega couldn’t even catch a glimpse of what he had going on underneath.
"That’s not the bag you usually use-"
"Avery," Lake cut in, having zero patience for whatever the Omega had going on this morning.
"I’m just concerned," Avery pouted, "You know as unmated Omegas we have to stick together-"
Lake was already walking off before Avery completed his sentence, his neck tingling.
Other than the Omega majoring in his business, Lake was also irked about how Avery let his life revolve around mating an eligible Alpha.
He really wasn’t in the mood for that line of conversation today of all mornings.
"Lake? Lake? We weren’t done talking!"
Lake cursed under his breath and picked up the pace, this was the reason why he was forced to stop and talk to Avery.
The Omega would have just followed him until he was satisfied that their conversation was over.
Lake didn’t have the time though, hopping into the elevator and repeatedly pressing the button as Avery dashed down the hallway.
It closed just before Avery could get in, and Lake had never been so relieved to be all alone in an elevator.
He leaned against the metal walls and sighed heavily, straightening up.
If Avery was a little less obnoxious, he might have confided in the other Omega.
Because it was a little overwhelming dealing with everything alone, it would be nice to have a genuine friend.
But Lake had been too busy to form any proper connection with anyone, and now, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to.
Just as he got to the parking lot of the apartment complex, a slew of cars were pulling in, and on instinct, Lake ducked behind a car.
He might have called Master Davian’s men showing up to his apartment complex a coincidence but a bandaged and scowling Arthur stepping out of one of the cars as well told him it wasn’t.
They were already here for him!
Lake remained crouched behind the car, clutching his overnight bag as they strode for the glass doors.
Arthur hadn’t looked happy - but when was the butler not sporting a sour look?
Lake’s heart thumped in his chest, things weren’t looking good for him.
He waited for all the men to go in so that he could make a dash for it, relieved when they all actually went in.
He had been expecting a couple to stay by the cars, but Arthur had gestured for them all to follow and they did without question.
Lake was already on his feet and halfway through the parking lot as soon as the last man stepped through the doors.
He had been hoping for a few days of grace while the Master dealt with the rest of his rut but apparently not.
He was barely off the lot when the glass doors were opening again, a glaring Arthur marching out with none other than Avery in tow.
"Fuck me," Lake muttered as he shared gazes with the two people who went out of their way to make his days unbearable.
Lake didn’t wait, hoisting up his bag and dashing down the street.
He didn’t care about the noise that caused behind him, flagging down a cab and in his panic giving the driver the location of the grocery store he frequented.
It was the only time he went out, so he liked to shop in Central Area, one of his few guilty pleasures.
As soon as the driver took off, he realized how much of a bad idea it all was.
He should have just ducked off the road so that Arthur and the men accompanying him would be forced to chase him on foot.
But he was in the cab now, and the much sleeker cars Arthur brought were hot on his tail.
Lake glanced nervously at the cab driver who didn’t seem to care that they were clearly in a car chase.
He thought about mentioning it but he was scared that the driver would just stop and drop him off.
And he wouldn’t even blame the poor cab driver that he roped into this.
They got a head start though and the driver seemed to have issues of his own because he kept a lead foot on the gas pedal.
Lake’s heart was in his mouth as they slowed down at a traffic light, they were in Central Area now, and he hoped that Arthur would care about decorum enough to not start shooting.
But they had been in this car chase ever since Mafia King Davian’s turf and there had been no gunshots, so he was hopeful.
Lake already paid the driver long before they got to the store so that when they did, he could immediately get out and haul ass.
Leaving his overnight bag behind was the best way to move faster but he wasn’t letting go of what he stole so some else could find it.
The driver sped past the store much to his surprise, taking a hard right and swerving into the parking lot of a compact shopping complex.