Chapter 142: And Fate Is Pullin’ You Miles Away

[KATYA]

... Yet the one time he really needed Sergei to decide, the man had been a ghost. Disappeared like he didn’t even know the first thing about what life was holding onto for him.

Katya wasn’t even sure he would survive this if Alek was still busy.

Gods, he hoped that the senator was coming because Katya could hear them. The growls outside.

The way the alphas and betas were pulling themselves back beyond the walls of his office. It didn’t help that Katya had gotten syrupy sweet.

If Sergei had approved the heat leave papers a week ago, Katya wouldn’t be here working. He would probably be nesting back home, but no. He just had to be thrust into whatever the fuck this was.

Now the company would start looking at him differently, all because someone refused to do their job.

Katya couldn’t think straight.

He kept staring at the door, hoping that Alek was coming. He kept staring at his phone for three minutes.

And for a moment...

... Katya considered calling Sergei.

He was angry.

He had been angry with Sergei from the moment he had realized the alpha had let him believe all that shit. But right now, even his anger was sending him toward the man who had already ruined his life.

What the hell was he even supposed to say or do right now?

What was he to make of the chaos that was his life right now?

"Sir, are you sure you want me to run all that?" one of the store workers had asked at the mall weeks ago when Katya had bought a bunch of things that made it pretty obvious he was trying to make someone pay.

And Katya, he just nodded, only for the card owner to be notified and approve the bills.

He couldn’t even be a brat in peace.

Now that man had ghosted again, and Katya didn’t know what to think.

"Fuck this," Katya grumbled before he grabbed his phone and dialed the one person he knew not to dial.

Sergei Moskowsky.

It was risky and could have gone a whole different way.

Sergei had a girlfriend now.

Sergei had given him his freedom.

Sergei had not shown up at the office in weeks.

Fuck, Sergei lived in the penthouse right above the office, so why the fuck was it hard for him to show up the one time Katya needed him?

And that fueled Katya’s rage.

How a man could’ve been so close and yet so far was so baffling to him.

Katya wasn’t ready to accept whatever the fuck he was getting offered. Maybe they were scraps, or maybe Katya just needed a punching back in the moment. A punching bag he had leaned would let him get away with whatever the fuck he did.

It was a dangerous position for an omega, and worse, to play with an alpha as dangerous as Sergei Moskowsky.

But what was the worst that Sergei could do to him, right?

"Fuck him," Katya cursed as he slammed the phone down on the table.

Not waiting for it to ring the first time.

He hung up.

But the more he stared at his phone, the more he was reminded that there was a chance that the old barbarian had taken care of the trolls that had been messing with him.

So why the fuck couldn’t he approve a simple heat leave sheet?

Was he still Moskowsky property?

Was that why Sergei was hesitant?

Katya couldn’t even think right because he hadn’t seen the man physically in over nine months.

He knew Sergei was alive thanks to the stupid posts Irina made on Instagram and the constant mentions and approved sheets.

He knew Sergei was alive because of that one encounter in the night that never once bore any fruit.

And now...

Gods... Katya was pissed.

So, he dialed Sergei Moskowsky again.

Maybe it was because he was angry.

Maybe because he needed to give that barbarian a piece of his mind.

Maybe because he was not going to let things be without giving the man what he was thinking.

Perhaps she could blame it on his heat later, right?

Even if he didn’t, there was nothing Sergei could do to him. Katya had already learned that one too many times.

This time was different, though.

The phone rang only once, and Sergei picked up.

Katya stared at the seconds counting on the phone screen, wondering if this was the right thing to do. By the tenth second, he was sure it was a bad idea.

Yet...

He still waited.

And maybe Sergei figured he needed to speak first, because Katya had been silent the whole time like a petulant child.

"Solnysh—" Sergei began.

And Katya hung up instantly.

He turned his phone off like he was not about to deal with all that.

Solnyshka.

Sergei hadn’t called him that in months.

Katya hadn’t realized just how much he had gotten used to that name until he heard it again. And it was like he had to remind himself that he was angry with Sergei. That the man was yet to apologize for the pain he had caused him

But was Sergei to apologize for Katya’s decision not to read the contracts that had been in his possession for seven whole months?

Oh, but it really was something else.

"Stupid alpha and his stupid company. Stupid name. Stupid voice. Stupid everything!" Katya groaned in pain, despising the way that hearing Sergei’s voice affected him.

He couldn’t name it yet.

It was the same effect from months ago, and Katya hated it.

Did he think so?

Or did he hate that things had never been the same since the 2 am incident with Sergei and Irina?

Katya was bothered so much that the thought of that night had him fisting his hands. Though he could swear he didn’t have a proper explanation for some of the things he should be doing over the months.

But no one cared enough to look that deep, right?

"Stupid alpha and his stupid rules," Katya whined in rage.

So, he resumed pacing, hoping that the senator would get there soon enough.

Katya wanted to talk to his secretary, Rahim, but he couldn’t even smell her out there. Maybe she had left, too, but it was the only rational choice for her.

After all, an omega in heat was not good for an alpha who was trying to stay alive.

Maybe because a part of Katya understood that Sergei would punish her for not respecting his freedom. But fuck freedom, because right now, all he wanted was someone.

An alpha.

His mind was hazy, his body so weak. So begrudgingly, he opened the door to his office and stepped out.

And suddenly it was like the executive floor had never had an employee.

There was no sight of anyone.

No lingering scent other than Katya’s citrus scent that had been swirling for the past ten minutes. It was like he was in a different kind of jail, and Katya didn’t appreciate it.

"Of all the times this shit had to hit me," Katya sighed, hunching over, hands on his knees as he tried to keep himself balanced.

He could feel the way his body was desperate for a touch.

Someone’s touch.

Anyone.

That particular someone.

Oh, but it was a long road for him.