22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1l6XanNH1c22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1lKVs2FYl
Two days later a letter arrived. From Sheridan Lucas.
Elliot opened it expecting the usual friendly correspondence maybe an invitation for coffee, maybe news from the library where Sheridan worked as a cataloguer.
But what he read made him freeze.
Dear Ellie,
I'm writing because I can't say this in person. I know you'll be shocked. Possibly even furious. But I ask you to hear me out or in this case, read to the end.
I'm getting married. To William Collins.
The wedding is in six days.
I know what you're thinking. I know what you'll say. But Ellie, try to understand. I'm twenty-five years old. I'm an omega from a poor family. My scent is so weak that alphas don't even notice me in a room. I have no dowry, no connections, nothing that could attract a worthy alpha. William isn't perfect. But he's offering me something I've never had: stability. A home. Position.
He came to us the day after he left Longbourn. Made me a proposal. I harbor no illusions I'm not his first choice. I'm not even his second. But I accepted.
Come see me tomorrow evening. Please. I need to explain. I need you to understand.
Your friend,
Sheridan
Elliot reread the letter three times, not believing his eyes. Each word landed like a blow to his chest.
Sher. His friend. One of the few people who understood him.
Marrying William Collins.
A man who considered omegas defective. A weak, vain alpha with the suffocating scent of wilting lilac and false righteousness.
Elliot crumpled the letter in his fist, then immediately smoothed it back out. His fingers trembled.
He had to talk to him. Try to talk him out of it. Make him understand he was making a mistake.
But deep down he knew: Sheridan wasn't someone who made decisions thoughtlessly. If he'd agreed, he had his reasons.
Reasons Elliot was afraid to hear.
***
The next evening he stood outside the Lucas house a modest two-story building that had seen better days. Paint peeled from the shutters, the garden was overgrown with weeds. The Lucas family was even poorer than the Bennets, and it showed in every detail.
Elliot knocked. Sheridan himself opened the door.
He looked... tired. Shadows lay beneath his eyes, shoulders tense. His scent dried lavender, old paper, and cold tea was even weaker than usual, almost imperceptible. As though he were fading before Elliot's eyes.
"Ellie," he said quietly. "Come in."
They went into the small sitting room. Sheridan closed the door and turned to Elliot. Silence stretched between them, heavy and painful.
"Say something," he finally asked.
"What do you want me to say?" Elliot's voice was cold. "Congratulations? Best wishes?"
"Ellie..."
"He proposed to me two days ago!" Elliot exploded. "He said I was a defective omega he was magnanimously willing to accept! And you... you're marrying him?!"
"Yes," Sheridan answered simply. "I am."
"Why?!"
"Because I don't have a choice!" He raised his voice, and it was so unlike him that Elliot fell silent. "You have a family, Ellie. Brothers who can support each other. A mother who, however unbearable she may be, wants the best for you. A father who loves you. And me? I have aging parents who can barely make ends meet. A librarian's job that pays pennies."
Sheridan's voice trembled, but he continued.
"No prospects. No future. My scent is so unremarkable I could stand in a room full of alphas for an hour and not one would notice me. Do you even understand what that's like? To be invisible?"
His aroma became even weaker, as though he himself were disappearing before Elliot's eyes.
Elliot looked at him and saw the pain Sher had so carefully hidden behind a mask of practicality and cynical humor. The anger in his chest began to fade, replaced by something heavy and bitter.
But he still couldn't accept it. Couldn't resign himself to it.
"Sher, you're intelligent, educated..."
"And a lonely omega from a poor family with an unremarkable scent," Sheridan interrupted. "I'm twenty-five, Ellie. I'm not a young omega with alphas lining up anymore. I'm the one they don't notice. William is my last chance not to die alone in this house taking care of aging parents."
"But this is William Collins!" Elliot dropped onto the worn sofa beside him. "He's pompous, self-satisfied, he's..."
"He's an alpha with an inheritance," Sheridan interrupted. "He's inheriting Longbourn. He has connections to the influential de Bourgh family. He can provide me with security."
"At the cost of your happiness?"
Sheridan turned to him, and in his eyes was such sad wisdom that Elliot felt his heart clench.
"Happiness is a luxury, Ellie. A luxury people like me can't afford. I'm not you. I don't have your gift, your strength, your ability to challenge the world. I'm an ordinary omega who just wants to... survive."
"You deserve more..."
"Maybe," he smiled sadly. "But I've learned to work with what I have. William isn't cruel. He won't hit me or humiliate me. He's just... empty. And I can build a life in that emptiness. A home. Stability. Maybe even children, if I'm lucky."
"But you don't love him."
"No," Sher agreed. "And I never will. But I respect his position. I value what he's offering. And I accept the terms of this deal."
"Deal?" Elliot laughed bitterly. "Marriage isn't a deal, Sher."
"For people like you," Sheridan answered quietly. "For those who can afford to dream of love. But for the rest of us... for most of us... marriage is exactly a deal. An exchange of security for freedom. Stability for feelings."
He stood and walked to the window, looking at the grey sky beyond the glass. His silhouette seemed so fragile in the dim light.
"You know what the worst part is?" he said quietly without turning. "I'm not even angry about it. I've resigned myself. I've accepted that in this world there's no place for people like me. Unremarkable omegas no one sees, no one wants. We exist on the periphery, in the shadow of bright, desirable omegas like James. And our only chance is to catch someone who'll agree to take us."
Elliot walked over to him. His own scent bitter chocolate and smoke mixed with Sher's faded lavender, creating a sad combination.
"You're not invisible to me," he said. "You're one of the few people I can be myself with."
Sher turned, and a faint smile flickered across his face.
"I know. And I value that more than you think. But friendship won't keep me warm in old age, Ellie. It won't give me a home when my parents die. It won't protect me from a world that doesn't tolerate lonely omegas without family."
"And William will protect you?"
"William will give me a place," Sher returned to the sofa and sat. "A role. The position of a clergyman's wife, connected to an influential family. That's more than I have now."
Elliot sat beside him, doubts tearing at him. The connection to the de Bourghs... that worried him. But he couldn't explain to Sher why. Couldn't tell him about his suspicions regarding that family without revealing too much about himself.
"Just... be careful," he said finally. "I've heard Lady Catherine de Bourgh isn't someone to mess with. She's controlling, domineering..."
"Like most matriarchs of wealthy families," Sher shrugged. "Ellie, I'm not planning to become Lady Catherine's best friend. I'll just be the husband of her clergyman protégé. I'll stay in the shadows, keep house, host receptions, smile at the right people. I know how to be unobtrusive, remember?"
His words sounded so resigned that Elliot felt physical pain.
"You're worth more," he repeated.
"Maybe," Sher took his hand. "But I'm making a choice I can live with. You refused William because you couldn't imagine life with him. I'm accepting him because I can't imagine life without this chance. We're different, Ellie. And that's okay."
They sat in silence, holding hands. Outside the window rain began fine, cold, autumnal. Drops tapped against the glass like a countdown of time inexorably running out.
"Will you come to the wedding?" Sher asked quietly.
Elliot squeezed his hand.
"Of course. I'll always be there. Even if I don't agree with your choice."
"That's all I ask," Sher smiled weakly. "Just... don't disappear from my life. I'll need a friend. Especially when I become Mr. Collins."
The name sounded strange, foreign. Elliot couldn't picture Sheridan Lucas intelligent, cynical, perceptive beside pompous William Collins.
But he also couldn't condemn his friend for a choice dictated by desperation and fear of the future.
"I promise," he said. "Wherever you end up, I'll be a phone call away."
"Even if I end up on the de Bourgh estate, surrounded by their arrogance and control?"
"Especially then," Elliot tried to smile. "Someone will have to rescue you from dinner parties with Lady Catherine."
Sher laughed quietly, and his scent became slightly warmer, though it still remained sadly unremarkable.
"You know what's most ironic?" he said. "William told me Lady Catherine very much wanted him to marry you specifically. She personally recommended he consider the eldest Bennet son. When you refused, she was... disappointed."
Cold ran down Elliot's spine.
"She wanted him to marry me?" He tried to keep his voice level. "Why?"
"I don't know," Sher shrugged. "William said something about Lady Catherine considering you... special. That an omega like you needs proper guidance. Honestly, I wasn't really listening. He can talk about his patroness for hours."
Special.
Needs proper guidance.
Elliot felt his heart racing. Lady Catherine de Bourgh had specifically wanted him to marry her protégé. A weak alpha who would be easily managed. Who would bring Elliot directly into the de Bourgh sphere of influence.
They knew. Or at least suspected about his gift.
"Ellie?" Sher's voice brought him back to reality. "You've gone pale. Are you all right?"
"Yes," Elliot forced himself to smile. "Just... tired. The last few days have been difficult."
"I understand," Sher nodded sympathetically. "Your mother probably threw a fit about refusing William?"
"You could say that."
They sat a bit longer, talking about small things about Sher's work at the library, which he'd have to leave after the wedding. About William's plans to move to the parish supervised by Lady Catherine, about what their new home would be like.
But beneath the surface of ordinary conversation lay something unspoken. A farewell. Not final, but still a farewell to what their friendship had been. After the wedding Sher would become part of another world. The world of the de Bourghs, their influence, their control.
And Elliot couldn't shake the feeling he was losing his friend to an abyss from which he might never return.
***
When Elliot left the Lucas house, it was already dark. The rain had intensified into a downpour. He walked through wet streets, not caring that water soaked through his clothes and hair.
His thoughts were chaotic, painful.
Sher was marrying William.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh was interested in him.
James was broken by Bingley's departure.
Darcy... Darcy wanted him but was fighting that desire.
And somewhere out there, in the shadows, danger waited, watched, and prepared.
Elliot felt his own scent becoming acrid chocolate mixing with the smoke of anxiety and fear, old books saturated with something musty.
He stopped in the middle of an empty street, raised his face to the cold rain, and closed his eyes.
What do I do?
There was no answer. Only the sound of rain and the dull beating of his own heart.
He didn't know what awaited him ahead. Didn't know how to protect himself and his family from what was coming.
But he knew one thing: there was nowhere to retreat.
Elliot opened his eyes, breathed in the damp air, and walked home. His steps were firm despite the fear.
Whatever happened, he would face it with his head held high.
***
When he returned to Longbourn, the house was quiet. Only his father's study showed light. Elliot knocked and entered.
Mr. Bennet sat in his chair but wasn't reading or working. He simply stared out the window at the night rain. His scent of Earl Grey was sad and contemplative.
"You're soaked," he observed without turning.
"Yes." Elliot closed the door behind him.
"Were you at the Lucases'?"
"Yes."
"And?"
Elliot walked to the chair opposite and sank into it, feeling exhaustion press him into the soft upholstery.
"Sher is marrying William. In six days."
Mr. Bennet nodded slowly.
"I assume you tried to talk him out of it?"
"I tried. It didn't work."
"It wouldn't have," his father finally turned to him, and in his eyes was sad wisdom. "Sheridan Lucas is an intelligent young man. He knows what he's doing. And why. We can't save people from choices they make consciously, Elliot. Even if those choices break our hearts."
"But he deserves more..."
"Everyone deserves more," his father gently interrupted. "But not everyone gets what they deserve. That's the world, son. Not fair, cruel, and indifferent to our desires."
He paused, then added more quietly:
"You did the right thing refusing William. Even if your mother doesn't understand. Even if it put our family in a difficult position. Some cages are too small to live in, even if they're made of gold."
Elliot felt a lump rise in his throat.
"Thank you, Father."
Mr. Bennet stood, walked over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. A rare gesture of physical closeness.
"Go rest. Tomorrow will be a new day. And with it, new trials."
Elliot smiled weakly and left.
***
Elliot closed his eyes, feeling exhaustion that came from the soul.
He thought about Sher, who had sold himself for a roof over his head.
About James, who had been abandoned.
About himself, who had refused the only chance at security.
About how they were all victims of a world that valued omegas only as commodities.
And he swore to himself: whatever happened next, he wouldn't become another Sheridan.
Even if it meant fighting.
Even if it meant danger.
Even if it meant being alone.
Because life without freedom wasn't life.
It was just slow death in pretty packaging.
***
Six days later the wedding took place.
The small church on the edge of town was nearly empty. A few rows of pews, old stained glass through which pale morning light filtered. It smelled of incense, old wood, and wilting lilies cheap flowers someone had placed by the altar.
Elliot sat in the third row between James and his father. Mother had stayed home, supposedly due to a migraine but really because she couldn't forgive Sheridan for "stealing" the groom. The younger brothers hadn't come either.
Maybe it was better that way. Fewer witnesses to this... Elliot didn't know what to call it.
There were about twenty guests. Sheridan's parents in the front row an elderly couple with unremarkable scents and tired faces. A few distant Collins relatives.
And of course, William. He stood at the altar in a new suit that fit him poorly. His wilting lilac mixed with cheap lotion and nervous sweat. He smiled broadly and smugly.
The organ began to play.
The door at the end of the church opened.
Sheridan entered alone. No escort, no traditional procession. Just an omega in a simple white suit.
His scent dried lavender, old paper, and cold tea was almost indistinguishable. As though he were already dissolving.
Elliot felt his own scent flare with pain bitter chocolate became scalding, smoke turned acrid. He gripped the armrest of the pew so hard the wood creaked.
James placed a hand on his shoulder. His scent was calming but sad.
"Breathe," his brother whispered. "Just breathe."
Sheridan walked down the aisle slowly, deliberately. His face was calm, almost detached. A mask.
But Elliot saw. Saw how the fingers clutching the small bouquet of white roses trembled. Saw how the corner of his mouth twitched. Saw the detachment in his eyes.
Sher reached the altar. Stood beside William.
The priest began the ceremony. An old, grey-haired beta with the scent of dust and holy water. His voice was monotone, mechanical.
"We are gathered here today to join this alpha and this omega in holy matrimony..."
Elliot listened and felt each word settle like a stone on his chest.
There was nothing holy about this. Only a transaction.
"If anyone knows any reason why these two should not be joined, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."
Silence.
Elliot clenched his fists. His omega instincts screamed, demanding he stand, object.
But he didn't move.
Because this wasn't his choice.
"William Collins," the priest continued, "do you take Sheridan Lucas to be your lawfully wedded spouse?"
"I do," William's voice was loud, triumphant.
"Sheridan Lucas, do you take William Collins to be your lawfully wedded spouse?"
A pause.
Too long a pause.
Sheridan stood motionless, staring at the bouquet in his hands.
Elliot stopped breathing.
Refuse. Please.
But Sheridan raised his head. Looked at the priest. And his lips moved:
"I do."
The word came out quietly. But loud enough to seal his fate.
"Then I pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss your spouse."
William leaned toward Sheridan. The kiss was brief, chaste. But it held possession.
The organ played again.
Sparse applause. Strained smiles.
William led Sheridan down the aisle toward the exit. His hand lay proprietarily on the omega's waist.
Passing Elliot, Sheridan stopped for a moment. Their eyes met.
And in his friend's eyes Elliot saw... farewell. Farewell to who his friend could have been. To hopes. To dreams. To himself.
Sheridan smiled weakly sadly, wearily and walked on.
Elliot watched him go, feeling something tear in his chest.
***
After the ceremony there was a modest reception at the Lucas house. Cheap wine, simple food, awkward conversations.
Sheridan smiled, nodded, thanked people for congratulations. The perfect omega playing his role. But his scent was so weak Elliot could barely catch it even standing beside him.
"Ellie," Sher called quietly when they were alone by the window for a moment. "Thank you for coming."
"I promised," Elliot tried to smile. "How are you?"
"Fine," the standard answer. "Everything's good."
"Sher..."
"Don't," the omega shook his head. "Please. I made my choice. This is my choice. And I'll live with it."
William called to him from across the room. Sher sighed, briefly squeezed Elliot's hand, and headed toward his husband.
Elliot watched as his friend dissolved into the crowd of guests, becoming more and more invisible.
***
An hour later Elliot, James, and their father left. Heavy silence filled the car.
"That was awful," James finally whispered.
"Yes," Elliot agreed.
"He's miserable."
"He survived," Mr. Bennet said quietly from the front seat. "For some people that's the best they can hope for."
Elliot stared out the window at the streets sliding past. Rain had started again—fine, cold, endless.
He thought about Sher standing at the altar with an empty face. About how his scent had almost vanished, as though the omega himself were erasing himself to fit into his assigned role.
About how Sheridan Collins would now live in the de Bourgh world. Under their control. In their shadow.
And Elliot could do nothing to change it.
When they returned to Longbourn, he silently went upstairs, closed his door, and sat at his desk.
Opened his laptop. Stared at the blank screen.
Work. He needed work the only thing that could silence his thoughts.
He immersed himself in digitizing old letters dated 1847. Someone's long-dead love, faded on yellowed paper.
It was easier to think about other people's tragedies than his own life.
Outside the window rain continued to fall.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeITGMmbLE5
And Elliot worked until dawn, trying not to think about what would come next.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJR5WAFx7y
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMqKjFuCVm
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoP9tKTArw
and then Add to home screen.