The weather was quite wonderful, a strange feeling on the omega’s skin as he walked down a certain dirt road to a large house. He would probably take his time to take in the nice climate, especially since it was rare this time of the year, but he was in a bit of a rush. In an hour he had another shift at a local diner not far from here, and in between that time, he liked to drop off extra sweets that would be thrown away by the end of the day from his last shift at the bakery to a certain house.

At this point, walking down the dirt road to the large house at the end was more of a routine. The point of coming here was to see the alpha he wished was his, but not once had the alpha been the one to open the door and see him. Every time he came to the door to drop off the gifts, the omega the alpha had mated would instead open the door. They were incredibly kind, never once suspecting the worst out of John’s random appearances at their front door. He wondered what their reaction would be if they learned that he came here to see the alpha because he loved him. Whenever the omega would be the one to open the door, John would quickly make it clear he wasn’t there to talk. He wouldn’t ever want to speak to the omega who had made his desire to be the omega beside the alpha impossible.

It was always somber to see the omega there when the door opened, and he was aware he probably shouldn’t be as depressed as he was about it. It wasn’t a surprise in the slightest that the omega was chosen. They were a lot more perfect than John was; they didn’t have a job, they were unscarred, they were sweet and sensitive, they had time for the alpha when John did not.

After being forced to retire from the military from a bullet to the knee, John had been struggling with financial issues, so he worked several jobs. It was tiring and left him feeling - and most likely looking - like a mess. When he first met the alpha during one of his shifts, he had tried very hard to try and get the alpha's attention, but it must have not been meant to be since the other omega was courted later on. John was a lot older and had already been mated (despite still being widowed), so he understood the reason why the other omega was courted instead.

But even if it made sense, it still hurt.

And even though John was aware he had no chance compared to the other omega, he still found himself at the house, lifting his hand to knock knowing damn well that he’d be left disappointed. His left hand gripped the plate of cinnamon rolls, his other hand knocking on the wooden door. John waited for a moment, shifting his weight onto his good leg. Even though the knee brace helped with the pain, he couldn’t leave all his weight on that leg for too long.

His attention was grabbed when he heard the front door unlock and he instinctively stood up straighter. Expecting to see the omega, John’s eyes widened with surprise when he was instead left with seeing the alpha's figure behind the front door as it opened.