"Prof. Antonio."
My Habibi's cool voice is calling my name.
"Prof. Antonio."
I don't want to wake up yet, but his voice sounds pretty serious...
"Wake-up, Professor."
I reach out and hold his hand which I pulled towards me.
"Aahmes, I'm cold..." I mumbled, drawing him near.
"Wake up, ghabi!"
"Ouch!"
A sharp rap to my skull immediately woke me up!
"What was that for?!" I asked him with a frown. Why is he so touchy this early in the –
"T-Tito Eric?"
I was snapped awake by the cute sound of my Bebe Meme's voice. I glance sideways and saw her standing there with her brother Nathan!
What the hell! Where am I? What time is it?
Ah! That's right!
I was taking a nap at the pantry, waiting for Aahmes to feed me lunch before the kids arrive!
I quickly rose up and stretch on the couch I was sleeping on.
"Ah, you're here already? Aren't you a bit early?" I look at Aahmes who stood blushing by my side. "Habibi, I told you to wake me up before 1 PM!" I whispered to him.
"I was busy and didn't notice the time," he replied.
"But I haven't even eaten lunch yet!" I reach out to his hand once more.
"T-that's you're problem! Ghabi!" he snapped at me, pulled his hand back and walked away.
I wonder why he's acting this way, when I'm the one who should be upset with him. Is he still pissed about my joke earlier?
"Tito, is Ghabi your nickname here in your office?" asked Mercy who followed Aahmes with her eyes.
"Ah, that's just Dr. Abdel's term of endearment for me!" I laughingly said.
"It is not! You idiot!" Aahmes replied from inside his cubicle.
"Was that your lover, Tito Eric?" Nathan asked as he checked my Habibi out.
"I wish. Do we look like one?" I chuckled. "He's a fellow professor and a Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the United Arab Countries of the Middle East," I answered him seriously. "He's here to help me in my research." I wouldn't want my idiot nephew thinking that we're just goofing around in the lab.
"So, how's your work, Tito Eric? Did you have a lot of progress with your research?" Mercy asked, looking so proud of me.
"Of course, my lovely Mercy, you know how great your uncle is!" I lifted my favorite niece up and spin her around happily in the air.
She has long dropped the baby name, but she will always be my little baby girl!
"Did you know that your favorite uncle found a new catalyst gene that is responsible for the formation of the omega womb? With this discovery, we can now determine if a child will turn into an omega in the future!" I boasted.
"Professor, that is classified information." Aahmes called from behind us. He had returned with a tray of food.
"Aahmes! I knew you wouldn't let me starve!" I placed my niece down and approached him. "Let me introduce you properly," I cleared my throat. "This is my niece Mercy and my nephew Nathan, and this," I gave Aahmes a hug, "is my Habibi, Dr. Aahmes Abdel,"
"Who is your Habibi?" Aahmes pushed me away.
"Ah, don't get mad, Habibi..." I whispered, "I'm just trying to look good in front of the kids. Promise, after this, I'll grant you any wish you have."
Aahmes' eyes lit up with a twinkle and widen slightly.
I suddenly felt a bit worried.
"Tito Eric, just why did you make us come all the way here?" asked Nathan who was starting to look bored.
"First of all," I looked at them seriously, "Let me eat some lunch."
After eating, we took the kids to my work station and handed them a face mask each.
"What is this for, Tito?" asked Nathan.
"It's to keep people from reading our lips," I said, while wearing one myself.
"Why, Tito? Are we going to talk about classified information?" my bebe Mercy asked wide-eyed.
"Yeah, and I don't trust the people in this building," I added. "That thing you mentioned last night," I said looking at Nathan, "it's a taboo topic in the alpha society. Can you tell me where you heard about it?"
"It's just something I heard in school..." he mumbled.
Obviously he's lying, or purposely leaving the details.
"Dominant omegas are just a myth or fairytale, just like the stories about fated pairs," I told them.
"H-huh?" It was Mercy who reacted. "But aren't Papa Louie and Papa Jonas fated pairs?" she asked with a cute frown, that I almost couldn't answer back.
"Hmph! Is your dad still insisting on that crap?" I harrumphed. "There is no such thing as fated pairs. There is no science to back it up. It is only the omegas who suffer when they are separated from the alpha who marked them. This is because the hormones in the alpha's saliva seeps into the omega's pituitary gland like a venom. When omegas are bitten on the nape, it causes a chemical reaction that influences their libido and records their mate's unique scent in the insula, making them addicted to the unique scent. This is the bond that makes the omega unable to copulate with other people, except for their alpha mate."
That's the truth behind it all. The scientific explanation behind the alpha-omega pairs.
This is what I realized after years of studying and working in this field.
"Can you run that by me again?" Nathan asked with a lost look on his face."
I can't believe we have the same DNA. He probably got all his stupidity from his father.
"It is a type of imprinting," explained Aahmes. "Like how some animals imprint the first thing they see when they hatch from an egg and form a parent-child bond."
"Exactly," I continued, "from the day an omega is bitten or 'marked', their body will record their alpha's hormones into their DNA and make a bond. Their sensitive smell will then know if the person they are intimate with is their alpha mate or not. Doing 'it' with someone else would be rejected by the body. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to tell if a person is your fated pair, by simply meeting them."
"Is that why it's practically impossible for an omega to have sex with someone other than their bond mate?" Nathan asked with interest.
"Exactly. It will cause them stress, make them throw up, have a panic attack, or in some extreme cases, go into shock and enter a catatonic state until they die."
"Woah, Tito, I didn't know that it could be that extreme!" said Mercy who is obviously much smarter than his brother.
"But Dad had never been attracted to other omegas after he was bonded with Papa Jonas," Nathan insisted.
I guess even my perverted bastard of a nephew has his romantic side.
"Hmph! Your father was just overreacting, as usual!" I answered. "I mean, how do you expect to be attracted to anyone else, when you're munching suppressants like mint candies?"
"But..."
"Excuse me, but are we here to talk about the fated pair myth, or the legend of the dominant omega?" asked Aahmes who was more interested about where the information came from. He looked straight at Nathan who folded his arms across his chest. "So, what else would you like to know?"
"I... I just want to know if it's true... that dominant omegas are stronger than dominant alphas," mumbled Nathan.
"What for?" Aahmes asked again. "Are you perhaps, trying to win one over?"
I guess Aahmes hit the nail on the head, since Nathan's face suddenly turned bright red.
"Wahahaha! Don't tell me, did an omega beat you up? My horny, obnoxious, nephew?! Did an omega beat you in your own game?!"
"W-wha...?! H-how did you–" My idiot nephew shut his mouth too late.
"It is quite obvious," said Aahmes. "I have seen way too many arrogant alphas like you."
"Wait..." Nathan stared at Aahmes. "Don't tell me... you're an omega yourself?!"
I quickly went between the two.
"Oi, Aahmes is mine. You're not allowed to even touch him."
"Who are you calling yours?" Aahmes nudged me with his elbow.
"Wow, Dr. Abdel," Mercy mussed, "you're so tall and fit, you don't look like an omega at all!"
"Mercy, it's not nice to stereotype."
"Sorry," she whispered apologetically.
"Apology accepted," replied Aahmes.
"A-are you a dominant as well?" Nathan asked after the initial shock.
"Regretably, no," I quickly replied. "He's just an ordinary omega who fell for my brains and good looks!"
Aahmes nudged me with his elbow once more. This time, harder.
"Can you tell us who this dominant omega is?" he asked Nathan.
"I... I can't..." he said, hesitantly.
I thought suddenly entered my mind.
A dominant omega?
Here in the Philippines?
And he approached my nephew...
Could it really be...
"Let me guess... he seems to be in the same university as you... is he in his mid-20's, about the same height as you with purple colored eyes?"
Nathan's eyes looked like they were about to pop out.
This brat would be terrible at poker.
"H-how did you... do you actually know him, Tito Eric?!"
I guess I guessed it right.
It seems improbable, but he's the only dominant omega that my nephew could possibly meet. I mean, just how much of a coincidence would it be, that my nephew would also meet a unique dominant omega, when there's only one in a million in the whole world?
But why would he approach him? Could it be that he's looking for me? Is he trying to reach me through Nathan?
I look back at my nephew who's still waiting for a reply.
"He was introduced to me by one of my mentors, years ago," I answered him. "That is, if he really is the person I'm thinking of."