Rays of sunlight were unforgiving as they spilled on the couch Caspian called his bed. The Omega was curled up on himself to try and block the rays from ruining his sleep but it was impossible.
The entire room was flooded with light, the television blaring some sports channel, and Noah, his mate was blasting music from somewhere in the apartment.
He flopped on his back and stared at the ceiling, his pale blond hair in his eyes, his legs hanging over the couch's armrest.
He had slept on the couch for the past three years but he would never get accustomed to how cramped it was, his back and neck stinging.
It also didn't help that he hadn't been able to go to bed early the night before because Noah had decided to throw a party, and he wasn't even given the chance to sleep in. Caspian stomach rumbled, making his expression sour further at the reminder that he hadn't eaten dinner the night before.
He wasn't allowed to eat with the rest of the Pack because some important figures said his presence ruined their eating experience, he didn't mind that, because he would rather not eat with them either, but it was so easy for his share to be skipped over because of that.
There was a kitchen in his shared apartment with Noah but it was completely empty and when he had suggested stocking it up so he could cook, his suggestion had been shut down quickly.
Talking about Noah, the Alpha stepped into the living room then, shirtless with a towel around his neck, wearing a pair of sweatpants.
His dark hair was wet, black eyes indifferent, "I want you out of the apartment in thirty," He said dismissively, heading for the door.
Caspian was suddenly struck with a strange urge to laugh, he knew that the only reason Noah agreed to be his mate was so that his parents could run the Pack but he honestly wondered why they even went through all the trouble, it wasn't like he had any power to stop them regardless.
He placed a hand over his eyes, his smile fading; he had been told that he would be getting mated to Noah as soon as he turned eighteen, he had been fifteen then, and it had been right after he was informed that his parents died in a car accident.
Noah had been quick to let him know that he wasn't gay, and he was just doing this for his parents.
Caspian wasn't given a choice in all this, he never had a choice.
He forced himself to get up and trudged to the guest bathroom that was ill-equipped to take a shower in.
Noah had forbidden him from using the main bathroom, he had said he didn't want Caspian stinking it up with his scent.
He cleaned up quickly and threw on an old shirt and washed-out jeans - the best he had and combed out his slightly long hair.
Caspian was twenty-one but he didn't have any money of his own so he couldn't get himself anything, the clothes he had now were the same ones he had when he was fifteen.
He wasn't sure if he should be upset that he hadn't grown much since then, or relieved because it meant he could still fit in his clothes.
The only outfit that had been gotten for him was the suit he married Noah in but he would rather go out wearing just underwear than put it on again.
He slung his satchel over a shoulder and put in the book he was reading, his old and cracked cellphone, and out of habit, he took out his old piggy bank.
He had taken some money out before but when he quickly found out that he wasn't allowed to get a job, and he had no access to his inheritance, he became stricter with the only money he had.
Caspian's things were in the storage room, and he knew that if it was big enough, Noah would make him sleep in there.
He stepped into the living room, his piggy bank hidden again, the money in it still intact. As he started for the door, something sticking out from under a figurine by the television caught his eye, it was a hundred-dollar bill.
He didn't feel a single guilt when he took it, quietly slipping out of the apartment. He knew what went on, on the days when Noah asked him to leave the apartment - it was because he was bringing women over.
He knew that because they usually spent the night so he met them in person; their scent heavy in the air and their clothes littered in the living room made it rather hard to miss.
He ambled down the hallway, searching for an empty room where he could comfortably stay for hours. He was hungry but there would be too many people in the kitchen right now, he would have to wait till late in the morning to get something to eat.
Caspian wasn't allowed to leave the Pack House, and it had been that way since his parents died but when he couldn't find a single empty room he could stay in, he found himself in the utility room on the ground floor.
One of the back doors was right beside it, he could easily leave now, and no one would notice. Sure if he ran into a Pack member outside, they would stop him but he would rather not stay in the utility room, too many people came there and it wasn't to use the tools available to the Pack.
He could probably have left the Pack a long time ago but he didn't know where to go, so even now as he snuck out, using a secret path he used as a teenager to get to the town, he knew that he would be back.
He had nothing outside of Moonstone Pack, he hated the life he was forced to live but he couldn't leave, he was trapped.