Page 18

“He’s right. It just means some trick of your biology won out, like it always does,” Xavier adds.
“I guess so,” I murmur. “I just never thought this would happen. And especially not at work.” I glance around at the threeof them, and the distress about this happening in the office isn’t part of the ruse. I really do wish this had happened anywhere but here.
“It’s fine,” Dominic tells me. “It’s not like you can control it.”
“And you know, there are protections for people who have these kinds of issues at the office. So you’re safe. No one can get mad at you for something that’s out of your hands.” Xavier smiles again and glances back at the other two. “So… what do we do from here?”
“We need to take her to the Omega Resources Division,” Dominic replies. “She has to get registered.” He looks at me. “And go through the whole process.”
Panic flares through me all over again, and I get a bit lightheaded from the whiplash of emotions I’m going through at lightning speed. I know exactly how the registration and presentation of an Omega goes down at the ORD. Normally, when someone realizes they’re an Omega, they’ll be taken into their local Omega Resources Division office. They’ll be registered by the office, given information and support, have some tests run, and then they’ll be presented to the public so that any interested Alpha packs can put in a bid to court them.
But I can’t do any of that.
“No!” I say, the word blurting out of my mouth before I have time to really think about it. “No, I can’t.”
The three of them exchange glances of surprise, and I pull myself into a sitting position on the couch, ignoring the way the world tilts to one side as dizziness washes over me.
“It’s how this goes,” Tristan tells me.
“I know. But I don’t want that. I don’t want to deal with the whole ordeal of it. Please. Today has already been so much.”
I look between the three of them, trying to show just enough on my face to sway them. I don’t want them to be able to figureout my reasoning, but I do want them to see that my distress at the thought of going to that place is real.
Maybe they’ll take pity on me. Maybe at least Xavier will be able to convince the others that it’s not a big deal if I skip the whole song and dance that presenting turns into. Because I just can’t do that. I can’t go through with it, especially not with them there to witness it all.
Dominic looks at me, and there’s a thoughtful expression on his face. It’s not his usual scowl, but his brow is furrowed, and his eyes don’t look away from mine. Whatever he sees in my eyes makes him move closer, until he’s standing over the couch where I’m sitting.
“Then there’s another option you could take,” he says.
“I’d probably do anything else,” I tell him.
He cocks an eyebrow, and there’s a flicker of a not quite smile in the corner of his mouth. “You could marry us.”
Chapter 8
Penelope
I blink and then stare and then blink some more. I’m tempted to tell them that I have to go to the hospital because clearly I hit my head when I fell and now I’m hearing things.
Because there’s no way I just heard what I think I heard. Right?
There’s no way Dominic Harrington just asked me to… what? Marry him? Marry all three of them?
Nothing makes it make any sense, but staring at them like I’m waiting for the whole thing to resolve itself into something that feels more logical is probably just making me look stupid.
“I… what?” I ask, and now I sound like an idiot, I’m sure, but it’s like my brain won’t process what he just said.
“Marry us,” Dominic says again. “You want to avoid the presentation process, and marrying us would save you from having to go through that or dealing with the ORD office. You won’t need to deal with Alphas trying to court you if you are already tied to three of them.”
“Well, yes, but—what?”
“It will also give us something we need,” Dominic continues. “So it works in everyone’s favor.”
Xavier starts nodding, looking like he’s getting on board with the idea. “It’s a solid plan,” he says. “It makes sense.”
I stare at him, wanting to ask how in the world it makes sense. What in the world they could need that would make marrying me, some assistant they don’t know at all, the right answer.
“Are you dating anyone?” Xavier asks.