Page 40 of Brave New Omega, Part 2

Chapter 40

KATIE

“ T hey aren’t going to maul me on the street,” I say to Callum as he parks in front of one end of the massive Conservatory. It’s like a medieval castle. Stone walls and parapets, flags flapping in the breeze, and even a patrol casually making rounds on the walls above the sidewalk.

“Besides, I can probably break their necks if they come close,” I jest, nudging his elbow. He sighs, and slips out the door, hurrying across to open it as I unbuckle myself from the passenger seat.

“Loren told you why we’re careful, right?” His tone is gruff, but I know that’s just Callum.

“Yes, we’re magical breeder glue.”

“Ah, sure. You also know that the Omega sickness killed more than twenty percent of the Omega population, so you’re like a fucking crown jewel, right?”

“I’m a sparkly magical breeder glue!” I say with mock sweetness. I sound too much like Layla. He shakes his head.

“If I didn’t fucking love you, you would be maddening.”

I still, Callum behind me. He just threw it out there, like it was nothing. Like saying he loved me was common? He’s said it in the heat of the moment, but that could be disregarded as simple passion. But this….

“Cal,” I turn, grabbing his arms before we enter the ground floor of the Conservatory. A guard at attention carefully ignores us.

“What?” He asks.

“You said… never mind.” I try to pull away and not hyperventilate at the same time. I’d only said I love you to one boyfriend. One . And here I am, feeling these feelings – not to mention saying them out loud – to three men.

What has happened to me?

“Katie, I love you. And I’m not romantic like Loren, or suave like Max. I’m just a working class lad that got fucking lucky and landed in this Pack with an Omega that is more perfect than the fucking stars. I love you, gods help me. I wanted to wait and bring you flowers, and little shiny baubles, but…” he shrugs. “Can I just kiss you instead?”

Warmth blooms in my chest –and between my legs –and I grab his face, kissing him, and pulling him to me. His tongue sweeps my mouth, possessive and searching. As though he could root out any hidden places where his love hasn’t reached yet.

“Gods woman,” he groans into my mouth. “I want to drag you back into that car and make you ride my face until you’re screaming my name.”

I kiss the tip of his nose. “Hold that thought until after my coffee date?”

“That's a promise I can keep.”

He opens the door and Aurelia greets us, her dark hair in a thick braid falling over one shoulder. She’s wearing a deep blue pantsuit –I’m sure Layla would call it Indigo or Cobalt. Everything about her is neat and polished and I feel unkempt in my leggings and borrowed sweater from Loren..

“It looks like things are going well,” she says in greeting. “Katie, your sisters are over in the cafe.” She points behind her to a bright room with floor to ceiling windows on one side that overlook an interior courtyard. It’s set up like a coffee shop from back home – only fewer tables and more comfy overstuffed chairs and throw pillows.

An Omega haven.

My sisters are all relaxing around a fireplace, a variety of mugs and cups in their hands.

“Katie!” Molly Beth spots me first. She hops up and sprints for me. I catch her in a bear hug, squeezing her against me. I pull her away just long enough to look her over. Her cheeks are full and her color is good. She’s not wan and pale, but has a rosy glow about her.

I look over my shoulder to Callum but before I can speak he nods.

“Go on, I’ll leave you be. Max will come get you on his way back from the gym in a couple hours.”

“Before you go, I want to show you some of the test results we’ve run,” Aurelia says, pulling Callum’s attention away. Without another glance back, I let Molly Beth pull me into the warm ring of my sisters. There’s only one other person in the cafe –a boy about Norah’s age.

Are there male Omegas? I’ll ask Loren later.

“Katie-Kat! How are you? How are they treating you?” Layla wraps me in a hug, and all I can smell is her scent of champagne and caramel. How did I never notice it before?

“Lala! I’m fine. They're fine. It’s all fine,” I say as she releases me just as Norah’s arms swallow me in a tight hug.

“I miss you,” she says, her minty scent wrapping around me like a second hug. I squeeze her back.

“I miss you too, Norah-bear. You okay?”

She nods and steps away. Mads is behind her, and she gives me a bear hug, tighter than I would expect from my least affectionate sister.

“You cut your hair!” I say, and run my fingers through the bristling ends of the mohawk.

“Yep. They told us not to, so naturally I did it that night.”

“Maddie loves pestering Aurelia and our professor of Omegas studies, Helena.”

“Helena loves to tell me I need to act like an Omega so I can attract the right Pack. Well, if a Pack can’t take me with a mohawk, then fuck them.”

Layla sighs and Molly Beth hisses, “Language, Maddie!”

Christ, I missed them.

“Scent swapping?” Norah says, fingering my sweater as Molly Beth hands me a cup of tea.

“What?” I say, looking down at myself.

“Trading clothing so you can be wrapped up in your Alpha’s scents. It’s common for unbonded Omegas.”

“Oh, no. I mean, I guess, but not purposefully. I don’t have enough clothes.” I shrug.

“Aurelia had a tailor come and outfit us all!” Layla squeals. “It was divine.”

“It was pretty fun, but they made us try on so many dresses. Who needs three evening gowns?” Molly Beth adds. “But I did like getting pants that actually fit me without rolling up the hem.”

“I’m sure they can bring the tailor back,” Layla starts, but Maddie shakes her head.

“No way. You are not inviting that prickly pear of a woman back here. And you are not getting me into another sparkly gown. Not happening.”

Layla pouts, but I raise my hands. “It’s fine. I’ll just order something online, or whatever they do here.”

“You could just ask them to take you shopping,” Norah says. “Alphas like to provide for Omegas.”

“Shopping!” Layla shrieks, and the poor boy in the corner looks at us like we have just screamed an inappropriate word in a crowded room. “Oh Katie, let me take you shopping!”

“Calm down,” I hiss. “I’ll ask Max when he picks me up.”

I’m not sure I want to go shopping with Layla, but being with my sisters has already soothed something that I can’t quite name. Loren, Callum, and Max have filled in most of the gaps in my heart, but there are still holes only my sisters can fill.

And now I have them all, and it feels… right . Like this is how it was always supposed to be.

The hot itching that has plagued me all afternoon finally ebbs, and I relax with my tea and listen to my sisters complain about “Omegas classes.”

“We have an entire class on sex positions!” Molly Beth squeaks, her cheeks pink. “It’s supposed to help us when heats come.”

“Alpha anatomy is different.” I nod, and Maddie snorts.

“Finally taking the D! Proud of you, Katie.”

“They have history classes too. I guess Professor Bellrose often teaches them but is busy right now,” Norah says evenly. But her brown eyes twinkle behind her glasses.

I roll my eyes.

“Everything here is so different –but not alien.” Molly Beth says. “Like, I imagined an alien world to have, I don’t know, blue people and like magical trees. But it’s almost like being back in the US –just with Packs instead of marriages.”

“Don’t forget that we now have magical orgasm pussies,” Maddie says.

“Ugh rude,” Layla says. “We are Omegas and that's an honor.”

“It’s an honor because of our pussies,” Maddie pushes.

“Is it different?” Molly Beth asks, ignoring her older sisters. “Since you’ve, ah, had it both ways?” Her cheeks are pink but her features are earnest.

I blush, thinking about the ways that sex and intimacy are so different here with my Alphas than with past boyfriends.

“Well, they have purple nipples and cocks,” I say and my sisters erupt into laughter.

“But, yeah, it’s way better.” That's an understatement. I’m an orgasm machine and have probably come more in the two weeks I’ve been with my Alphas than in most of my life before arriving here. Which is sad, really. Sad for past me, but awesome for current me.

We settle into a comfortable conversation, laughing and throwing jokes like we are back home and everything is normal. Maybe it is. Maybe this is our new normal and this is our new comfort. Because the time ebbs so quickly that I startle when a hand touches my shoulder.

“Hey babe,” Max leans down and gently kisses my cheek. His hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail, his muscled arms bare in a cut off sweatshirt. He smells like sweat and leather and Sweet Baby Jesus I am wet just from his nearness. I cross my legs.

All my sisters gape, mouths open as he hovers by my ear. “They’re staring,” he whispers.

“They’re jealous,” I whisper back.

“One-hundred percent jealous of that manflesh,” Maddie says.

“Down girl,” I tease. “This is Max. Max this is Layla,” I nod at each sister around the circle. “And this is Maddie and Molly Beth, they’re fraternal twins, and this is Norah, the baby of the family.”

He bows. “At your service, Omegas.”

“Oh, I like him,” Maddie says. “Any man at my service is a man I like.”

“Maddie!” Molly Beth hits her with a pillow, her cheeks flaming red.

“Come on,” I grab his arm and stand. His nostrils flare, but he doesn't say a word. Christ, these Alphas and their olfactory glands!

“Hugs,” I say and turn to my sisters. They gather around me, piling together in a tight bundle of arms and torsos, hugging me and one another tightly. I feel like I had arrived with my tank empty, and as Max loops his fingers in mine, pulling me away gently, I realize that I am overflowing.

“Don’t forget to ask about shopping,” Layla says, looking over at Max.

“Shopping?” He asks.

Layla scoffs. “Maaaax, have you looked at what she’s wearing? She needs proper clothing. At least for when she leaves the house.”

“Oh,” he shrugs, looking me up and down, hunger in his gaze. “I think she looks perfect.”

Maddie whistles. “We got a smooth one!”

“Of course you can go shopping,” Max says, pulling me toward the door.

“What about tomorrow? We don’t have classes after noon!” Layla shouts.

Max nods and I shout back, “Fine!”

Then he’s pulling me through the open door into the twilight of evening and the waiting car. He opens the door, letting me slide in before jogging to the other side.

“Fun time?”

I pause, because how does one describe being an empty teacup that has just been filled?

“Yeah. It was exactly what I needed today.”

“Good.” He kisses me, his tongue playfully licking the tips of my lips. “Because something is pissing Callum off, so be ready for him to be an annoying prick.”