Page 15 of Claiming the Pack's Omega

Her gaze is also unfocused. She seems out of it.

My jaw ticks as my brain jumps to the worst-case scenario. Stone did say there was a possibility she was being abused.

“Did they drug you?” I growl. I’m not sure who “they” would be, but if they did, I’m going to find out and they will pay.

She blinks up at me in confusion, her gaze starting to focus on me. “What? No, I fucking wish.”

She turns her head, making a curtain of her shiny hair fall mesmerizingly before she coughs into her elbow.

Under closer inspection, the flush of her cheeks that I originally thought was blush doesn’t seem to be just from makeup.

“Forgive me.” I press my hand against her forehead.

She lets out a small huff of laughter.

“Nothing to forgive. You have me for eight hours.”

The insinuation in her words and expression is clear. She expects me to do much more than just touch her forehead.

My brows draw down in concern and I can feel the urge to start tapping my foot building.

“Eight hours when you’re feverish?”

That’s ridiculous. How can they expect her to work, especially a job as physically demanding as the one she’s working? It may not be physically demanding in the same way a construction worker’s is, but it certainly still is physical.

She bites her lip and starts to push herself up. If I weren’t so used to picking people apart in the courtroom, I might havemissed the way her expression shifts. It’s a natural shift, but the change is still there. It’s like a mask comes on.

“I know it’s not ideal,” she pouts. “But I promise you, I’ll be able to take care of you just fine.”

She rests her hand on my chest as she shifts her weight.

I freeze at her touch. It, in combination with the way she’s blinking her huge, storm-grey eyes up at me, is incredibly intoxicating. I have to force myself to start breathing again.

I gently take her wrist and pull it away from my chest. It takes all my willpower, but I won’t be able to have a conversation with my wits about me with her touching me and looking up at me like that.

“I meant you’re forced to work the entire night when you’re sick?”

Her brows draw down in confusion. I don’t know whether it’s from my question, from me removing her hand, or a combination of both.

“You’re a strange one,” she breathes out. “To be honest, this hasn’t happened to me before, but some people don’t have the luxury of taking a day off when good money is on the line. You did buy me for the entire night, and believe it or not, that doesn’t happen very often.”

So her working conditions aren’t great if she’s being forced by circumstance to work when feverish, even if she’s making the choice to be here right now. A good employer wouldn’t allow that to happen.

But I can also empathize with needing money. She doesn’t give me the impression of someone being trafficked and held against her will. That’s not to say that isn’t happening here, I just don’t think she fits the profile for that kind of omega.

“I can’t imagine that’s not because you aren’t popular,” I say, fighting to keep my gaze on her face instead of her body. Though, that’s not really a hardship, considering how gorgeous she is.

She shrugs. “I may be popular when I’m out on the floor, but there don’t tend to be a lot of people from around here that can afford my price. And those that can are usually satisfied after a few hours.”

It’s her turn to eye me up and down. Even with the haze of a fever clouding her gaze, it’s still sharp enough to notice the designer emblem stitched onto the cuff of my suit jacket.

I can practically see the wheels in her brain turning. She’s estimating the price of my suit, the way I carry myself, and the fact I bought a whole night of her time, and she’s probably coming to the correct conclusion that I’m a Northside Alpha.

She sits back onto her heels, on her knees, on the bed in front of me.

“So then, did you have anything in mind for our night together?”

“Before I came in here? Not really.” I’m being truthful. I didn’t know what to expect from something like this. Should I have bought an entire night with her, then? Probably not, but after seeing her dance up on that stage, I couldn’t help it. The way she moved, the effortlessness, the strength, the beauty, it was all hypnotizing.