Page 55 of Claiming the Pack’s Omega (Riverwell Omegaverse #2)

His answer eases something in my chest. I know the guys have shown repeatedly, both with their words and their actions that they truly believe that my worth is more than my body.

But when I'm going into a situation like this where I'm expected to talk about some of the shittiest times of my life with a bunch of complete strangers, having the one tool I've always had is comforting.

The two of us make our way down to the car.

Theo does that hot as fuck thing that guys do where they put their arm behind your seat as they look back to reverse the car, and I have to bite back another embarrassing noise, but other than that, the car ride to his office is uneventful.

I'm struck by how nice his office building is, with its brick walls and expensive tile floors in the foyer.

I guess the luxury of the Northside will continue to shock me.

Theo leads me up the elevator of the law firm. When we get to the main office floor, basically everyone we pass gives him a nod, wave, or some form of greeting.

He's popular here. Well-liked. Respected.

It speaks to the charm he has in the office and the strength he must have in the courtroom.

He holds the door to a conference room open to me and offers me a reassuring smile. Inside the room is a beta with dark hair and only slightly less dark circles under his eyes. He's surrounded by binders and file folders full of paper.

"Reyna, this is Andy, he's on the documentation side of this case. Andy, meet Reyna."

Andy stands from his seat at the table and nods, extending his hand out to shake mine.

I appreciate the gesture. For whatever reason, the stupid, anxious part of my brain kept on thinking that whatever lawyers I was going to meet today wouldn't want to touch me because of what I've done.

Like I would give them a disease, just from shaking their hand.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Andy," I say, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you too," he says, scrubbing a hand down his face.

I nod down to the stacks of papers. "Don't you guys do things digitally these days?"

"We do, but we're preparing for the deposition hearing next week, so we have to have the paper files," Andy sighs.

"Wow," I say, glancing at the stacks upon stacks of paper as I take the seat Theo pulls out for me.

"This is a large case, Spitfire," Theo murmurs. "Your testimony is only a part of it. This is a case against some of the top members of Riverwell's government. And these are people who have helped organize and orchestrate the omega trafficking and drug rings."

His expression grows serious as he takes a seat next to me.

"Considering the scale of what's been happening, it's likely going to be out of our wheelhouse to try and go after all of the people who've taken advantage of the systems we have."

"So you're saying you're going after the people at the top of the food chain, not the common Johns?" I ask, tapping nervously along the edge of the table.

"Yes," Theo nods.

"So, where does my testimony fit into things? I can only really speak on my experience, right?"

"Your testimony is important because before Luna Ward's kidnapping a few months ago by one of Northside's councilmembers, we didn't know there was any large-scale omega trafficking in the Southside at all. Trafficking doesn't have to include being kidnapped. It just means being exploited."

My tapping stills as I clench my hands into fists. My nails bite into the skin of my palm. I seriously need a self-care night. I'm overdue for a manicure.

"And I was exploited," I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

I've clung to the idea that everything was my choice, that I chose to go into the line of work I did for my family, for myself, but did I really?

If I could've chosen something else, I totally would have.

But that was the only way I could've afforded my suppressants.

And the money certainly helped my family.

Theo reaches out to me silently and unclenches my hands. I cling to him, almost desperately as I fight to breathe.

I jump in my seat as the door flies open. A tall, blonde beta woman who must go to the hair salon every four weeks to maintain that kind of color steps into the room. Her eyes go wide when she sees Theo holding my hands and I can read all of her thoughts before she does her best to mask them.

She likes Theo.

I don't get the feeling she likes me.

Well, tough shit. Theo is mine.

Wow. That was an aggressive thought. I stand by it, though.

Theo seems to pick up on the awkward silence. His gaze darts between the new beta woman and me.

"Ah, Selene," Theo says. "This is Reyna, the witness for the omega trafficking case."

"Hello, Reyna," Selene nods.

I don't miss the way her gaze keeps darting down to Theo's hand in mine. I also don't miss the way she doesn't offer to shake hands the same way Andy did.

Well, that's not good, considering we have to work together, at the very least for today, if not for the duration of this case.

"Nice to meet you, Selene," I say, standing from my chair and extending my hand to her.

She pauses for a second, her nostrils flaring ever so slightly, before she reaches out and shakes my hand. She must sense that Theo scent marked me earlier, before we left the pack house. It's kind of hard to miss, considering the way our scents mix together.

"It's nice to meet you too," she says slowly, taking her seat next to Andy and across from me. Despite her sitting in front of me, she still angles her body ever so slightly so she's facing Theo. "What did I miss? I'm so sorry for being late."

The omega part of my brain wants me to snarl at her. Like, actually fucking snarl. Before I met Theo, I would've thought I was crazy if my inner omega wanted me to do that, but I guess coming off suppressants and meeting my scent matches has changed the way I view the world.

"We were just speaking with Reyna about what to expect from the case and the role her testimony will play," Theo says, his tone decidedly less warm than it is with me.

He reaches out to me, pulling my hand down so I sit back down. Whoops. Forgot I was standing.

Theo flashes me a reassuring smile and I instantly relax into my chair. Damn, I probably acted like I was going to throw myself across the table at Selene if he's trying to calm me down this much. Maybe I didn't hide the snarl my omega was fighting to let out very well.

Selene's gaze darts between Theo and I and her lips purse.

"I don't mean to overstep," she says slowly. Slowly enough for me to realize she's probably—no, definitely—going to overstep. "But what is the nature of your relationship? That's something that could be called to question considering her—your... previous occupation."

Oh fuck that. Is she slut shaming me?

Considering the fact that she referred to me in third person when I'm literally sitting in front of her, there's no doubt in my mind she was.

And worst of all, she's questioning the relationship Theo and I have? What, does she think that I seduced him into whisking me and my family away from the Southside? Does she think Theo deserves better than the dirty Southside whore she thinks I am?

Looks like there's no fighting the snarl that tugs at my lips.

"Selene," Theo snaps, his eyes narrowing on his colleague.

The woman just purses her lips. "You know I'm right, Theo, the defense will do everything in their power to tear apart our case and introducing a witness that?—"

Like hell am I going to sit here and take this bullshit. She may have a point about the defense and whatnot, but she doesn't get to sit here, practically call me a slut, and try to convince my mate he shouldn't be with me. Especially when I'm sitting right fucking here.

I lean forward, narrowing my eyes on her.

"Sorry to interrupt," I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "But let's get one thing out of the way first."

Her mouth snaps shut and her head practically swings to me on a swivel. Looks like she's shocked, a little omega like me would have a voice.

"Spitfire," Theo murmurs under his breath, like he's worried about what I'm going to say.

I squeeze Theo's hand, which is the best I can do to reassure him right now. I'm not going to ruin his case, but I'm not going to let this beta woman walk all over me when she obviously has the hots for Theo.

"Theo is my scent match," I say, resting my free hand on my hip. "The entire Graylock Pack is. Pretty hard to argue against that in the court of law. I hear you Northsiders are awfully fond of that kind of bond."

This time, Selene's jaw really does hit the floor.

"Scent match?" She asks, her voice a high-pitched squeak. She immediately turns to Theo for confirmation, because apparently, I'm not a trustworthy source.

Theo just nods in response to Selene, leaving me with the floor.

"Yes, my scent matches. I already know my 'previous occupation' is going to be called to question," I say, with air quotes. "But I've dealt with enough women in the locker rooms to know what you weren't saying, loud and fucking clear."

"I—I—Please don't swear here, it's not—not?—"

"God," I say, throwing myself back into my chair. "I didn't even cuss you out. So it's okay if you basically call me a whore that's not worth Theo's time as long as you don't swear or call it out directly?"

Theo squeezes my hand again and I fight to take a deep breath.

I'm getting distracted. She's pissing me off.

I don't think I've ever been this angry in a very long time.

Definitely not at another woman. I never cared enough about the things that other girls in the locker rooms would argue about.

Even when Lulu was pissed that I got to be Stone's ring girl, it wasn't like I did it on purpose.

Where the hell is this coming from? Is it the stress from the case? The hormone changes from the lack of suppressants? Meeting my scent matches and becoming incredibly territorial? Maybe all of it. Either way, even if I don't have to work with this woman forever, Theo might have to.

"Selene, I'm going to lay things out for you," I say. "Even if you don't respect me, for whatever reason, you obviously respect Theo." Maybe a little too much.

"I—I do," she says, nodding quickly. I almost laugh when she doesn't dispute the fact that she doesn't respect me.

"Good, well, Theo respects me, and we've got to work together, so I'd appreciate it if you don't make comments like that. I may not have the fancy law degrees you guys do, but I'm not stupid."

She nods quickly, her gaze falling to the table. "You're right, I let my emotions get the better of me. It won't happen again."

"We're glad to hear it, Selene," Theo adds, flashing me a reassuring smile.

I relax back into my chair, feeling content that I didn't completely fuck things up with his coworker.

"Well then," Andy clears his throat. "Let's continue with the case."

Theo leans over and brushes my shoulder with his hand.

"Keep that same fire on the stand," He murmurs softly.

"What? Really?"

"Really. If you can keep that same fire on the stand, none of the old geezers on the defense will be able to tear you down."

I flash him a bright smile. "Okay then, you're lucky I'm good at that."

The rest of the meeting is fairly uneventful. Despite the rocky start with Selene, she does seem good at her job. It makes sense why she would’ve been chosen for a case as big as this, even though she seems to be fairly young.

I yawn into my hand, trying to get the exhaustion out of my system.

“You do that all day?” I ask.

“Yup, all day, every day,” Theo nods. “Well, maybe not everyday, but you get the point.”

“Knowing you, you probably work a fair bit of weekends too,” I huff.

“How’d you know?” He asks, shooting me a cheeky grin. “Not anymore though, after this case? I’m stepping down on my case load.”

“What? Really?” My head jerks towards him, admiring his strong jaw and the lines of his profile.

“Yeah, Spitfire,” he says softly. “New thing for me, but I’ve recently learned there’s more to life than work.”

I can’t hide the grin that tugs at my lips. Damn, is it possible to smile so much your chest hurts? Because it feels like that’s happening to me right now.

Theo pulls into the parking lot of a pharmacy and holds up a finger like he wants me to wait. Then, he jogs around the front of the car before opening my door for me and holding his arm out like a fancy butler.

“You’re hilarious,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I strive to be,” he nods. “Anything other than your medication you need from here?”

I glance at my fingernails as I lace my arm with his.

“Yeah, I think I want nail polish, is that okay?”

“Buy all the nail polish you can carry, Spitfire,” he says, brushing a kiss along my temple. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, it’s okay, I won’t take long, I’ll just find you when I’m done browsing.”

Theo heads to the back of the store as I head to the nail polish aisle. There’s such a huge selection, it’s not even funny. Maybe I’ll have to take Theo up on his offer to get as much as I can carry, one day. I’ll have to start a collection.

As I pick up a tried-and-true fire-engine red, I can’t help but feel like someone is watching me. I glance around, my head on a swivel, trying to see if there’s anything or anyone that looks out of place.

Nothing.

With the single color clenched in my first, I immediately bee-line it for the back of the store to Theo.

“Everything okay?” Theo asks instantly, the moment he sees me.

I glance over my shoulder, the feeling of being watched disappearing now that I’m surrounded by Theo’s comforting smoked cardamom scent.

“I—Something felt a bit weird, but I’m okay now, I think,” I say as I stand next to him in line.

He wraps an arm around my shoulder and tugs me into his chest, glancing over his shoulder too.

“Stick with me for the rest of this trip, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I nod.

And I do.

The feeling of being watched doesn’t come back, but I can’t help but think it’s because the people watching me just got better at hiding.