Page 6 of Cost of Courting (When it Raines Omegaverse #6)

Chapter four

Selene

This asshole.

I seethe, locked in his arms while he uncovers the secret I’ve kept from them for years.

“You’re an omega.”

The wonder and joy of discovery irritates me like nothing else. I shove my elbow into him, but it does absolutely nothing. His grey eyes gleam at me, like he’s really happy, and that’s just not fair.

I bare my teeth. “No shit, Sherlock. First time?”

He throws back his head and laughs but swings me to the ground. Luna is gone, but half our neighbours are out on their lawns watching our argument. As soon as I have my feet under me again, I try to take off, but he grips my wrist and anchors me to the spot.

Unbeknownst to us, Mr Match, a man who is in his eighties and watched us grow up, walks past, tip tapping his walking stick. I pray for him not to notice, but he stops, shuffles towards us, and rubs his eyes.

“Is that you, Edric, Edric Graves? Oh, my sun and stars, how have you been, boy?”

“Sure is, Match! I’m great, so glad to be home!”

Edric doesn’t let go of me. No, he just tows me towards Mr Match and gives the old man a one-armed embrace.

“Welcome home, kiddo. And I see you boys are up to the same games you used to get up to.” He waggles his eyebrows and jerks his chin in my direction, setting his wrinkles wobbling.

I scowl .

“I’m not a boy, and I’m not playing,” I spit out venomously and instantly regret it because Mr Match isn’t the one I’m really angry at.

Edric snickers and squeezes me closer.

“I’m old, but I’m not old enough to mistake you as a boy, Selene Fisher.”

I feel a blush heat across my cheeks, and that is entirely Edric’s fault. Yeah, it’s never been more evident than it is right now with me in his arms that I’m not a guy. There’s a certain length pressed into my hip that is making my mouth water and bringing on all kinds of panic flares.

“You’d make the cutest little alpha,” Edric purrs at me.

I snap my teeth but refuse to look at him, lest he drag anymore of my secrets out of me.

“We’ll need to have a street party to welcome you home properly!” Match says. “Street party tonight!” he shouts.

Despite his age, he’s got a set of lungs on him, and I see doors opening and heads poking out.

I open my mouth to protest when my idiot captor squeezes me hard enough to stop me.

“Say a word to stop this, and I’ll kiss you and give everyone something to really talk about.”

I can feel my face drain of blood. The threat works. The last thing I want is for him to kiss me.

Isn’t it?

“You touch me, and I will bite it the fuck off.”

He grins at me and leans down almost like he will. I hold perfectly still, staring up at him. I’ll play chicken with this ass all day long, but instead, he just opens his arms and lets me go.

I stumble back, almost losing my footing.

“You ass!!” I howl.

Retaliation is my first impulse, but I muzzle it and stand up, stalking away from him. I’m wet now and covered in the food Luna left in the fridge that made perfect ammo.

He inhales sharply. I glance over my shoulder and find him staring at my ass like he’s in pain.

This sleazy typical alpha. Why do I get such a tingle from the way he’s biting his bottom lip? No, no. Bad, Selene.

I almost cover myself up so he can’t see it, but, at the last moment, I keep my hands pinned to my sides and keep walking up the steps. I need a shower and help.

Lots and lots of help, clearly.

I was not thrilled to see that look on his face. It does not make me feel good .

Ten minutes and a blast of cold water from the shower is enough to push the anger from my mind.

I hear the commotion and quickly rinse my hair. I’ve just shoved open the cheap plastic curtain when the bathroom door crashes open.

Mael and Kingston stumble in. I let out a shriek and wrap the curtain around myself, but it doesn’t deter them at all.

Kingston grabs my wet hair and drags it to his nose. When that doesn’t give him what he wants, he buries his nose in the side of my neck.

My skin breaks into goosebumps, and, I swear, my skin tingles where he touches me. Has he always been this tall? I bite down on the moan that tries to escape. My nipples tighten and between my legs, slick, for the first time in years, gathers.

My reaction is completely unexpected and familiar. It’s humiliating.

“Fuck!” Kingston whispers. “It’s true.”

I snarl, but it’s either let go of the curtain or smack him upside his head.

I let go of the curtain. Edric’s sharp inhale from the door just makes me even angrier. I shove at Kingston, but his fingers curl in my hair, holding me perfectly still.

So, I knee him in the junk.

He lets go of my hair, and I look up, straight into Mael’s fierce and dangerous glower. There is something so still about the way he’s looking at me. His eyes drop, slowly taking in my body, over my breasts, my tummy, down my thighs, all the way to my feet and back up.

It’s powerful.

And I’m helpless to do anything but stand there and let him.

“You lied to me.”

I growl in response to his accusation, desperately fighting the urge to back up away from this huge, imposing alpha. “You didn’t deserve to know. You left. You left for some bitch who wasn’t even yours. We all knew she was wrong for you. And I clearly told you that dress was mine.”

“And how do you know she wasn’t ours?” Kingston growls in frustration, still cupping his balls. “How do you know we didn’t bond her?”

“If she was yours, she would be here,” I say simply. “You left without looking back. You never saw me. You never thought about me or came back. Why the fuck would I tell you anything?”

I step out of the shower, switch it off, and walk past them, trying to hide the trembling in my legs until I get in my room. I close the door and lean against it, only to let out an enraged shriek when I find Edric lounging on my bed.

“Get out.”

“Not a chance.”

“If you’ve made my bed stink, I’m setting yours on fire.”

He hesitates, no doubt remembering the time I did exactly that when they didn’t listen to me.

“Why are you so angry?”

“I’m a calm person, a very calm and happy person. You three just bring out the worst in me.”

“We used to be best friends, Sel. What happened?”

“You left me here to fend for myself,” I snarl, refusing to pull my punches.

I grab my clothes, ignoring the devastated expression on his face, and stalk out. I go to the kitchen and pull my clothes on, ignoring everyone and the sudden lack of privacy. It’s not the first time I’ve been naked in front of people, it won’t be the last.

Once I’m dressed, I grab my brush and untangle my hair. The three idiots are standing in the kitchen, sorry-looking, looming, overgrown gargoyles. It sets my teeth on edge.

“Are we going to have a conversation about this?” Edric demands.

I pretend to think about it. “Uh, no.”

I grab my bag, sling it over my shoulder, and march out of the house. They can tear my home apart. Anything I had that had value was stolen a long time ago.

I ignore them and head instead to work. The extra hours will come in handy, or I can draw on coasters or something, but I am not hanging around for this shitshow.

Surprisingly, they don’t follow me, which just reinforces that tiny, evil voice in the back of my mind that tells me they don’t really want me around and that they never actually cared.

Hours later, when most of everyone is in bed and it’s just me left at the pub, as I’m locking up, I come outside and find that strange and sexy alpha waiting for me with his huge Harley.

“Bailey?”

He glances up, and the smile of all smiles transforms his face.

“What are you doing here?”

“Empty house, too many memories. I was trying to think who in the world would be up and free to chat, and the only person I could think of was you closing the pub all alone. Before I knew it, I was here.”

I half smile despite myself. “Thank you, I think? ”

He shrugs and gestures to his bike. “Do you want a ride home?”

As much as I would love to, I know better than to lead people back to where I sleep.

“Safety check, and, no, but thank you.”

He ducks his head, nodding again. “Want to go for a walk or a ride? Go get a coffee?”

Is this a date? Is he asking me on a date? I think of Pack Dread waiting for me at home with all their accusations and the horrible past I haven’t been able to think about yet and realise the last place I want to go is home.

“Yes. Let’s go. There’s a twenty-four-hour café in town where we can go.”

Bailey waits for me to get on. Just as he starts the big bike, I see something out of the corner of my eye. I glance back, but it’s gone when I look again. Must have been my imagination.

I lead him inside and order two coffees while he finds a table.

The place is modern chic with a brown and white palette.

The table is right at the back, where no one can see us.

I smile to myself, refusing to admit that I’ve got a little bit of a crush on this alpha.

With coffees in hand, I approach and sit in the chair opposite him.

“Tell me why you’re working at the pub,” Bailey spits out before I can even sit properly.

“Bills need to be paid.”

He sits back, a smile playing on his lips.

“That simple? What would you do if you could, anything in the world?”

“Anything?”

He lifts his cup up in one hand and sits back, stretching an arm on the back of the seat beside him.

“Anything.”

I hum over it, considering all my options, but, in the end, I go with my first instinct. “I would be a teacher.”

“That is unexpected. I would have pegged you for a journalist or an activist.”

I snort a laugh. “I would have said veterinarian, but I’m too soft to cope with saying goodnight to all those pretty babies.”

He shakes his head. “You are…not like other people.”

My pulse jumps, and I find myself smiling at him. I’ve heard this line a million times and always thought how dumb, of course, everyone is the same, but now he’s saying it to me. There’s a flutter of excitement and a thrill that has me melting. “I’m not?” Ugh, smooth.

I want to giggle and play with my hair. I’ve never had a reaction like this.

This isn’t a guy who knows I’m trash. He doesn’t know how I live or who my family is.

He simply likes me for me. I have no idea how to cope with this new experience, and as much as I want to run far, far away, I can’t move .

“I love the blue hair.”

I smile, preening. “My sister did it for me.”

“Why blue?”

My smile fades before I can stop it. “All things blue are mysterious. I wanted to be mysterious. I didn’t want to keep being forgotten.”

“Who could forget you?” His soft comment melts my insides and has my heart galloping. I want to reach out and put my fingers against his chest so I can assure myself that he’s a real person with a beating heart and not a figment of my imagination. Is that too forward?

“You’d be surprised.”

“I would never forget you, Selene. You are one of a kind.”

Shit, this is getting too deep. I am falling too fast. At this rate, by morning, I’ll be down on one knee begging him to marry me. I clear my throat and cast around for a subject that can bring us back to solid ground.

“What about you? What would you have been?”

“I would have been a famous athlete like my cousin.”

“Cousin?”

“Yeah, he’s a hockey player.”

“Ah, I don’t know hockey players. Or hockey, even.”

His eyes widen, and he leans forward. “You’ve seen a game, though, right?”

I shake my head.

“Oh, we’re going to have to fix that. It can be our third date.”

My cheeks explode into heat, and I look down at my coffee to give myself a second to untie my tongue.

“We’re going on dates now?”

“Yeah, as friends, of course.”

My happiness dims. “Oh, yeah, of course.”

Bailey drinks some of his coffee and leans his head back, groaning.

Heat spikes through me, and I have to squeeze my thighs together.

He sits up and inhales. My scent slams into him. Our eyes collide.

“Selene?”

I shrug, looking at anything but him. “Sorry.”

“You’re an omega?” he murmurs, but I can see he’s not happy about the discovery.

I close my eyes. “Guilty.”

“I had no idea.”

I get the impression it matters very much.

“Yeah, well. It is what it is. ”

Bailey finishes his drink and looks over my shoulder.

“You don’t have to wait. I can see you have somewhere to be.”

“No, well, yes.” He looks so conflicted. “I do like you, but things are complicated.” He trails off, those blue-green eyes watching me with a guard up for the first time.

“Not shopping for omegas, huh?” I force out a laugh.

“I’m afraid not.”

“That’s okay. Thanks for the coffee, Alpha.”

He cringes, and I want to erase the last half an hour because I don’t want this horrible feeling. Like I’m less or not enough and the knowledge that he doesn’t want me.

But some things aren’t meant to be kind or nice. Some things aren’t supposed to work out.

Like me and Pack Dread.

Like me and this alpha.

Sometimes what you want has to come last. The world isn’t a good or right place. It’s dog eats dog, and someone's gotta be the one who survives.

That’s all I’m doing. Surviving.

And keeping what’s mine safe.

I don’t run; I walk away, my head high, my heart not broken but bruised.

Bailey Raines is a dream. But he’s going to have to be someone else’s dream.