Page 8

Chapter 8

Caleb

I rifle through my closet for some suitable clothes, my nostrils still full of the scent of that sweet Omega.

Ava.

I can’t believe we have an Omega in the house, and an unmated one at that. I thought I was dreaming when I first stumbled into the foyer and saw her, and I know that’s not just because I was half asleep. Ava smells amazing, like no other Omega I’ve ever scented before.

I can already hear Dante telling me not to get my hopes up and Garrett storming away because he’d rather go brood than admit he wants a family, but… I can’t help but wonder if maybe this is fate. We want an Omega. I know we do, even if some of us are reluctant to admit it.

Of course, my daydreams don’t matter as much as getting Ava some proper clothes to sleep in. She’s just in this cute little black dress and while it shows off her beautiful curves to the point of distraction, I think she’ll want actual pajamas for going to bed.

And I guarantee Ethan didn’t remember she doesn’t have anything to sleep in. I smile to myself as I select an old t-shirt and a pair of polka-dot boxers. Ethan’s already head over heels for her, I can tell. It’s sweet.

These might be a little big on her, but they’re well-worn so they’re comfy, and they’ll have to do until we can get her some proper clothes in her size. Maybe we can stop by her apartment for her and get her something.

It’s easy enough to figure out which room Ethan put her in. I just follow the trail of that intoxicating scent. The lilac is refreshing and stops the sweet strawberries and vanilla from being overwhelming. I’ve never smelled a combination of scents I like more.

I get to the door and knock. “Ava? May I come in?”

There’s a pause. “Sure.”

I enter and close the door behind me, offering out the shirt and boxers. “I thought you might want something to sleep in besides the dress.”

Ava’s on the bed, the covers and pillows partially rearranged. Fuck, she’s beautiful. Her thick hair cascades down her back and I just want to bury my nose in her neck and run my fingers through her tresses over and over.

She sees the clothes and smiles tentatively. “Oh, thank you. I appreciate it.”

I cross to her and hand them over. “I’m sorry they’re just old clothes of mine.”

“No, it’s okay.” She rubs her cheek against the fabric, burying her nose in them and inhaling deeply.

My chest swells with pride at the way her lashes flutter. She likes my scent.

Then Ava goes bright red and puts the clothes down. “Um. Yes. Thank you. Sorry about that.”

I frown. “What are you apologizing for?”

“I don’t know what came over me. Sniffing your clothes like that.”

Ah. I sit down. “Ava… Ethan suggested you were unregistered. That’s true, isn’t it?”

Ava nods.

“That means you’ve never talked to anyone from ORD, right? You never took any classes or had a mentor?”

Ava shakes her head.

I dare to reach out and take her hand. “Do you have any Omegas in your life? Any at all who might’ve talked to you about what it’s like?”

“No,” Ava whispers. “All of my friends are Betas. I was worried if I had too many Omegas in my life something would go wrong. They’d sense I was one of them, or my body would react to them and override the blockers.”

I nod. “Okay. So what do you know about Omegas?”

“I know that… we have heats.” She grimaces. “I know that when we’re in heat we crave, um, sex. Specifically. Well it’s not just.” Her face is bright pink.

“Think of it like you’re in science class,” I say. “That’s what I do. Omegas in heat need penetration as much as or even more than orgasm.”

She nods.

“Heats only last a few days, though. Don’t worry.”

Ava doesn’t seem very reassured. I decide now’s not the time to remind her that her first heat off of suppressants will be a doozy as her body makes up for all those years she didn’t have one. She probably already knows, and that’s a bridge to cross when we get to it.

I gesture at the bed. “I see you’re trying to make a nest.”

“I do have a nest at home. It just never felt so imperative before. Like I had to do it in order to feel safe and happy.” Ava’s face screws up but she can’t stop a few tears from slipping free. “Everything just feels so much stronger now. My emotions, my desires, but also my anxiety.”

I squeeze her hand. “That’ll get better as you adjust to your hormones and you find ways to take care of your needs, like building a proper nest again.”

“You know a lot more about Omegas than I do and you’re not even one.”

“Well, Omegas register with the ORD, and Betas and Alphas take a course on Omega needs so they can properly care for one. They were a little sterner with us Alphas than with the Betas,” I add, trying for a joke. “Our job is to take care of an Omega, after all. To make sure our Omega is happy.”

Ava frowns. “Then why don’t you have an Omega? I mean… this house… you’re clearly rich. And you’re handsome, and strong.”

I want to preen knowing that she thinks so highly of me and the rest of my pack as Alphas. “Thank you.”

Ava blushes. “I just mean… you’re considered quite a catch of Alphas, I’m sure. So… why don’t you have an Omega yet? It can’t be that nobody’s wanted you.”

I look away. I can feel my shoulders moving in, hunching, my body trying to close itself off. I struggle against it. I don’t want her to think that she’s done something wrong. I clear my throat.

“It just never happened. We run a very successful tech company, making lifestyle technology to help people in their daily lives. It was a startup and we’ve made a lot of money off of it, but it’s been basically the four of us as the core team for most of those years. We haven’t had time for mating.”

That’s a cop-out, and I know it is, and I think Ava suspects it is too. But I can’t get into it right now. It’s not something I want to talk about, not even with this beautiful, enticing Omega.

I smile, so she doesn’t think I’m upset with her. “As a matter of fact, our latest product is designed to help Omegas track their heats. You might find it useful.”

Ava giggles a little. “I don’t suppose you have a device that tracks everything else about me, too?”

“Our lives would be a lot easier if we could do that. Ethan told you about the library, right? You can use any of those books there. Most of them are mine. I’ve got a lot of different interests but because we were doing research for the watches, I’m pretty sure I’ve still got some books on Omega biology in there. Some of that could be helpful to you.”

“Thank you, that would be helpful.” Ava smiles at me. “You’re all very sweet.”

“We’re just doing the best we can to help you out.”

“I know. That’s why it’s sweet.”

I’ve gotta get out of here before I do something stupid like actually run my fingers through her hair the way I want to. I stand up. “I’ll let you sleep. And hey, sleep in as much as you want tomorrow, all right? You had a long night. None of us will bother you.”

Ava nods, and I turn to go. I’m just at the door when I hear her voice.

“Caleb?”

I turn.

She’s standing now, with her hands behind her back, wrestling with something. “I’m so sorry, but could you help me with this zipper? It’s stuck. I think it got jammed or something when I was running earlier.”

“Sure thing.”

I walk over, swallowing hard as her scent hits me again. She’s got her back to me, a sign of trust, with all that lovely hair pulled over her shoulder so it’s out of the way. It exposes the back of her neck and shoulders, creamy skin that calls to me.

Breathing carefully, I reach up and fiddle with the zipper. Yeah, it’s stuck. “I’m going to have to yank on this,” I tell her. “And you’re going to have to get the zipper replaced. It’s definitely broken.”

Ava sighs. “That’s fine. Just do what you have to do.”

I try to yank carefully so that I don’t ruin the dress further by tearing it. It takes me a couple tries, but then I get it to budge, and I can peel the teeth of the zipper apart to get the dress off her.

Fuck. Inch after inch of her skin is revealed to me as the fabric of the dress is peeled away. My mouth waters. She smells so good, and her skin looks delicious. I can imagine trailing my tongue up the line of her spine…

I realize I’ve swayed into her, my nostrils flaring as I inhale her scent, like I’m trying to embed it into my bones. The heat of her, her soft skin, and her warm scent all call to me like nothing else I’ve ever felt before. It’s like when I got drunk for the first time, my head swimming, drowning on dry land.

“Excuse me,” I blurt out, my voice low and rough as I force myself to take a step back. My heart is pounding and I swear I can feel my blood pumping in my ears. I feel undone. “I’ll let you get your rest.”

“Right.” Ava’s clutching her dress to her and staring at me, her cheeks bright pink. “I—I should do that. Rest. Of course.”

I practically stumble out of there like a drunk and make my way downstairs. Dammit. I’ve got to get a grip on myself. I can’t go swooning over an Omega who clearly doesn’t want to be bonded.

No matter how much I’d like to bond with her.

It’s just our luck that the first Omega I feel such a pull to doesn’t want to be mated and is willing and ready to go against the law to ensure it.

When I get downstairs, the others have gathered in the kitchen. Garrett’s eating his feelings, which is typical. Ethan’s pacing. Dante sits at the head of the table.

I go to make a pot of coffee. It’ll fuck up my sleep schedule but it’s been fucked already at this point. Might as well.

“Are we seriously going to keep this girl here?” Garrett asks.

“She’s a woman, not a girl,” Dante says. “A fully grown adult.”

“Yeah, and an unmated Omega while she’s at it,” Garrett points out. “Her age only makes this ten times more dangerous. She’s not eighteen. She’s in her twenties. How the hell did she last this long without getting reported?”

“She had good suppressants,” I find myself piping up. “If you—”

“Do not give me the medical lecture right now.”

I put my hands up in a gesture of surrender.

“Do you think anyone else knows?” Ethan asks.

“Not until now,” Dante says. “I doubt she confided in anyone. Too big of a risk.”

“So, what, we help her register?” Garrett asks. “They’re going to question us pretty damn closely to make sure we didn’t know this whole time.”

Ethan and I are already shaking our heads. “She won’t register,” Ethan says.

Garrett gapes at us. “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.”

“What, you thought she was hiding her status all this time for shits and giggles?” Ethan snaps. “And that she’d just, what, throw in the towel and say, oh well, I had a good run, guess I’d better register now?”

“You need to know when you can’t fight anymore,” Garrett points out.

Ethan scoffs. “Now that’s rich, coming from you.”

“The rules are there for a reason. To protect Omegas.”

“Clearly she doesn’t feel that way,” Dante interjects quietly.

We all fall silent, as we do whenever Dante talks. I look at my leader. Dante looks pretty damn tired. I wonder what he’s thinking.

The coffee machine dings , shattering the silence. I turn and grab a mug, then go ahead and grab three for the others too. Garrett takes his black, Dante takes a touch of milk and one sugar, I take two sugars, and Ethan takes… well, let’s just say no coffee beans were harmed in the making of his drink.

Dante nods at me in thanks as I hand him his coffee. “We don’t know when she presented, but most of us present as our second gender when we’re in high school. She could’ve been doing this for an entire decade for all we know. And you have to be pretty desperate to try the black market. I assume that’s where she got the pills.”

“Yeah. She had a reliable source, but it got too expensive so she tried another. I’ll bet you anything they’re just placebos.”

A low growl starts up in the back of Garrett’s throat. “Fuckers. Taking advantage of the desperate.”

“That’s what our work is for,” Dante reminds him. “To help with this kind of thing. So Omegas have technology that will actually take care of them.”

“Yeah, but will it help her?” Garrett snaps. “We don’t have time to make some fancy new gadget. She’s off suppressants and desperate now .”

“And her friends at the club know she’s an Omega,” Ethan murmurs.

Dante scrubs a hand over his face.

“We can’t turn her out,” I say. “What kind of Alphas would we be if we did that?”

“Nobody’s turning her out,” Dante says. “We just need a plan.”

“I don’t know that we can think of one at…” Ethan checks his watch. “Four in the morning.”

“We should ask her what she thinks too,” Dante says.

“But we’ll shelter her?” Garrett asks. “The longer we do that the more trouble we’re going to get into.”

“She deserves a safe place to figure out her next move. She’ll probably have to rearrange her entire life. Maybe even skip town. She’ll need to plan and we can’t turn her out.”

Relief spreads through me to hear Dante’s words. I know that Garrett wouldn’t ever turn a desperate Omega out, but his crankiness masks it. He’s just asking the tough questions we need to be asked as we figure this out. Because this is a risk. It’s a big one, for all of us.

But we’re Alphas. We protect Omegas. It’s what we do. We can’t betray our nature. Especially not for an Omega like Ava. I know I’d want to help no matter who the Omega was, but there’s something about her… something more .

“She needs to figure it out quickly,” Garrett says. “Because it’s all of our asses on the line.”

“I know,” Dante promises.

I finally sit down, feeling relief flood my veins. Ava’s going to stay with us. “I’m glad, Dante.”

Garrett gives me a sharp look. “She’s not staying for good, Caleb.”

I sip my coffee so I don’t say something I regret. I know that. I know we can’t really keep her.

But that doesn’t mean I need the reminder.