Page 22 of Follow Your Instincts (Fairview City Omegaverse)

Lucas

“G ood meeting?” I asked when Soren and Maggie came back downstairs, looking like two teenagers who just played spin the bottle.

“Very productive,” Soren said, and Maggie glared at him playfully.

“Well, Maggie here has a promise to keep. I think I remember something about baking lessons,” I said.

Maggie laughed. “I’m gonna destroy this kitchen,” she said as I handed her an apron.

Being with her was so easy. She was beautiful, smart, and seemed to fit in with the pack (if Lachlan would get his head out of his ass).

And that was terrifying. Because sooner or later I’d have to have the awkward conversation that happened every time I started dating someone: I like you, but I’d prefer not to fuck you .

I didn’t say it quite like that, obviously, but that’s how everyone seemed to take it.

My packmates knew I wasn’t having the best luck dating, but we’d never talked about why. Turns out a lot of women were only interested in dating an Alpha if that included enjoying our anatomical differences.

I couldn’t have been the only asexual Alpha in the world, but god, it sure felt that way. My family always knew I’d probably present as an Alpha, and my dads had done their best to instill the right ideals in me: Protect those you love and control the baser instincts that lesser Alphas can’t.

Those baser instincts seemed to have passed me by entirely. Sure, Maggie smelled incredible, but I didn’t want to rut her like an animal.

Lachlan was so sure he was the reason Omegas never stuck around with our pack, but I had a suspicion they could sense something off about me.

How long until Maggie sensed it too?

Ben arrived home to freshly-baked cookies. We’d followed an easy recipe and made a huge mess along the way, but Maggie seemed to enjoy herself.

“Honey, I’m home,” Ben called as he burst in from the garage door. He made a beeline for Maggie and dipped her into a kiss like a ’50s sitcom. Soren rolled his eyes at me, but he was smiling.

“I’d ask if you died of boredom here without me, but you smell like Soren, so… did I miss anything good?” Ben asked while Maggie blushed.

“They did disappear upstairs for a while,” I teased.

“Traitor!” Maggie said in mock outrage.

“You naughty girl,” Ben said while he slid his hand up her ribs. “I want to be present for all future shenanigans.”

“We just kissed!” Maggie blurted. “But wait… You want to watch? Me and Soren?”

“You and Soren, you and Lucas. You and Lachlan. You and Soren and Lachlan,” he said, pulling her in close.

“Oh my gosh,” Maggie said. Her scent flooded the room. “You can’t just say stuff like that!”

“Why not?” Ben asked innocently. He had pressed her against the kitchen island, one of his legs between hers.

Maggie looked like she couldn’t come up with an answer.

“It’s part of the pack dynamic, sugar,” I said. She turned to look at me. “When an Omega joins the right pack, there’s no jealousy. Usually the opposite.”

“But I’m not part of the pack,” Maggie said, her eyes wide.

“Not yet ,” Ben said.

Maggie looked a little terrified.

“Quit stressing her out,” Soren said.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Ben said, pulling back a little and looking genuinely sorry.

“It’s okay,” she said with a shaky smile. Her scent was definitely a little stressed, the peach notes going a bit sour.

“Oh god, I’m an idiot,” Ben said and pulled her into another hug, this one softer. “I’m sorry, they always tell me I push too hard.”

“No, it’s fine,” Maggie said, her voice muffled in his shoulder. “It’s just… a lot.”

And then, suddenly, she was crying, sobbing really, into Ben’s chest. He met my eye over her shoulder and mouthed, “Help!”

It would have been funny if I didn’t feel so bad for Maggie. She was clearly overwhelmed.

Before I could take more than two steps towards them, Ben started up a rattling purr that smoothed out into a deep rumble. Maggie’s sobs slowly eased as he held her.

My relief that she was feeling calmer warred with a sudden burst of jealousy.

Alphas didn’t purr for just anyone. It was a sign of their strong protective instincts for an Omega, or sometimes a Beta if there was a deep connection. I had never purred for anyone. I wasn’t even sure if I could.

“Sorry,” Maggie said when she’d calmed down, pulling away from Ben to lean against the kitchen island. She wiped her tears angrily away. “It’s these fucking Omega hormones they’re making me act insane.”

“You’re not acting insane. I think you might be entitled to a few meltdowns after the week you’ve had,” I protested.

“No one’s judging you,” Soren added gruffly .

Maggie nodded, her eyes downcast. “I promise I’m not this volatile in my normal life.”

Ben shushed her. He tilted her head up with a finger under her chin, then easily lifted her onto the island counter by her hips. Another wave of jealousy hit me; it looked so easy for him to touch and comfort her.

“I am sorry for freaking you out,” Ben said.

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m just… I’m adjusting,” Maggie said.

Ben leaned down to give her a gentle kiss, and my heart squeezed. I had never seen him this tender with any of his previous partners, men or women. He was clearly already half gone for her.

Their kiss lengthened, turned from something tender into something else.

Maggie spread her legs to allow Ben to move in closer. He cradled the back of her head for a deeper angle. Maggie whimpered in the back of her throat, and Ben gave a soft growl as he pulled her hips forward to grind against his body. Soren was leaning towards them, watching hungrily.

Her scent flooded the room, and I watched her lose herself to the pleasure of the kiss. She looked more beautiful than ever.

Ben captured her bottom lip in his teeth and tugged hard, eliciting a whine that was half pain and half pleasure.

And then all hell broke loose.

I wasn’t sure when he’d arrived, but Lachlan was in the kitchen, growling in the back of his throat. He was staring at Ben and Maggie, still wrapped up in each other, and there was a strange vacancy in his eyes. He started advancing on them like a predator.

I caught Soren’s eye, and he looked just as bewildered and concerned as I felt. I moved towards him unconsciously.

“Lach,” Soren said loudly, trying to catch his attention. He didn’t react. His pupils were dilated, and he wouldn’t take his eyes off Ben and Maggie. He looked feral . I looked at Maggie, expecting fear, but she looked pinned by Lachlan’s gaze, like she had accepted her fate as captured prey.

What the fuck is going on? I thought. I caught Ben’s eye, and he looked more uneasy than afraid.

Ben slid Maggie off the counter, slowly, and carefully placed himself between her and Lachlan. I made my move.

“Lachlan,” I said, stepping into his path. “What are you doing, man?”

He pushed me roughly out of the way, stronger than I expected, and I stumbled back.

Then suddenly, Lachlan gripped Ben around his shoulder and yanked him closer.

“ Mine, ” he growled in his face, and I didn’t recognize that voice.

Maggie was a half step behind Ben, and when Lachlan turned to her, reaching out his hand, I acted on pure instinct.

I caught her around the waist and pulled her back and away from his grasp.

Maggie had been watching, still frozen, but at that moment she turned her face to my chest and whined.

And just like that, the tension broke.

Lachlan stopped growling, shaking his head as if to clear it.

He dropped his hand from Ben’s shoulder as if he’d been burned and took several steps back, staring at his hand like it had betrayed him somehow.

He backed up even further, putting distance between himself and the rest of us, until his back hit the wall.

His shoulders slumped, and he looked so desperately sad, but I wasn’t feeling very sympathetic to anyone but the Omega softly whining in distress in my arms. I shushed her gently, rubbing my hand along the knobs of her spine as she curled into me, and she bit off her whine abruptly.

Nobody spoke for what felt like an eternity.

Lachlan cleared his throat softly. “I’m so sorry for… my behavior. I have no excuse.”

Maggie looked up, her face miserable. But there was also a glint of anger in her eyes.

“I want to go home,” she murmured.

“Of course, sugar,” I said. “I’ll take you back to the Center right now.”

Ben and Soren both started towards us, but I shook my head firmly. “You need to deal with him,” I said, looking at Lachlan. That same anger I’d seen in Maggie’s eyes burned in my stomach.

I bundled Maggie into the Range Rover as quickly as possible. She sat in silence, wrapped in her own arms, for the first 15 minutes of our drive.

“I’m so sorry,” she said suddenly, quietly.

“What on earth are you sorry for, sugar?” I asked, looking at her in confusion.

“I obviously upset Lachlan,” she said bitterly. “He didn’t like seeing me with Ben like that. Clearly, he doesn’t see me as almost part of the pack.”

Anger burned in my stomach again. A growl erupted in my throat, and I choked it off, surprised. “The only one who should be sorry is Lachlan,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “I have no idea why he acted that way. And I’m sorry that he scared you.”

Maggie contemplated for a moment. “I wasn’t scared,” she said. I looked at her skeptically. “Maybe I should’ve been, but I didn’t feel like he was going to hurt me or anything. It just seems like I came in and disrupted the dynamic you guys have in a few hours.”

I sighed. “At the risk of scaring you away completely, our dynamic has been messed up for a while,” I said sadly.

“Messed up how?” Maggie asked.

“Well, we’d basically given up on finding an Omega. Our pack is a little… different,” I said slowly. Maggie just looked at me, waiting for further explanation.

“Firstly, we were all older than usual when we packed up. Ben and I had never clicked with other Alphas the way that we do with each other,” I said.

“Because Ben’s bi?” Maggie asked. “That can’t be that rare.”

“No it’s not, but a lot of traditional, conservative Alphas made him feel like shit because of it. And a lot of Omegas we met in the early days were uncomfortable with it.”

“Fucking homophobic assholes,” Maggie seethed with real venom in her voice.

I chuckled lightly. “I think you know Ben well enough by now to know it didn’t bother him too much.

Soren is another anomaly. Having Betas in a pack isn’t that uncommon, but many packs treat them like they’re…

less than. Omegas that grew up in pack structures that perpetuate those dynamics weren’t interested in him being a core member of the pack. ”

Maggie squeezed my hand hard. “Can you tell me these Omegas’ names so I can hunt them down and… I don’t know, punch them in the boob?”

“No, I can’t remember any names so the boobs will have to go un-punched,” I said.

“What about you?” Maggie asked. “You said you didn’t click with other Alphas?”

Nerves bubbled in my stomach. I wasn’t ready for this conversation, but I didn’t want to lie, not to Maggie.

“A story for another time, sugar,” I said, then smiled at her. She met my eyes then nodded.

I reached out for her hand, and she entwined her fingers with mine.

We rode in silence for another few minutes, and I stroked my thumb up and down the back of her hand.

“And… Lach-Lachlan? What makes him different? He seems like a normal, growly Alpha to me,” She said.

“That story isn’t mine to tell, sugar. And yes, he’s a grumpy bastard a lot of the time, but I promise you that whatever made him act like an asshole tonight was NOT your fault. I’ve never seen him like that,” I said, shaking my head. What the hell had happened?

Maggie was quiet the rest of the way back to the Center, but the silence was comfortable and relaxed rather than tense. I turned on the radio to the classical station and hummed along, still stroking Maggie’s hand. The sun was starting to set as we pulled up to the parking lot .

“Thank you for taking me home. And I’m so-”

“I hate to interrupt you, but I’m not going to listen to another apology,” I said firmly, and took both of her hands in mine.

Maggie smiled softly and nodded. “Okay, but I still said it in my head.”

I mock-growled at her, and she laughed a little. My heart lightened, then immediately clenched in dread.

“Please don’t let today scare you off,” I said, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice. This was her decision, and we would respect it, but already I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her.

“I think I need some time,” Maggie said after a few moments. “It’s not just Lachlan… I think I just need to get used to the Omega thing a little more.”

My heart sank, but I nodded. It was what I had expected after Lachlan’s behavior, but it still hurt. Much more than it should have after only meeting her twice.

“Of course,” I said roughly. “Take all the time you need.”

Maggie nodded sadly. “Goodnight.”

I kissed her palm. “Goodnight, sugar.”

As I watched her walk into the front door, a dull panic settled into my stomach. We had to fix this. I just had no idea how.