Page 10 of Happy Halloween, Omega

Nest? What the fuck?

I snatch up the collar and hurl it across the room, a dull thud as it hits the wall. Grizabella scampers away, hiding under the couch.

“Fuck you, Ghost!” I yell, my fists clenched at my sides. I’m shaking with anger and fear. I feel violated. I’ve spent my entire life hiding from Alphas, and now one has managed to get past all my defenses to breach my nest. Worse than that, I’ve been pleased with his attention.

Wait, no! Not my fucking nest. My brain is scrambled.

I sit down on the couch, my hands covering my face. I try to take deep breaths, to calm myself down, but it’s no use. This is what I’ve been secretly craving. The thrill of the chase that has been hovering at the edge of my awareness since his arrival in my life two Halloweens ago. But now that it’s happening, I’m terrified.

I want to call the police and report the break-in, but I know it’s pointless. They won’t do anything, and if they do, it’ll only make things worse. I can’t go to the Omega protection services, because… well, that would be admitting I’ve been in hiding for most of my adult life.

No, there’s no one to turn to. No one who can help me.

I’m on my own and I’m officially spooked.

7

EveryHalloween,Igeta fright. It’s two days before the 31st, and I’m on edge waiting with anticipation for the bite of fear. This year feels final. At the end of the night, everything is going to be different.

The wind is unrelenting, howling down the streets like a wind tunnel and whipping my hair against my face painfully. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to stay warm in my too thin jacket. The weather turned abruptly at the start of fall, like Mother Nature flipped the off switch on the heat of summer.

I hitch my tote bag emblazoned with a bat on my shoulder and pick up my pace, eager to get home and out of the harsh conditions. It’s been a long week at work, a mix of mind-numbing office tedium and a relentless hyper-awareness of my Alpha colleagues. All I want to do is curl up in my nest with a cup of tea, a spooky book, and feelsafe.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that I have a nest. I finally relented to the whining voice I now know is my Omega, and converted my spare closet into a cozy nest. The walls are padded with soft fabric and fairy lights are strung along the ceiling. I love it.

It’s been months since I’ve had any interaction withmy Ghost. Not since he broke into my home and left me his calling card. Despite his absence, my body has continued to change.

I stopped taking the purple pills and watched with fascination as I became who I always should have been – an Omega.

I’ve had so much fun buying clothes that fit around my new breasts and stomach and hips. I stare in the mirror each morning before work, simply admiring how I look more like me than ever before. Embracing my darker aesthetic, I’ve bought alternative fashion styles that actually bring me joy instead of whatever blended me into the background the best. I have big, comfortable stomping boots and also pretty black Mary-Jane heels. I wear lovely dresses with intricate lace and bell sleeves. Hell, I even have black cat earrings which look like Grizabella.

I’m excited about blooming into an Omega, but I’m not stupid. I know I’m courting danger and it’s only a matter of time before someone realizes I’m not the Beta I’ve always pretended to be. I just can’t find it in me to care. I’m enjoying my freedom far too much.

I turn off the cracked sidewalk and take a shortcut through the local woodland. It takes an extra twenty minutes to walk around the gloomy copse of trees, and most people avoid entering it in the evenings when the shadows plunge it into an eerie dark void. Not me. I enjoy the walk through nature at the end of my day.

The auburn leaves crunch under my heavy, black boots, and I gleefully seek the extra crunchy ones to stomp on.

As I reach the center of the woods, the sounds of the city fade and I can only hear the forest – the trill of crickets, creaking sway of the trees, the fresh smell of the damp undergrowth. I’m reveling in my enhanced Omega senses, fascinated by the small and seemingly insignificant sounds I’ve missed over the years.

A familiar prickling feeling at the nape of my neck breaks my peace, and I stop dead in my tracks.

I whip around, my heart hammering in my chest. There’s nothing but trees and fallen leaves, but I know I feltsomething. I scan the area, searching for any signs of movement, but there’s nothing.

I take a step backwards, my eyes still trained on the trees and their inky shadows. The hairs on my arms stand up, and I know I’m being watched.

I also know who it is.

Excitement wells in tune with fear and anticipation.

I inhale sharply, and my eyes almost roll into the back of my head at his scent. It’s so muchmorethan I recall. Before, he simply smelled like a man’s cologne with woody notes. Now I get a whole buffet of fragrances. There is a zing of citrus, before slowly unwinding into a deep cedar scent. It’shim. He’s here.

“I know you’re there,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. There’s a beat of silence, then movement.

My Alpha ghost steps out from behind a tree. He’s wearing black jeans and a gray hoodie, a gun holstered at his hip, clipped onto a belt with an array of other equipment. He’s not wearing a mask this time, but in the fading dusk light, I can’t see his face beneath the shade of his raised hood. Even without the skeleton costume, he looks just as intimidating as the first time I saw him, tall and broad with a stiffness to his toned muscles, like he’s poised for action at any moment.

I take a step back, my breath catching in my throat. “What do you want?”

He doesn’t speak, instead he takes a step forward. His footsteps are silent despite the leaf litter beneath his feet, and I narrow my eyes. Ghost indeed.