Page 3 of Ondine, Vol. 2 (Cash City Omegaverse)

B is for Beta

Shadow

J ake tied the red-haired beta tied to a metal folding chair with zip ties. He looks well, surprisingly. I took some time to shower and change. I had a quick nap. He’s been sitting here the whole time like a good boy.

Fucking Arnold. Fucking Jake!

Jake dragged this man from his apartment and tied him to this chair. Normally I wouldn’t think anything of it. But he’s strong. He’s tall. He’s dense. For a beta that’s a rare thing. If you weren’t able to smell him you’d think he was an alpha.

And he was the man who had been with Ondine the day Jake met her on the train.

Jake had to get in an ice bath because of the tussle Arnie put him through. Half this studio we use for our business as a training gym and storage. We even keep some fleet vehicles here.

“Arnie, Arnie, Arnie, you are not an easy man to lift,” I tut. He sits on the chair like he sat there on purpose. Like he could leave at any time. Like he’s bored. It makes me respect him a little.

“I want to know what you think you are here for.” I’ve been dying to know what he thinks of all this.

I’ve never quite understood why Ondine needed to use a Heat Clinic. Paying for alphas? There’s something so fucked up about that.

Maybe that’s unfair.

Ondine prides herself on her independence. That’s why she lived alone and never registered with the Institute. And alphas are possessive fuckers, let’s be honest.

“I have no idea,” Arnie replies.

“ Speculate. “ My alpha voice doesn’t work on him, but he still gets the impression it’s being used. Alpha barks don’t work on betas, only alpha and omegas.

Arnie sighs like I’m being tedious.

Jake will join me soon. After his ice bath, he went back to the beta’s place to look around.

“I don’t know. Perhaps I am being mistaken for someone.”

No one would mistake Arnold for anyone. He has tawny red hair, eery glass green eyes, and enough freckles to distinguish him from anyone I’ve ever known. Honestly, he looks like we could have found him by description alone.

“Oh, did someone else take advantage of an omega he was supposed to be caring for? Leave her to the streets when she was hours away from her heat?”

Arnold sits up straight. His face falls, his jaw drops. He gasps. “Ondine.”

I wasn’t going to tell him this soon, but Jake is going to be forever. And I’m curious.

He looks nervous. Upset. Shocked.

How interesting.

“Where is she? Is she ok?”

I tsk and pace around in front of him. Finally, a nice little response.

“This is going to be a little game I call Give and Get . Ok? You give me something and you get to continue having all ten fingers. Understand?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Where’s Ondine? Is she safe? Tell me.”

“No!” I yell into his face, spittle hitting his eyes. “You tell me! Tell me everything that happened that day!”

I really shouldn’t be in this room just hours after learning we lost Ondine to my brother. My mind and my body are going north and south.

I drag a chair over and unfold it in front of him. I get out my phone and start a video recording.

“Let’s hear it. State your name.”

He tightens his jaw and looks away, huffing out an irritated breath. Then he turns back to the camera.

“Arnold Bererra.”

“Occupation.”

“Unemployed.”

I cock my head to the side. Interesting.

“Tell me what happened. Spare no detail.”

He grinds his teeth and scoffs minutely. He’s debating whether to ignore me. He must have come up with some sort of plan because he meets my eyes and tells me the story.

“Ondine had scheduled her nest for her heat. She’d been in a few days prior to go over details.

Like she had the previous times. I wanted it perfect for her.

She liked the pink and violet lights, but they were faulty, so I’d gone in early to pull the LED strips and lay new ones.

It wasn’t my job, necessarily. I should have put in a work order.

But I knew her heat was going to be soon, and I didn’t want to wait.

I had all her nesting materials prepared.

She needed five alphas for her first heat.

More than most omegas that use the clinic.

They gave her suppressants, micro doses, and hormone balancers to help.

The second heat she needed three. And it lasted three days.

Her heats were down to 48 hours and one or two alphas.

They wanted her down to 24 hours and only one alpha. ”

“I don’t understand.”

“They increased her medication. The Clinic only charges for the room. They don’t charge more for needing more resources. They make their clients agree to use their supplements because they want to save money. They want her heats to be short and less demanding.

“My guess is, they got the dosage wrong. Or she had an adverse side effect. It must have been something, because she had a really bad heat spike. She rushed herself to the Clinic. Alone. She’s always alone.

She comes alone. She leaves alone. She doesn’t talk about anyone.

She has no friends. No family. No one fucking cares about her. ”

Arnold is getting upset. Angry. He’s fucking angry. He flexes his arms and squeezes the zip ties tight.

“Except me.”

I’m barely breathing listening to his story. I can’t help remembering all the times I also ignored her. Did I think my sneaking around and watching her was me doing anything at all? God, and at the hot tub, I just left her there.

And here is this beta—fearlessly trying to be there for her.

“She came in, frantic. Heat was pouring off her. She saw me in the room, with the lights. And I know I should have gone right then to get her an alpha. The ones she booked may have been there. But I didn’t.

I touched her. We aren’t supposed to touch them.

I put my hands on her shoulders and asked her what was wrong.

She cried. Call me a bastard, but I couldn’t leave.

I hugged her knowing it was basically the end of my career at the Clinic.

A beta comforting their omega client? Instantly being fired.

But fuck them. The alphas there follow a script.

A stressed, hormone-imbalance omega having an unplanned heat spike wouldn’t have got what I could give her at that moment.

And she’s not just any omega—she’s Ondine. ”

Fuck me. I don’t know what I thought happened between them, but it wasn’t this. My alpha instincts tell me to do something. But there’s nothing to do. This has already all happened.

“And then you turned her around and mounted her? Pretended you had a knot to give her?”

“Fuck you! Don’t talk about her that way.

She needed me. She wanted me. I would never reject her.

She took my belt off. She pulled my pants down.

She could have anything I was able to give her.

She still can. She can have my whole fucking life.

She wanted my body, and I was more than willing.

And it helped! I fucking helped her. I never felt anything like that.

Whoever would not give that woman anything she wanted is a fool.

“She never should have been given the hormones. She needs a pack. A pack of loving, loyal people. And she deserves it. Do you even give a shit about her? Or do you treat her like shit like everyone else does?”

I turn off the video recording, and switch to an audio recording and lay the phone down. I feel like I’m going to need my hands soon.

“Are you her alpha? Is she ok? Tell me!”

“Tell me about her. Tell me about Ondine.”

He eyes me skeptically. “She’s perfect. She looks at you like she sees everything all at once.

No judgment. No expectations. And no hope.

She’s the saddest person I’ve ever met. I don’t think anyone has ever seen her for who she is.

The first time I made her smile I wanted to die right then, like I’d achieved something great. ”

“Then why didn’t you go after her?”

“I did. You don’t think I did? They don’t give us any fucking information about our clients! I didn’t have a last name! An address! Nothing! I searched for her everywhere!”

“And you got fired?”

“How is any of this your business?! I didn’t get fired, I quit! I hated what they did to her! You know they charged her like three grand in order to fuck with her hormones and treat her like shit? The alphas can be cold. It’s a job at the end of the day.”

Jake stands in the doorway to the left, listening in. He just got here, but he heard what Arnold had just said. He’s wearing some runners pants and an athletic shirt. His arms are crossed.

“And it wasn’t a job for you?”

Arnold twists his head, finally aware of the other alpha in the room.

“Oh, fuck, it’s you. Where is Ondine?”

“I’m Jake Meier. Ondine is with her mate right now. She’s safe. Our other pack member is with her, making sure they are safe.”

Arnold’s eyes flick back and forth between us.

“Why wouldn’t she be safe with her mate?”

“He’s feral. And she’s recovering from bond sickness. But last I heard.” Jake checks his phone. “She’s doing good. He is too. No sign of him misbehaving. They just bonded last night.”

Why is Jake telling him our business?

“Last night? But she’s been gone for…three weeks.”

Jake makes a little hum sound and takes slow steps towards me. I straighten up as he looks me up and down.

“Bond sickness? Oh, my god.”

“Yeah.”

“But she’s ok,” he whispers.

“Yeah.”

Jake finally turns back to Arnold.

“So do you want to tell Shadow here what parts of your sob story you lied about, or am I going to have to beat the shit out of you first?”

My eyes go wide. Lying? Jake thinks Arnold is lying?

Arnold’s countenance shifts. It goes from angry lover boy to dark, flat man. I take a step back.

What the fuck.

Jake

Shadow looks flabbergasted. I want to pat his cheek, it’s so cute. I can’t believe he sat here and listened to that whole story and found nothing wrong with it. I need to work on Shadow’s bullshit meter. Perhaps he was off his game because we lost Ondine last night. Temporarily.