Page 118 of Pack Choice

“He’s not an asshole,” I mutter, stroking my palm over the omega’s back in a pathetic bid to pacify her.

“Does he know nothing about omegas?” Ford mumbles. “Just because the heat’s over, doesn’t mean his duty’s done.”

“Duty?” Molly frowns even harder, her nose crinkling.

“Omegas are in a vulnerable state after a heat. They need care and attention. Just because the rutting’s over, doesn’t mean he gets to leave.”

“I’m not vulnerable,” Molly says, sniffing and wiping the back of her hand over her face. “And you’re not obliged to sit here and give me ‘care and attention’ just because you feel duty bound.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Ford says, desperation sparking in his eyes.

“He’d be here if he could be,” is all I can think of to say.

Molly takes a steadying breath, then stands again. I reach for her elbow, Ford for her arm. She bats us both away.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

“One of us should come with you,” Ford insists. “You’re weak and–”

“You aren’t coming to watch me pee, Ford,” she says, wagging her finger at him.

“Omega,” I say with a smirk. “You squirted straight into my mouth while I was eating you out. Watching you pee is a pretty minor thing in comparison.”

Her cheeks pinken but then she scowls at me. “That is not the same thing.” She marches off with a huff, slamming the bathroom door behind her.

“I’ve never been into the whole peeing-on-me thing, but if she wanted to try it …” I say.

“Your friend is an idiot,” Ford says again.

“You said that already, but, hey, it’s not his fault you just fucked that up.”

Panic flashes in his eyes this time, although his face is a mask of impassiveness. I’m learning to read the man.

I rest back on my elbows, kicking my legs and consider him. I note the dog tags hanging around his neck – dog tags he’s worn all the way through this heat – and the crest of his unit.

“It ever been like that for you before?” I ask him quietly.

He turns his gaze away from the bathroom and towards me. His eyes are the color of maple syrup.

“A heat?” I nod my head. He drops his gaze to his lap. Molly’s not the only one littered with love bites. The omega is a wild little thing and there are bruises on his shoulder where she bit him and scrapes down his chest from her fingernails. I glance down at my own body seeing I’m similarly marked. I trail a fingertip down the path of her nails and shiver. “No,” he continues after a moment, “it’s never been like that.”

The sound of running water thunders from the bathroom and Ford leaps to his feet.

“She shouldn’t be showering alone. She’s going to faint and bang her head.”

I smile to myself. The dude is smitten. As crazy about this omega as I probably am.

“Then you go shower with her,” I tell him, “and I’ll cook us breakfast.”

I’m hunting through kitchen cupboards trying to find something edible which isn’t a condiment, when I hear more door slamming and stomping, then the omega marching into the open living space, wet hair streaming down her back, body dressed in one of my t-shirts.

“I’m not letting you go!” Ford thunders as he storms after her.

“You see me through a heat and now you think you get to tell me what I can do?” she says, ignoring me and heading in the direction of the elevator doors.

“Molly,” Ford says, “you’re not wearing any clothes. You don’t have a car or a phone or any money. How do you expect to get there?”

“Drive me there. Isn’t that what my brothers are paying you to do?”