Page 14 of Puck My Life

“Do you have a spare minute, Marilyn? It’s important.”

Her nostrils flare, and the polite mask slips as she eyes me with curiosity. She makes a decision quickly, and, with a tiny practiced smile, moves towards me. Her hand rests on my shoulder as she guides me into an office. With extreme grace, she perches on the corner of a desk.

I wish I were a fraction of the woman that she is. I brush my hair behind my ears and move towards the seat but change my mind at the last minute, opting to stand. The words trap themselves in my throat until I want to scream with frustration.

Instead, I take in the modern office, sleek, shiny black desk, the laptop and single photo of a man. An omega, I realise. Hers, the one she lost.

She waits me out.

I appreciate that so much because I really have no idea where to start.

“I have to move out,” I blurt. I rub at my face. “Just as tactful as I was when I told them.”

“You’re moving out? But you and the boys are a unit.” She doesn’t sound upset; in fact, she sounds curious. Maybe she will help them; maybe this alpha will help me.

I shift; my scent gets laced with the honeycomb candy I keep trying to hide and something sweeter, heavier. It takes me a second to recognise my grief.

“That is no longer possible,” I say softly and turn to face her. “You can smell it, can’t you?”

Marilyn dips her head. “Omega.” She says it with such reverence I want to scream.

I press my hand to my chest. “I didn’t want this. Alpha, I just wanted to be with them in whatever way I could. It’s not fair. I would have stayed forever by their sides as a beta. Really, I would have.”

The pain of it hits me again, and I almost double over, trying to breathe through the grief that I’m sure will kill me.

“So, tell them-”

“They only see me as a sister,” I say bitterly and walk to the other side of the office, taking in the old photos of trophies from years long ago. I dream Mal and Deacon can be in one of these framed photos one day, holding one of those bigshiny trophies. In those dreams, I’m deliriously happy in the stands, screaming their names, with a crowd of thousands. “I can’t make them knot me or, worse, bond me. Can you imagine? Stuck with me forever, sucking their hope out of them day by day.”

All my dreams are going up in ash.

“They’re dating Indy.” My voice comes out rough, aggressive. Flat. The stealer of my dreams, this omega who is so unfit to be by their side.

“Indy?”

“She’s a fan of the team, exquisite, but not a very nice person. Comes to all the games. Die hard member. She’s been dating my boys for the last three months.” My boys, what a slip of the tongue. Her boys. Indy’s boys.

“Oh.”

I cross my arms over my chest defensively. “Look, I just can’t stay there. I’m going to go into heat soon and…”

Her eyes widen and shift around the room. “You need somewhere to stay and alphas to see you through your heat?”

I reluctantly nod. “I have some numbers. But, Marilyn, I’m just letting you know so you can handle the boys-”

“Forget those numbers. I’ve seen some of the options, and I would never send even my worst enemy to them.” She cocks her head to the side. “I can help you.”

The words fall into the room with the power of a Molotov cocktail. Hope explodes up and out, fanned by flames.

“You can?” I blanch. “You mean, like…” I cut off because I actually have no idea how she means.

She laughs, a tinkling chuckle that has me locking my knees so I don’t move closer.

“No, not me personally, but I know an alpha or two. But this will happen at a cost.”

Of course, there’s always a cost. I’m not bitter; it is, after all, practical.

“What’s the price?” I ask warily.