Page 19 of Small Town Shy Omega (Applewood Falls #1)

After she left, I read and then Blake thought it would be smart to whittle me a custom knife.

“For protection.”

I lifted the knife, thinking it slick and chic. “I love it, Blake,” I said honestly. “Really.”

“You can slide it in your socks. Pull it out to fight off attackers.”

“And how would I go about that?”

Leading me off my cottage’s porch, he used a shrub for reference. “Cha cha,” Blake growled, stabbing the shrug a few times.

I nodded, watching the action. “Lemme try.”

Taking the knife, I stabbed the shrub, then sighed when I admitted I’d probably never be able to fend off a personal attacker.

“I suck,” I moped.

Blake snorted, patting my head. “That’s why you have your Alphas.”

Dreydon bought potato chips at the market, and we greedily shared a bag. I like this, I thought eating some chips, my cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk. Just sharing with my Alphas, eating chips, listening to birds in the back.

A few squirrels were giving the birds at the feeder grief, so Dreydon suggested we hang it closer to the cottage but I vetoed that idea because I didn't want mice near my foundation.

“Deer mice,” I shuddered.

“Oh, you’re afraid of a little mouse?” Dreydon teased, giving me a nuggie.

“Hantavirus,” I snapped, a chill traveling through me. “You die from that, you know. That’s the last thing I need.”

I realized later that evening I’d spent the whole day ignoring the stepsister-sized elephant in the room, namely my stepsister, Jasmine.

While we watched a rom com, I merped and buried my head in Dreydon’s shoulder. “Got something to say,” I muttered, my voice soft.

Dreydon frowned, pausing the rom com. “Everything all right, Layla?”

My emotions overwhelmed me.

“My sister called me while I was in the studio. She wanted to rub her happy engagement in my face. I tried not to let it affect me, but she’s vicious about it, man. Just when you think she lets up, she doubles down.”

Josh frowned, rubbing my palm. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“After my parents died…” I had to find the confidence to go on. “Do you guys mind? If I share, I mean?”

“Please do, baby.”

Blake nodded. “That’s what we really like about you, Layla. Your incredible emotional honesty—not every Omega has it, and when I talk to you at least, I find myself learning how to understand my own emotions better.”

“It’s not just Blake,” Josh said sweetly. “You help us all become better men.”

“Wow,” I said softly, my heart pounding. “Just… wow.”

I decided to go for it, tell my Alphas the past I rarely shared with anyone.

“My parents died, and my stepparents—Jasmine’s bio parents—wouldn’t take me in.

I don’t know why, but my grandfather wound up sorta adopting me.

He raised me from the age of eight, and I spent many happy memories with him.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my grandfather.

He was a great man, and he read to me every night. ”

“What books did he read?” Josh asked.

“ Heidi mainly,” I shrugged. “That’s a kid’s book about a girl who lives in the Alps with her grandfather. I loved that book. I loved pretending I was eating cheese sandwiches, living in a cottage, and walking with my grandfather. I asked him to read it to me every night, and he obliged.”

“He read you Heidi every night?”

“Yeah,” I said, tears dotting my eyes. “He was a good grandpa.”

Dreydon rubbed my palm. “Go on, baby. We’re listening.”

“My grandpa took me in, and every time I saw Jasmine or my stepparents, they acted like they didn't recognize me. They just… pretended I’d died with my parents, like I wasn’t their problem. But, I was very alive. I internalized that rejection, and I guess you could say I still have some wounds.”

Josh bit back a growl, his emerald eyes flashing on me. “You’re so brave, Layla. Damn—losing your parents, and dealing with bitches like Jasmine and her family?”

Dreydon shook his head, a low growl rumbling. “ Fuck those fuckers, baby. If I see your stepfamily, I’m wringing their necks.” He flexed his muscles, riddled with scars. “That’s a promise.”

My heart swelled, and I clung to my Alphas.

“Thank you,” I muttered, the fabric of Dreydon’s shirt blocking my voice. “You guys… really helped just now. You might not know it, but you did.”

“Thank you baby, you help us be stronger men. Every time you open up we get to see a little more of your beautiful heart.”

I was so comforted, so seen. Seen —when my Alphas spoke to me, even if we were just watching a rom com or something, I felt seen.

There was a person inside of me, and my Alphas saw it.

Others didn’t.

Jasmine didn’t, and my stepparents most certainly did not.

My last few packs didn’t, and I was grateful that my current Alphas understood.

They understood that… I was so much more than my heats, so much more than the slick I produced.

My slick as an Omega wasn’t all of me.

I mattered, damnit. And when Josh, Dreydon, and Blake talked to me, I really believed they cared.

I was a human being, an Omega whose thoughts, opinions, and history was valid. And that was really, really nice.

“And why are you so smitten with these Alphas anyway?”

I was on the phone with Gretel late one night.

“They see me, Gretel. They really get me: all my life, I’ve felt shame for my own shyness, and mediocrity.

I’m a woman who rarely leaves her house, who passes her heats in the privacy of her own bedroom.

Books get me through my heats—this pack doesn’t judge me.

Let’s just say that I don’t think they’ll mind when they find out I take the term ‘book boyfriends’ to a new level. I haven’t told them. Yet.”

I sniffed, shy and insecure. Confident as I acted around Josh, Blake, and Dreydon, now I was wondering again whether I’d merely gotten lucky. I wasn’t the type of Omega to get lucky, and for some reason Lady Luck had been gracious these past few weeks.

My luck would run out shortly, wouldn’t it?

How could it not? That was just the way my life went.

“Huh?” Gretel was confused.

“I’m pretty sure my Alphas are used to…” I mumbled the words, near tears, “smoking-hot Omegas, like the kinds you read about in big cities. New York. Vegas. Hollywood. They’re not native to Applewood Falls.

They have experience that I don’t have, Layla.

I’ve never left my small town. I know we Omegas think reading so many books is cute, and a mark of intelligence, but Alphas want an Omega who can satisfy them.

Sexually. They want an outgoing Omega that all the Alphas want to fuck.

“That’s why I’m so embarrassed about my heats,” I finally said, tears welling. “I pass them alone, and only in the presence of the Alphas in my novels. I’m shy, and I think the only reason I came out of my shell over the past few weeks was, well…”

“What?”

“Blake was so kind to me. Our souls were so similar, and then Josh showed such kindness, too. Even Dreydon, the most masculine Alpha I’ve ever laid eyes on, with rugged muscles and arms full of tattoos, restrained his feral, rugged nature around me.”

“Oh, Layla.”

“I sensed Dreydon wanted to growl. Bellow. Roar. He did none of those things. He could likely tell I’d flee if he did, so he was on his best behavior—I’m broken, no other Omegas would act so pathetically in his presence.”

“Is your shyness preventing you from scenting?”

“Maybe, girl. I just don’t know.”

“It is true that most Alphas’ biological chemistry means that they enjoy an Omega who smells like raspberries or blossoms—but just because your scent isn’t strong enough to push you into your next heat quite yet, doesn’t meant you’re broken, Layla. Give it some time.”

This was another insecurity of mine: sometimes, my scent didn't actually show up during my heats. Half of my heats had been scentless, and I was growing afraid I’d never scent around Blake, Josh, and Dreydon.

My scent was extremely powerful, and my last three heats had been totally without scent. If I scented this heat, it’d be incredibly strong.

My slick would be strong, too… But so far, nothing had come out. I was as dry as the meatloaf at Delilah’s Diner.

“Yes, it does!” I was totally defective.

“No, it doesn’t.”

Then Gretel said: “You don’t have to be your stepsis to be worthy of love, sweetie. I know she’s always had the stronger perfume, but you are beautiful. And when it starts to strength in your next heat, your Alphas will love it. I know.”

My racing heart stilled. I removed my misty glasses, a sigh escaping me.

“Thank you,” I said, “but I feel… I’m simply unworthy of Blake, Josh, and Dreydon.

They’re mistaken about me. As soon as the charm wears off and they know the real me, they’ll disappear.

Alphas can only put up with me for so long.

They haven’t grown controlling yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

I’m anxious, Gret. All Alphas try to push you in the kitchen eventually. Chain you to the range.”

“Maybe they’re just like you, Layla. Your soul match.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not every Omega is spunky, extraverted and—well, like Jasmine,” Gretel said carefully, trying not to offend me likely. “Some are like you. Like me. Like us. And you could really just be a super late bloomer. Maybe when they get your guard down, you’ll smell them and they’ll smell you.”

“Hrrrrmmmmmm,” I replied, having my own private doubts.

“You know, I spend most of my days in my blueberry shop,” Gret said.

“I wander the hills, searching for the ripest berries. My creations require them. Maybe it’s a good thing I keep striking out with packs.

The last thing I could stand would be a pack of roaring Alphas who demanded that I submit to them.

” Gretel shivered through the line, going Ooooosh.

“Just the thought of that scares me, but I still maintain hope, Layla. Because I believe there’s a pack out there for me—special, caring and true.

Protective while still being kind and gentlemanly. I haven’t written off love.”