Page 18 of The Alpha’s Sin (Forbidden Omegaverse #7)

POPPY

L ogan and I try to keep our distance the next week. I think we both know we went too far. But I can’t help wanting to feel his hands on me again…and I see the way he keeps looking at me. His eyes are hungry and I know he wants me the way I want him.

Damn those Unbreakable Laws !

I’m at work at the Dollar Tree , trying not to think about how much I want my own brother-in-law when two scruffy looking guys come in.

They have shifty eyes and neither one looks like they’ve had even a passing acquaintance with a razor for some time.

One of them is wearing a dirty red baseball cap and the other one is hatless and clearly going bald except for a long, thin rattail braid that reaches to the middle of his back.

They spend some time shuffling up and down the aisles, loading a green plastic basket with candy bars and off-brand chips and snacks.

I keep half an eye on them because something about them bothers me.

My shift is almost over though, so most of my mind is on seeing Logan again as soon as I get home.

I wish I could hug him and cuddle with him all the time, but things are strained between us now. If only we really were married, I can’t help thinking. If only I could claim him as my husband for real. I’d be the happiest girl in the world if I really was Mrs . Logan Hayes …

My mind must have wandered because the two scruffy guys showing up at my register startles me so much I almost jump.

“Er…hi, find everything you want?” I say quickly, trying to cover my confusion.

“Well, now I have,” the one with the dirty red cap says. He lifts his nose and inhales, sniffing the air deeply. “ Whew ! Smell that, Leroy ?”

The other man—the one who’s almost bald, except for a long, skinny rattail growing from the back of his neck—leans across the counter and inhales deeply.

“Damn—you were right! Ripe for breeding!” he exclaims and his eyes rake over me like I’m wearing a tiny bikini instead of a plain black shirt with a Dollar Tree smock over it.

The way they’re both looking at me makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Also , they smell wrong. I don’t just mean they smell like they need a shower—though that’s certainly the case.

But both of them just smell wrong to me—like wet dog.

It’s a disgusting scent that turns my sensitive stomach and I have to back up as far as I can while I scan their items.

“Here you go—have a nice day,” I say automatically, holding out the cheap plastic bag filled with junk food.

Instead of taking the bag, the balding one leans forward again.

“You got a man, girly?” he demands. “’ Cause I don’t smell no male on you.”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, trying not to meet his eyes.

“He’s talking ‘bout how you’re clearly in Heat ,” the man with the dirty red cap says. He sniffs the air again. “ Talking ‘bout how you need to get fucked—knotted and bred.”

I stiffen, glaring at them.

“Please leave. I refuse to listen to this kind of language.”

He shrugs, his bony shoulders rising under his dirty jacket.

“I’m just saying what we all know is true. You’re in Heat and you need a male to service you. Leroy and I would be more than happy to help.”

“Yeah,” the balding one says. “ More than fucking happy. Why don’t you come with me and Kyle and we’ll show you.”

“Leave!” I point at the door. “ Don’t make me call my husband! He’s an Alpha and he’ll mess you up!”

The one in the red cap laughs.

“You ain’t got no husband, girly. I don’t see no ring on your finger and I don’t smell no man on you—especially not no Alpha .”

Just then, to my extreme relief, my manager comes out from the back room where she was doing inventory. She seems to sense the tension in the air because she frowns at me.

“Is there a problem here, Poppy ?”

“No, Ma’am , no problem,” the balding one says, answering before I can say anything. “ We were just on our way.”

He takes the bag, which I’m still holding out, and the two of them slouch out the door.

I breathe a sigh of relief but I still feel uneasy.

Things could have gone much worse if my manager hadn’t chosen that exact moment to appear.

The two ragged, dirty men must have been Weres .

But do I really smell that strong? I take a shower every morning.

Maybe the scent of being in Heat can’t be washed away with soap and water…

Whatever the case, I feel like I narrowly avoided a very dangerous situation and I’m not sure what to do to keep something similar from happening again.

It makes me feel vulnerable and weak and scared… I don’t like that but there’s nothing I can do about it.