Page 49 of The Omega Princess

“I certainly don’t know,” I said.

“You came here for some reason,” said Devlin.

“I came to your room, looking for you,” I said. “I thought maybe you might need me, after spending an entire night alone. But you, of course, didn’t spend the night alone, and then I was worried that everything was a disaster.” I turned to look at Maguire. “But you’re here, so I guess everything’s fine.”

“Well, let’s keep it from the Queen,” said Devlin. “I don’t need to deal with that.”

“Agreed,” I said.

It was quiet.

I lifted my shoulders. “Well, I guess that’s that, then. I will leave you guys to whatever you’re doing.”

eleri

I WOULD HAVE been happy to stay in bed with Devlin all day, but he eventually got up and left me to see to his responsibilities. Maguire had gone home for the day, because he was currently on duty only at night. I was left alone for long enough to take a long soaking bath in my luxurious bathroom, something I hadn’t had time to do before now.

My muscles felt sore in that way that they do after sex, which always surprised me, because I never remembered using them as much as I must have used them. I was also a bit sore and tender between my legs from the knot, but I found myself enjoying that.

Every time I would move and feel a hint of that pain, it reminded me of Devlin, and I felt happy and claimed and a little turned on. I thought about texting him about it, one of those ‘Your pussy is wet’ texts he’d told me I should send, but then I didn’t because I was unsure if he’d been serious or not.

I thought that maybe I shouldn’t be sending texts like that. I remembered that, at one point, when I was younger, Prince Mark’s phone conversation with one of his mistresses had been intercepted, recorded, transcribed, and splashed all over the tabloids. It had been sexual, embarrassingly so, and I didn’t want that to happen to me and Devlin.

So, I didn’t send any sexy texts, and I resolved I’d ask him about them later.

Instead, I caught up with the few people who’d gotten in touch with me.

It was kind of sad, really. I had a few emails from my older sister, who had gotten the details from my parents, and then just a couple texts from my friend Miriam.

I wouldn’t call Miriam my best friend or anything. We’d been part of a pack of teenagers in high school, all of us band geeks who’d hung out together. There had been maybe eight of us, boys and girls, and we used to go out after band concerts to restaurants and order a bunch of appetizers to share with the table, that kind of stuff. We never did anything rebellious and we were all kind of too socially awkward to know how to break out of our group, anyway.

After high school, we mostly drifted apart, except Miriam was the sort of person who managed to keep in touch with people. So the group never hung out anymore, but Miriam texted with everyone in the group. She had some busy-body tendencies, I supposed, but she was really just a nice person, in the end. If I would take initiative and text people from high school, maybe I would have more friends. Miriam was better off than me in a number of ways.

So, Miriam wasn’t my best friend, but I was realizing she might be my only friend. Sure, I was friendly with people who I interacted with, but since I didn’t hold down a job very well, I never had the same work acquaintances for long.

I combed my hair in my new luxurious bathroom, looking at all the beauty products that were sitting out on the vast marble sink and counter, and I began to put the pieces together as to why my life had never gone right up until now.

It was all because I was an omega.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before. I never started drama personally, at least I didn’t think I did, but drama seemed to follow me around. People were drawn to me, at least initially, and they would offer me help and assistance. But when I took advantage of their offers, things started to unravel.

Sometimes, the people who’d initially been so helpful would get resentful, saying I was too needy. Sometimes, other people would be angry, saying that I was getting special treatment.

Whatever the case, it would add up to drama. Almost every time I got a job, someone in management would say at some point, throwing up their hands, “We never had problems here until we hired you.”

I wouldn’t have done anything exactly, but there would often be pressure for me to leave.

So, I would.

But I realized now, it wasn’t me. It was just that I was an omega, a needy omega, leaking her needy want for an alpha all over everyone around me. Even people without designations responded to that. But they couldn’t help me, and this would make them annoyed with me, triggering the needy accusation. Or people would resent the fact that they could sense my neediness.

All this time, I’d just belonged here, with Devlin. All this time…

It was a relief.

But in a way, it broke my heart. I thought back on all those times throughout my life where I’d been confused about why I couldn’t fit in or why people seemed to both adore me and despise me in equal measure. I wished I could go back and give that girl—past me—a huge hug. I felt so sad for her. All that pain and anguish was spent in vain. The answer was so simple. I wished I could go back in time and give it to her.

But that was impossible.

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