Page 4 of Puck Your Neighbor

Finn opens his locker from down the row, looking a little lost. "How does that work with you guys? Dating? Since you're a pack and all. Do you, like, share your chicks? I mean, how do you even find an Omega for a pack? I just presented, and I haven't found anyone yet, let alone two other Alphas to be a pack with."

Jenson comes to his locker opposite mine. "If we're scent-matched, we would share her and be cool with it. But finding scent-matched Omegas is like winning the lottery. And with all the scent suppressant products they have to use today, she could walk on by us, and we'd have no fucking clue."

Finn frowns as his brows knit together in confusion. "But don't you guys sleep with chicks all the time? What do non-scent-matched Omegas smell like to you?"

I shrug. "They aren't unappealing if you want a hookup, but unless they're in a heat, they aren't going to drive you wild. From what I hear, scent-matched Omegas will smell like the best thing in the world, even if they're sick. But, again, we're unlikely to find that in our lifetime with the small ratio of Omegas to Alphas, so most of us just take what we can get. If we ever want to have kids, there's always dating services for Omegas that want to settle down and don't care if we're compatible."

Finn continues to look constipated as he pulls a shirt over his short, brown hair. "But wouldn't that suck? I heard on a documentary that Alpha and Omega bonds are supposed to transcend heaven or some shit. But then I thought about how hard it must be to find an Omega for myself, let alone a whole pack to be with."

Jenson laughs. "Oh, there's some out there that will gladly take the Alpha dick, but you have to find the ones that like the pain of being stretched and locked, and those are too kinky for me."

The whole locker room laughs. I shake my head. "They aren't that bad; it's just the clingy ones you have to be careful of. My Uncle Roland had a hook-up, not even a girlfriend, and he got lucky and his pack found their Omega the same year."

I grab my phone and shove it into my pocket. "Needless to say, she didn't let him go without a restraining order and them moving states twice to get her to stop threatening my aunt's life. Some of them think they can get around the bond, but it just doesn't work like that. Once you find a compatible Omega, there's no more dating or searching because everyone else will gross you out. At least, that's what he and his pack mates used to tell me and my brother."

Asher grabs his ass. "I have zero desire to ever sleep with another Alpha." He tilts his head to the side. "Well, maybe a female Alpha, if I'm drunk and they're hot."

We all laugh again, and I motion to Jenson and Leo that we need to get going or the movers will be waiting on us. They nod, and after quick goodbyes to the team and promises to see them in the morning for practice, we head out. I just hope this move will go easily enough that we can chill in the evening. Maybe have some friends over and relax.

Chapter 3

Ever since my landlord left, I can't help but feel on edge, waiting for new people to show up and disrupt the quiet I've gotten used to over the last few months. All I can hope is that they're single and either won't be home a lot or will also be quiet.

It's been hard to focus on my commission, but I have to get at least the background done today so that it has time to dry, and I can work on a different painting tomorrow. The client knows it will take me at least two months to finish it, but that doesn't mean I can just not do the work and put it off until the last minute.

After a decade of doing this professionally, I've gotten my schedule down to a science, and if I don't follow it, everything goes to crap. And I can't do that when people are paying me to do this work. I have to plan it all around my heat. Even with suppressants, it will still put me down for a week. It's so hard to focus on anything, and I have to fight the urge to download an app for Omegas who want the aid of Alphas without the commitment of a bond.

But I've never given in. With me being unable to talk, and the majority of people not knowing how to handle that, it would just be awkward. I don't want to have to deal with that while feeling like I'm going to crawl out of my skin from being so horny.

The beeping of a truck backing up meets my ears, and I put down my brush to go to the window that faces the front of the building where the small parking lot is. I want to know who is moving in. All I know is that they're Alphas. Are they men, or women? Even if they're female Alphas, I would feel no safer. They can be just as aggressive as their male counterparts during a rut, so it wouldn't make a difference. But at least I'll know what the threat is now during my heat.

A couple of men in uniforms get out of the truck. Movers, clearly. They head to the back and open it up, revealing a massive truck full of things. A lot more than what would fit in my apartment.

I guess upstairs is a two-bedroom, so it's slightly bigger, but not by much, a hundred square feet at most. Maybe that means they're not going to live here long, and they're just waiting for their house to be built or something.

That's how it was for the people that lived there before. It was just a transition place. That would be perfect because it wouldn't be long-term, and then I'll have another chance to buy the units from my landlord and have it all for myself.

As they pull down the ramp, two more cars pull up beside it. One, a large black truck, screams that they're overcompensating for something, but maybe they're in construction or a job where they need to haul around a lot of large equipment. A silver Porsche pulls up alongside it.

In sync, three men get out of the two cars, and my heart races. They're massive, tall, and even from a distance, I can see their muscles. If they decide they want to hurt me, they could rip me apart.

The one wearing paint-covered ripped jeans goes over to the movers, and they talk. His brown hair is swept back in a lazy pompadour, and a dark five o'clock shadow covers his jaw.

My gaze goes to the guy who got out of the Porsche. He has short brown hair, a clean-shaven, angled jaw, and a sharp nose. He looks like a model, maybe he is, with the car he's driving. But if that's true, why would they move into a place like this? It's not a bad apartment, but it's also not luxury. If I were a model, I would be living in a high-rise in the city with a lot of windows for natural light. That's the dream for my painting and the main reason I want the upstairs unit for my studio. I bet it gets a ton of light in the morning.

Mr. Porsche's gaze turns my direction, and I step back from the window so he can't see me. He has brilliant green eyes as he stares up at the balcony on the second floor.

Why do they have to be good-looking? I force myself to go back to my painting. It doesn't matter. With luck, we'll never have to interact, and I'll have to pray the new vents hold up with my heat, and they don't smell me. I don't have another option. Going to the Omega Hospital to wait it out is a nightmare and worse than just going it alone in my nest.

I can't get a good look at the blond, and I'd rather they not catch me trying to get a peek at them and think I'm a lurker.

After a couple of minutes of getting back into my painting—adding the shadows in the far background—thuds of heavy footsteps go up the stairs outside my door and then echo in the apartment above me as they walk around on the vinyl flooring of the kitchen that serves as the entrance.

I know once they have stuff in the place, their footsteps won't be as loud, but damn does it set my nerves on edge in an instant. Living in an apartment is often like having a roommate you'll never see or interact with, but you'll always hear them.

Grabbing my headphones, I put them on for the first time in months. Blessed silence descends before the soft notes of Debussy transfer to the headphones, a welcome barrier against the intrusive noises of my new neighbors.

Well, the headphones are great for blocking out noise during the day, but they aren't comfortable to sleep in. I lie on my back, staring up at the ceiling as bass thumps down from the apartment above. It sounds like they're having a housewarming party. Several more people came a few hours ago, and I thought it would be over by ten, but it's nearly midnight and still going.

---