Page 16 of Power Shift

“I know.”

“So you don’t need to use your ultra-special soothing powers on me.”

She rolls her eyes and tugs me closer, forcing me out of my cocoon. “You make me sound cooler than I am.”

“That’s because I wish I could do what you can.”

“You do just fine without any ‘ultra-special soothing powers,’” she says, using air quotes with her free hand.

It’s rare but not unheard of for an omega to have a scent that’s able to soothe those in distress. Clover is just the only one I know who has that ability.

We don’t quite understand why some scents were crafted a bit more special than the rest of them.

“Tell me what happened, Bri,” she encourages, bundling me up beneath her arm.

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“It’s that bad?”

I dig my elbow into her side. “Just promise me.”

“Fine. I promise I won’t laugh.”

“It’s over with Greg.”

She takes a few moments to reply. “Why would I laugh at that? I’m sorry. What happened?”

“That’s not the part I was worried about. It gets worse.”

“Alright . . .”

I groan, slipping out from beneath her arm to sit across from her instead. Her curious gaze lacks judgment, at least.

“I don’t know what I was even doing with Greg in the first place. He’s a terrible alpha, Clover. Literally the worst. You should have heard what he said about working,” I rant, some of my self-pity transforming into anger.

“Let me guess. Did he say that because you’re a beautiful omega, you shouldn’t work once you’ve mated his pack? Staying home to take care of the kids is so demure and oh-so mindful, right? Fucking puke.”

“That’s exactly it, actually. I told him that I liked my job, and he said, ‘Well, it’s not like you went to medical school and have that much to lose by giving it up.’”

Clover gasps, her entire expression hardening to stone. “What a lard-for-brains, misogynistic asshole. As if your job is any less amazing because you didn’t spend a million years in medical school.”

“I know. And I’ve never wanted your job. My heart has always yearned to give comfort to those in need of it. Getting elbow-deep in a cervix isn’t my personal calling. It’s yours.”

“I’m glad you’re done with him. But keep going. Don’t leave anything out.”

I divert my eyes, unable to look at her as I say, “Alright. After he told me that he didn’t imagine me working once I was in their pack, I left to go to the bathroom. I got close to it when I smelled something.”

“Something . . . bad? Because you were about to go into the bathroom?”

I crinkle my nose. “No, it wasn’t like that. The smell wasn’t bad. It was amazing. God, amazing isn’t even the right word. He smelled like a dream. Like I’d tripped on my way to the bathroom and woke up in a custom-made paradise. I all but ran after the scent, and the next thing I knew, I was ruining everything,” I ramble, emotion clogging my throat at the reminder of everything that happened.

I’m still so out of whack. With every mention of my mystery alpha, somehow, I continue to get worse. More out of control. Something happened to me that day, something that I can’t help but be fearful of.

“He?” Clover asks, her tone softening once again. “He as in an alpha? One other than Greg?”

My heart clunks around in my chest. “Yeah, an alpha. Not Greg. This one was—I don’t know how to explain it exactly. I feltdainty in front of him, like he could have crunched me beneath his foot if he wanted to. I’ve never met an alpha that big before. Not just in height but strength and energy. His dominant vibes were smothering, and he spoke all of ten words to me.”

“And he smelled incredible?”

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