Page 14 of His Gentle Omega
“Hmm?”Words, Bennett, use your words.
Meg gave me a concerned look, “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Mumbling, I took a step away from the large alpha filling the bed.Stop touching him, Bennett.
Letting my hand fall from where I was still caressing–touching–the alpha…Shay, I tried to act likenothing was amiss.No need to act weird or anything, just touched my fated mate. Nothing to see here. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.
I could be wrong. It could have just been static electricity. Really, really, really bad static electricity. What did I know about fated mates anyway? Just what I had learned reading fairy tales, romance novels, and watching a truly disturbing amount of alpha/omega rom-coms. I knew practically next to nothing.
Are you listening to yourself, Benny?My wolf huffed.Mate. Ours. Yum. Wanna lick him.
There will be no licking going on! Now shush. I need to think.
Blah. Boring. Licking more fun.
Shush!
“Bennett, did you hear me?” Meg touched my arm, looking super concerned now.
Shaking my head, I nodded in the affirmative, and said, “No, I’m sorry, what?”
Fuckity fuck, get your shit together, Bennett!
Meg grasped me by the elbow and steered me out of the cubicle and into the hallway, which was thankfully pretty quiet. You never knew what nights were going to bring in the E.R. department. Things could be super quiet or all hands on deck with emergencies of various sorts.
“What just happened in there?” Meg demanded, but her tone was all soft concern.
Shaking my head again, I insisted, “I’m fine.”
“Mmm,” her face said she absolutely did not believe me, but she didn’t push. “I said Mike is in the waiting room. He’s calling Becks at home, since he doesn’t feel he has enough knowledge of Alpha Law. He doesn’t want to mess anything up on a technicality.”
Mike Randall was a deputy in the Sheriff’s department and had the most seniority on the force. I had worked with him many times on patient cases, and I liked the middle-aged human.
“That’s good,” I agreed, “Becks has a law degree. He’ll know the best way to handle this.”
Sheriff Grayson Beckett, or Becks to most everyone who knew him, had only been in office a little over a year, but the man had a ton of experience in law enforcement. He had worked for one of the alphabets in the government–I couldn’t remember which one–but he had a mysterious air about him, like“If I told you, Bennett, then I would have to kill you.”
He also had a law degree from Harvard and would have more knowledge of Alpha Law than any of us. At least I hoped he would. I knew the very rough basic idea of it, but it was such an old law–and hardly anyone used it–I wasn’t sure what it really meant. Or what our proper course of action should be.
All I knew was that I had promised the alpha lying in that hospital bed–Shay, Bennet, his name is Shay–that I would take care of his child. Well, not exactly, but in a roundabout, implied way.
Benny, you’re a mess, my ever so helpful wolf told me.
He wasn’t wrong. Touching the alpha…Shay, fuck!...touching Shay had me completely off kilter. My skin felt tight and hot and tingly, all at the same time, and my limbs felt jittery. Like I’d had one too many mocha lattes from The Sweet Spot. And, oh my fucking Goddess, was that slick dampening my underwear and making my backside feel sticky?
“I’m going to talk to his son and then try to get ahold of Asher.” Rushing my words, my hands fluttered in front of me. When what I really wanted to do was reach behind me and see if there was a wet spot on my jeans. Goddess, could Meg smell me?Because I could smell my slick, the sweet scent of cinnamon and sugar donuts wafted over me and filled my nostrils.
How fucking embarrassing!
Meg stared at me like she was truly worried I was finally losing my shit. Nodding, she quietly told me, “That’s a good idea, Bennett. Are you sure you’re alright? Your face is flushed.”
Reaching a hand towards me like she was going to test my temperature, I ducked under her arm. For once, I was thankful of my short stature, and emitted a weird, high-pitched sound that I had never heard myself make before. “Me? I’m fine! Absolutely fine! I think the A.C. isn’t working right. It was so muggy outside when I came in.” Fanning my face with my hands, I announced, “I need to use the restroom.”
Ducking into the men’s room that I had thankfully been near, I stared at myself in the mirror under the harsh, fluorescent lights. Curling my hands over the side of the white, porcelain sink, I took a steadying breath, sure I could still smell the lingering scent of earth and rain mixing in with the scent of my slick.
My light green eyes were wide, looking too big in my flushed face and slightly manic. Wiggling, I grimaced, feeling the slick that had soaked into the cotton fabric of my boxer briefs. Making use of a stall, I slammed the door shut with a loud bang, then tried to wipe up the mess my slick had made of me. Gah, maybe I should get an omega pad from the machine, but I hated those things. The ones the hospital vending machines carried were too long and too thick, and I hated how they felt when I walked.
Folding over some toilet paper, I shoved it between my ass cheeks and my underwear. Wasn’t the first time I’d made do like this. My omega dad hadn’t always been able to afford extrathings like slick pads when I had hit my teen years, so I had learned to come up with alternate ways to handle situations.
