Page 36 of One for the Money
“And you just had to shop with her?” I know that Alphas have urges to help Omegas with their nests, and Omegas tend to crave an Alpha’s guidance, but this is crossing more than a few lines. We need to keep a professional distance from her.
It’s not like she’s going to be here long term. As soon as her contract is up, I have to send her packing.
Even though my gut churns when I think about that day.
Since the cookout, I’ve taken the time to notice how she interacts with the troupe, and most of them seem to like her. She’s got a few of them laughing, and I’ve caught her doing yoga with Rex in the mornings a few times.
Matteo shrugs. “She was accosted in the mall, so we weren’t going to leave her alone. And then she couldn’t make decisions until Q started making suggestions. She was just touching everything and putting it back, looking increasingly unsettled. It was weird. I’ve never seen Omega instincts in person like that. I kind of thought it was anexaggeration that Omegas need Alphas to stabilize them, but I’m starting to get it now. As soon as he started offering suggestions, she went with them.”
“Why would that make him sicker?”
“Because she picked my pillow,” Quinton says in that breathy slur he always has when he’s stoned. He doesn’t look at us, still staring with dry, bloodshot eyes at the top of the tent. “And my blanket. She let me guide her to all the choices. We built a nest together. Means she’s mine.”
“That’s not what that means,” Matteo snaps. “You can’t get your hopes up. You don’t know her. Maybe your instincts were just reacting to hers.”
Quinton snorts and waves his Beta off. “Okay, believe that if you want. But she picked my pillow. She picked my blanket. She tookallof my suggestions and happily built the nest I guided her towards.” He folds his arms behind his head casually. “And when we hung out, we had a moment that just…” He trails off, looking up at the ceiling dreamily. “But even forgetting all of that, I’m sicker after exposure to a suppressed Omega. I’ve suspected it for a while, but this confirms what I have.”
He doesn’t have to say it out loud. We all know the symptoms.
Alpha Rot. There aren’t many inherited diseases that affect Alphas, and that’s the big one.
“And if it was Alpha Rot, and she was yours like you said, she’d make you better, not worse.” I can tell by Matteo’s tone that they’ve had this argument a few times recently.
And I hate to add to it, but…
“It doesn’t work like that. She’s got no Omega pheromones right now. So you don’t know if she would make it better or not. In fact, if she is his scent match, not having her pheromones could be what is making himworse. Like his body knows they’re supposed to be there and revolting when it doesn’t find them or something.”
I’m not a doctor, but I’ve read a few medical articles to be on the safe side, since we have so many Alphas here, and all of them are unbonded.
Matteo narrows his eyes at me for agreeing with the sick Alpha, but Quinton’s face stretches into a wide smile. “See? All we need to do is get her off her suppressants, and we’ll know for sure, and boom. I’m cured.”
And if she goes off her suppressants, we run the risk of starting a goddamn rutting bloodbath with all of these Alphas around an Omega. We don’t know what her pheromones are like, how attractive they are.
It’s a massive risk.
“You’re family, Quinton, but I can’t ask that of her. Not only would it cross so many professional lines, but you know how the others would react. It’d be dangerous for her.” I shake my head, trying to clear the thought of Dr. Alex Shields’s fragrance surrounding me.
“S’cool,” he says, eyes drifting closed. “We’ll get our answer if I keep getting worse when I spend time with her.”
“You’re not going to be spending any more time with her,” Matteo snaps. “I was fine with it at first, but now that it could be hurting you, I can’t risk it. I can’t lose you.”
“She’s the doctor, Teo,” he mumbles. “I need to be around her. She’ll know pretty quickly if this is rot.”
“That is what she’s here for,” I remind Matteo. “If she rules it out, at least that’s one step closer to the diagnosis.”
For two years now, Quinton has been dealing with an invisible, unknown illness. It started small, with just some aches and pains here and there. And now it’s constant, and if Matteo is right, getting worse.
Sometimes, he’s completely clear, but at other times, he’s hardly here.
I would never get rid of him, but it does worry me when it’s combined with some of his tricks. He uses cannabis to stave off most of the symptoms, but he chooses to do his act sober and in pain for safety reasons. He loves Matteo and would never knowingly put them in danger to perform while intoxicated. But how long can this go on?
“I don’t know…” Matteo says, chewing his lip. “What’s going to happen to you if that’s what it is?”
Quinton’s head lolls back as he shifts in his chair. “Then I’m gonna ask her to go off her suppressants and hopefully that’ll make me better.”
“You can’t ask that of her!” his Beta partner hisses back. “That’s so inappropriate.”
“Maybe she’ll have tricks to make it easier, then,” he responds slowly, eyes half-lidded. He must’ve been in a bad way today, because I can’t remember the last time I saw him this fucked up. “She’s a doctor.”
