Page 53 of One for the Money
It sounds codependent, and maybe it is, but it works for us. Matteo is the other half of my soul, and now our spirit has joined us in the form of our Omega.
How can he sound so scared when the most incredible smell in the world is surrounding us? Our Omega is within our reach.
Finally.
“Q, baby, please. Please wake up.”
“M’wake,” I mumble, unwilling to move the cloth from my face. I’m afraid that if I pull this away, I’m going to find out the sweet smell is a dream. I don’t think it’s a dream, but I feel a little like my eyes are bugging out of my head with hearts as pupils, so I don’t think I’m the most reliable narrator at the moment.
However, the chocolate cake scent intensifies, except this time it smells bitter, as if it had been left in the oven for too long. I want to snarl, to attack whatever it is that is upsetting my Omega.
She should never smell like that. Never. She’s supposed to be sweet and thick and happy. Decadent and rich.
Not like this.
“Quinton?” comes the soft voice of Dr. Alex Shields.
TheOmegadoctor.
I sit up so fast she startles backwards, and my eyes strain to adjust to the light filling the room.
Matteo is beside me, eyes watery and swollen, but ahappy smile on his face. Jude and Dario are in the doorway, both breathing out of their mouths and staring at the Omega in front of me.
I lunge, grabbing her and pulling her against me, burying my face in her neck. The scent from the cloth fills my senses, making every muscle in my body relax and my cock start to thicken.
My Omega. My Omega.
I knew it. I knew it in my soul from the moment she chose the pillows I liked for her nest.
And look at us now.
But my head hurts. It’s loud, and I’m having trouble holding onto my Omega. She’s screaming and thrashing in my arms.
Why is she doing that? Isn’t she happy? I have her now. We’re safe. We’re together.
“Quinton!” Jude barks, the command of a more dominant Alpha breaks through the fog in my mind, and has me letting go of my Omega.
Alex crab crawls backward into the corner of Matteo’s trailer, panting, tears streaming down her face. A near-constant whine is in her throat, and it feels like ice picks to my brain. Her whole body is vibrating like she’s being held together by tightly wound twine.
That’s my Omega, and she’s distressed. I can make it better.
“Stop!” Jude barks again, rooting me in place. Goddamn his dominance. His Alpha presence is fucking strong as hell, and I’m just trying to get to my Omega, to make her feel better. “You’ve terrified her, Quinton. Back away from the Omega.”
The big Alpha’s hands are clutched in tight fists as he stares at the trembling Omega. He looks like he’s about tocrawl out of his skin. Or maybe rip my head off my shoulders.
Would he throw it closer to her? I’m willing to let him rip my head off it gets me nearer to her scent.
Matteo grabs one of my hands in his. “You’re okay. You’re okay,” he whispers, rubbing my palm on his cheek. “You’re okay. Just breathe, calm down for a moment.”
“I was right,” I tell him, unable to take my eyes off Alex. “I told you she’s ours.”
“You were right,” he repeats, and she whines louder, tears running down her face in a deluge. “But your Alpha instincts triggered her, and she’s not doing well now. You have a responsibility to take care of her, and you’re not doing that right now. You need to calm down and give her space.”
Even though her scent is bitter and cloying, clearly distressed, being exposed to her pheromones has me feeling better already. My head is clearer than normal, and my bones don’t ache like they usually do this late in the evening.
It’s like I’ve smoked three joints, but without the lazy way my brain moves afterward.
Even snotty, with tears running down her face, and heavy, dark circles under her eyes, she’s gorgeous. Despite the hollowness of her cheekbones, a clear sign she’s ill, and rats nest of hair on the top of her head, she’s sexy.
