Page 9 of One for the Money
“But doyou mind if I add a little to it?”
Her voice is like honey. It is syrupy sweet and thick, making me feel like I’m a fly about to be trapped.
Her black hair is pulled back into a high ponytail, and she has thick makeup that most people would think is her natural face. I know better. I can spot stage makeup, and for some reason, she’s covered in it.
She’s got soft curves, with creamy skin and dark eyes. Her jeans hug her thighs but widen at her knees, brushing the ground and barely giving me a glimpse of her black canvas sneakers.
She’s wearing a white coat over a form-fitting forest green shirt and has a stethoscope around her neck like an accessory.
When Jude doesn’t move to stop her, she steps closer to us. I shrink back reflexively, even though she’s nowhere near me.
“I’m Dr. Alex Shields. You’re welcome to call me Dr. Alex. I understand that my employment here may come as a surprise, and I can see that it will be a challenging adjustmentfor you all, given the designation dynamics that will be nearly impossible to avoid. I would appreciate it if you would do your best to think of me as a doctor, not as an Omega. Please trust that I want to be here. I want to help you all and am happy to do it. I will be implementing regular clinic hours, so you won’t need an appointment to see me. Just show up, and we’ll see what’s up!”
She chuckles softly to herself, and a couple of the crew members release amused puffs of air. Everyone here is at risk of falling for the Omega’s charms. It’s in their DNA to want to please her, to want to win her over. But I’ll be damned if become one of them.
“Additionally, I’ll ensure everyone has my phone number to text for emergencies. As with my predecessor, the clinic is located in my trailer, which requires me to establish a rule that no one is allowed past the seating area. Unfortunately, I will not be able to allow anyone to use the bathroom or stretch out and rest on my bed.”
For the first time, she looks a little nervous. She tries to push her hair behind her ear, like she’s forgotten she has bangs, before taking a deep breath and continuing in a rush.
“An Omega needs a nest, and since part of my trailer is the clinic, I do not have room for a dedicated nesting space. Because of this, I have had to set up my nest in my bedroom, which I have expanded into the bathroom to make a small suite. It’s not ideal, but I knew what I was getting into when I accepted this position. An unknown and uninvited person in my nest is detrimental to my physical and emotional well-being, so I must impress upon you all the importance of no one, not even Betas, leaving the clinic area of my trailer.”
This shit right here is one of many reasons we shouldn’t have an Omega as part of our group. Forgettingmy personal issues with them, she’s going to have all of us walking around on eggshells the entire time she’s here.
“That feels reasonable,” Quinton says, his strange gray eyes locked on her. “None of the rest of us have everyone barging into our space.”
Her smile is saccharine sweet when she nods at Quinton. “Thank you, I appreciate your understanding. I am very excited to work with you all. If you have any regular medication I need to be aware of to write prescriptions for, please come see me. Dr. Tran left your files, but I prefer to hear it direct from the horse’s mouth, as it were.” She nods at Jude, whose jaw is set so tightly that he looks like he’s going to crack a tooth, and then turns to leave. Before she ducks out of the flap, she comes up short and spins around. “Oh. And please do not touch me to get my attention. Do not try to sneak up on me. I prefer not to be touched at all unless I initiate it, if it can be avoided.”
And then she leaves, leaving all of us in a stunned silence.
“Doesn’t want to be touched?” my brother, Dario, says under his breath. “That sucks, because there are so many parts of her I would love to…”
“You’re not going to go near her,” I snap. “We don’t get involved with Omegas.”
He huffs and rolls his eyes at me. “You don’t. But I can. Not all Omegas are like Dad, Dex.”
“It’s not worth the risk. It’s never worth the risk.”
Our Omega father killed our mother in front of us while in an Omega Storm when we were seven years old.
That kind of trauma stays with you. I’ve not been able to be alone with an Omega without the memories plaguing me since. We were shipped off to live with some extended Beta family members, and once we turned eighteen, we joined up with Cirque de Mordu. That was ten years ago.
Cirque de Mordu isn’t just our job. It’s the only family we’ve got.
It was my safe place.
And now there is an Omega here.
“What happens when she goes into heat, huh?” I ask Dario. “It’s going to be a fucking feeding frenzy.”
He wrinkles his nose. “I’m sure she has plans in place for that. She’s gotta be on suppressants, because I saw her outside and couldn’t get her scent.”
“You knew before now and didn’t tell me.” My chest aches with betrayal. “You let this blindside me.”
The tent has cleared out except for Quinton and Matteo, who aren’t paying us any attention as they crouch over the latter’s notebook. Still, Dario lowers his voice.
“I did not blindside you. I knew ten minutes before you did, and didn’t see the benefit of telling you early. Your personal hangups around Omegas have nothing to do with Jude hiring one as our doctor, okay?” He grabs my face in his hands, pressing our foreheads together. “Just because she is an Omega, doesn’t mean you’re unsafe. You never even had to see Dr. Tran once, but if you need to go, you know I’ll be right by your side. Now breathe with me, you’re getting panicked.”
Of course, my brother knows my body better than I do. I didn’t even realize I was starting to lose control.
