Page 71 of Two For the Show
I purr, forcing the sound out of my chest to calm him, the only way I know how.
As his Omega.
Maybe that’s the last thing he wants from me. But I can’t ignore my instincts.
He relaxes into my arms, resting his face against the side of my head. I can feel his hot tears, the way his body shakes.
I don’t say anything.
What can I say? There are no words that will make what he went through okay. He witnessed something awful and has been carrying it with him since.
“Do you think he was in Storm?” Dexter asks quietly after several minutes.
“I couldn’t tell you,” I respond, rubbing small circles on his back. “It’s so rare that studies on it are slim.”
“Why is it so rare?”
I try to remember the research papers I read on it, the one time I treated it in the ER. “Because most can come out of it with attention from their scent matched Alphas. It rarely ever gets to the point of danger because Alpha instincts respond to the increased need and take over.”
He adjusts slightly on my lap but doesn’t crawl off. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls himself closer. “I don’t know if my parents were scent matches. I was a kid and never asked. But if they were, Dad would have calmed down, right?”
I hum and stroke his blond hair gently. “Maybe. Heonly had one Alpha. It may not have been enough pheromones to pull him out of it if he was already in Storm when she arrived.”
Part of me aches for his father. The idea that he begged for another Alpha and was denied doesn’t sit right with me.
Not to say what he did was okay. It’s not at all. But a single Alpha, when you have two kids and have to split attention during heat and pre-heat, would leave an Omega on their own for some time.
Which would be painful and traumatizing.
But I don’t say that to Dexter. What good would it do? Nothing will change the outcome of the situation. It won’t make his trauma easier to process.
“Have you told Dario you visited your father in prison?” I ask after an extended pause.
He shakes his head. “No. I wasn’t sure how he’d react. He would’ve at least wanted to come with me, and I felt like it was something I needed to do on my own. I was tired of being so afraid of being around Omegas. As you saw, it didn’t help very much.”
“You’ll never understand it, Dex. If I were you, I’d probably fixate on it to an unhealthy degree, too, unable to let it go. But even if you fully understand Storm, know exactly what causes it and why, it will never change the outcome. It won’t bring your mom back, and it won’t make what your dad did okay.” He whimpers, and I kick up my purr again. “I understand why you are distrustful of Omegas. Because I can’t promise I’ll never go into Storm. It’s not something I can control, obviously. However, I can promise you that if I start to feel off or on edge in a worrisome way, I’ll let you know. I won’t stew in it. I’ll let you and the others, as my scent matches, calm me down.”
“What if it comes on without warning?”
That’s the big fear, right? That I’ll snap without warning and be unable to control myself.
“We can make a plan. Lock me in a trailer until I come out of it. Restrain me. Whatever it takes.”
I mean it, too. I don’t want to hurt any of them. I don’t want to fall victim to a Storm.
I won’t be the cause of more trauma for any of them if I can help it.
“Okay,” he says softly.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. Okay. Let’s make a plan with the others. I think that’ll help me feel better.” He shifts awkwardly and then climbs off my lap. “Thank you, Alex.”
I reach out and take one of his hands in mine. “For what?”
“For understanding. For not judging me for not being able to say it out loud.” He runs his hands through his hair before throwing his head onto the back of my couch. “I knew I had to tell you. That we couldn’t move forward with a relationship without this being out in the open, but I thought, if you knew how broken I am, how damaged and messed up, you wouldn’t want me. You’d see me differently.”
“Dexter, respectfully, that’s stupid.”
