Page 10 of Vallaverse: Noir
The rest of the boys have gone silent. He takes a big bite and crams it into his cheek to answer. “I can get one.”
I consider him for a moment. He's not quite old enough to get a license, but he's not far from it. He could run errands for me. Maybe pick up my bagels. If he can stay out of trouble long enough. “Talk to me again when you get it. We'll see.”
That wasn't the answer he expected. He expected banter. He expected me to not take him seriously; to not treat him like a person. But he is a person, and he's plenty old enough to understand what that means. For him and for his friends. They're at the age where they have to decide which side of the street they're going to stand on, and he's the leader. He sits up straighter and looks me right in the eye. “I'll do that.”
Never, in a million years, did I think I'd be seriously considering tentatively offering a job to one of the wharf boys. I must be getting soft.
Chapter Six
Beckett
I can't decide how I feel about the past two days. I really can't.
On one hand, these Alphas are still here and don't seem very inclined to leave. They haven't exactly harmed me, but they haven't treated me carefully, either. I like a good, hard fuck as well as anyone else; but I need the gentle ones, too. After the last couple of days, I'm fairly sure I prefer gentleness.
On the other hand, I am very sexually satisfied. I have had several spikes and these two Alphas have thoroughly handled them. My body is sore, but not abused.
The issue is consent. I haven't exactly told them no or to stop, but I have hinted and bluntly asked them to leave. They have obviously refused. They aren't exactly being abusive, but they aren't respecting my space, my time, or me for that matter. I have no interest in continuing this arrangement and I have been vocal about it; it just doesn't seem to matter to them. They have been very vocal about keeping me here until either I go into heat naturally or their presence and treatment of me throws me intoheat. If that happens, one of them will try to mark me. I am absolutely sure of it, and I don't want it.
“Listen guys, it's been fun; but I have a meeting this afternoon,” I lie. “I need to get cleaned up and prepared.”
Kyle regards me with a yawn. “I don't think you need to be going anywhere this close to going into heat. Anything could happen to you, especially if you're out and about all alone.”
Josh smirks. “You can reschedule your meeting for after your heat. It's going to come on anytime now. After that's over, I'll escort you there myself. We'll make a day of it. We can grab dinner, see a movie. Whatever you want.”
“Or I will,” Kyle cuts in dryly.
“Or,” I try to force calm nonchalance into my voice, “I'll just lock the door behind you when you leave and maybe call you when I go into heat. On my own. When it happens.”
“I'm not going anywhere, Omega.” Kyle pins me with a look, daring me to hold his gaze. “I'm staying right here. You need a strong Alpha to take care of you.”
“I'm not going anywhere, either,” Josh snarls.
Anxiety slams into me for several reasons, and the way their nostrils flare at the scent of it only makes it worse. I can't have two Alphas fighting in here. Everything will be destroyed, even me. They aren't part of a pack or interested in forming one, so the two of them fighting for dominance would probably turn into a bloodbath and I would be in the middle of it. More importantly, I do not want to be claimed by either of them. I need more than either of them have to offer. Neither of them are my scent match, they only have scents that I was interested in. Was, being the operative word. I am no longer interested in anything or anyone who smells like someone set a cherry pie on fire.
I keep two kinds of heat suppressants on hand. There is a bottle of fast-acting drops in the fridge and a packet of tablets inmy nightstand drawer. The drops would be easier for me to get to and take, but they have a very obvious scent which would alert these prickly Alphas; and I don't think that would be such a great thing. In order to get to the tablets, I have to go near the bed. I've been trying to stay as far from the bed as I can because one or both of them have been spread all over it since they got here.
Then there's the fact that I don't want to take the suppressants. I'm still holding onto hope that I'll go into heat at the Selection. Maybe if I mention the Selection...
“No offense to either of you,” I say lightly, despite the urgency in my pulse, “but I do have to get to that meeting. And I have a few other responsibilities before the Selection, so...”
Kyle laughs. “The Selection?”
“Yes,” I say. “I'm going this time around. I need to get some things in order and I only have a few days to do it. So, if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you –”
“I've already told you, Omega,” he growls, “I'm not going anywhere. And I don't think you'll need to go to the Selection.” He glares over at Josh, who is sitting at my desk. “Before your heat is over, you'll have an Alpha and you won't need to go to any more Selections.”
Josh tilts his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in a sneer. “Yeah, you'll have an Alpha. Don't worry about that.”
It was a mistake to invite two Alphas. It was a mistake to try something that I've never tried before. It was a mistake to expect Alphas with the temperaments these two have to do anything other than stake their claim on an Omega nearing heat. I'll spend the rest of my life berating myself about it, I'm sure. My only saving grace is the safeguards I put into place when I registered with the heat service.
Omegas oftentimes call for the service in the throws of their need and they can ask for more than they can handle; which is definitely the situation I've put myself into. The heat servicetakes that into consideration and gives you the option to have someone check in on you after a certain amount of time. When I checked the little box and put in the number of days, I never thought I'd be dumb enough to have to use them. Here I am, though, sitting in my stupidity and glad I put four days instead of six. If I don't message the service operator by midnight on the fourth day, they will send a team of enforcers and at least one official here to assess the situation. They will have to speak to me directly and put eyes on me, regardless of my state of heat, or dress. If I am anything other than deliriously and emphatically consenting, they will remove whatever Alpha is present and take me immediately to the infirmary. I just need to make it two more days without Kyle and Josh fighting and possibly killing each other.
Or me.
“Do you go to all the Selections?” Josh asks, seemingly at ease regardless of the tension between the three of us.
I shake my head. “Not all of them, but I've been to more than I've missed.”
