Page 34 of Vallaverse: Noir
I sit under the weight of the situation for a few minutes before I know what to do. She might not like the other Omegas watching her Valla, but I am immune to that. I am able to give him as much attention as we're all comfortable with, and nobody here but us knows that he isn't mine, as well.
“I'm going to do something,” I say, squeezing her hand. “I don't like how you're feeling right now, and I can only imagine how Pierce feels.”
“What are you going to do?” she asks.
“Just go with it.” I glance at Pierce. “Okay?”
He nods, and I stand up and put myself on the couch between them. It has been made clear that our general rule is going to be that Dana stays in the middle. Of the bed. Around the table. Andon this couch. But I've had enough and we can all put up with a temporary shuffle.
“And now,” I murmur, and lace my fingers through each of their hands, resting them on the tops of my thighs for all to see. “There. Everyone can stop staring now, because nobody wants to deal with a jealous, territorial Omega or the resulting, what did you call it? Incident from a Valla defending his Omega's right to be jealous and territorial.”
Pierce snorts a laugh, gaining a different type of stare from the people within ear shot, and Dana leans into my body. This feels alright. A little awkward because Pierce isn't mine, but not bad. And people are definitely averting their eyes now.
My phone dings and I let go of Pierce's hand to dig it out of my pocket. “She's on her way down.”
Two minutes later, Tara comes smiling toward us. “Hey!” she calls. “Look at you!”
I return her smile and wait until she's closer to say anything.
She sits down in the chair across from us and looks from me to Dana then Pierce. “Good for you. What's up?”
“Thanks,” I laugh. “Your friend, the one who came with you to meet with me?”
“Yeah? What about her?”
“Do you know where she is?” I ask. “We need to talk to her.”
“Oh! Well, that might be a little difficult. She's not here anymore.”
Dana leans forward. “Do you know where she is?”
Tara nods. “The mayor's car picked her up. That's where she should be.”
“The mayor?” Pierce repeats.
Tara blushes and nods again. “A few guys helped her move her stuff out and she left in his car.”
“Okay. Thanks, Tara. Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to support you?” I ask, my mentor script taking over.
She smiles at me. “Just keep living the dream.”
The walk back to the admin building is less of a stroll and more of a march. I'm still leading the way, but I kept Dana's and Pierce's hands in mine. I can feel Dana's mind running hard and I don't want unnecessary attention to interrupt her process. Pierce has remained silent, as well. We're moving quickly through the grounds, and everything is going smoothly until I catch a whiff of charred cherries that brings me to an abrupt halt. I can't take another step. I can barely breathe. All I can do is dart my eyes around the area as cold sweat creeps down my back.
“What's wrong?” Dana asks, rushing to put herself right in front of me. “What is it?”
I can't answer.
It's embarrassing.
It wasn't even that bad.
I invited them. I asked them to come.
“He's fawning,” Pierce growls, scanning the building, the windows, every tree and blade of grass around us.
“What happened?” Dana insists. She steps into me and pulls my head down to rest on her shoulder.
I press my nose into her skin, dragging in her scent in deep breaths to cancel out the scent of the Alphas from the heat service.
