Page 22 of Mating the Omega
My cheeks started to burn and I banged my head on the table a couple of times, careful not to make any noise, because I didn’t need to be explaining that too. “No, there’s nothing wrong with the house. It’s, um, it’s spring, you know?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Um, yeah. See, with me, spring and fall are kind of the same. I have the same problems at both times of the year.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand—do you have allergies? We have antihistamines available at the pharmacy. Do you need an advance on your next paycheck?”
Shit. I was going to have to spell it out. “No, that’s okay. I’m in heat. I have them twice a year. This is the spring one.”
“Oh.” The word reeked of titillated shock and suppressed giggles. Heats—especially omega heats, which were way harder to miss than regular female shifter heats—were still in the region of pre-teen whispering and sleepover rumors; they weren’t to be talked about in polite company.
But there, it was out. And now she could just deal with it.
“If he wants to come here, we can talk out the window.”
“I’ll check with him and let you know.” She hung up, and now I was free to get back to my guilt-inducing fantasies about Mac.
I think it had been coming for a while, but Saturday in the garden had put the cap on it. Before Mac, I always found big guys intimidating—well, they liked to intimidate me, and I hated it, so I always avoided them. Now though… Mac made me feel safe.
And I was mating his best friend. Who was coming over here, maybe, today, to talk about…what? Probably when the mating should happen. Or maybe he’d decided to send me back to Montana Border after all. Sure as hell, he hadn’t shown any interest in me. I hadn’t worried too much about it before—it was a marriage of convenience and we’d get to know each other a little more after the mating. All I was concerned about right now was picking up signals to tell me what I could do to be a good mate to him. But the closer the possibility came, the more depressed it made me.
Damn you, Mac. Why couldn’t you have been an asshole?
My phone rang again. “He’s cleared his morning, so he’ll come to you,” the Alpha’s secretary said.
“Great. Thank you.” Not great. I sighed, and went looking for my cigarettes.
A few minutes later, I heard a gentle tapping on the living room window. I lit up a cigarette, and pointed at the window around back. At least there, he could sit in a chair and I could flick my cigarette ash in the kitchen sink.
The window was small and kind of broken. It would only open about an inch, but that was a good thing. It would keep his scent mostly outside, and mine mostly in. Pheromones were a bitch when you weren’t trying to get laid. It might not hurt if he got a small whiff, anyway, but only a small one. That way, I’d be proved right about my dual seasons, and he might believe me about other things.
The Alpha came around the corner, picked up a rickety lawn chair and put it down by the window. “I didn’t know you smoked.”
“I don’t, sir. Abel. This helps with the scent.”
“Not enough,” he said, but his grin said he had it under control.
I moved farther from the window. “That better?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Come back here. I hate having conversations with the end of someone’s nose.”
It probably didn’t matter. We were supposed to be mated; if it just happened, then at least it would be over with and we could get on with our lives. Except that I was still reluctant to leave my limbo and give up on my daydreams. I shuffled my ass back over to the window. “I don’t want to tease.” I paused. “Maybe we should just do this and get it over with.”
He shot me a look I couldn’t decipher. “Are you inviting me in to sleep with you?”
“Yes. Isn’t that what you’re here to talk about?”
“No.” He looked off into the distance for a moment as if collecting his thoughts, and his gaze when it returned to me was both sharp and warm. “I have a couple of things to talk to you about. If you still want to talk about that after, we can, but hear me out first?”
Why was he asking? He was the Alpha—all he had to do was command. This place was really fucking with my head. “Of course, whatever you want.”
An odd look crossed his face. “First of all, I’ve had word from your pack. They want to send a couple of chaperons to make sure no one takes advantage of you while you’re here.”
My heart froze, then gave a great bounding thump in my chest, so hard it hurt, and I curled around it for a moment, gasping for air.
The Alpha stood and reached for me, the screen in the window the only thing keeping him from having me for good, because as soon as we touched, if he didn’t start anything, I would. “Jason, are you okay? We won’t let them take you, you’re safe here.”
I could barely hear him over the blood rushing through my ears. I closed my eyes and started my meditation, something I hadn’t done since my second day here. The Alpha’s voice faded away under the rush of waves and the feeling of sunshine on my face, sand underneath my feet. I’d never been to a beach in my life, probably never would be, but I’d cobbled together enough other experiences to at least be able to fake it in my head. It was my favorite when things were bad, and I didn’t want to come back. But eventually, my heart slowed its frantic attempt to escape without me, and I could once more hear the Alpha calling my name.
