Page 90 of In Deep
Like before, they push off from the bank and float in the centre of the river, readying themselves, before Ollie gives the signal for them to start.
Bob comes to sit beside me on the bench, her set of keys jangling as she lowers down, and for a moment, we watch them together.
“So you’re responsible for my team’s absence the last few days?”
“I am,” I confess, preparing myself for a berating. “Has it thrown you off schedule?” The college rowing championships are only a few weeks away, and I can sense how important it is to the pack. Not only a pride thing, but an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics if they win.
“Ahhh.” Bob leans back, crossing her arms over her chest, eyes still locked on the boat. “Actually, it gets rid of all that pent-up sexual energy at once and allows them to concentrate on training. Just don’t go and have another heat before race day, OK?”
That’s not exactly something I can guarantee. But now that I’ve had my first heat, I intend to talk to the doctor about pills to control how regularly I have them. Quite frankly, I’d be content to be in heat with my alphas rutting me for the rest of my days, but that is not exactly practical.
“So, are you a permanent addition?” Bob continues. “These boys don’t exactly keep me abreast of their personal lives, as much as I like to pry.”
“They said it depended on you. Although I think that may have been a joke.”
“Me?”
“Apparently I have to pass the Bob test.”
Bob snorts. “Like they ever listen to a word I say.” She turns her head and examines my face. “But actually, for what it’s worth, I think it’s a good thing for a pack of alphas to have an omega. It seems to keep them out of trouble, increases the bond, sees them working better together. That’s been my experience working with boat crews anyway.”
“You’ve had other boat crews who were alpha packs?”
“A handful in my time, yes.”
The boat disappears around the bend in the river and I watch the ripples it leaves behind on the surface of the water.
“But – I’m sorry if this is intrusive – is it right for you, Rosie?” the woman beside me asks. “I’ve worked with young men and women all my life. I’m not bothered what people get up to in their private lives as long as it does no harm, and they give me the best out there on the water. But I know it isn’t always as tolerant out there. Especially for omegas.”
“You mean everyone will think I’m a …”
I don’t want to use the S word. But that doesn’t mean other people won’t. A man, especially an alpha, can have as many women as he likes, and people will pat him on the back and congratulate him. The hypocrisy of it makes me sick.
I smooth my palm down the cotton skirt of my dress.
But, as hard as I’d fought not to think like my mum, hadn’t I thought that way too? Isn’t it one of the reasons I was so reluctant to get mixed up with this pack in the first place? I feared what it would mean for me, of losing control over my life. But I was also scared of harming my reputation. Would anyone take a pack’s omega seriously? It’s hard enough to fight against people’s prejudices as it is. Belonging to a pack would make that uphill struggle all the more challenging.
I’ve kept the thought of these consequences pushed to one side. A reality I haven’t wanted to face. Being an omega already comes with a shitload of assumptions and prejudices. Being an omega to a pack of alphas, rather than one, will mean I’m exposed to curiosity at best, derision at worst.
“Have you told your family?”
I shake my head. I know what my family will think. What they’ll say.
“Oh, love,” Bob says, placing a hand on my shoulder, “I’m not meaning to put a cat among the pigeons. I love these boys. And they are good boys too.”
“They are,” I say, “and I’m not ashamed of what we have.”
Bob squeezes my shoulder. “Ahhh, you’re a little fighter. I can see why they’ve fallen for you.”
The slap of oars on water captures our attention, and the boat swims around the corner.
Bob cups her hands around her mouth.
“Time for a time trial,” she calls. “Let’s see what you got.”
Chapter 28
I’ve watched the boys train twice now, and I know from listening to them talk they spend a lot of their time perfecting their actions and synchronisation, but, so far, I’ve not seen them at their full power and their full speed.
