Page 14 of Omega Inked

To face Phoenix.

To see if I can get through this heat without losing myself to lust.

5

Mercer

TherewasnowayI could have stayed on that boat.

Even as I drove away, Olivia's scent enveloped me. I spent more than a few hours just driving around town, trying to lose my ACB tail, and now I'm waiting at an Enclave safehouse, anxious to get some suppressants.

If I don't hurry...

...fuck.

My best friends are probably already balls-deep in that omega.

It takes until morning for my contact to show up--Anders, a beta tattooist recently arrived from the nearby city of Harborlight. A knock on the door cues me to his arrival, and I get up and open it with a sigh.

"Thank fuck you're here," I mutter. "It's about damn time."

Anders is a wiry dude with reddish-blond hair, and he scrubs his hand over it as he reaches into his pocket with the other. "You got the cash?" he asks.

I roll my eyes. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously," Anders retorts. "I'm not risking my neck for free."

I grudgingly hand over the cash, watching as he counts it and nods before producing a little bottle of plain white pills. The suppressants don't look like much--but they've saved more than a few omegas from certain death or getting stuck with a cruel pack.

"Thanks," I mutter, taking the bottle and shoving it into my pocket. "I owe you one."

"Gonna tell me what you need it for?" he asks. "Last I checked, you and the boys hadn't claimed an omega. Something changed?"

I scrutinize him, not sure if I trust this guy yet. He's new to the city...new to Solstice Bay.

A stranger.

"That info's on a need to know basis," I mutter. Anders raises his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Don't gotta get defensive. Just trying to make conversation, you know?"

I nod, relaxing a little. "Sorry, man. I'm just...on edge."

He nods sympathetically. "I get it. Life's tough in Solstice Bay these days. Especially for omegas."

I grimace at the truth in his words. It's not safe for any omega in this city, let alone one that's caught the attention of the ACB. My pack and I have to be careful, but it's hard when the scent of an omega is driving us crazy with need.

"I'll let you get going," Anders says, standing up. "Stay safe out there."

I nod, watching as he leaves the room before turning to head out myself. As I step out into the brisk morning air, my mind races with plans for how to keep my pack from making a move on Olivia before I can get back.

I reach for my phone, scrolling through the messages from my friends. Ever since we first met and started our first tattoo shop together six years ago, me, Liam, and Phoenix have been tight--and this feels like the first thing that might manage to get in the way of our friendship. When we started talking--and realized we each had a bad experience with alphas and the way they treated omegas--we made a vow that we would be different.

But the way Phoenix and Liam looked at Olivia last night...and the way she made me feel?

It's all wrong.

It flies in the face of everything I've promised to do.

There are no messages from Liam or Phoenix, which scares the hell out of me. So I type out a message in our group chat, my thumbs flying over the letters.

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