Omega Lost

12. Good Talk

Chapter twelve

Good Talk

O ver the next few days, we built a routine. I woke early and came downstairs to help Miriam with breakfast, then the guys came down and we all ate together. Miriam finally taught me to use the intimidating coffee machine and I started trying all sorts of coffee ideas.

"You're turning into quite the barista," Micah commented one morning when I handed him a pumpkin spice latte I'd just mastered.

"Should have been a barista in another life," I said lightly.

After breakfast, most of the alphas would leave the house. They usually left one with me, but after the first day of shopping, they tended to work from home. That meant I was on my own for the day.

I spent some of my time baking, which Miriam didn't seem to mind at all. I made sure to have fresh bread, biscuits, or cookies waiting when the men returned home from work.

Baking wasn't enough to keep me busy, so I wandered the house and watched television. It was boring. I missed writing but I didn't dare ask the pack for anything else. They'd already spoiled me with the bedding and pillows.

With the Orion Pack, I'd always worn dresses, which they liked. In fact, it was usually Jack who had chosen my outfits when we went shopping. Here, I defaulted to jeans and T-shirts. I had picked out a couple of dresses during our shopping spree, but they hung, unused, in my closet. It was freeing to wear what I wanted for the first time in years.

I was still very uneasy around the men. They hadn't done anything to me or even requested sex, but I knew it was only a matter of time. After all, as an omega, that was my main duty here.

I'd been with the pack for just over a week when Angel called a pack meeting. It was Saturday, so everyone was home. I anxiously joined them in the living room, sitting on an armchair and tucking my feet under me.

"We need to discuss how everyone is doing here," Angel said easily. "How are we feeling now that Melody is settling in?"

"I'm enjoying having someone without an alpha personality to talk to," Ali said, with a grin in my direction. He usually sought me out once he got home from work and we chatted or played a card game together. He was the easiest to be around.

"The baked goods are great," Micah said, holding up a cookie he'd snagged from the kitchen. "Definitely a bonus."

They each stated what they felt about having me around, mostly surface-level stuff like having me bake or a female scent in the house. When it was Zeke's turn, he frowned.

"I like the baking and all that shit, but let's face it, Miriam could be doing that," he started.

My stomach clenched. He was going to make a bid to get rid of me.

"My issue with our little omega here is that she's not acting like an omega." His eyes caught mine and darkened.

I looked away.

"What are you getting at, Zeke?" Angel asked patiently.

"Everything we learned about omegas was that they need touch and care and soft shit, being fed, all that. Melody is none of those things." He looked at me with his head cocked. "Are you defective?"

"What?" I couldn't help the gasp that escaped me. "No!"

"I have noticed you shy away from us," Tiago pointed out. "You don't like us, do you?"

"It's not that," I told him, choosing my words carefully. "I like it here and you guys are good."

"But?" Zeke pressed, arms folded over his muscled chest.

"But I'm still scared," I confessed, curling up tighter. "I don't know what to expect from you guys yet."

"What do you need to know to make you comfortable?" Angel asked in his rumbly voice.

"When are you going to want sex?" I blurted out. "That's why I'm here, right? I know, there are other parts to being an omega, but a huge part is satisfying the pack's carnal needs and none of you have wanted that from me yet."

"Do you want sex?" Ali asked, eyebrows raised.

"That's not . . . it doesn't matter what I want," I pointed out. "It's my duty to please you all."

Everyone fell silent at that.

"She's not wrong," Zeke said finally. "But I don't think any of us want to fuck you because you don't come across as being willing."

"He's right, you don't act comfortable here," Max agreed.

They were all looking at me and I tipped my head down so my hair covered my face and hid me from their stares. The room was full of bitter versions of their scents, indicating they were unhappy.

"It takes time to be comfortable in a new place."

"What do you need to make it easier to settle in?" Angel spoke again, sounding infinitely patient. "What's missing here?"

"I don't know."

"You wander a lot," Ali said thoughtfully. "Do you need something to do?"

I looked up at him. "Maybe. I'm definitely bored. I help Miriam, but she's already got a routine."

"What did you do for your old pack?" Zeke demanded.

"I cooked, cleaned, normal omega stuff."

"What about for yourself?" Tiago wanted to know.

Ducking my head again, I shrugged. "It's stupid."

"Just tell us!" Zeke snapped. "You're doing no one any good, wandering like a lost soul and getting on our nerves."

I was getting on their nerves. I hunched my shoulders and a whine escaped from my chest. The last thing I wanted was to upset them.

"Stop it, Zeke, you're upsetting her," Ali spoke up.

"Good. She needs to stop pussy-footing around us and start telling us what she needs. This whole thing is idiotic," Zeke got to his feet. "Why the hell did we bring in an omega if she's this broken?"

He was about to storm out of the room and as he walked past me, I instinctively reached out and laid a hand on his arm. A spark flew between us and he froze, staring down at me.

"I like to write," I told him. "They didn't know about it, but I wrote on an old tablet that was supposed to be for taking notes and making grocery lists."

"Writing? You can do that here," Angel said, sounding relieved.

"What else?" Zeke asked, his eyes sharp.

"That's all I ever did. That and gardening."

"Let me put it this way, what do you want to do?" he asked, his voice harsh. "And none of this wishy-washy shit, tell me the first three things that come to mind."

"Write, do art, and run," I told him.

"Finally, some straight answers." He dropped into a crouch so he could look me in the eye. "This is what being in a pack means, by the way. None of this hiding or trying to be what you think we want you to be. We're not sending you back to the heat dens, so get that out of your head."

He stood up and disappeared upstairs. The others got up and started going off to do their own things and I was left feeling drained.

Angel walked over and sat in the armchair next to me. "Thank you for opening up about what you want. Micah and Tiago told me how you feel displaced here, but I want you to know that you can take anything you like with you if you ever leave. I'm going to get you a laptop and you'll have access to order online. I want to see at least one order every week, of anything you want. Understood?"

I frowned at him. "Why?"

"Because we need to provide for you, but obviously we're not doing a good job of that. So, if you're uncomfortable shopping with us, I want you shopping online."

"Okay, but I really don't need that much."

"I don't care, you're going to get it anyway." He leaned in and kissed my forehead, startling me. "We are looking forward to sex with you, but we certainly aren't going to push you for it. Your presence here has much more meaning than just a quick roll in the hay."

He left too and I was alone in the massive living room. Staring out the window, I took in the natural beauty outside for a while before I returning to my room.