The Heat of Us: An Omegaverse Reverse Harem Standalone (The Bond Dissolution Omegaverse Book 3)

30. Aleks

ALEKS

I told myself I was only going to stay one night.

Then I had three consecutive night duty shifts coming up and Hazel cleared out her tiny office for me.

“It gets pretty dark in here when you shut all the blinds,” she explained once her desk had been moved to the corner of the living room.

When did she get the air mattress? How did it even get up here?

If the faint aroma of whisky in the room wasn’t indication enough, the entire Chronicles of the Sunken Army box set sitting on the floor was unmistakable.

Goddamn Remy.

Like I didn’t owe the guy enough already.

“Hazel, this is…”

Too much.

A huge inconvenience for you.

Not meant for me.

She wound her arms around my middle and I automatically encircled her waist. My nose settled perfectly against the top of her hair, giving me my first true sense of her scent.

A small posy of foraged elderflowers collected in her hand. She pressed it towards me despite my protests and assured me it belonged there.

Oh, I was in so much danger.

“Just shut up and take the room,” Hazel said against my chest. “It’s the smallest and worst one in this place. It literally doesn’t even qualify as a bedroom.”

It wasn’t just her scent, the room, all of it that was throwing me off kilter. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Ben had said.

She’s building her pack, Aleks.

I was still surprised he hadn’t torn out my innards and flung them into the streets when he realised I was staying at Hazel’s. Weren’t packs meant to be made up of alphas? But Ben seemed quite sure of himself and I was happy to go along with it if it meant my insides remained there.

Despite both their assurances, I still felt like an invader in her space. Hazel had really made the apartment her own. 101 Riverside’s interiors were the usual modern, cookie-cutter designs to be expected from an inner-city apartment building. Hazel’s styling consisted of plush rounded furniture fitting for an omega, warm lighting and plants sprinkled throughout. Sprays of green tucked into corners, hanging off bookshelves, stretching along window sills.

At least with classes and work I was out of the apartment most of the time. But when I was there, my mantra became don’t make her uncomfortable and don’t fuck this up.

Once my night duty finished up, I squeezed in a visit to Willowbrook. My grandma was doing well and was herself for most of the time.

She was very proud of the way she had claimed the best chair in the communal space. If she wasn’t sitting in it spending long afternoons knitting, she was driving the staff up the wall insisting food scraps could be repurposed and if they just let her into the kitchen she could show them exactly how.

I tried to focus on those moments instead of when she cried and asked why I wouldn’t take her home.

I wasn’t sure if my father would still pay his share of the monthly fee. I couldn’t really call him and ask. All I could do was wait, save my money and see what happened. What I used to pay him in rent could cover his portion if it came to that.

But it also meant I was stuck at Hazel’s for longer.

Just until I figured my budget out, I lied to myself.

No wonder I’d said yes to whatever concierge shifts I could still manage around my crazy schedule. It felt strange that my commute was essentially catching the elevator down and back up again. A phenomenon not lost on Jesse when he relieved me.

“Where you off to now, Aleks?”

The sing-song tone of his voice was unmistakable. The staff of 101 Riverside gossiped worse than a gaggle of old ladies. Obviously my new tenancy was not lost on any of them.

I gave him my iciest glare.

His cackles were so loud I could still hear it when the elevator doors closed.

The warmth of Hazel’s apartment immediately washed over me as I let myself in.

“Oh my god, you’re here, finally.”

I was being tugged by my sleeve to the couch.

“Here.”

A takeaway bowl of pho was pushed in front of me and the latest episode of Autopsy Investigations began to play.

Hazel beamed. “I didn’t watch it without you even though it came out hours ago. Aren’t you proud of me?”

She wasn’t really looking for a reply, turning to the TV and dumping a load of hoisin sauce into her own bowl.

It was hard to focus on the episode. Great one too, with lots of intrigue thanks to several family members of the deceased hindering the investigation for one reason or another. Every bite I took felt like another grain of sand falling on my side of the scale. Widening the difference, bringing it closer to tipping.

I’d been on borrowed time with my grandma and father in more ways than one. How long did I have here?

The episode finished and Hazel switched off the TV. Her head tilted to one side, her long hair falling over her shoulder as she looked at me curiously.

Here it comes.

What’s wrong?

Why are you so quiet?

“I think you’re working too hard.”

I blinked, completely caught off guard. “I have to make sure I have enough to cover the fees for Willowbrook,” I explained. My brain was too fried to come up with a lie so the truth would have to do.

“It must’ve been hard to make that decision.” Hazel’s palm covered my fingers. “But for whatever it’s worth, I think you did the right thing. For both of you.”

I stared at the back of her hand. Smooth and golden against my pale skin.

“I took care of her for years,” I found myself saying. “I knew the nature of the disease meant it would progress beyond what I was capable of eventually. But it didn’t stop me from feeling like I’d failed somehow.”

A heavy sorrow came over Hazel. The weight of it seemed to crush her.

I didn’t think. I just let my arm slip around her middle and hoisted her into my lap.

Her hand slid across the span of my shoulders. Her cheek against my temple.

“I know what it’s like,” she whispered, fingers playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. “To hope against hope. If only wanting someone to be well was enough to make it so.”

Here she was. I had gotten a tiny glimpse of the fractured omega on my first night here.

I didn’t think I was meant to see her again.

“Hazel.” My troubles seemed inconsequential all of a sudden.

“Sorry, I can’t really talk about it.” Her expression was drawn, words forced out painfully. Her guard had gone up somewhat again. “You still get her as her sometimes. And you know she wants you to keep doing what you’re doing.” Her finger lightly stroked my cheek. “There’s no penance to be paid, Aleks.”

She was trying to soothe me when all I needed was for her to be ok.

“Are you alright?” I asked, my voice coming out thick.

“Don’t worry about me.”

It was all I wanted to do.

“You feel like you’re paying a penance too, don’t you?”

She grew rigid in my arms.

“Why do you think you’re different?”

Hazel squeezed her eyes tight. When she opened it again her walls were back up entirely. “I just am,” she said, sounding detached.

“Ok.”

She looked surprised. “Ok?”

My fingers found the curvature of her spine. A zip, holding all the shards of her inside. “I think you’re wrong though. One day you’ll tell me. And then I’ll know for sure that you’re wrong.”

Hazel didn’t answer but I didn’t need one. I continued to hold her and hoped that maybe, maybe, there was a part of her that needed me here too.