7. Grace
Chapter 7
Grace
The men get me home, Easton and Hendrix in the back with me, letting me bury my face in their necks and talking me through breathing deep and even. I feel like I’m in the middle of a meditation tape, honestly, but it is soothing. The heat of them, the confidence and calm in their voices, helps me to keep from just sobbing the whole time.
I can’t believe I suddenly presented like that in front of all those strangers. Not just strangers. People I grew up with. I just hope nobody there is from my town and recognized me. I really hope I didn’t perfume. That’d be so embarrassing I’d have to jump off a cliff.
Jesse calls Aiden on our way over while Cade drives, so when we get to my parents’ place, Mom and Dad are already outside waiting for me. Mom pulls me into her arms with a deep hug while Dad solemnly shakes the hands of the men and thanks them for looking out for me.
You’d think I’d been found along the side of the highway or something, but I understand Dad’s relief. I could’ve presented at any time, in any kind of situation. It might’ve ended really badly for me.
I’m so exhausted, I let Mom baby me and then get me into bed, promising me we can deal with the ORD in the morning and I need rest more than anything else. It’s nice to feel like a kid again, to be taken care of by my mom and reassured, babied a little.
But I can’t really sleep. I toss and I turn, my body too hot and too small. I finally have to take some pills, and I wake up in the morning with a knot in my stomach.
I feel strange and unsettled. Like my body isn’t mine. I still vaguely want to peel my skin off, like this isn’t right. Like it’s a cocoon and I’m a butterfly that needs to claw her way out.
Gram is at the table eating breakfast when I get downstairs. I can smell bacon and eggs frying, and I assume Dad’s in the kitchen.
“Oh, honey.” Gram spies me and immediately opens her arms.
I step into them and hug her tightly. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper. “I’m going to miss your birthday party.”
“It’s not like you could’ve planned this, dear.” She pulls back to pat my cheek. “These things happen. I’m not going anywhere, you know. We can still spend time together once this is all settled.”
The knot in my stomach grows and twists. Once this is all settled. Once I’m mated with someone, they mean. And who knows how long that will take. The next time I get to come home, it’ll be with a stranger or a whole pack of strangers at my side, and my life will be completely different.
I cling a little tighter, and my grandmother smiles softly up at me as she cups my cheek. “It’ll be all right, sweetheart.”
I blink tears away. “I hope so,” I admit in a whisper.
Dad emerges from the kitchen with a plate of food. “Breakfast, baby girl.”
He’s made the eggs and bacon into the shape of a smiley face. Oh, god, they’re really busting out all the affection. This is real. This is happening.
As I’m eating quietly, I hear the front door open. I can pick up the sound of low, rough voices, and I get the whiff of familiar scents that make my stomach go tight.
The four Alphas. I know it. Jesse, Cade, Hendrix, and Easton.
I hate that I know their smells so well, because it just affirms for me all over again that I’m really an Omega. Which is unfair. It’s not their fault they’re Alphas or that they smell so good.
I take my time eating under my grandmother’s watchful eye. I know that I’m only delaying the inevitable, but I can’t help myself. Maybe if I eat slowly, I’ll find a way to make this all go away.
Finally, I can’t avoid it anymore. I get up, clear my plate, and follow my father and grandmother into the living room.
Mom’s already seated, pouring coffee for the four Alphas and Aiden. Nobody looks relaxed, although thankfully nobody looks angry, either. I’m not sure why I’d expect anyone to be upset with me, I just feel so damn on edge it’s like I’m a prey animal, a deer sensing wolves in the woods.
“Oh, honey.” Mom comes over immediately, fussing with my hair. “Let me get you some coffee. Or do you want something else? Hot chocolate maybe? With marshmallows? I think we might…”
“Mom,” Aiden says, his voice gentle but firm. “Let her breathe.”
I sit down. “Just coffee’s okay, thanks, Mom.”
I don’t want her to feel bad for caring about me. But yeah, her fussing only makes it that much more obvious how serious this all is. I almost wish everyone would ignore me.
Especially the four Alphas staring at me from across the room.
Cade stands over by the window, like he’s keeping watch for bandits. Easton is on the couch with Aiden. Hendrix sits on the arm of the chair, debonair as always. Jesse’s pacing slowly over by the fireplace.
He probably can’t wait to get out of here and away from me. No doubt he’s cursing his chivalry right about now. He was just trying to be generous and let his pack mates take me out for a bit and instead he’s saddled with helping get an Omega to the local ORD.
Their scents are the strongest in the room. Stronger than those of my family. I could recognize my family’s scents while deaf and blind, but the other side of that seems to be I’m so used to them that I don’t really register them anymore.
The Alphas, though… not even Aiden’s scent, a virile Alpha of the same age, can even begin to compete with these four. It’s like their scents are an invisible cloud surrounding me. What’s worse is that I’m not even angry about it. I mean, I am, but my body doesn’t agree. My body wants them. It’s a low-grade heat in the pit of my stomach, and I know it could turn into a wildfire if I’m not careful, burning me up alive.
You’re being ridiculous. A wildfire? Yeah, right. It’s just the hormones, nothing more. My Omega hormones are going haywire after all these extra years dormant. Plain and simple.
Still, I can’t escape their scents. I wish I could ask them to leave the room, but if I did, I’d have to explain why I was asking, and I’d just make everything more awkward—for everyone else and especially myself.
The fact that everyone would probably be so understanding only makes it worse.
God, I hate this. I liked being a Beta. I wasn’t at the whim of my body and biology. I was free to be whoever I wanted, do whatever I wanted, free from the societal constraints that are placed on Alphas and Omegas. I didn’t need to worry about finding a pack or an Alpha to mate with, or signing up with the ORD and going through the whole audition and mating process.
I had so many plans. William breaking up with me sucked, for sure. It hurt me a lot. But it didn’t wreck my entire life. It didn’t stop me from having my job or pursuing my career.
This does.
I have no idea if I’ll ever be able to achieve my dreams now. And that makes me tear up into my coffee.
There’s a polite knock at the door. Everyone jumps.
Aiden and Dad look at each other. Cade glares through the window.
Jesse stops pacing. “I’ll get it.”
Aiden and Dad both looked relieved. They don’t seem to want to leave me.
Jesse goes into the foyer, and there’s the door and quiet voices, then he returns with two people dressed in ORD uniforms, very obviously the officers we called.
“Grace?” the first officer says, zeroing in on me immediately. It can’t be hard to tell who the Omega is, Aiden smells like Alpha all over and my mom and grandmother are both far too old.
I finish my coffee. “Yes. That’s me.”
The officer smiles. They’re both women, and this one has a long braid and a kind face. The other looks a little more stern, tall and blonde with broad shoulders, but her gaze keeps flicking to the Alphas so I think she’s more here to protect me if anyone tries anything. You do sometimes hear stories—abusive people who try to mate with an Omega before she can be properly presented, things like that—so it doesn’t surprise me if this woman’s ready to throw hands.
“We’re glad we could come and get you. We’re sorry to hear you had a rough night of it.”
“We weren’t trying to hide anything,” I blurt out quickly. “It was just super late—”
“You’re not in trouble,” the officer laughs a little. “You’re all fine. We understand this is a disruptive time in people’s lives especially when you present later.” She smiles at everyone else. “I know this is a difficult time, and we do have information on our site and brochures to help you while she’s away from you.”
Mom takes the brochures with a shaking hand. That makes me weirdly feel a bit better—I don’t want my parents to get even more upset, and if she sees me crying, that’s definitely what will happen. I have to be strong for my family.
I put down my coffee. “Do you know how long all this will be?”
“It depends,” the office admits. “We’ll take you to where you’d like to be presented, which will of course be you and others, so there will be some scheduling. And then we’ll have to see if an Alpha or Alpha pack chooses you and you also choose them. The Omega always gets a final say in whether you want to do a trial period with the Alphas.”
The trial period can be weeks or months if I’m remembering correctly. At the very least I’ll be out of work for a bit.
“We were told during the call that you’re actually based in New York City,” the official goes on. “But this is your hometown. We’re happy to arrange for you to fly to New York and do your presentation there if you prefer. You could theoretically go to work while living with whatever Alpha or Alpha pack with whom you choose to carry out a trial period.”
I inhale slowly, then exhale slowly.
It’s tempting to choose to go to New York for my presentation, but then I’ll be far away from my family. I have friends in the city, both from work and just from around my apartment, but some of them are intertwined with William and I don’t want to deal with that mess. I don’t know how supportive they’ll be about this whole Omega thing.
On the other hand, I know my family will be there for me, waiting, even if I have to go to the ORD office and deal with the center.
Additionally, I don’t want to deal with any Alphas I don’t know. Yes, I know I might find my random true love—or true loves—at the presentation. It’s what all Omegas hope for. But I’m not going to take that bet. I don’t think I’m going to walk down the aisle, lock eyes with a man or group of men, and suddenly feel an electric connection.
I’d much rather take my fate into my own hands.
“Here,” I say out loud.
I can feel everyone staring at me in shock. The ORD officers nod. They have no idea why it’s so surprising I’d say that. “Very well. We’ll take you to the ORD center in Colorado Falls, we’ll conduct the tests and so on, and you’ll stay there until the presentation time.” The officer with the braid smiles. “I’m sure you’ll find it very comfortable.”
Uh huh. Sure I will. I nod along.
“We’ll give you a moment with your family,” the tall blonde officer says. She gives everyone a glare as if warning them they shouldn’t let me slip out the back door, then she and the other officer leave and stand out on the porch.
I hug my parents first, assuring them I’ll call, and that I’ll be okay. I hug Gram and apologize again for not being able to make her birthday. I hug Aiden last.
“Please look after them,” I whisper.
“You know I will. Look after yourself.” He hugs me tighter. “Don’t go for any idiot Alpha that wants you, okay? Make sure he’s a good one.”
“I promise.”
Then I take a deep breath, and I approach the four Alphas. “Thank you for looking out for me last night, I really appreciate it. Friends?”
I hold my arms out for a hug. Hendrix chuckles and goes for it.
The moment I have my arms around his neck, his scent overwhelms me, but I try to ignore it. No matter how good he smells. I have to remember it’s just hormones, and I have a mission.
“Bid for me,” I whisper. “At the presentation. Pretend to court me and get me out of there!”
I pull back, then hug Easton, who has a kind smile on his face. I whisper the same thing to him. “Come to the presentation and pretend to court me, please .”
I can feel him swallow. “It doesn’t work that way,” he whispers. “We can’t.”
“I just need time to figure this out.” I can feel tears prick my eyes. “Easton please. I have to just—figure out how to be an Omega and get back to my regular life in New York. Please.”
I pull back and wipe at my eyes. To my surprise, Cade hugs me tightly. “You’ll be okay,” he whispers.
“I’ll be better if you can get the rest of your pack to pretend to court me,” I whisper back fiercely. “Just until I can figure a way out of this.”
I can see the shock on his face as I pull back. I don’t bother hugging Jesse, or asking for his help. I asked him for help once, and now he hates me. I’m not taking that risk again right now when I’m so emotional.
I just have to hope that the other three will choose to listen to me, and do as I ask. I just need their help, and unfortunately, there aren’t any other Alphas around I can trust. Running away and being a fugitive will get me nothing. Not when I want to return to my old life.
Which means that, unfortunately, I need these four. If they’ll only choose to help.
The ORD officer with the blonde hair pokes her head in the front door. “All right, ma’am, time to go.”
I glance back at the four Alphas. Jesse looks suspicious. Easton looks guilty and torn. Hendrix and Cade look frozen, in shock.
I wave to my family, blow my grandmother a kiss, and force myself to walk out the front door.