Chapter 28 #2
My face heats when he blatantly adjusts himself and gives me a wink. “Be right back. Try not to get into too much trouble while I’m gone, gorgeous.”
It takes me at least a minute to cool down enough to focus on the selection of products in this new section.
All manner of skincare, lotions, oils, and bath products in pretty packaging line the shelves.
It’s harder to tell what I might like by just looking, but fortunately there are testers for many of the products.
I avoid any of the products with heavy fragrances, worried that they’ll give me a migraine if I smell too many in a row, and look at the body oils instead.
There’s one labeled “Magic Heat” which looks intriguing. I frown as I read the label to determine what it does.Perfect for anyone wanting to heat up their bedroom and get an omega experience as good as the real thing.
What does that even mean?
“Camille?”
A hesitant, reedy voice from behind me startles me out of my pondering.
A familiar voice.
I whip around to see the last person I’d expect to find here—my sister.
“M-Megan! Oh my god, what are you doing here?” I fumble to place the Magic Heat bottle back on the shelf.
Her nose scrunches and she pushes a lock of her wavy red hair, much longer than the last time I saw her, behind her ear. “We’re shopping.”
My stomach sinks like I swallowed a bunch of rocks. “We?” I ask, praying she doesn’t mean who I think she does.
“Get an extra bottle and more of those slick suppositories.” The unpleasant almost-bark sends a shiver down my spine.
I have the absurd urge to shove my cart at Megan and flee, but hold my ground as her odious husband Bryce rounds into the aisle.
He gives me a double-take, clearly as shocked to see me here as I am to see them.
“Camille.” The haughty, yet lecherous way his eyes scrape up and down my body makes me want to gag, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me upset. “What a pleasant surprise.”
Megan nods, mute now that her husband is here. Like always.
Familiar anger and frustration well inside of me. I want to beg my sister to come with me. If there weren’t a million security cameras in the store, I might say fuck it and clock Bryce over the head with one of the heavy brass lamps in my cart. Anything to get Megan away from him.
But knowing how well the bastard has brainwashed her, she’d run back to him the second she could.
Bryce looks at my pair of carts, eyes narrowing. “What’s all this?”
My heart rises in my throat. There’s no way I’m telling him I’m here because I’m an omega. “I’m shopping with a friend.” I try to keep my tone even, which isn’t too difficult since that’s not a lie.
His beady eyes land on the bottles behind me and a snide look of understanding crosses his face. He lets out a chuckle. “You’re such a hypocrite. Trying to make your sister feel terrible for embracing the omega lifestyle and being a good wife to her alpha when you’re doing the same.”
The purpose of the Magic Heat and the items he rattled off click into place. I scowl at him. “That’s not what I’m doing. And she’s only ‘embracing’ it because you force her to.”
I beg my sister to stand up for herself with my eyes, knowing from past experiences she won’t. Megan’s cheeks flush and her jaw tenses, but she stays silent.
Bryce scoffs. “Meg chose this.” He clamps a heavy hand on her shoulder and she winces slightly at the rough way he grabs her. “Didn’t you honey?”
The urge to scream at him that she hates being called Meg, and he’s a disgusting alphahole who doesn’t deserve her, rises. But as I take a step forward, Jackson calls out from behind me.
“I’ve returned bearing treats, my lady! I was thinking, maybe we can make a mini-nest in one of the carts and I can push you around while you snack. Only the finest for my precious omega.”
Jackson’s goofy smile falters when I turn and look at him, eyes wide. “Whoa, hey, is everything okay?” He rushes to my side and gives me a once over, then looks up and startles a bit like he hadn’t noticed the people standing nearby.
Bryce’s mouth curves down in distaste. “Really, Camille? You’re doing this for a beta? If you want to play pretend, at least do it with an alpha.” It’s clear from his tone that he means him.
God, I can’t decide if I want to strangle him or vomit.
“Uh, excuse me?” Jackson steps between me and Bryce, his chest puffing up. He’s bigger than Megan’s husband, who, despite all his alpha posturing, looks nervous. “Who the hell are you?”
I place a hand on Jackson’s arm. “It’s not important. Let’s just go.”
Bryce glances at me, then Jackson. “You should at least do a better job training her. I know you’re both betas, but if you’re going to pretend, she should learn her place.”
Jackson’s brow furrows. “What the fuck is he talking about?” He looks back at Bryce, bristling with anger.
“No one is playing pretend. Camille’s an omega.
And if you knew anything at all about caring for an omega, you’d understand that her place is wherever the fuck she wants to be, while her pack worships her. ”
Megan makes a choked sound. I reflexively shrink in on myself and her eyes go wide. “Oh my god, you’re an omega?” she whispers incredulously.
Her husband’s eyes shoot down to her, then toward me.
“Come here, Camille.” The harsh, deep words don’t sound like a normal command.
There’s power and danger threaded in every syllable, making my omega scramble to obey before something bad happens to me.
Before I can even process what I’m doing, I take two steps toward Bryce before Jackson grabs my arm and pulls me back against his chest.
Dread and horror swell within me. Bryce used an alpha bark on me, and it worked. How is that even fucking possible? I thought barking like that was something made up by the media to make the dynamic between alphas and omegas seem more sensational.
Oh god. Oh god. I truly have no control over myself now that I’m an omega. I’m subject to the whims of disgusting alphas whenever they decide they want me to fall in line. How can anyone live like this? How do omegas leave the house, knowing that someone could force them to…
Terrified, rage-filled tears well in my eyes as I fight to stay calm, using Jackson’s bolstering presence against my back to keep myself from collapsing.
Bryce lets out a dark laugh when he sees my horrified face. “Well, fuck me. Looks like I picked the wrong sister.”
Embarrassed color floods Megan’s cheeks, and Jackson turns to me, his brows furrowed in confusion and the fire in his eyes asking if I want him to deal with this asshole.
I shake my head at him. “I’ll explain later. Let’s go. I can’t… I don’t…” A sob threatens to choke me as I blink up at him through blurry eyes, panic, and the need to flee from this alpha overwhelming me.
Jackson’s murderous energy immediately softens. He doesn’t even look back at Megan and her husband as he sets our drinks down in the cart and turns it around, keeping his body between me and Bryce the whole time. “Okay, gorgeous. I’ve got you. We’ll go.”
I follow him away from the shocked stares of Megan and Bryce, only breathing again once we’ve checked out and are loading up the car.
Shutting the trunk with trembling hands, I go to get in the car, but Jackson stops me.
He wraps his arms around me in a firm embrace.
Tears spill from me, soaking into his t-shirt, but he keeps me there, rubbing my back in circles and pressing kisses to my hair.
My omega’s fight-or-flight instinct slowly subsides as this wonderful man holds me, showing me I’m safe.
That he’ll protect me from anything that comes my way.
When the tension in my spine eases and I let out a shuddering sigh, he finally releases me.
I peer up into Jackson’s face, expecting him to bring up what just happened.
I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to know.
But he must see in my eyes that I can’t handle talking right now, so he only gives me a warm smile.
“Thank you for trusting me today,” he murmurs
My throat works as I struggle to not start crying again. “Thank you for being there for me.”
“Anytime, Cami.” He bends to kiss my cheek, then gives my ass a gentle pat. “Alright, let’s get the hell out of here. We’ve got a nest to set up.”