7. Chase
7
Chase
Levi is practically bouncing out of his shoes with excitement. "Oh my gosh, she is so beautiful. I cannot believe it!" he gushes as we load her bags into the trunk of our SUV.
"I told you you'd love her," Nolan replies with a grin.
I'm not convinced. There is no way little Miss Perfect Omega is anything but a phony. The level of delusion these guys have to believe that any woman can act that way and be legitimate is insane.
Blaine leans against the black paint of our ride and looks at me. "Did you scent her?"
"No, never got close enough. Don't quite care to, either." I run my hands through my hair, leaning up to look at the sun. "I don't know, man. This doesn't feel like a great idea."
"Mating with an Omega?"
"No, mating with that Omega. Something about her just rubs me the wrong way." I don't care if her bruschetta was good enough to be served in my restaurant or if her lemon bars sent me right back to my childhood kitchen. Something is up with her, and I'm going to figure it out.
Just then, she walks out the door, and our whole group turns our attention towards her. Her mother didn't escort her out, which is surprising considering she seems to be all up in the princess' business.
"Sorry for the delay, Pack Sloane. I needed to finish some cleanup before I could exit. I appreciate you waiting for me." She dips her head towards the ground and clasps her hands in front of her.
Pack Sloane? Why the fuck is she calling us by our pack name?
The other guys look equally confused as we look at her, her head still dipped submissively. "You don't need to continue this act anymore, princess; we're kind of stuck with you now," I say, climbing into the driver's seat of the vehicle. Nolan glares at me through the window as he walks to the Omega and guides her gently to the vehicle by the elbow. I'm expecting her to retort once she's in the car. She should push back on me for being so rude.
Instead, she sits, her head still bowed and her hands clasped in her lap, exactly where Nolan places her in the middle of the back seat.
Nolan sits in the passenger seat, and Blaine and Levi slide in on either side of Nora, and I pull out of her ritzy neighborhood. "We're going to Omegamart," Nolan says, as much to the car as he does to me. He turns backward to look at Nora. As she looks up to meet his eye, I notice through the rearview mirror that hers are watery, and she's chewing a tiny piece of her lip at the corner.
"We don't have a nest set up," Levi says, gently placing his hand atop hers. "This obviously happened much quicker than we expected."
"I understand," she says softly. Her voice is so soft, so feminine, that I wonder if she adjusts it to fit what is expected of her. The cadence has a musical quality, like a little songbird. "I brought a few things from my childhood nest with me. I have a list of things to get to complete a new nest. Omegas should not bring their childhood nests to their pack homes."
"Why not?" Levi questions.
"My pack deserves input into the design and layout of the nest, as it is just as important for the well-being of my Alphas as it is for my own." The response sounds canned, and I look at Nolan from the corner of my eye. He looks equally confused as I feel. Everything she says is like reading from a textbook. She's a bad actress, and it makes me nervous to think about what she may be hiding under this farce.
"Well, your nest is for you, honey," Blaine says, throwing an arm over her shoulder. She stiffens, her face a calm mask even though every bit of her aura tells me she's uncomfortable with the contact.
"My nest is for the well-being of the pack," she repeats. "I have my mother's credit card to purchase the things I need. I would very much appreciate all of your input."
Levi looks stressed, like being asked to help in a nest has caused physical discomfort. His dad is an Omega, and it was assumed he was going to be before his designation showed up, so I wonder if what she's saying is touching on a nerve.
But Nolan pipes up, "If you want our help, sweetie, we would love to. But don't worry about using your mom's card. You're part of the pack now, and we take care of our own."
"That's mighty generous of you, Alpha. I'll earn my keep, though. I'm an excellent cook and baker, I can sew and repair clothing, and I am a wonderful housekeeper." Her face lights up like what she is telling us is supposed to be impressive. "I won't become a burden to the pack."
My skin crawls at the implication of what she's saying. This is too much, too over the top, this Perfect Omega programming.
But the others buy her words hook, line, and sinker.
"Who told you that you have to earn your keep?" Levi says quietly. I struggle to pay attention to the road, my eyes repeatedly darting to the rearview mirror to watch this all unfold.
When she looks at Levi with those big blue eyes, rounded with confusion, he practically swoons. "Why, that's what Omegas do. This is part of how I provide value to a pack and ensure my Alphas are completely satisfied with me as their Omega."
"I know one way you can satisfy me," Blaine says, running his nose up her neck.
The words and contact make her whine, and all of us groan instinctually at the erotic noise. She smashes her hands over her mouth and gasps. "I am so, so sorry, Alphas. I know how inappropriate that was." She sniffles softly. "I am just mortified."
"Hey, stop that," Blaine says with a hint of a bark. "I told you not to apologize for whining."
"A good Omega only whines during her heat, Alpha. I know better. I owe you an apology. That's twice now this has happened."
I look at Nolan from the corner of my eye and notice his jaw is ticked tight, and his fists are clenched. Is he really falling for this bullshit? "I'm sorry, sweetie, can you tell me more about this whining rule?" he says in a measured tone.
She sniffles again and nods. "Yes, Alpha Nolan." Why does she address us so formally? First, our pack name, and now our designations? "For an Omega, a whine is indicative of sexual arousal or extreme distress. Unless I am in physical danger, it is not appropriate to whine outside of a heat cycle, or I may give my Alphas the wrong idea about my sexual promiscuity."
The car is deathly quiet. The only sounds we hear are the noise of the cars around us as we take in what she's saying.
"Sweetie," Nolan says slowly, gently, as if she's a deer who may get spooked away, "do you think sex only happens during heat?" It's a fair question, one I'm sure we're all wondering right now, and I'm sure she feels uncomfortable. When I look in the mirror, though, she still has that same serene expression on her face. Her eyes are even a little glazed.
"The Perfect Omega does not need to waste her Alpha's time catering to her sexual needs outside of a heat cycle."
Blaine sucks in a sharp intake of breath. "Oh, honey, that's not right," he says, shaking his shaggy hair out of his eyes. "You can have sex whenever you want."
"That won't be necessary, Alphas. I will not take up your valuable time with such frivolities. You all are very important men and have more important things to do." Cool, so not only is she this weirdly fake robotic Omega, but she's frigid, too.
Perfect Omega, my ass.
"We don't need to get into this right now, Nora," Levi says quietly, raising his eyebrows at Blaine. "We're almost at Omegamart. We have plenty of time to learn all about each other, and perhaps this isn't the place to start." His last words are a jab at Nolan and Blaine.
"Of course, Alpha Levi."
I pull into a parking spot at Omegamart and throw my head back, rubbing my eyes with fatigue. I can't believe this is who we're stuck with as our Omega. I'm tempted to pull an 'I told you so' at the guys. I warned them last night that she was not the right fit for our pack, and now we've got this little Stepford Omega to contend with.
I'm out of the car faster than the others, and Nolan grabs my arm. "Be nice to her," he hisses. "Can't you see this isn't right? The Design Clinic has done a fucking number on her."
"It's not my job to fix your broken toy, Nolan."