11. Nolan
11
Nolan
I'm going to fucking kill Chase.
I cannot allow him to continue acting like this.
Our pack was blessed with a beautiful but damaged Omega, and he's doing everything he possibly can to make her uncomfortable. After everything settles down, Levi convinces Nora to watch a movie with him, in that clever way he has of making her believe that it's okay to break these arbitrary rules because it makes him happy.
Once they're settled, I search out Chase. It takes a while for me to find him out in front of the house, leaning against the SUV as he smokes a cigarette. I cough in an exaggerated motion. "Stub that out and meet me in the study. We need to talk."
He rolls his eyes but drops the butt, stomping it with the heel of his sneaker before picking it up and tossing it in the cup he holds. I leave him behind and head inside, knowing that he will follow me.
The study is a neutral space in our home that everyone has access to and has become the spot for hard conversations over the years. One of the walls is one giant bookcase stuffed with contributions from all of us. Culinary technique books from Chase, mixology texts from Joey, Blaine reads a surprising amount of sci-fi, and Levi has geometry texts and fantasy novels. I'm not much of a reader, but I do have some physiology texts from college up there.
I take a seat at the cherry desk that holds our house computer, resting my elbows on the top. After a few minutes Chase joins me, flopping down in the brown leather and wooden chair across from me. "What?" he says.
"What? Fucking what, Chase? That's all you have to say?"
He runs his fingers through his hair, eye contact unwavering. His eyes are the kind of blue that looks almost transparent, the whites of them bloodshot from smoke and stress. "I'm not sure what you want me to say. I told you from the beginning I didn't want her as our Omega." He makes a show of examining his nails as if this conversation is below him.
I try to breathe through my frustration, but I struggle. "She is our scent match."
"Not mine," he scoffs, leaning back and crossing his arms.
"What is that supposed to mean? Of course, she's your match. She's matched to all of us."
He grins slyly. "Can't match to her if I don't let her scent me."
"You…" I rub my hands over my face, trying to come to terms with what he just said. "You've not let her scent you?" The sneer that curls his lip makes me fist my hands on my thighs so they don't end up in his face. I love Chase. He's my packmate, my brother. But right now, I don't like him one bit.
"Fuck no. I told you I don't want her here."
I jump to my feet, growling across the desktop. "Do you have any idea how distressing that must be to her? How much she must think she displeases you?"
Chase doesn't flinch at my movement. "She does displease me," he growls right back.
"Fucking hell, Chase." I slap my hand on the desktop. "The girl did nothing to you."
"She's fake, Nolan. This act she's putting on, this sweet innocent, pitiful Omega thing, is fucking fake. She's tricking y'all. I can't believe I'm the only person who sees it!" He points a finger at me accusingly. "All of you are just thinking with your knots. She's not who she says she is. She's not what we want or need and the sooner you realize that the sooner we can get rid of her."
It's like Chase and I are constantly going in circles. We have our disagreements, as anyone does, sure, but it's never been like this before. I count to three in my head as I hold an inhale. I squeeze the bridge of my nose. "What will it take for you to realize that this isn't fake?"
"She'd need to show me who she really is," he scoffs dismissively. "Which she'd never do. Heaven forbid it messes up her perfect little image." He hauls himself out of the seat and tries to leave the room, but I stop him with a hand on his shoulder. He spins around and glares at me, his slightly crooked nose wrinkled.
"Chase. This isn't an act, but it also isn't her," I say, dropping his shoulder and dragging my hands down my face. "Can't you see what this is? She's fucking brainwashed, dude. She's spent her entire life being forced into this mold. Like those weird square watermelons that you showed me." He tilts his head to the side, unspoken confusion evident. "The watermelons don't know that they're supposed to be oval, dude. Not when they've been grown to believe they're squares."
This is the dumbest analogy I've ever used.
Chase must agree about its absurdity because he laughs loudly. "Square watermelons, dude?"
"I get it, it's a bad analogy, but the point still stands." I move around the desk, gesturing towards the door. "Eat her fucking food, dude. Give her a compliment. Until we can figure out how to break this programming, we need to be the Perfect Pack for our Perfect Omega."
I feel better after my conversation with Chase, hopeful that he'll make at least an effort not to say shitty things to Nora, so I go to our home gym and get a workout in. After a shower, I head downstairs to see what the pack wants to do for lunch.
Levi is still on the couch, watching some sort of documentary. I'm not much into them, but we were roommates before we were packmates, so I've gotten used to the calm tone of the narrators and the bland subject matter. It's nice to zone out after everything that has been happening.
"What do you think about Nora?" I ask Levi quietly, worried she'll turn the corner and hear us.
He beams at me. "She's so delicate. Beautiful. I know this isn't going to be easy for us, but I am glad she's our Omega." He pulls his legs up on the couch and wraps his arms around his knees. "Can you imagine how much danger she would be in with a different pack?"
That thought had never occurred to me, but the moment Levi plants it, it takes root and grows. "Fuck, Levi. She… holy shit. It never crossed my mind. A group of shitty guys could really take advantage of her."
A door slams and loud walking interrupts our conversation. "Don't mind me," Blaine says, opening the fridge. "Was just coming to look for some lunch. I'm surprised our little Omega didn't make anything."
I wrinkle my brow, looking at Levi. "He… has a good point. Where is Nora?"
"Uh, she left pretty early during the movie. Said she was going to find Joey?" It sounds like a question out of Levi's mouth, but at least we know where she is.
"Well, she's not with him now," Blaine says, shrugging and opening the pantry. "He's outside on the porch, I just saw him."
I jump to my feet and open the patio door, calling Joey in. He comes inside quickly, looking confused. "What?"
"Was Nora with you?"
"No, haven't seen her since coffee this morning, why?"
Levi swears under his breath. "She told me she was going to see you." He hops up on his feet, pacing around the room with anxiety.
"And I haven't seen her either," Blaine says, his search for food abandoned.
"Could she be with Chase?" Joey asks, scratching his beard as he swings his gaze around the room. Does he think she's hiding somewhere in here?
Though it is unlikely, the four of us head upstairs and throw open the door to Chase's room. He's sitting on his bed, loud metal music blaring, sketching what is most likely his next tattoo on a white pad. "What the fuck?" he shouts, startled by our entrance.
"Have you seen Nora?" Levi asks, his voice shaking with worry.
"Nope," he says, popping the 'p'. "Maybe she wisened up and left us."
"With the fucking brainwashing they've done, she would rather die than leave her pack," Joey growls. "Let's check the nest."
Surprisingly, Chase sets aside the notebook and gets up to follow us to her room.
The Omega suite is the center room on the second floor. All of our rooms surround it, specifically designed to allow each Alpha equal access and to be within hearing distance of the Omega. Even though it feels like an invasion of privacy, I gently open the bedroom door.
The room is exactly how we originally set it up: soft yellow walls, an extra-wide four-poster bed, and a walnut dresser. The bed is perfectly made, and there is nothing out of place. The door to the nest is open, and she's not in there either.
I look around, almost expecting her to pop out of the closet as a practical joke.
"Wait," Blaine says, putting a hand on my chest. "The bathroom in the nest. I hear the shower."
"She's showering in the middle of the day?" Levi asks. "That doesn't seem to fit with the Perfect Omega training. You'd think that she'd have her whole day scheduled out."
It doesn't, and my Alpha is warring with me to go check on her, to see her, to know that she is okay. I look at the pack, and even Chase wears a guarded look of concern.
"Well, we're going in there, right?" Joey asks tentatively.
I nod and enter the nest, being careful not to step on any of the furnishings. The nest is beautiful; all of the things we picked out for her are artfully arranged in a pleasing aesthetic. I see a mint green blanket that looks well-loved, a small white stuffed kitten, and a little plush bird that we didn't purchase, all resting in a pile in the middle of the nest.
The door to the bathroom is open. It's meant to hold an entire pack so we can all move into it easily. The shower is massive and a walk-in, one side entirely clear.
It is so clear, the glass so clean, that it's impossible to miss our little Omega curled up in a ball under the steaming hot water, fully clothed, sobbing, and pulling out her hair.