38. Blaine
38
Blaine
"Can someone explain to me how Nora came out of the bathroom looking like she got in a fight with a lawnmower, and now we're listening to Joey as he comes, and none of you have questions?" I say, looking around the tight bedroom at the other Alphas. "He kicked us out of the common space, and now he's over there fucking our girl, and just … we aren't going to ask any questions about it?"
Levi looks up at me from the book he's reading on the foot of the bed, shrugging. "They'll tell us when they're ready. Something obviously went down for Nora's hair to look like that."
"Aren't you worried?" I shout, continuing to pace in front of the window.
"Of course, we're worried," Nolan buts in from his position reclined against the headboard. "But Joey is part of the pack, and I trust him to take care of her just as I trust you."
"It's not about trust," I say, pulling at my hair. "She's been catatonic for like two days, and we're just cool with Joey shoving his cock down her throat?"
"Technically, we don't know where his cock is," Chase drawls from the desk chair. Nolan throws a pillow directly at his face. "I'm just saying!"
"Yeah, I'm done waiting around," I say, leaving the room to much protest. I don't give a fuck. My girl has been hurting, and I haven't been able to help her. It's killing me not to be there for her. Before I make it to her room Joey comes out, closing the door behind him.
"She's sleeping," he whispers. "Come on, we gotta talk."
We go back to the tiny bedroom, the other three right where I left them. Chase looks up from his phone. "Where was your cock?" he asks Joey.
No, hi, how are you? How's our Omega?
Nope. Just where'd you put your dick?
Joey grabs the pillow Nolan tossed at Chase from the floor and smacks him with it. "That's what you care about?" he growls. "Not why her hair was all messed up? Not how she's doing?"
"I know you're going to tell me that, man. I don't need to ask." Chase stores his phone in his pocket. "But I figured you'd keep the dick stuff to yourself, and it's been driving Blaine nuts."
"It has not!" I protest, crossing my arms.
Even though it has.
"Mouth," Joey says, shrugging casually and taking a seat at the end of the bed. "She broke her mirror." It takes me a moment to adjust my brain. For half a second there, I couldn't figure out how breaking a mirror related to Joey's cock.
"How?" Levi asks, closing his book.
"Wrapped her fist in a towel and punched it," he says nonchalantly as if this isn't a worrisome and dangerous action. "Said she didn't mean to hurt herself, she just wanted a haircut."
"That seems a little extreme," Nolan says, crossing his legs. "Why not just ask us to cut it for her?"
"It's not about the hair, you morons," Chase says, drawing our attention. "It's about not being the Perfect Omega. Taking back ownership of her body." He looks at us like what he's saying is as obvious as the color of the sky. "She wants to feel like herself, not like the person they made her be."
We begin to brainstorm ways we can get Nora feeling like herself again, ways to coax her battered Omega to the surface.
"I wish we could go to the house and get things from the nest," Levi says, resting his chin on his hand. "I bet that would help center her."
"Too risky. I bet they're looking for us everywhere," Nolan replies.
"Shit, have we looked at the news?" Joey asks, leaving the room and heading into the living room. We file out behind him. He flicks on the TV, and the first thing we see is a press conference with none other than Dr. Greene.
"My Omega, Nora Summers, is still missing. She means the world to me, and she was taken during a brutal attack on LunarNews1. She was taken by a deranged Alpha, Chase Sloane of Pack Sloane. Pack Sloane believed themselves to be scent matches with my Omega, which is impossible. Nora and I are matches, something I have known since her presentation at sixteen. Due to the unique circumstances of how Nora came to be, I alone have the authority to sign off on who she bonds. Pack Sloane applied and was rejected on the grounds of instability within the pack bond. Nora, if you're out there, if you're listening to this, please, come to heel and come back to me."
A loud crash shatters our stunned silence, and I see Nora, panting and red-faced, wearing just a large t-shirt. A lamp lies shattered across the room from where she chucked it against the wall.
"Did he say heel?" she asks, swinging her gaze wildly between all of us. "Did he say heel?" she repeats again, voice loud and shaking with fury.
"He did, Omega," Nolan says softly, standing and moving towards her slowly.
She screams a shattering, feral sound that shreds my heart. Furious tears drain down her face, her skin turning red with anger. Nora swings around, looking for something else to throw.
"Nora, talk to us," Levi says gently.
"Heel is what he said to get her to leave the restaurant," Chase says quietly. "It's a … some sort of trigger word for her Perfect Omega."
She screams again, her voice raw and so full of rage that my Alpha loses his fucking shit, and I growl, completely on edge, protecting my Omega from every possible threat, real or imagined. My growl sets off the rest of the pack, and suddenly, all of us are wild bundles of rage, unable to control ourselves.
Nora looks at us, her eyes wild and wide. "He fucking ruined me."
"Nothing could ruin you, honey," I say, my growl fading and transforming into a calming purr.
"He ruined who I could be. Who I was supposed to be." Her fingers fist the strands of her hair like she's going to pull it out, but she stops and takes a deep breath.
Nolan takes her hand in his. "We're going to figure this out."
"He examined me," she says, her affect flat. "He shoved his hand inside me." Her head tilts to the side, but her eyes are empty and unseeing. "You can't tell if someone has ever taken a knot before, can you?"
"No, sweetie, I don't think you can," Nolan says quietly. I can tell he feels guilt for having been the one to knot her, but the only blame lies on the fucking monster of an Alpha who calls himself a doctor.
Doctors are supposed to help people.
"Some nights, I stayed standing beside his bed," she continues, moving to the center of the room and sitting on the coffee table. "One night, he had me stay in presentation while he slept." Chase scratches his arms, a sure sign he is jonesing for a cigarette. He smokes more when he's stressed out, and I think if any situation could be called stressful, it's this one. Nora doesn't notice anything going on around her, though. Her eyes are unfocused and dim.
She pulls her legs under her, crossing them on the wooden table. "I don't think I slept in a bed the whole time I was there. At least at my mother's house, he left after dinner." She scoffs, putting a hand on her hip and raising her voice in an approximation of her mother's. "An Omega's work is never done, Nora. All we are trying to do is make sure that whatever Alphas you end up with get what they deserve. Don't you see that? This is all for you. The better Omega you are, the better life you'll have. I just want you to have a good life."
Nora continues her imitation of her mother, gaze darting between all of us. "It's all I ever wanted for you as your mother. I want you to have the perfect life. Why are you so intent on throwing all of my hard work away? How could you whore yourself out to those men? You should've known that they weren't a good match. I have worked so hard for you, and this is how you repay me! Am I so terrible of a mother? So awful of a person that you want to embarrass me like this?"
I have my own share of mommy issues, but it's not like this. My mom tried her best, but unfortunately, her brain chemistry didn't allow her the chance to be the mother she wanted to be. Nora's mother doesn't have that excuse.
"And then there is Dr. Greene." She pitches her voice low. "Any Alpha worth his salt is going to require these things of you, Nora. You are so lucky to have been in school with me for so long. Your obedience is going to make your Alpha very happy one day, Omega. A pure, perfect little Omega. When your first heat comes, you will be the most beautiful, gift-wrapped Omega to ever exist. You will be able to satisfy every whim of your Alpha because you are designed to give him everything he could ever want."
The floor is spinning beneath me, and I struggle to remain upright. I stumble over to the couch, sitting directly in front of Nora. It's like there is a film over her eyes, protecting her from the world, but when I reach out and touch her hand, it clears. She gives me the saddest smile, and I stroke my thumb over her fingers.
"He smells awful," she says, looking at me. "My whole life, I've thought he smells awful. Not like you. You smell like gingerbread. Sticky molasses and clove. Like holidays and fireplaces and comfort. Happy families always make gingerbread on the television."
She turns to Levi. "You smell like leather and spices. When I was growing up, I was told how masculine and strong Alphas were. How they were protectors. You're what I always imagined an Alpha was supposed to smell like. Like safety and strength."
Her gaze falls on Joey. "I can't scent match with a Beta. But your very presence puts me at ease. The first time I met you, you made me feel comfortable. You made me laugh. You gave me hope."
Nolan gets her attention next. "You saved me. You brought me out of drop, and you smell like the wax I would cover my violin with. Violin was the only time I felt like my body belonged to me. The music would take over, and the Perfect Omega was gone, and in her place were vibrant colors that lit up my world with sound. It was a place I wanted to live in."
Chase is sitting straighter, his body coiled tight. "The last Alpha to let me scent him," she says with a soft smile, her watery eyes fixed on him. "My stubborn Alpha. You smell like lemon bars. Kind of tart and sour but sweet in all the ways that count. My favorite dessert. Did you know I brought them to every Omega social in hopes that I could find a pack that would finally want me?"
Nora's face hardens. "He gets on TV and claims he's my scent match. No one can prove differently because they don't live in our noses, but I want you to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you are mine as much as I am yours. I'm done letting him take things from me." She's crying, but it's not tears of sadness. Her face is tight with resolve, her fists bunched. "I'm done letting him drive the narrative. It's time to take that back."
"What do you mean, doll?" Levi says, shifting in his seat.
"I mean, we're going have a press conference of our own."