10. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Ursula
A fter the first day of whirlwind dates, I was ready to shove some dinner into my face before a shower, then sweet, blissful sleep.
During breakfast the next morning, Roxy and I rustled ourselves up some yogurt, granola, and fruit, along with an appropriately large volume of coffee to abscond with. We laid out our monogrammed fleece blankets on the carpet side by side in the far corner of the ladies’ lounge below the impressive living wall of hanging plants.
While our breakfast picnicking spot was not obscured from the small camera team following our every move and interaction, it did afford us a good distance from our fellow contestants. With this much relative privacy , we could be free to talk about our dates from the day before without worrying about being overheard.
“Ok, so—how did the rest of your dates yesterday go?” I ask, my voice still lowered despite our healthy separation from the group.
“Well, you weren’t wrong—I did enjoy talking with Mavren.” Roxy raises her eyebrows at me, but lays a hand over my knee as we sit cross-legged beside one another in yoga pants and hoodies. “I know we haven’t gotten our schedules from Kimmy yet, but it’s absolutely no contest—the five guys I’m actually looking forward to going on second dates with are Anton, Teddy, Karl, Ian, and Valentine.” She gives me a knowing wink. “Mavren was cool, but defs seemed like too much of a goodie two shoes for my taste.” Roxy crinkles her nose before popping a blueberry between her lips.
Though I hadn’t realized I had been holding my breath, I finally exhale upon hearing Roxy’s response. Karl, the hockey player, and I had struggled to maintain the most basic of conversations. Ian, the investment banker and adrenaline junkie, was a somewhat obvious choice to match with Roxy—the aerialist, pole artist, and exotic entertainer—but felt like oil to my water during our date. Valentine, a soft-spoken and sensitive computer programmer, is one I would have figured for diametric opposition to Roxy. You know what they say though, ‘opposites attract,’ and all that.
I run through the list of her potential suitors, and even though it’s still so early in the process, I can’t help but relax a little, knowing that we have a pretty small amount of romantic overlap.
While we have not been given our schedules for the day, thus we don’t know who’s actually requested a second date with us , regardless of what was said in the bubbles yesterday; I am delighted that the only potential ‘bone of contention’ between Roxy and I is Teddy—the sweet, but unlikely to end up holding my interest, meathead, who likely wouldn’t want anything to do with me in the real world once he sees what I look like.
“Eeee! I love that for you!” I squeal, reaching over and trying to squeeze Roxy’s rock hard bicep. Jesus , I’m glad she and I are friends and I’ve not yet had the opportunity to piss her off.
“Ok, but enough about me—who are you going on a second date with today? Do you already feel like you’re going to end up asking some of them for their scent cards before the third date?” Roxy shimmies her shoulders at me and makes a kissy face.
“I’m hoping for second dates with Mavren, Lysander, Ash, and Ronan.” I blush, pushing a few clusters of granola around my yogurt rather than looking directly at Roxy.
“Awwwe—are you going to give Teddy the cold shoulder?” She bats her lashes at me. “Not that I mind–more for me.” She licks her lips and we both laugh.
“No, no–I just…I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t think that his interest in me is going to last. I think he was more freaked out by the idea of me turning him down than the actual fact of the matter,” I sigh.
“Hmm, that’s honestly fair. You might be right, but also he could just really be a himbo with a heart of gold and a few IQ points short of you, Miz Brainiac.” Roxy gently collides with me, shoulder first–nearly knocking me off my sit bones and onto the floor.
“Touche. I’ll give him an honest chance—just don’t be mad if suddenly he begins to fall for my charming intellect and sparkling wit,” I gush, posing like a reclining emperor for a moment for effect.
Roxy nearly blows orange juice out of her nostrils, struggling to choke down her drink against her laughter.
“Okay girl, keep that confidence. In the words of the prophet, You betta werk, bitch .” She tosses her hair, winks, and blows me a kiss in a sequence made to evoke crossing oneself and praying.
The two of us dissolve into laughter once more before Roxy restarts her line of questioning.
“So the super aloof Lysander, oversharer Ronan, professional party boy Ash, meathead Teddy, and goody-two-shoes Mavren…at least you can’t be accused of having a ‘type,’” she laughs.
“What is it they say? ‘Variety is the spice of life’ or whatever.” I wave her off brazenly, but I’m well aware that these men are all wildly different people, plus, I don’t know any of their designations.
As if she’s reading my mind, Roxy shoots me a devilish look.
“So, are you going to ask for all their scent cards? I know I’m a greedy girlie and can handle myself…but I’m surprised by you, little Ursula over here, possibly looking to get into a trial heat with up to five different knots.” She makes an obscene expression, a parody of orgasm; eyes rolled back into her head, mouth slightly ajar.
“I actually hadn’t stopped to think about that, really,” I admit sheepishly. Though, now that she’s said it, I can feel my pulse quicken. There’s a throb between my legs and I hope that I’m not cranking out too much perfume at the mere thought of being with five men at once, let alone with five knots.
“Or, what if it’s the other direction—five betas, thetas, or deltas?” Roxy gives a tiny shudder, and I can see the kernel of true worry in her posture—in the wild look in her eye.
“Yeah, that would be super unfortunate,” I agree, drawing my knees up toward myself.
“I can’t imagine that Anton or Teddy aren’t alphas though, right?” Roxy sanity checks against my own assessment.
“I mean, it’s possible they could be deltas… But I really don’t think that’s the case. I’d bet you five bucks both of them are as alpha as they come,” I assure her.
“Alpha as they cum , huh?” Roxy teases.
“Oh my god, you are so bad—and we’re still on our fucking suppressants.” I jab her in the ribs and she gives it back in kind, pinching my thigh.
“You know how it gets before you go into heat—once I’m actually in it, I’m fuckin’ insatiable . Not like I have to tell you or anything, fucking omegas,” she laughs, flicking one of the loose curls next to my ear playfully.
I don’t know what my face is doing, but it must not be doing a sufficient job of convincing Roxy that I know from experience what she’s talking about, because her joking expression falters before widening into shocked disbelief.
“Wait a minute, Ursula…” she trails off, suddenly looking me up and down.
Bless her, Roxy turns her back to the camera crew so that she’s facing me and the wall—her hands cupped around her mouth as she soundlessly forms the words, “You haven’t gone through a heat before!?” Her lips moving slowly and deliberately.
I bobble my head anxiously in the affirmative.
Roxy’s lips press into a thin, pale line, her hands crawling anxiously up her forehead toward her hairline.
For a split second I’m worried I might start crying, but Roxy suddenly grabs my hand, shooting up from her place on her blanket and pulling me to my feet along with her.
“What are you–?” I stammer as Roxy drags me out of the lounge with her and down the hallway to her room. We burst through first the door to her room, then the small bathroom—one of the few places the camera crews are not allowed to follow us—and slammed it shut behind us.
“Ursula, are you fucking serious? Have you really never gone through a heat before?” she hisses at me, barely above a whisper.
Tears sting the corners of my eyes and I nod my head once more.
Roxy covers her eyes with her palms and takes a deep steading breath before uncovering them and asking with barely contained distress, “So you’ve been cycling on your suppressants since, what? You were eighteen or something?” She looks at me, incredulous.
“Yes,” I whisper, which causes Roxy to replace her palms over her closed eyes again, whispering “Shit, shit, shit, shit…,” under her breath for a few seconds before collecting herself once more, hands falling softly and gently onto the rounds of my shoulders.
“You’re…you’re not a virgin too, are you?” She winces—then quickly amends, “Not that it’s bad or wrong if you are! I wasn’t trying to insinuate that you shouldn’t make your own choices about your body and your–”
This time, it’s my turn to cut Roxy off.
“No Roxy, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not a virgin,” I reassure her, reaching up and rubbing the outsides of her outstretched arms soothingly as she grips my shoulders. “It just wasn’t ever the right time for me to be with anyone other than heat helpers at the local center.” I look at my feet, allowing my hands to drop from her arms. “Which is fine and everything, but it’s not what I wanted,” I conclude, unable to meet her gaze.
“Jesus Ursula.” Roxy shakes her head, letting go of my shoulders. “Have you told any of the guys you’ve been talking to yet?”
I squirm, it’s enough of an answer for Roxy. She groans in response.
“Ok, so–we gotta make sure Brittney doesn’t find out about this. She will absolutely make a bigger deal out of it than it needs to be. I would recommend you talk about it with your prospective beaus, though.” She fixes me with those mauve eyes of hers, her mouth set in a grim line.
“You think that I really need to tell them before we even exchange scent cards?” I stammer, genuinely surprised that Roxy thinks it’s this important to tell them so early.
“Absolutely. You don’t want to be messing around with anyone who isn’t going to respect meeting you where you’re at.” Roxy crosses her arms over her chest, her tone matter-of-fact.
“B-but, what if they find my lack of heat experience such a turnoff that they won’t even see if we scent match?” I blubber, already assuming the worst.
“If they think that your ‘lack of heat experience’ is a turnoff—they aren’t the guys for you! Don’t you get what I’m saying, Ursula?” Roxy reaches out and actually shakes me at this.
I nod slowly, even if I don’t like the understanding she is leading me to.
“What about interpack relationships?” Roxy stops shaking me, her severe gaze threatening to melt me like a laser once more.
“Oh,” I squeak.
I actually have thought about this, even if I hadn’t talked about it with any of my dates yet. As a teenage newly designated omega, I had initially been opposed to the idea of other relationships between the other members of my pack. I had thought that I would become jealous—that it would sow the seeds of doubt between myself and my pack partners. Once I started to hear tales of my best friend Daphne’s pack though—of her four gorgeous partners that were just as smitten with one another as they were with her, and how it tended to manifest itself in the bedroom (and the kitchen, and the living room, and the garden, and the back of the limo to a movie premiere—that lucky bitch).
“I know how I feel about it, but haven’t talked to the boys about it yet, no,” I try to weasel my way towards an exit to this conversation.
This seems to take Roxy back a bit.
“Okay, Miss Lady—as long as you know what you’re about.” She holds her hands up. “I know that I was probably a bit on the proactive side when it comes to talking about the whole sexual aspect,” she laughs, finally slouching with some relief and leaning against the bathroom vanity. “I would probably bring that up before you end up exchanging scent cards though—don’t forget—all the dudes who end up matching to your scent…will be allowed to start hanging out over there on the men’s side.” She gives me a mischievous smirk. “And if you’re going to be down with them being into each other , well–you give them some time to start figuring out how well their chemistry works together before the reveal. They’ll do some of the work for you.”
I don’t even know what any of my mystery crushes look like, but the idea of a bunch of my future pack members getting to know one another intimately—getting all wound up before I get to meet them—their omega…
“ Whew! Ursula—you are cranking this bathroom so full of perfume—” She fans the air in front of her face.
“Sorry! Sorry!” I bluster—hands already rattling at the doorknob.
Roxy lays a hand over my jittery fingers and forces me to a stop, looking down at me with those striking mauve eyes.
“Girl, take some deep breaths—you may have signed up for more than you bargained for…but, it also might be in the best way possible.”