7. Omegas
Omegas
Jude
Istood at the window, watching Emilia walk back to her house with Oren. He was always perfect in situations like this, knowing exactly how to behave. Walking her home was obviously the right move.
The tiny blonde omega was as sweet and darling as they come, but that pack was all wrong for her. I'd seen how they doted on the other omega and here was Emilia, waiting for them at home, all alone.
The thought made me curl my lip in disgust. Those alphas didn't deserve an omega.
Especially not one as delightful as Emilia.
My heart broke a little for her. She'd obviously been through a lot.
The jagged scar on her face told me that much, but her timid nature was evidence of mistreatment, too.
Omegas should be pampered and cared for, fed properly, and respected.
I looked over as Oren came back inside. "That was interesting."
"Right?" He shook his head, gorgeous curls bouncing. "That girl has some serious issues with her pack."
"I like her," I told him, watching for his reaction. We were a pack, but as a beta, I couldn't claim him and that bothered both of us.
"She's amazing." Oren sank onto the sofa and laid his head on my shoulder. "I want to keep her and make sure she's looked after the way she deserves."
The garage door rolled open in the distance and I smiled. "Sounds like the alphas are home."
"Good, they should know about Emilia," Oren declared.
We sat there quietly until Grayson and Santi came in. They both smiled when they saw the two of us snuggled up on the sofa and Santi came straight over to sit on Oren's other side, kissing his cheek.
"How are you two?"
"We have something to tell you," I said.
Oren gave me a reproachful look. He liked to ease into conversations, but quite frankly, that was a waste of time in my opinion. Besides, my men were used to my methods.
"We met one of the neighbors today," Oren said. "An omega."
Grayson raised an eyebrow. "Okay…"
"Her pack is stepping out on her and they're not looking after her. She needs us."
Santi bit his lip to keep from laughing as he looked at me over Oren's head. "You can't just take someone's omega, babe."
"Why not? They're mistreating her." The uneasy bubble in my chest was growing. We needed to get Emilia out of there.
"Hang on, before we go storming off to rescue an abused omega, let's get some intel," Santi suggested. "Tell me how you met."
Oren told the story, going into more detail than I would have, but he had it all right. He told them about the scar on her face, the way she glanced at our eyes and then back down again, the bitterness in her voice when she spoke of the other woman.
"It does sound like an unpleasant and complicated situation," Santi agreed. "But we can't take her. Why don't you befriend her and see if you can get more evidence of abuse or neglect? We'll call the Omega Protection Agency if needed and they can make sure she's looked after."
Oren sat up straight, frowning. "I don't like that idea. She'd probably end up in the Omega Reassignment Center and you know how awful those places are."
"Well, get more info before we figure anything out. I need to go meet the neighbors anyway. Maybe we can do a backyard barbecue and invite all the nearby neighbors over."
"Good idea. Saturday?" I looked around and everyone nodded. "Santi, you invite people. I'll make the plans and lists. Grayson can help me cook and Oren can be himself."
"Hey, just because I suck in the kitchen doesn't mean I can't help out anywhere else." Oren smacked my chest, but I just smirked at him. He was fun to tease because he always overreacted.
"Stop it, both of you," Santi sighed. "I'll go around tonight and invite people."
"I can help out with that," Grayson suggested. He looked at Santi. "After dinner? I need to shower this stupid oil off of me."
Santi nodded. "That works."
I'd nearly finished dinner by the time Grayson padded in, having changed into his sweatpants and literally nothing else. His bronze skin, a gift from his Italian father, still had droplets from his quick shower. "Smells amazing in here. What do you need me to do?"
"Salad?"
"Sure thing." He moved fluidly to the fridge and started pulling out ingredients. "We have everything we need for a Greek salad."
"Do it."
We worked silently side by side on our individual dishes and I relished the peace. Grayson was an alpha, but he was rarely overbearing and tended to be easy to work with. We did a lot of gigs together.
"This omega you're obsessed with. Did she seem like she was asking for help?"
"No. She seems to have accepted her situation."
"Hmm." Grayson put the finishing touches on the salad. "I want to meet her. I can scent a little of her in the living room and she smells incredible."
"Yeah?" I cursed my reduced beta senses. I knew she smelled good, but incredible? That was beyond my olfactory ability.
"As in, scentmatch incredible." He scratched his chin. "I don't know, but if she's actually our scentmatch, that would be amazing, huh?"
I cocked my head. "Two omegas?"
"Well, I'm not losing Oren, so yeah."
"That's not working at all over there."
Grayson smiled at me as he grabbed plates and silverware. "Did you see how Oren talked about her? He's already smitten."
The thought of seeing our omega with the little omega from next door had me hardening in my jeans as I carried food to the table. Grayson walked behind me and we worked together to set the table before I whistled for the others.
"The barbecue will be helpful for seeing who belongs where," I decided.