12. Omega
Omega
T he whole house smelled of the little omega's honey and apple scent, but this morning it was somehow sweeter and yet more acrid. Something was wrong. I didn't know what exactly, but one guess as to who had caused the omega's upset.
I was standing in the hall, reviewing security footage when River stormed out of the bedroom, dragging Quinn behind him.
She was wearing his shirt now, I noted. She'd pulled her hair back into a loose braid, revealing sharp cheekbones.
Her eyes looked sunken too. Something twisted in my chest and I hurried downstairs to fill a glass with juice, handing it to her as soon as they walked into the kitchen.
"Thanks," she said softly, taking the juice and draining it. She went straight to the sink and quickly washed the glass before turning to scan the room.
"We've got chips and some dried fruit," River said.
"And eggs. I'm making omelets this morning," I told him. Truth be told, I'd just decided that I wanted to cook for the omega. But we could all use the protein.
"Sounds good. Let's go." River shooed Quinn into the living room and turned on the TV before he came back to the kitchen.
"What's going on?" I asked, cutting to the chase.
River opened the fridge, pulled out milk, eggs, and cheese and spun to look at me. "There's something wrong. I offered to get her off last night and she said no."
Frowning, I studied the man. "Okay?"
"You've been in a pack before. What does it mean when an omega says no to sex?"
My fingers automatically went to my jaw, running over the smooth skin there. A reminder of my previous pack. "It means she doesn't want sex. They're not sex dolls," I told him. "If a beta said no, you'd have no issue with it."
"Aren't omegas supposed to always want sex?"
"Not when they feel unsafe." I shrugged. "She's in a bad situation right now and with her scent turning, I think she's going into heat."
"Excuse me?" Quinn stood in the kitchen doorway, her eyes wide. "I am NOT going into heat. I can't be. I don't have heats."
"Well, you smell like Alejandra when she went into heat. Sweeter and more potent. I could be wrong, though," I admitted.
"I cannot be going into heat." The little omega looked terrified at the thought. Then she straightened up. "Nevermind. Can I help with breakfast?"
"You can chop the tomatoes."
She nodded, stepped over to the fridge and dug out the tomatoes, then got a knife and started slicing and dicing.
River watched her for a second, then asked in a low voice, "What if she is going into heat? What do we do?"
"Whatever she wants and needs," I told him, irritated. "Right now, she needs you to leave."
He glared at me, but did just that, leaving me alone with the pissed off omega.
I started whisking eggs together and added some salt and milk before pouring it into a hot pan.
The routine was a familiar one since I made breakfast most often in our home.
In fact, I nearly forgot Quinn was there until I turned to the side and found she'd finished the tomatoes and was now mincing parsley.
Her hand movements were smooth and she obviously cooked regularly. It was the first time I'd seen her actually look calm, like she wasn't about to jump out of her skin.
When she looked up, her grey eyes met mine. "Done," she said. "Anything else?"
"Find me some cheese and ham and cheese in the fridge?"
She nodded as I flipped the eggs and added the tomatoes and parsley. Then she was there, sprinkling some cheese and chopped ham into the omelet.
I folded one half over the other and when I turned, she was there waiting with a plate.
We worked like a well-oiled team, turning out omelets for everyone except Kade who didn't eat eggs.
"Let's eat in the dining room this time," I suggested.
Quinn nodded, scooping up the four plates and taking them to the table.
I poured coffee for everyone, grabbed a salad for Kade and called everyone down. They appeared just as Quinn finished setting out forks.
"Oh, fancy breakfast today!" Archer grinned at me. He knew I was the only one who would make omelets. The rest of them stuck to scrambled eggs and bacon.
As we ate, I watched the omega. She had seated herself next to Archer, which didn't surprise me.
He was the most understanding of us all.
He was also the only one in our pack who wanted an omega.
He'd confided in me one late night after a few beers that he was fine with River's mandate of no omegas because he wanted to be with us, but that he also would love to have an omega.
At the time, I'd scoffed at him. Now, I watched him lean closer to Quinn and noticed how she shifted unconsciously to be closer to him.
Her scent turned sweeter, just a subtle shift, but it reminded me again of Alejandra.
She'd always smelled sweeter, though her scent had been vanilla, when she was going into heat.
We'd all finished and Kade was explaining what the last steps were on the job we were doing.
Unfortunately, all of the remaining work needed to be done onsite and that just wasn't possible with the thick snow falling outside.
The blizzard was over, but there was still so much snow falling, it was up to the window sills. We wouldn't be driving in that.
Quinn stood up and gathered all the dishes, looking flushed as she hurried into the kitchen.
I frowned and looked at the guys, pitching my voice low so she wouldn't hear. "I'm certain she is going into heat. We need a game plan here."
"She's only ever had one heat in her life, I doubt now is the time for her body to suddenly start working," River said.
"How long do we have?" Archer asked.
"I don't know, I've only been with one omega."
"Omegas may begin to show symptoms of their heat anywhere from 12 to 48 hours before the first wave of heat begins," Kade read off his phone. He glanced up at us. "We need to get her out of here. We can't be around an omega in full heat."
We sat in silence for a minute, listening to the clink of dishes in the other room. Then River stood up.
"I'm going to check the road conditions."
"I'll check on Quinn." Archer stood and looked at Kade and me. "I know how everyone feels about omegas. If it comes down to it, I'm willing to go through her heat with her in one of the rooms so you can stay back."
"Thanks, Archer."
He nodded and headed into the kitchen while I looked across the table at Kade. "You good?"
Kade poked at the last of his salad and nodded. "Her scent is overwhelming. I could smell her when I woke up."
"It will only get stronger. We may need to restrict her to one room. I'll talk to River about it."
Kade nodded, looking thoughtful. "She does smell nice, at least." And with that he disappeared upstairs.
I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my scar, trying not to let my mind wander to my previous pack. They were gone and had no place in my mind these days.
A burst of honey and spiced apples filled the air.
I closed my eyes and inhaled, my dick automatically stiffening in my jeans.
There was nothing like the scent of an omega about to go into heat, but this one .
. . she smelled like home. And that was dangerous.
I didn't have anything against omegas in particular, not like Kade and River, but I didn't want to put my pack at risk again.
Still, worst come to worst, I decided, I would help Archer get Quinn through her heat.