14. Bitter
Bitter
Q uinn didn't answer me, but when I heard the lock click, I knew she wasn't going to let me in. Fair enough. I'd said something that had obviously hurt her, based on the sobs I could distantly hear through the shower spray.
Sliding down to the floor, I sat with my back to the door, listening to her cry and wishing I could just break down the door and make it all better. Her scent in my room was no longer a pleasant thing, rich with honey and spices. Instead, it smelled bitter and sour with her fear and anger.
"What the fuck did you do?" Orion stood in my doorway, his nose wrinkled. "She's so upset I could smell it from the kitchen."
"I don't even know. We were talking about the heat dens and dreams and she said she didn't want a pack because alphas are horrible .
. ." I racked my brain for what had set her off.
"Then I said the packs for the ORC have to go through a rigorous process and sign papers saying they will treat the omega properly.
She just started crying and ran into the bathroom. "
Orion frowned. "She's at the beginning of her heat. Her emotions are all over. Normally, an omega would be nesting at this point and she's not. She has no real security here."
"And River came in to let us know he's taking her back tomorrow."
"I'll talk to him. It's a bad idea to move her in this condition."
"What are we supposed to do? They're better equipped to help her at the center," I pointed out.
"But she didn't feel safe there. She went into heat here. With us." He gave me a look and when I just stared back, he dropped his head back to stare up at the ceiling. " Dios mío, dame paciencia. "
"Hey, buddy," I scrambled to my feet. "Just because the rest of us have zero experience with omegas doesn't mean you get to treat me like an idiot."
"Omegas, some omegas, can turn off their ability to go into heat until they're in a safe environment. They do it unconsciously. She just started her first heat since she was home, no?"
I nodded, the pieces coming together. "You think she feels safe with us?" The joy that spread through my chest burst out in a smile on my face.
" Neh, cabrón. She feels safe because of our scents, but she still doesn't trust her. I think she's our scentmatch."
I stared at my packmate in shock. "That can't be. We don't do omegas, right?"
"We all know you'd be happy to take an omega," he said. "But that has nothing to do with scentmatching. Alejandra was a scentmatch for one of my old pack mates, Diego. He told me her aroma was the best thing he'd ever smelled and that every time he scented her, he got hard."
Well, that was something I'd noticed from the start, but when I looked up at Orion again it hit me. "You mean, she's not just affecting me like this?"
"She smells like heaven and home all in one," he said quietly, sadly. "Pretty sure the other guys feel it to, but they won't admit it."
"Fuck, what now? If she's our scentmatch, we can't just send her away. Another pack will take her . . . or she'll end up in the heat dens."
Orion rubbed his scar like he always did when he was nervous. "I dunno, man. River would never accept it. Kade probably won't either."
The hope that had sparked in my chest flared and died. He was right. Our whole pack had to be in on this or it was pointless. But part of me felt drawn to the girl in the bathroom. She'd stopped crying now, but I could hear her quietly shuddering breaths under the pounding of the water.
"She's gonna get frozen," Orion said suddenly, frowning at the bathroom door.
"She's in the shower."
"And it's cold. No steam."
I turned and saw that he was right. There was no steam curling out under the door.
"Quinn?" I called through the door. "Hey, I'm coming in, okay?"
She didn't answer and I pulled a pen out of my pocket and jammed it into the hole in the doorknob to release the old-fashioned lock. The door swung open and Orion was by my side as I stepped into the freezing cold bathroom.
Quinn huddled under the icy spray, hugging her knees to her chest with her head bent over them. Her dark hair drooped over her legs, mostly hiding them from view, but it was her back that was shocking.
She was skin and bones. Her spine stuck out so far, it looked ready to break through her skin.
Ribs cut through the skin, so sharp, I could count ever single one.
There were burns on her body, too. Nothing big, just little spots where someone had jammed something like a hot nail against her skin. They littered her sides and back.
Orion was deadly still beside me. I knew he'd seen the burns. After his experiences, burns were a trigger for him and his eyes were glued to her damaged skin.
"Baby, what did they do to you?" I whispered, breaking out of my shock.
But it was Orion who crossed the bathroom in two strides, switching off the water and wrapping her in a large fluffy towel before scooping her out of the tub. Quinn looked so tiny and fragile in his arms, her wet head leaned against his chest.
Orion strode past me and out of the room.
I ran after him, curious about what he was going to do. I followed him down the stairs to the living room where the fire was roaring. When he jerked his head at the sofa, I understood immediately and shoved it closer to the fire, hopping over the back to settle in my usual spot.
Orion sat next to me, dropping her feet onto my lap as he adjusted the omega in his arms until she was perfectly bundled against him. "We need to talk."
"I don't want to talk," came her voice, thready but fierce.
"Too bad."
He stared into the fire, rocking slowly without seeming to realize it. "You need to know more about us."
There was silence and then Quinn lifted her head. "Why?"
"Decisions have to be made," he said quietly, his voice heavy. "Not just ours. Archer? You wanna start?"
"Guess I'm the least traumatizing." I shrugged and started massaging Quinn's cold little feet.
"I'm from a pack in Kansas. Three dads and an omega mom.
Grew up well, with nothing really bad happening to me until I fell in love when I was 15.
This beta girl, Emilie, went to my school and she was just so perfect.
She broke my heart though . . . ran off with an alpha pack three months after we started dating.
I decided that I'd only date again when I had a pack to back me up. "
"And this was the pack you found? One that hates omegas?"
"Well, yes, and no. I don't personally hate omegas," I told her.
"But I met River at work when we were both waiters.
He was putting himself through school, I was just fooling around until I could figure out what I wanted out of life.
We made a good team. Then we met Kade and Orion though an ad for roommates and suddenly we realized we all fit together really well.
So we formed a pack. It wasn't that we started out with a plan to stay away from omegas, but later, River and Kade brought it up and Orion agreed.
We would be an omegaless pack. It was for the greater good. "
Quinn sighed. "Just like I want to be alphaless."
"Correct." Orion nuzzled her head, breathing in her wet hair. "My story is different. I did have a pack, back in Mexico. We were five, Diego, Leon, Sergio, myself, and our omega, Alejandra."
"You had an omega?" Quinn looked surprised. "What happened to her?"
"Them. I lost my entire pack. We had a business in cartel territory and I didn't pay the extorition fees one month. The next month, a bomb went off as I was returning from the market. Everyone burned except me. I tried to get into the house, but it was too hot."
His eyes burned with cold fury as he looked at me. "Everything I loved burned in that house and when I finally got inside, I found Diego and Alejandra together in the kitchen, embracing each other. He threw himself over her to protect her and he died instantly, we think. She was still alive."
Quinn gasped.
I watched Orion carefully. He'd never told me any details, just that his family had been slaughtered by the cartel. I didn't know that his omega had survived.
"She lived for three months," Diego said, his voice rough. "It was horrible. She was in so much pain. So many surgeries. And then, she caught an infection and went septic. She was gone, the last of the family I'd built."
"I'm sorry," Quinn looked up at him, her lower lip quivering. "That's awful, Orion."
"I came to the US and ran into Kade at a truck stop. Caught a ride with him and we hit it off. The rest you know. I don't hate omegas," he gave her a soft look. "But I don't want to risk my heart like that again."
"Why do Kade and River hate omegas?" she asked curiously.
Her interest in use was catching me off guard. She didn't want alphas, but she was here, going into heat after so many years. That had to mean something.
Remembering her question, I glanced at Orion. "I think they should tell their own stories."
Orion nodded. "You'll have to ask them."
Quinn huffed a little, leaning back and staring at the fire.
I hid a smile. The little omega was feisty, it had just been tamped down over the years. "It's your turn, Quinn. What happened to you in the center?"