Chapter 2
T he sweetest omega whimper I had ever heard drove me out of my own head as I stood in line at the coffee shop. I glanced down at the dark hair of the woman in front of me, standing before an unimpressed barista.
“Ma’am, your card declined.”
“Let me see if I’ve got enough change.” She rifled through her purse, managing to fish out a few quarters and dimes. Definitely not enough to pay for her drink. I could smell her tears from here, and when she hiccuped before a tiny sob escaped, I couldn’t stop myself from sliding my credit card across the counter from behind her.
“It’s on me.”
The omega turned to me, chocolate-brown eyes luminous with tears, her bottom lip wobbling. Her pale skin was flushed pink and blotchy from crying, but she still had a soft sort of beauty and triggered all of my protective instincts.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“It’s no problem. Let’s add a couple cake pops to the order, and I’ll get a medium flat white.”
The barista updated the order, and I tapped my card. Then I ushered the omega over to the side, where we could wait for our drinks, reaching out my hand to shake hers. “My name’s Miles.”
She stared at my hand for a moment before her brain caught up to the social niceties, and she took my hand. “Oh, I’m Callie.”
It was only her petite size and her sounds that had given her omega status away. In all likelihood she was on scent blockers, a courtesy to the rest of the world, especially when she was distressed, but it made me wonder what she smelled like without those drugs in her system. The only scent she carried was a faint whisper of sugar that every omega smelled like beneath their unique fragrance.
“Having a rough day?” I asked.
Her lip wobbled dangerously again. “You could say that.”
Our orders arrived, and she sipped at her iced chai latte, clutching the paper bag of cake pops to her chest like a lifeline.
“Do you want to talk about it? You look like you could use a friend.”
She nodded after a moment of hesitation, and we snagged a tiny table near the door that got blasted with the Vegas July heat every time someone stepped inside.
“Money is tight. Too tight, to be honest. I just wanted a little boost to cheer myself up today. I don’t even know what to do. So much is fucked up right now.”
“I’ve got a willing ear if you want to share, but I totally get if you don’t want to spill your guts to a stranger.”
She stared at me for a long moment before whipping out one of the cake pops and biting off half of it. “Everyone told me not to date him. I didn’t listen. Now I’m fucked. He drained everything out of our joint account, and I didn’t have anything kept aside in my personal account because he never seemed to have money for rent or groceries or anything useful. I?—”
Callie gulped down some of her iced chai. “He just left me here. I don’t have enough money to get home and I can’t call my family because they all hated Jerry to begin with. I can’t handle the ‘I told you so.’ Fuck. I’m gonna have to find a roommate somewhere. I don’t even know if he’s going back to the apartment, but I know he can’t pay for it.”
She dropped her head to the table, taking several slow, deep breaths to try and collect herself.
Whoever this asshole was, he deserved to run out of gas in Death Valley right now. What the fuck kind of person abandons someone on a trip, let alone someone they’d built a life with?
“That’s not even the worst part,” Callie said with another soft whimper that had all of my alpha instincts rearing up.
“What’s the worst part?”
“He got drunk and married someone else last night.”
“Fuck no. You are a hundred times better off without him.”
Callie lifted shiny eyes to me. “It doesn’t feel better without him.”
“Oh, sweetheart. I know it’s shit right now. You’re going to get through this. The universe always provides.”
My phone went off, and I was tempted to ignore it, but then I saw on the screen that it was our headliner for tonight’s show.
“I’m so sorry. I have to take this really quick.” I pushed the call button. “Hey, Stacey, what can I do for you?”
Her response was the sound of someone hurling before a pitiful mewl filled my ear. “Miiiles,” she whined, “I went to a discount seafood buffet.”
“Girl, what, and I mean this with all the love in the world, the fuck?”
“I know. It was stupid. But I have food poisoning and I can’t come tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it. Get your rest. There’ll be another show for you later.”
“Thank you.” The line went dead.
Callie looked at me curiously. “Show?”
I looked between my phone and this weeping, financially destitute omega in front of me. Was I what the universe had in mind to provide for her? Didn’t hurt to ask.
“So, what would you say if I told you I could erase your financial concerns and get you back on your feet?”
“I’d say that sounds like complete bullshit.” She eyed me with suspicion.
“Practical,” I said with a laugh. “No bullshit, though. I happen to do recruitment for a club that provides a very specific service to clients who are willing to pay a lot of money to get what they want. You give me about three days of work and you can walk away with a hundred grand for your trouble.”
I could practically hear her pulse booming. A hundred grand might not fix everything , but it would certainly go a long way to helping her rebuild her life after that asshole fucked it up. She needed the money, and I needed to not have a hundred pissed-off patrons.
Another whimper escaped Callie.
“I take it that amount sounds enticing?”
She bought herself a few moments of silence by sipping on her iced chai. “What would I have to do?”
“Why don’t we walk and talk?”
Her hesitation was easy to see, but the money was too tempting for her to resist. “Sure.”
She whined again the second we stepped out of the air conditioning. “Why is it so ungodly hot? I didn’t even want to come here this time of year, but Jerry insisted because everything was on sale. Well, no fucking wonder it’s on sale when it feels like you’re stepping into Satan’s asshole when you’re outside.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, swinging my arm over her shoulder as we meandered toward the Strip. “I feel the same way. But there’s only so many places where a business like the one I work for can thrive, so I have to suffer.”
“So, spill,” she demanded. “Money like that is going to involve something super shady. Is it sex, murder, or drugs?”
I laughed again. This little cutie had spunk. “Sex. The club I recruit for does live shows. Young, innocent omegas getting defiled by alphas in front of an audience.”
Callie squeezed her drink so hard the lid popped off and she cursed as it sloshed over the sides and onto her hands. I offered her a napkin I had stuffed in my pocket, and she took her time tidying herself up as we continued to walk and I held her drink.
“I’m sorry . A live sex club? Are you being serious right now?”
“Very serious, sweetheart. I know it’s a lot to take in, but it’s very safe, everyone is a professional, and we take really good care of the omegas involved.”
Eventually Callie said, “But don’t you want models for something like that? I’m not polished at all . I’ve got squishy bits and body hair, and you don’t see that in porn.”
“You do if you know where to look, but in any case, porn isn’t reality. The patrons want a more realistic experience.”
“I barely have real experience, though. Besides my fiancé, there was one drunken night for my twenty-first birthday—we were on a break—where I thought it would be a good idea to sleep with my lab partner and ring in full adulthood with a fling. It was…not great. And while I love Jerry, scratch that, loved with a D at the end ’cause I can’t say I actually love him anymore… Anyway, we didn’t do anything especially creative. I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this. But I really don’t think I could do a live sex show. It’s not me.”
“You mean, you don’t know if it’s you. You can’t say for certain if you’ve never had an experience like this. All the alphas are professional and regularly tested. They know how to take care of omegas and it sounds like you could use some extra care right now. All you would have to do is show up and go through with it. No worrying about outfits, body maintenance, aftercare. We cover all of that, plus your hotel room while you’re here and all your meals. We can charge extra for clients to watch a virgin get taken so you can boost your pay by another ten grand. Plus you’ll get tips.”
“But I’m not a virgin.”
I shrugged. “Close enough. I’m pretty sure you’ll give enough genuine reactions to things being experienced for the first time, and that’s the important part. Have you been with an alpha before?”
Callie shook her head.
“That’ll definitely work in your favor for the show, then. It’s a whole different ballgame moving from betas to alphas as an omega. The audience would eat it up.”
Some of the tension was slowly leaking out of her, and I couldn’t tell if the flush in her cheeks was due to the heat or to the idea of what I was proposing.
“Even though it’s a terrible idea, could you give me a little bit more info?”
“Absolutely.” Hopefully this meant she was coming around to the concept. “You’ll have a penthouse suite, and prior to your heat starting, you’ll get to know the alphas there while eating to your heart’s content to prepare for the marathon.”
Callie’s brows pinched. “But my heat isn’t due for another two months.”
“That’s not a problem. There’ve been some…developments. Not exactly approved or legal quite yet, but we’ve had no issues and it works really well.”
Callie swallowed hard. “What kind of developments?”
“Just a simple injection. It’ll trigger your heat within a couple of hours. We’d also give you something to neutralize the scent blockers you’re on.”
“I don’t like needles,” Callie said, staring at her feet.
“I promise you’ll barely feel it. Our on-site medical staff are amazing, and I can be there with you the whole time if you want.”
When she finally looked up at me again, her lip was wobbling once more.
“Hey, it’s all going to be okay.” I pulled her into my arms, and she didn’t hesitate, melting against me in a way that had my instincts screaming at me to protect her. “By the end of the week, you’ll have a fresh new life one way or the other. If you want to start it with a nest egg, I’ll help you through every step of the way to getting that. If you want to get on a bus and go back to wherever you came from, I’ll give you all the cash in my wallet to get you there.”
“Why do you want to help me?”
“Well, for one thing, I have a bit of a soft spot for women I find crying in coffee shops, and for another you would actually be doing me a favor if you went through with this.”
Callie extracted herself and I restrained myself from pulling her back in.
“It’s too fucking hot for hugs right now,” she said. “How would I be doing you a favor?”
“That call I took earlier was my omega for tonight telling me she has food poisoning. So I have dozens of well-paying patrons expecting a show, and no star to give them one.”
“Do you get in trouble because she backed out?”
“Not in trouble exactly, but none of the alphas who signed up will get paid if the show doesn’t happen. Now, sweetheart, I don’t want you to feel pressured one way or the other. This is an opportunity, not an obligation, and if you don’t want to, there are other omegas I can call to fill in.”
Callie didn’t seem repulsed by the idea, so I wanted to give her the chance to accept or reject before I looked elsewhere. “What happens after the heat is over?”
“You’ll stay in the penthouse for a few more nights until you feel well enough to head on your way, at least one of the alphas will stay with you for as long as you choose, and you’ll have full access to the spa and room service.”
“And during?”
I truly hadn’t expected to get this far with her, but I was happy to answer as many questions as she might have if it would put her at ease. “Three alphas are scheduled for tonight’s show, and through the heat you’ll be with all of them in basically every combination you can imagine.”
Callie sucked in a shaky breath. “Are they nice?”
“The ones tonight are actually my packmates, and I can promise they’ll take incredible care of you. They’re some of the best men I know. Do you want to tell me what’s going through your head?”
“Too many things.” She laughed. “My brain feels like a box of bouncy balls I chucked down the stairs. I can’t tell if I should be fascinated, disgusted, or into it. Definitely feeling awkward, though. How the fuck would I even begin to prepare for sex with three alphas when I’ve never even had sex with one before?”
I sent a silent prayer of thanks to the universe for gifting me the most perfect omega to turn this into our best show yet. “That’s the beauty of being an omega. Your body knows how to handle a pack even if your brain doesn’t. And I promise you’ll get an exquisite amount of tips if I can pitch to our patrons that you’ve never had an alpha before.”
Her nose wrinkled adorably. “Do they actually care about that?”
“They absolutely fucking do. You’re going to make yourself a fortune.”
“The club too, I’m sure,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“Of course, sweetheart. The club makes its money one way or the other, but they pay well.”
“Can I have some time to think about it?”
“I can give you an hour before I have to get someone else. I would give you more time if I could, but the show’s tonight. In the meantime, though…” I pulled out what cash I had in my wallet—roughly four hundred dollars—and passed it to her along with a business card. “I want you to get home safe regardless of whether you end up doing this. Text me when you’ve decided. I’ve got to get everything set up for tonight.”
I slipped into a sleek black rideshare and tried not to look back at the sweet omega. She would agree or she wouldn’t, but at least I wouldn’t have any guilt over abandoning her in her time of need.
I arrived at the hotel where the shows took place, and by the time I made my way upstairs to the penthouse where my pack was waiting, my phone buzzed.
Unsaved number:
Fuck it. I’ll do it.