3. Phillip
Chapter 3
Phillip
M y head was pounding. It had taken hours to drag Cormac away from the party. He was moderately tipsy and had been acting like an over-exuberant golden retriever. Every part of my body ached from practice, and I was ready to sleep. Roman had abandoned us hours ago, which wasn’t like him, and I had been texting him while trying to corral our more outgoing pack mate.
So, why was there a random omega who smelled like pure sex in our kitchen? She gazed at me, her eyes wide, a bottle of water halfway to her lips. Like a deer in the headlights. The only thing she wore was a T-shirt—one that Roman had been wearing earlier in the evening. Her dark hair was a mess, sticking up at all angles. It was like a small fairy had invaded our home; I doubted she was taller than my chest.
There was no denying her scent was delicious. Sweet, cherry cola. There was a musky edge to it—slick, and a lot of it. Her face was flushed, and her breathing was slightly ragged. That could only mean one thing.
She was going into heat, yet she was standing in our pack house, getting herself a late-night refreshment.
“Who are you?” I asked, desperately trying to ignore my rapidly stiffening cock—I was only human, after all, and a pre-heat omega was crack to an alpha. “And why are you in heat?”
She needed to be with people she knew well if she was planning to ride out her heat and not suppress it. Why wasn’t she hunkering down in her nest?
The possibility that she’d planned this entered my brain. Women tended to throw themselves at Roman. I wouldn’t put it past one of the puck bunnies who had been chasing him to convince him to have a one-night stand, then “accidentally” go into heat.
Her eyes widened, her mouth opening and closing several times as she tried to find her words. “I, uh, no. I’m not.” She shook her head vehemently as she placed her bottle back on the counter.
“My nose isn’t lying, sweetness.” Cormac beamed at her. The idiot was probably excited at the prospect of a random omega going into heat in our kitchen. “I’m Cormac, and you are?”
“H-Hazel,” she stammered. “I can’t be in heat. I’m on suppressants.”
“Are you having cramps?” My voice had a sarcastic edge, but she didn’t seem to pick up on that as her mouth gaped in surprise.
“I’m a woman, I’m used to having cramps! Surely, they’re normal after… y’know.” Her face blushed bright red. Did she mean after sex?
Oh, fuck . She was being genuine and naive.
I prayed to the gods above that Roman hadn’t found a virgin to defile. That could lead to a whole host of issues.
“They’re not normal,” I informed her.
“Shit. Shit. Shit!” she cursed as she screwed the top back onto the water. “I need to go. I’ll call a cab. Shit! I’ve never—ow!” She bent over at the waist, clutching at her stomach.
There was no faking the shock on her face and the burnt, thick scent that clearly broadcast her fear.
Cormac stepped forward, his arms reached out to somehow help her, but she shrank back.
“Go get Roman,” I told him in a firm, no-nonsense voice. She knew Roman, judging by the strong smell of sex and him that clung to her, so he needed to be here.
“I need to go,” she repeated in a watery voice. Crap, she was going to cry, wasn’t she? I didn’t tend to do well with hysterical omegas.
“You can’t go right now. It’s not safe. You’re very clearly in heat.” I kept my voice low and soothing, like I was speaking to a wounded animal.
“I’ve never had a heat,” she admitted, her hands fluttering around, playing with her hair, pulling the T-shirt down, doing anything to distract herself.
“Suppressants aren’t foolproof. They can fail.”
“I’m on expensive, industrial-strength ones,” she muttered, running a hand through her hair as tears continued to gather in her eyes. “What do I do? I need to lock myself in a room, so no one can go near me, and ride this out.” She nodded to herself.
Oh, fuck.
It was her first heat. That was going to be agony.
She wouldn’t be able to do it solo.
“Duchess!” Roman called out as he rushed into the kitchen, wearing only a pair of boxers. Cormac was hot on his heels as he went straight to the omega, pulling her into his arms. She melted into the embrace, her tiny body shaking against his as she buried her face in his chest, his hand coming up to softly stroke the back of her head in a comforting gesture.
“They said I’m going into heat. I can’t be going into heat!” she sobbed.
Roman’s nostrils flared as he took in the obvious scent of slick. “Uh… I hate to break this to you, but you definitely are, Duchess.”
“But I’ve never had a heat!” she cried, pulling back to look at Roman. “Can you take me home?” As she spoke, she leaned forward, clutching at her stomach, whining in pain.
“Where do you live?” he asked her before turning to us. “Are either of you guys sober?”
“Shit, no. This one”—I pointed at Cormac—“drank more than a fish, and I’ve had a few. We walked back.”
“Hey, I’m not that drunk.” Cormac frowned.
“Can you drive?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“No,” he pouted.
“Where do you live?” Roman asked again, gently rubbing his hands up and down her forearms.
“I live in a dorm at Hawking,” she said.
I cringed. “That’s a twenty-minute drive, and none of us are fully sober.”
“Can we walk her back?” Cormac asked.
“We can’t go walking through a college town with an omega in heat. There’s no way in hell we could keep her safe. A group of alphas could easily grab her.”
Hazel paled, looking at me in horror before whimpering and burying her face in Roman’s chest again. I didn’t mean to upset her, but walking her back was out of the question, and we wouldn’t be able to trust a cab driver to take her home.
“Just let me stay in a room here. I can lock myself in and wait for this to pass,” Hazel insisted.
“We can find a lock somewhere if you really want, sweetness, but it’ll hurt. Heats can be a bitch,” Cormac said.
“I can help you through it, Duchess,” Roman soothed, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I’ll happily help you.”
“Roman.” I spoke in a low voice, giving him a pleading look. “It’s her first heat. She’s been suppressing for years…”
“So?”
“You won’t be enough.”
Roman pursed his lips. What was he thinking? We had never shared omegas before, even though we wanted to… the right one had never come around.
“You’re going to need all of us,” Roman admitted, looking down at the omega.
“What?!” she cried, looking between us. “I’ve only just met those guys, and that one doesn’t even like me!” She pointed directly at me as she spoke. Roman bit his lip to contain his laughter.
“He’s not that bad…” Roman said.
“I’d never even taken a knot until tonight!”
Roman’s eyes widened as he looked down at the sobbing omega. “You’d never taken a knot?” he asked in a strangled voice. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because that would have killed the mood, wouldn’t it? And I wanted it , so it was no big deal!” The impact of her words was somewhat dampened by how watery her voice was. “Surely I’ll be okay with you? Or you can take me home, and I’ll lock myself in a room and sleep it off.”
There was no way she was going to be able to sleep it off, unless she went to a medical center and took extremely strong sedatives. Some omegas opted to do that, but it had its own risks, since the medications that had to be used were so potent.
“Your friends never told you how bad their first heat was?” I asked.
Hazel grimaced. “They have, but it may not be that bad for me.” Her voice was full of false optimism.
I frowned. “That’s not how it works.”
“Can you stop talking, please? You clearly don’t like me, so why are you suggesting multiple alphas see me through a heat? Because I don’t even believe that I am in heat, and if I was, why would I want someone who doesn’t like me around?” She growled, a frankly adorable sound.
“Can’t just leave you in pain. I’m not a bastard who will leave you suffering when I can help.” That would be downright cruel of me. Sure, I hadn’t been thrilled to find a random omega who smelled like pure sex in my home, but I was also an alpha and hard as a rock at her scent.
“I’m not a pity fuck!” she cried.
Oh no.
Oh no no no.
How had I managed to put my foot in my mouth so badly?“I don’t mean it like that!” I insisted, taking a step forward, but Hazel stayed firmly in Roman’s arms.
“Well, how else was I supposed to take that?” She glowered at me.
“Trust me, I would happily fuck you. You smell amazing.” She really fucking did. “It’s three in the morning, and I’m tired. I’m sorry if I came across as a cranky ass, but this isn’t a situation where we should be arguing. We’ve all been drinking, and there’s no way to get you home safely. Your heat is coming, whether you like it or not, and we want to make sure you’re safe.”
“Locking you in a room isn’t an option,” Roman agreed, rubbing his hand up and down her back. “We physically wouldn’t be able to handle the sound of you in pain.”
“Surely one of you has a gag I could use?” she grumbled. I choked on thin air… I didn’t think she was being serious, but I was sorely tempted to ask.
“I can order one for future use, sweetness, but you’re fresh out of luck right now.” Cormac laughed.
“Fuck!” she snarled. Her hands gripped her stomach, and the air was filling with that burnt sugar scent that meant she was in pain. “I don’t even know you guys.”
“That’s easily rectified.” Cormac smiled as he went into the fridge, pulling out a bottle of apple whiskey. “I think it’s time for a drink and a little round of twenty questions. How does that sound?” He poured a liberal glass as he spoke and placed it on the kitchen island in front of the omega.
The crazy fucker. I opened my mouth to tell him to put the drink away, but Hazel looked at him with a determined nod, grabbed the glass, and took a deep gulp.
“Let’s do it. Who’s asking first?”