3. Derek
Chapter three
Derek
Walking in, the first thing I noticed was his size. He must’ve been well over six feet tall, standing head and shoulders above the guard, the one who accompanied me earlier, standing next to him. He had a burly frame, accented by the button-down shirt that almost seemed to be straining in covering him. He had short brown hair sprinkled with a little bit of grey, and a beard to match covering his face. Thick-rimmed glasses sat perched on his nose, crystal green eyes staring back at me.
He took a step forward, but the guard held him back. His arms bulged, hands curling into fists at his side, before taking a deep breath and relaxing. He gave me a smile, the kind that seemed warm and inviting.
“Hello, my name is Derek. It’s nice to meet you,” he said, offering a hand out to me. His voice was a rich baritone, low and strong. There was a polite cough beside me, and I turned to see Sarah looking at me. She nodded her head in the Alpha’s direction, a questioning look in her eyes.
“Oh right, sorry. My name is... well it’s not really a name actually, it’s more of a designated number used to identify myself, which isn’t that much different than a name if you think about it...” His smile widens even further as I’m stuck there rambling. He still has his hands stretched out, waiting for me. With a start, I walk over to take his hand, my movements feeling awkward and weird. “They call me Five,” I say, chuckling awkwardly and dying on the inside with embarrassment.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I thought it was cute.” He turns to Sarah, giving her a nod in greeting. “It’s good to see you again, Ms. Whitaker.”
“Likewise, but please, call me Sarah.”
“Okay, Sarah then. What’s the next step?”
“My, someone’s in a hurry,” she said teasingly. The Alpha’s face, Derek, I remind myself, turns a bright red. He gives out an awkward chuckle and shuffles his feet, an act I find oddly endearing.
“Well, to answer your question, next is me reading off a long summary of our rules and guidelines. Then, questions to make sure you both want to proceed. It’s gonna take a while, so why don’t we have a seat?” She gestures over to the blue couches facing each other. Sarah takes one couch, dumping her burden in a ceremonious heap on the table between them. Derek takes the other, one arm draped over the side. I move to sit next to Sarah before he yells, “Wait!”
The guards are instantly alert, hands going to tasers holstered at their sides. The one closest to me steps in front of me, nearly blocking my sight of Derek. He gets up slowly, raising both palms up in a non-threatening manner. “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to be that loud. I just wanted to know if you’d like to sit next to me? Only if it’s allowed, of course,” he said, directing the last comment to Sarah.
She takes a moment to think, sharing a look with the guard still barring the way in front of me. He nods his head reluctantly. “That should be fine, but only if he wants to. Please refrain from touching.” He nods his head quickly in understanding. Both guards relaxed visibly, but still kept one hand on their holsters. I look between the two couches, torn between my choices, before taking a leap of courage and sitting down next to him.
With that being settled, Sarah combed through the pile on the table and pulled out a smart pad. She tapped on the screen a few times before beginning to read. “Here at the OPS, we are committed to making sure...” I stopped listening shortly after, too aware of Derek’s presence beside me. Although he follows the guards’ guidelines in not touching me, he’s toeing the line dangerously close. His arm is draped on the couch behind me, and he seemed to have wriggled closer while I was unaware, until he was mere inches from me.
I could feel myself starting to sweat a little. I was glad that I wore a white shirt to the first meeting. There’s nothing more embarrassing than having pit stains leaking through your shirt. I tried to control my breathing to cool my quickening pulse, but it failed to calm me. All I could think about was wondering whether Derek could hear my pounding heart.
He clears his throat, prompting Sarah to stop mid-sentence. “Five, I think it’s best if you sit next to Sarah.” He doesn’t even look at me as he says this, and my heart starts to sink. I get up and sit next to her. She tried to catch my eyes, but I refused to look at her, my eyes glued to the floor. When I raise them to catch a peek at Derek, he doesn’t even look in my direction. In fact, he shifts his head slightly to the right, his eyes roving endlessly.
Sarah pushes on, reading the last of the legal document before turning slightly to me. “Omega Number five hundred of the Manhattan OPS branch, would you like to proceed with the match?” I nod weakly, not trusting myself at the moment to speak.
“I’m sorry, Five, but I need verbal confirmation.”
I answer, my voice breaking slightly. I clear my throat and try again. “Y-yes.” My voice was better that time, but only slightly. Tears start to build in the back of my eyes, so I clench my fists, if that act alone could keep the tears at bay.
Sarah then turns to Derek, repeating the same question to him. “Derek Dreyfus, would you like to proceed with the match?”
“Absolutely.” My head snaps up in surprise. Absolutely?
“Then why did you want me to move away from you?”
A couple of emotions flit over his face, confusion, then concern, followed by understanding and what seemed to be...abashment?
“It wasn’t you, I swear. I was fine at first, but then I caught a whiff of your scent and could barely contain myself. I’m sorry if I’ve hurt your feelings.” As I looked at his face, I could instinctively tell he meant every word of it. I wipe my eyes, a relieved chuckle escaping my lips.
“Not gonna lie, was really worried there for a minute.”
“I wasn’t,” Sarah said confidently, “You can tell by the way he looks at you that he’s completely smitten. Well, that and among other things.” She looked down pointedly at Derek, but before I could see what she was talking about, his hands leaped to cover his lap, turning an even deeper red than before.
An indescribable amount of pride overcame me then. Maybe it was the fact that I was an unmatched Omega, or because he was an unmatched Alpha, but I didn’t care. He was aroused by me. Me. I couldn’t help but smile. It felt like it was about to tear my face in half. As Derek caught a glimpse of my face, I saw his Adam’s apple bob visibly, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. I remember then that he said something about my scent. Did I smell weird? I’ll have to ask him later.
“The sexual tension is so thick in here, not even a knife could cut through it,” Sarah said, fanning her face. “I’m gonna do you a favor Derek, and give you the cliff notes of what all of this contains. It basically states that you will be responsible for financially supporting your matched Omega, and failure to do so could lead to repercussions. I’m talking jail time.” When she saw that he understood, she continued.
“It also states that during the initial six months, we will support you in your transition from a Tenant here at OPS, to an independent citizen of the State of New York.” I nodded my head, excited to finally be able to see what the world has to offer.
“Perfect,” she said, placing a packet before each of us, “then please sign at each tab that indicates a signature is required.” I take a look at what is required for a signature.
“What should I put down? I don’t really have a name.” I did have a name, but it was taken from me when I became a tenant. This was good; I didn’t really want it anyway. It served as a reminder of things best left forgotten.
Sarah smacks her forehead. “Damnit! I knew I was forgetting something. You’ll be adopting Derek’s last name, and as for your first, we have a catalog you two can go through to see what best fits. I pick up said catalog, a baby name book from the looks of it, and idly flip through the pages. I look at Derek, a thought coming to mind. “I would like to look through this together. Think you can control yourself this time?” I smile to show that I’m only teasing.
He chuckles, the low sound awakening something within me. “I’ll try, but I make no promises.” He shoots a quick look at the guards. “I mean, I promise to control myself.” He gives me a wink, and I swear I could feel my cock shift in answer. Down boy. I get up and sit next to him, deciding to be daring by pressing close to his side. In order for him to better see the book, of course. Yeah...
As he leans over my shoulder to get a better look, a strange scent drifts into my nose. It smelled like nothing I’d ever smelled before, and yet at the same time, it stirred memories I thought I had long forgotten. Freshly cut grass, the scent of the air after it rains, and something else that I couldn’t quite place, all rolled into one. I could feel myself getting lost in the heady aroma. I close my eyes and start to lean into it, trying to identify the third scent that still eluded me. Something brushes against my nose and I open my eyes, only to find Derek’s chest mere inches from my eyes.
“I’m sorry! I really don’t know what came over me.” Perhaps it was some kind of cologne? Maybe I could buy it for him as a sort of gift. The thought of potential gift-giving brought another question to mind. Will I be given an allowance?
“Don’t worry about it, you have nothing to be sorry for. I’m just glad you like my scent.” There was that word again. Scent. Perhaps he was talking about the pheromones Alphas and Omegas give off? I’ll look into it later.
“What do you think of the name Damon? I’ll admit, I’m partial to how it sounds. Damon Dreyfus. What do you think?”
“Ooh, I like it. That does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” Sarah said, and I couldn’t help but agree. I decided to adopt the name Damon and fill out the contract with my new signature. Derek does the same beside me. “There, no take-backs,” I say jokingly. A little self-deprecating humor couldn’t hurt.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Now that we got the legal stuff out of the way, now comes the home inspection. Would you like to see your new home, Damon?” It took me a short while to figure out she was referring to me.
“Oh, yeah. Absolutely.” Referring to myself as Damon will definitely need some getting used to, but I don’t see it as being a problem. This is just one more step into a normal life, not just some Omega no one wanted.
Sarah excuses herself, saying that she had to upload the documents to the company’s servers and promising to meet them later. As we exit the room, the guards keeping a respectful distance behind us, the rollercoaster of emotions finally catches up with me, and I feel myself start to lose balance. I throw out a hand to catch myself in the fall, but Derek is faster. With quick reflexes belying his size, he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me against his chest.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need me to carry you?” The way he instantly went into protective mode is a cute look on him, and I smile.
“No, I’m fine. Just clumsy is all.” He removes his arm, but not before dragging a palm against my stomach. I feel an odd sensation where his hand rubbed against me, as if I could still feel it, like it never left at all. He takes my hand, his grip almost comically dwarfing mine. “Just in case you start to fall again.” Although he has a calm facade, the ears give him away, turning pink at the tips.
We make our way to the lobby, finding it less crowded than it was earlier. A quick glance at the clock shows that an hour has passed. Wow, time flies when you’re meeting a potential match. As we move through the smaller crowd, Derek removes his hand from my grasp, instead wrapping his arm around me, pulling me close to his side. Looking up, his face has taken on a hard look, eyes scanning the room. He sees me looking and winces slightly. “Sorry. Ingrained instincts. I’ll try not to be too possessive, although just to warn you, it can get pretty intense sometimes.”
“Does it happen a lot?” I was curious by nature and loved learning new things. I asked more for the sake of knowledge than for fear of my safety. He shrugs.
“It just depends on the situation. It’s different for everyone, Alphas and Omegas alike. Common cases are when other Alphas are near, or when you’re carrying... you know.” Ah, that makes sense. “Omegas can react the same way? I didn’t know that.”
“Well, yeah. Imagine you saw an unmatched Omega hanging on my arm. How would you feel?” I would seriously contemplate murder.
I’m shocked at the possessiveness the imaginary scene invokes in me, but find it no less than true. “Touché.” We exited out of the building without incident, the guards saying their goodbyes and telling me to take care. I felt bad for not knowing their names, so I asked them. They seem surprised by my question, but giving them anyway. Aaron, the tall blonde, and Jesus, a man of middling height and indeterminate age I found a lot of people of color possessed. They said goodbye again, only this time much more amiable, leaving with smiles on their faces.
I’ve been outside quite a few times, but for some reason, it felt different this time. It felt more...open, for lack of a better word. More freeing. Derek steered us to a booth with the word ‘Valet’ written on the side, fishing out a ticket from his pockets and handing it to the man on duty. We wait there patiently until he returns a few minutes later with a white pickup truck, one of the newer models by the looks of it. There was a logo of a house with a hammer and a saw plastered on the side, the words ’ Dreyfus and Sons: Roofing and Construction’ surrounding it.
“It was my Dad’s company. Father of three who wanted us to feel included. As the oldest, I inherited the company while my brothers went off to do their own thing.”
“Oh, did he... pass away?” He laughs and shakes his head, moving to open the passenger door for me. “Nah, he’s retired. Living the big dream in Florida with my Pops. They’re planning on coming up here to meet you, you know, when you’re ready.”
“How did they know I would say yes to the pairing? Not that I wouldn’t have said yes, it’s just that-” He held a hand up to forestall the torrent that was words from leaking out of my mouth any further.
“Don’t worry, I know what you meant. I texted them earlier.” Oh, right. Phones.
I step up and take a seat, smelling Derek’s scent all around me. I inhale deeply, enjoying basking in the ambiance. I see him opening the back, talking to an OPS employee while loading suitcases in the back. Oh, right. My belongings. I open the door to get out and help, but he just waves me back in the car, so I relent, enjoying myself in the moment.
He enters a few minutes later, buckling his seat belt before pulling away from the curb. “Oh, that reminds me. Let’s go out tomorrow and get you a phone.
“Thank you, I really appreciate it.” I offered my hand and he took it readily, rubbing his thumb across the back. We both fell into a comfortable silence, well, at least until he merged onto the highway.
“How far do you live?” He tilted his head back and forth as if in thought.
“It’s about two hours, give or take.
...
“Wow.”
Holy Shit.