7. Quinn #2
I’ve been trying to find a way to broach the subject of adding an Omega to our pack without it ending in a damn argument. These two avoid all things Omega like the plague.
Cass, with his stubborn insistence that we don’t need anyone else and can’t take care of anyone else, like opening our pack to an Omega would somehow be setting her up for failure.
And JP, with his emotional walls stacked higher than Falcon Rock, stonewalling even the slightest mention of expanding our pack.
Anything remotely connected to Omegas sends him retreating into that cold, unreachable place where no one can touch him.
They’re both so damn certain they’re right. Cass protecting the pack from his own fears of failure, and JP protecting himself from whatever hurt he’s buried so deep he can’t even look at it.
I’m just trying to keep the ship from sinking. And hoping to show them that maybe, just maybe, we could have something more.
And now it seems, the universe has decided to speed things up a bit. And I’ll be damned if I’m not going to seize the opportunity.
“So let me get this straight,” I begin, barely holding back my grin. “The Omega who went overboard? The one who has you both turned upside down? Don’t deny it, by the way…it’s obvious. Is the same woman who’s going to be around Blake five days a week?”
Neither of them say a word. But the looks on their faces is absolutely priceless.
I can’t help the laughter that bursts from me again. I laugh so hard I have to brace myself against the counter.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Laugh it up, asshole.” Cass scowls and chucks a kitchen towel at me.
JP just glares at his beer bottle.
But I can feel how wound up they are about this Omega.
I sigh dramatically, setting a plate for Blake and me on the table while Cass grabs the silverware and JP, ever the brooding bastard, just sits there and scowls at me.
“Fine. Can you at least tell me what she smelled like? If she has you guys this inside out, I bet she smells fucking fantastic.”
JP gives me a flat, dead-eyed stare, definitely radiating that unmistakable ‘don’t talk about my anything that’s mine’ vibe. His gaze is cold, impenetrable, daring me to keep pushing.
And I can’t help it. I laugh again.
“Shut the fuck up, Quinn.” His tone is prickly, defensive, his own messed-up version of affection. Which basically translates to: I don’t want to talk about it, and you’re absolutely right. She smells really, really good.
Cass shifts his weight, grabbing some cups from the hutch along the back wall of the kitchen, his jaw clenching.
“It’s not…”
“A big deal?” I finish for him, smirking. “Yeah, right. Sure. I’ve been trying to bring up the idea of adding an Omega to our pack for months, and then one literally falls into our laps or, rather, off our boat. That’s legitimately a big deal. And, bonus points, she’s Daisy approved.”
Cass glares, setting a stack of napkins on the table.
“You’re being a pain in the ass.”
“I’m being observant.”
JP mutters something under his breath, takes a long swig of his beer, and grabs his and Cass’s plate and heads to the table, clearly needing to be doing something with his hands before he puts them through my face. I laugh again.
“She’s an Omega,” Cass finally says, like that alone should explain everything. “An unbonded one. That’s a problem.”
“Maybe.” I shrug. “Maybe not. I guess it depends on whose point of view it is. From where I sit…unbonded? Great!”
JP lets out a harsh breath, raking a hand through his damp hair. “It’s not just that.”
“Then what is it?” I ask.
Neither of them speaks.
Then JP mutters, “Well, we’re scent matched…at least she is to me. I didn’t get the chance to ask her if she feels it, too.”
I blink, completely stunned. Today has been packed with surprises, but I definitely didn’t see that coming.
“Come again?”
JP’s expression darkens as if he’d rather be anywhere but here. “Don’t make me say it again.”
I arch a brow, processing. Then my eyes cut to Cass.
“And you?”
He doesn’t answer right away.
“I didn’t get to scent her the way he did but I think it’s a possibility.”
A scent match? Seriously?
“Fuck me.”
I lean against the counter, staring between them.
Scent-matching? That changes things.
“You sure?” I ask JP.
His jaw flexes, but his voice is solid. “Yeah. I’m fucking sure.”
Cass shoves a hand through his hair, letting out an irritated breath. “It doesn’t matter.”
I laugh because at this point, the whole damn world has gone crazy, and what else can I do? The universe didn’t just hand us an Omega: it handed us a scent-matched Omega. If there was one sure way to both intrigue and alienate JP, it would be meeting another scent-matched Omega.
“Cass, buddy. This is exactly the kind of thing that does matter.”
His glare could strip paint.
“We’re not talking about this.”
“We absolutely are.”
“We’re not taking an Omega into this pack.”
“Cass. Cass…a scent match,” I say more gently, setting the rest of dinner down on the table, letting the words sink in. “Do you even get how special that is? Do you think she felt it?”
I turn to JP, who’s still silent, trying too hard to act like this doesn’t mean anything.
“JP?”
Nothing.
“Guys, you’re going to see her all the damn time. This town is tiny, even if she wasn’t Blake’s teacher.” I tilt my head, watching the way Cass’s jaw tightens and JP’s fingers twitch. “Now imagine seeing her with another Alpha, talking to him. Laughing with him. Hugging him.”
Cass’s fingers curl into fists. JP’s nostrils flare.
“Kissing another Alpha?”
A low, dangerous growl rumbles from both of them. I smirk. They know I’m right. They just don’t want to admit it.
“See? Just the thought makes you crazy and you know Blake’s going to be around her every day.
” I watch them closely. “At school. In close quarters. So you really think you’re gonna ignore the fact that the woman you two are scent-matched to is also the one Blake is going to come home smelling like her every day. ”
“I said it’s a possibility , Quinn.” Cass’s face is unreadable, as always.
But JP’s emotions are splashed all over his face.
“You know, Blake could use an Omega in his life. A nurturing touch. We all could,” I say gently, testing the waters. Trying to get them to see what’s right in front of them.
“No, we don’t ,” JP snaps, his voice firm. “I—we—we don’t need an Omega. They just fuck shit up.”
Cass nods stiffly, his expression a tight mask of determination. “No distractions. No complications. We all agreed.”
“Right.” I grab Blake’s plate and plate his food, setting it back down with more force than necessary. The familiar argument leaves me irritated. They’re so damn stubborn, both of them. Stuck in their own heads, refusing to see how good this could be.
“Because that’s working out so well for you both.”
As we sit down to eat, I can tell neither of them has the bandwidth to talk about it anymore. So I decide to let it go.
Cass shovels food into his mouth like he’s starving. JP nurses his beer, jaw ticking every few seconds, his thoughts clearly still wrapped around a certain Omega they don’t want to talk about.
I want to growl at them, knock some goddamn sense into their thick-ass Alpha skulls. Yeah, bonding with the wrong person can rip your fucking heart out, I know it, I’ve lived it, and so has JP.
But when an Omega is right, when she fits like she was made for you, when the center of your pack hums with love and life, there’s nothing better. Nothing stronger. And these idiots are too caught up in their own bullshit to see it.
But I know them. Pushing too hard will just make them dig their heels in deeper.
So instead, I let it go.
For now.
“Blake has his first official school thing soon,” I remind them, shoving another bite of steak into my mouth. “You two better get your heads out of your asses before then.”
Cass grunts. JP doesn’t even bother looking up.
I don’t push it.
But as I sit there, biting back my own instincts, I realize something I don’t say out loud.
I really want an Omega, not just for our pack or for Blake, but for me.