Chapter 13
It was Monday evening, and I was over at Roxy’s doing homework. My nest was mostly tidy, but I loved going to her apartment. Every time I arrived, there was something new. She was officially nesting, and Roxy, as it turned out, didn’t just have a scent like Christmas—she loved Christmas decor, too.
“Never tell my family,” she said as I peered at the little village setup on a table along the wall.
“Everyone used to get me Christmas stuff for gifts—my birthday is in December too—and I hated it for so long. But once my hormones settled down…” She sat on her couch, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand. “My dad would never let me live it down.”
“There’s little people in there!” I crouched down, spotting a pack with a baby through one of the windows.
“I love the details,” Roxy admitted. “It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.”
“It’s the same for me and the…” I frowned. “The bookshelves and having everything out of pattern.” I didn’t really know how to explain it. The chaotic hexagon bookshelves had been damaged in the trashing of my nest. Still, Ransom had told me this morning that he was going to sort them out.
We settled down to turn on the movie, but before it started, I turned to Roxy.
“I… need a bit of help.”
“With what?”
“Is there anything in Omega Studies about seducing alphas?”
“You need to seduce your alphas?” Roxy asked, an eyebrow rising sceptically.
“Well…” I tapped my finger on my mug of hot chocolate. “I’m feeling very seduced rather than the other way around.”
All the research I was doing to figure out how we might save them, well… all paths seem to be leading to the same thing.
Roxy grinned. “Shatter, you have those alphas wrapped around your little finger.”
I felt the pout on my face as I thought of resorting to ice packs to survive class. Dusk hadn’t even been trying. “I’m always the one being seduced.” I needed to know how to flip the script.
Fucking Dusk and his fucking punishments. Heat crawled up my neck at the thought of it.
I tried to shove it away.
I had to be mad at him for a little longer. I can’t believe he’d threatened a divorce. Instinct reared its ugly head at the mere thought of it, and I had to stamp them down so my nightshade didn’t ruin Roxy’s beautiful winter wonderland.
But how dare he—that pack was mine.
“Okay,” Roxy was saying. “You have everything you need. You just have to know how to use it.”
“How do I do that?”
“Do you want something specific from them?” she asked, giving me a sly look.
“Kind of.” I crossed my arms. “Just a few asks that I don’t want them thinking too hard about.”
Not that I wanted to trick them, but this was important.
Roxy gave me a grin. “I know a couple of good pack romances that will show you what I’m talking about,” she said, nodding at the TV.
“Yes!” I was so down for another movie night.
“So. Jasmine officially became the Lincoln pack omega,” Roxy said, eyeing me as she typed a movie into the TV.
“I heard.” I chewed on my lip. “Guess they had to choose someone.”
“Shit reputation or not, there is more than one omega in this school who would go for money no matter what.”
“You think they, uh… picked her on purpose?” I asked. “To… upset me?” It wasn’t like people didn’t know Jasmine and I didn’t like each other.
“I think they’re fighting to stay relevant. They’re big on their own image. They looked too out of control after the ball. This makes them seem more… calculated? I suppose. Going for the only omega who challenged their own scent match.” Roxy clicked on the movie but hit pause when it started. “Is there anything going on between you and them still?” she asked. “They wanted your bond at the ball, then they vanished. Have they asked for further negotiations?”
I considered that. I couldn’t tell Roxy everything, but there were some parts that were obvious from the outside. “They’re… trying.”
“I hope Dusk’s having none of it.”
“Nope.”
“Bit awkward for Jasmine if that gets out, though,” Roxy said. “I doubt they told her that.”
I nodded, wishing I could tell her more, but I didn’t want to put my pack or Roxy in danger, and what was between the Lincoln pack and mine was far beyond school gossip.
“No omega will go near Jasmine, if that makes you feel better.”
I hugged my pillow closer to my chest, fighting a small smile. “It does.”
Those photos she’d dropped on my desk still haunted me, turning my stomach at the thought of them. “A bit.” Maybe more than a bit.
I wouldn’t be able to attend Omega Studies since Mord was here, though Roxy was joining me in the shared Arkology classes we had together, and we spent some evenings studying too. Which this was supposed to be, but Omega Studies was also… school, right? So, watching the movie was like homework.
Though, if I was being honest, I was starting to realise my interest in Omega Studies had been much more about the fascination of being around other omegas. The curriculum itself didn’t seem all that solid.
“Plus, she’s in for a shock,” Roxy added.
“What do you mean?”
“Honestly?” A cheeky smile played on Roxy’s face. “Worst sex of my life with that pack. Eric tried to gaslight me into thinking he’s a good fuck without actually making an effort.”
There was a strange silence between us before I found the courage to ask. “But uh… he wasn’t?”
Roxy grinned. “God no. Gareth’s a minute man and Flynn’s awkward as shit in bed—and not in a cute way.”
I giggled.
“They’re terrible fucks and their scents are lame as fuck.”
I grinned, attention turning to the TV with a warm feeling in my chest as she pressed play.
“Okay, so…” I considered the movie we’d just watched as the credits rolled.
It was the third one of the night, and it was getting late. “I wanna make sure I’m not missing something…” I looked down at my list. “It looks like I’m sorted for a lot of the stuff I wrote down already…” I’d been taking notes on all the things that had been established in the pack movies when it came to seduction and rounded it up to a few key things.
Things that make seduction easier:
Alphas are really into the omegas — scent match is best
Alphas have given gifts like nests or other things
Alphas show desire to protect omega
Alphas want a bond
I looked at the last part. “So… if I have all of this stuff, all I have to do next is… take off my clothes?”
That was the common denomination between all the movies.
“Uh…” Roxy giggled. “Yeh, that sounds about right.”
“And then… what? I just ask for what I want?”
“Yup.”
“Before or after the sex?”
“I don’t think the order matters at that point.”
“No?”
“No, but best right after they finish.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “I can do that.”
I was sceptical. This seemed a little silly.
Roxy was peering at my notes. “That’s solid.” She read through my list. “Scent match… receive gifts or nest… play damsel, dangle sex, remove clothes and… yup. That’s it. Do that, and you can ask for anything in the world. Especially the damsel thing. There’s nothing that melts an alpha’s brain more than an omega in need of protection.”
But then another question popped into my mind. “Do you think it would work if, uh… if I didn’t have sex with them?”
Roxy considered that. “Honestly. It’s just about getting them thinking about sex, and then their brain has melted anyway.”