Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
CLOVER
“ H e’s okay?” I ask McKinley again. He’s changed into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie before taking us down to the kitchen where he is currently making us scrambled eggs.
Moving the pan off the burner he turns, looking me up and down like he is trying to understand something.
“Do you need a hug? I’m in Omega studies this semester and they say sometimes Omegas can be touch starved but contact helps them calm down. Wait, do I smell okay to you?”
“I’m supposed to be at The Omega Academy to learn about being an Omega. Grammy was a Beta and she was an introvert. Liked to be alone from everyone except the folks we would see at church or in our small town. She thought that I was a Beta too. Then I got a little heat spike. I was diagnosed as an Omega after that and my scent really came in. Everyone in my town was mostly Betas, so there wasn’t much else I knew about. It’s the sort of place where you live and stay. We got a new nurse practitioner in town when Dr. Douglas got sick. Her name was Molly and she was so nice and had the prettiest hair ever. This coppery red color…oh I guess that doesn’t matter.”
McKinley plates the food and comes around the kitchen island to sit next to me. He does smell good. He smells like the champagne that I drank on the plane and I want to smell him more.
Betas smell more comfortable to me. They’re not as strong as Alpha or Omega scents can be. Since I grew up surrounded by them, the scents just feel more familiar to me. Grammy smelled like fresh laundry. It was such a soft smell but always made me feel like I was home.
“Was it the type of red that gets gold highlights in the sun?” His questions make me smile. Nodding my head, “That must be very pretty hair but I’m sort of partial to curly blondes.”
He means me and it makes me blush.
Is he flirting with me?
Stuart used to flirt with me but it made me feel uncomfortable with how he would ask me out. He was older than me and lived with his mother. Grammy let him drive me to church once and he kept touching my hand and leg.
It made me feel weird.
The boys that would visit The Omega Academy would flirt blatantly, but if I didn’t feel comfortable, a chaperone would come over and get me out of the situation.
This doesn’t feel anything like that. I sort of like this flirting.
“Do you think I’m pretty?”
“Yes.”
The fact he doesn’t hesitate makes my smile grow. I like when people are straightforward with me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to guess things or read between the lines of people.
McKinley telling me how he feels without hesitation is nice.
“You’re very pretty and you smell very nice, Clover. You would have learned a lot about being an Omega at the academy. Did your mom and dad teach you anything about your designation?” The way he asks doesn’t make me feel judged.
People think I’m stupid because I wasn’t raised like everyone else.
When I met Gracie at one of the mixers she made it clear that she wasn’t interested in me as an Omega. Not in a bad way, just that we would be better as friends. She’s the one who introduced me to her mother. Martha was the one who gave me the words to describe my upbringing.
The way I had normalized like in an all Beta society had confused her when we first met. She had sat with me when I was upset about Pack Weaver’s attack against me and asked me about life before The Omega Academy. When I explained being raised by Grammy in the village she had been shocked to find no one had taught me what being an Omega was like. The more that she talked about it the more I started to realize not everyone grew up like I had.
Martha had sensed how uncomfortable I was when she talked about ‘brainwashing’ and the ‘cult’ she said raised me. That’s when she had come up with a plan to get me away from everything for a while. Mama Joy had wanted me to stay so she could teach me herself about what being an Omega was like. Martha thought, not only would the space from the Weaver’s be good, but also being around other designations might help me grow more comfortable.
In the end everyone agreed and I was sent off again.
But how do I explain to other people what growing up was like? What if he didn’t like me anymore? What if he sent me away too?
“Hey, it’s okay. Just eat your eggs.” My scent must have turned at the thought of being kicked out.I make sure to listen to him, digging into my food so that I don’t cause any problems.
I have to be good.
Maybe I should go lay down. I had already made one Alpha mad at me and didn’t want to turn the packs Beta against me too. Plus the bed smelled like Apollo and I was still exhausted from everything.
Poking at the eggs, I eat them quietly as McKinley sits beside me. He seems to read me well enough to know that I don’t want to talk anymore.
“Did you have enough to eat? Good. If you want to watch a movie we can do that or if you’re tired you’re more than welcome to just leave me here. I know traveling is hard.” He’s so friendly and I feel bad for shutting down.
Not enough to be able to stop though.
“I’m just going to go lay down. Is that okay?” He nods his head and goes to say something else but I’m already moving up the stairs towards where Apollo’s bedroom is.
I hope he doesn’t think I’m a lazy daisy.
My goal is to hide under the covers and maybe text someone and let them know I got here. Or maybe Apollo already did that. I guess I could check my emails and see what’s going on with my classes and those things. Martha said I would be starting on Monday, she had gotten everything arranged for me.
School was going to be hard.
The only real school I’ve ever been to was The Omega Academy.
Grammy sent me to the library with some of the other kids when I was still learning my numbers and things. That was only for a few hours a day before we were sent back home where we were taught the things that we should know.
At home, I learned how to clean and cook. Grammy was also the seamstress for the village we lived in so she would teach me how to sew buttons when I was younger and then I steadily worked my way up.
It was a practical education.
The problem with practical education is that when I went to the academy I wasn’t like the other girls. Being a little older than most of them made me feel awkward. Not knowing anything about my designation made things even harder for me.
Growing up, Alphas and Omegas weren’t really talked about. I knew about them but everyone always said that they had problems we wouldn’t face in our village. Betas had been overlooked by other designations for so long I should feel lucky to live somewhere that we were treated well.
At school, the girls all had pretty things that they decorated their space with. Soft blankets and stuffed animals. These soft lights that they would hang around their room so the bright lights wouldn’t hurt their eyes. All their clothes were store bought and they wore makeup to class.
The embarrassment I had felt in Omega hygiene was something that still made my cheeks burn with shame.
I hadn’t known about shaving or trimming things. When hair grew on my legs I had been told by one of the girls at the library to shave to my knee so that it didn’t show. I didn’t know about shaving other things.
The professor had explained about slick friction with hair and how to avoid that with different creams and things. I had been shocked to find out girls shaved there or waxed it.
One of the girls had seen how uncomfortable I was and she told me about how the school provided a salon where they did everything. After class she took me down there and the embarrassment of showing someone my curls had mortified me.
It was an older Alpha woman named Bernie who trimmed and waxed me. She told me about her Omega Sasha who taught a class at the school about packs. She was kind to me and made sure I wasn’t changing anything that I didn’t want to.
She also showed me these cool gem tattoos that I could wear on the bare skin.
Right now I have a heart on.
It made me feel like I didn’t know about my body. Omega studies had been hard because for so long I learned about being a Beta. Was living my life as a Beta and part of my identity was taken away from me when I presented.
My community shunning me had not done me any favors either.
After Grammy died I was alone all the time. They didn’t know what to do with me. All that was clear was I wasn’t welcome.
When the Council sent someone for me to invite me to the academy, I packed a bag and left the same day.
I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I didn’t know just how much I had to gain until I was free from a place that I had thought was home until it wasn’t.
With my laptop dug out from my luggage, I crawl back into Apollo’s bed, wrapping the blanket around me.
There is a class schedule for me. Just a few classes English, History, and a class called Pack Dynamics. Martha emailed me a schedule for Tuesday and Thursday where I will be doing my Omega studies. It’s a full day from 8am until 5pm learning about my designation. Since I won’t be at the academy, the stipend that Omegas receive while they’re in school will be set up in an account for me along with a little extra since I won’t be getting all my needs met on campus.
I sent her a thank you back, knowing she will get in touch with me with all the fine details of things later. For now at least I know what the basic plan is going to be.
Pulling the blanket tighter around me I shut the laptop and lay down, wishing that I was in my nest in the dorm room. It wasn’t a lot but it was mine and I think I took for granted how nice it was to have things that were mine.
Now I’m somewhere new relying on more people to help me. When am I going to be able to help myself?
The bed dips, making my eyes flick open as I try to make sense of where I am and what is going on. The sense of danger doesn’t wash over me but the sugary scent of Coca-Cola does.
“Cherry girl.” The Alpha growls as I blink awake.
This isn’t his bed and yet I don’t feel like I’m unsafe with him. He still makes me feel okay.
His skin is warm as he lays on top of the covers like he is trying to maintain some distance from me. I think his heat…no his rut is what they called it, is making him foggy but he still is doing his best to respect boundaries.
“Are you okay?”
“I can’t stop smelling you. Needed to be close to you for a cuddle.” He admits and I feel my cheeks flush.
“You didn’t want to cuddle with your pack?” If I had a pack I think I would like to be cuddled by them.
We talked about it at breakfast one day. Pack beds or separate bedrooms. I loved the idea of everyone in my pack sharing one bed and getting to feel close to everyone. The idea of being able to whisper secrets and have warm bodies next to you so you feel safe would be amazing.
Apollo's bed is so big I wonder if everyone snuggled in here or if they just did cuddle sessions during their ruts.
“Apollo was lying with me but he’s snoring now. McKinley fell asleep on him and Griffin is mad about earlier. He shouldn’t have been rude to you, though.”
Griffin must be the one that called me a weed. He didn’t seem too excited for me to be here.
Martha had told me that everyone in her son's pack was nice. I wonder if Griffin was new to the pack or maybe they had something going on that I didn’t know about.
“What’s your name?”
“Vaughn,” he replied, his breath close enough that I felt it blow against my lips. They tingle and my stomach tightens, feeling funny again. “Can I hold you? If not, that's okay. Maybe I could lay here or on the floor. Your scent is just amazing and it’s helping me feel settled.” He admits and I can tell he isn’t the type of person who usually asks for things.
How can I deny him?
“You can hold me.” I whisper and he instantly shifts, throwing one of his big arms around me as he drags me close.
His nose buries itself in my hair, breathing me in as he sighs out like he’s never been happier to be somewhere. It’s a huge boost to my ego to get that kind of reaction. He is so warm right now, even over the covers, but it’s not uncomfortable. It’s almost reassuring to have the weight of his arms around me and the warmth of his body pressed against me.
I’ve never been this comfortable around men before but right now my eyes are already closing and I can feel myself falling back asleep in his arms.