Chapter 21 North
North
My leg bounced up and down incessantly, making the chair shake. Jack rested a hand on one knee while Aspen simply joined me in my anxiety.
“You know it’s going to be fine either way, right?” Jack asked. He was trying really hard to act like it was no big deal, but the truth was this was a huge deal.
If this test came back that I was an omega, it meant that at any moment I could go into a heat. We’d all have to figure that out and Christmas plans would go up in flames.
I was stressed beyond belief, and I didn’t want his reassurance.
“Hawthorne pack?” a nurse called out.
We all stood at once. Cole was the only one who had any composure whatsoever, but even he seemed stunned. She glanced over us all before landing on me.
“North?” she guessed.
Of course, she guessed it right. Another point in the ‘we should have known’ category.
“Yes,” I said, my voice wavering.
“We’ll take you back now,” she reassured me.
Everyone was trying to make it better, but the truth was nothing but those results could do that at this point.
“Right this way,” she said.
Her voice was so gentle and coaxing that I followed her, grateful she would at least lead me to more answers.
“Since your case is particularly unique, we had one of our senior doctors take it today. Doctor Lane is incredible,” she promised. “And thanks to the blood draw we did during intake to make this process a bit easier, she should be waiting with your results now.”
“Thank god,” I managed.
“We’re here to try to help this process go as smoothly as possible. We already prepared information for you and your pack, should the results come back that you are an omega.”
“Thank you,” I said again, sounding like a damn robot. I’m so anxious and detached.
“Tell me, how are you feeling about all this? I know it must’ve come as a shock. Do you need us to get you in touch with mental health resources? We have some amazing therapists who specialize in this kind of thing… as much as anyone can specialize in this kind of thing,” she said.
I appreciated her candor. It’s true this was not a normal case at all.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I offered, though frankly, at the moment, I didn’t want to think about anything beyond the results.
She must’ve sensed that, picking up her pace as she led me deeper into the building. I expected a cold doctor’s office. Instead, the room looked more like a living room than anything. It was likely for consultations and difficult conversations. Today, I fit into the second category.
It was definitely the kind of room they took you to before they broke life altering, bad news.
Only I refused to consider this bad news.
Maybe it was the fact that my entire pack took it in stride, accepting it and finding ways to support me. Or this unknown locked away piece of myself that bubbled to the surface. I had felt like I didn’t belong in my skin for so damn long that I was struggling to adjust.
It was hard to be confident when something just didn’t feel right.
All those comments about never being beta enough, being too soft, too kind-hearted… it all boiled back down to this.
We all sat down in silence, the nurse placing the paperwork in a spot across from me.
The paperwork that was just waiting for the doctor to come in, discover it, open it up, and tell me if my life had changed or not.
God, I was fucking pathetic. I shouldn’t care this much, and yet, here I was barely holding it together.
“Breathe, North,” Aspen whispered, her hand cupping my cheek gently. Her eyes were full of worry, and I hated that I was stressing them all out.
“I’m sorry. I’m fine,” I said.
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Sure you are,” she deadpanned, letting her hand fall away as she took mine instead and gave it a squeeze. “But you know what? It’s okay to not be fine. This is a mindfuck. I’m sorry if meeting me triggered something. I feel awful.”
“Don’t. Meeting you was one of the best days of my life,” I said quickly. “I want to be here, right where I am.”
She nods at my promise and I let the next words slip out, putting them out in the universe finally.
“I want the results to say I’m an omega. It feels right.”
“Then that’s what we are going to hope for,” she said easily, like it was settled. She wasn’t dismissing my worries, she was promising that at the end of the day, we were still us. That I still had her full support.
And our alphas.
The nurse had snuck away, leaving us alone, but it was only mere moments before the door was pushed open again. An omega in a white coat walked in. She was gorgeous, with sleek, black hair cut short and wide, brown eyes.
There was something about her that was just so warm and inviting. They truly had chosen well with their staff in this place.
“Hi, North,” she said, her eyes going to me immediately. “It’s really nice to meet you.”
“Thanks,” I said, my voice oddly steady now. “I’m eager to hear what those results say,” I added pointedly.
She chuckled and shook her head. “I would be the same way. In fact, I was.”
“What do you mean?” I questioned. She had my attention now.
“I’m a late bloomer myself, though not quite as late as you.
I was in the middle of med school when I found out.
” She snorted softly. “They almost kicked me from the program for being an omega and causing a disruption in the curriculum. But there are laws in place to protect people like us,” she said firmly.
“I stuck to my dream. No one was going to rip it away because I was suddenly an omega.”
“Hell yeah, good for you,” Aspen said.
The doctor grinned. “Thanks.” She pulled open the information in front of her. “Now, I’m not going to keep you waiting, that would be cruel. We did ask for your medical records from your previous office so we could compare the results. I just like to make sure they didn’t miss something.”
My heart pounded as she flipped the page.
“It seems that your designation truly was concealed. Your omega markers are off the chart now. I would say from the way they’ve flared, even past ‘regular’ omega levels, that you are about to hit a heat as well.
We can’t be sure, especially because it’s marked down that you’re newly packed, but I have my suspicions. ”
“So… that’s it?” I asked, feeling a wave of relief wash over me so intensely that I slumped against the chair.
She smiled softly and nodded. “That’s it. It’s official. You are an omega.”
I sagged further, my fingers curling tighter around Aspen’s. She blinked away tears and gave me an encouraging smile.
“Now you know, baby,” Jack said fondly. “This changes nothing between us, other than the fact that I’m going to spoil the hell out of both of my omegas.”
He said it in true alpha fashion, soaking up the fact that he was scent-matched with two of us now.
“My two mates’ scents changed when I started to feel changes within me,” I told her. “Before it was nice, but now it’s insane.”
She nodded. “That can happen. It was probably finding your guys’ other omega that really did it. I would say you’re most likely a complete pack now. That’s one of the most common situations that brings about changes like this.”
We were all silent, glancing back and forth between each other as the words sank in.
“I’m sorry, I know this can be a shock.” Her words were understanding, but I just shook my head, refusing to take anyone else’s apologies. We were fine.
“I’m not,” I said.
She grinned. “That was exactly how I felt, too. I have all sorts of resources prepared for you. Do you feel like you need anybody to come talk to you about how to handle a new heat, or…?”
I was already shaking my head. “I think we’re fine. This is what I needed.”
“My card is in the file we’re sending home with you,” she continued. “You call me if you have any questions. It seems you have an omega to guide you. That support is perfect.”
She said a few more standard things about checkups that I barely managed to listen to before she was gone again, leaving the pack and me alone to process everything.
My eyes went to Cole first.
“Are you angry?”
He blanched like I’d slapped him. “Of course not, what do you mean?”
“It’s just that I’m with Aspen and Jack, and I don’t need you during the heat the same way, and I’ve complicated things enough—”
“You are not a complication. Do you hear me?” he said firmly.
“Yes, alpha,” I said automatically, instincts making the words fall from my lips. He shivered, pleased. It wasn’t the same sort she drew out of him, but his alpha liked the authority all the same.
“I have a feeling that you two are going to be trouble and keep us alphas quite busy.”
“Of course, we are,” Aspen said with a snort of laughter. “That’s literally our job.”
“What now?” Jack mused, standing up and helping me and Aspen to our feet. She glanced at me and grinned.
“First things first,” she said. “Our new omega is very much in need of a nest.”
My eyes widened, and I wasn’t really sure what to say to that. It felt so monumental.
She must’ve read something in my reaction because her eyes softened. “Don’t worry. If you don’t feel comfortable, that’s alright. We can take it slow, simply take a look around and shop, and leave if it feels wrong.”
My heart was beating inside my chest, a cold sweat breaking out on my skin. Finding out had been a relief, but this was so final. It was opening the door wide and refusing to let it close again.
I knew it was just a shopping trip. One with no strings attached. I trusted Aspen.
“Okay,” I relented. “I’ll give it a shot.”
Her whole face lit up, and I knew I made the right decision.
“I’m sitting in the back with my omega,” she said, eyeing the alphas as if they would dare disagree.
She hooked her arm in mine and led me outside, her easygoing personality the only reason I was keeping it together at this point.
As we settled into the back of Jack’s truck, she snuggled in close, her mandarin and cranberry scent sweet and tart, teasing my nose.
I breathed her in, swallowing down the whimper that tried to escape.
My cock was already standing at attention. I needed to get it to calm down.
“Let’s take a peek at nest designs and see how you feel about them,” she offered gently.
I indulged her, looking at the vision boards she’d created on PackVlog.
“I never thought I was a traditional nest kind of omega until I went into one of these stores. They have displays you could crawl into, all sprayed with scent neutralizers. It didn’t feel like a pack had touched them, but it gave you an idea of what you might like.
There was one with a huge flowing canopy and fairy lights and a projector that showed the stars blinking against the curtains, and I fell in love.
I tried to recreate it, but my apartment didn’t really have a proper nest.”
“Good thing the estate is well equipped to handle two nests,” Cole rumbled.
She rolled her eyes. “Alpha, you’re not even supposed to be listening.”
There was absolutely no heat behind it.
He shot her an indulgent smile. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Cole so soft and sweet with anyone. Honestly, I loved that for him.
Cole focused back on the road, driving us straight out of town toward what I knew would be the next destination. Alpha Heights, Colorado was one of those places people loved to visit for all the theaters and nightclubs and shopping centers, but I would absolutely hate to live in.
It was overcrowded and far too busy for my liking. Pine Ridge had my heart for a reason.
I looked over at Aspen and her nose wrinkled as she looked out the window.
“Is it weird that I’ve only been in Pine Ridge for such a short time and I already miss the quiet?”
“You know… I was kind of feeling the same,” Cole said, shaking his head. “Apparently, I convinced myself that I was a city boy somewhere along the way, and I’m realizing that’s the farthest thing from the truth.”
Jack and I shared a look, a subject we hadn’t dared to broach quite yet.
“You know,” Jack hedged, “you could stay at Pine Ridge with us.”
“I’ll think about it,” was all Cole would give. At least it wasn’t a dismissal.
“What’s the nesting store like here?” Aspen questioned. “Or at least, what is it called so I can look it up?”
“Or you can just be surprised, omega,” Jack said, amused at her impatience.
She didn’t argue, going right to her phone to look up the names. She didn’t have the chance to find it before we were pulling up in front of The Knotty Nesters.
The building was tall, four or five floors of everything an omega was supposed to need.
Aspen climbed out first, holding a hand out to me, her eyes full of excitement.
“Are you ready to go discover what it means to be an omega?”
It was hard to say no when she looked so sweet and excited.
I let my hand slide into hers and let out a breath, deciding to trust in my omega.
In my pack.