12. Candice
Chapter 12
B y the time we got home yesterday it had been the worst day I’ve had since Grandpa died, well today is turning out to be the strangest. I haven’t been up that long, but I need a shower, and there are four strange alphas in my house. Each one smells amazing. All together they smell like some kind of fevered sex dream. Nervous babbling aside, I think I am doing fairly well–all things considered.
And they’re all hot, which is so unfair. I mean, Dr. Hottie, hello! Gabe who looks like some sort of professional strongman with the short dark hair and stubble. I just want to rub against –I bet I would get stubble burn if I tried. Jacks, who is standing, still shirtless in my kitchen, with a fucking mowhawk… What is this, the 80’s ?
I wonder if I should get him an apron, it would be a shame to burn any of the colorful delicious skin.
No!
Stop it, slutty inner omega.
And now this new guy, Xan, he is kind of short for an alpha, and I can’t see much of his body from the coveralls– except the erection –points out that tiny voice. Long dark blond hair.
I wonder how that would feel running over my legs…as he kissed his way up, nipping and licking– Get thee behind me inner omega!
Well shit. Look, he has chin pubes, it isn’t even a real beard, he isn’t that hot, ok. Just…no.
But ugh, the tiny omega voice is right, they are hot, and they smell good, and I just want to go flop on the couch on top of Dr. Leo–who looks a bit shell shocked right now, actually.
Maybe I should check on him, he is gonna be Iggy’s doctor after all, I don’t want to make him uncomfortable.
He would be a lot more comfortable without pants.
Shut up, inner omega.
“Candice?” I was so focused on Dr. Leo that I missed Gabe coming to stand next to me. “Everything went haywire, but I do need to talk to ya about your car. I mean, that’s why I came over. Things are…well, I’m not sure how safe it is to drive right now.”
Shit
I take a deep breath–bad idea. “I’m sorry, I…what?”
Gosh, but he smells good .
No, wait, what ?
I mean, yeah, he smells good, great, but what?
“I’m sorry, back up. My car, what do you mean it's not safe?”
His hand comes up like he is about to put it on my shoulder, but instead he pulls back and runs it through his own short hair. Whiskey colored eyes looking everywhere but at me, “Well, your front axle is loose. It's not broke yet, but I wouldn’t feel right lettin’ ya drive around with it like that, if it does break ya could get seriously hurt. I’m not sure what ya hit, but it sure did a number on it.”
He looks almost sheepish, like he’s worried I am gonna go off on him for accusing me of running over something.
“But, I don’t drive it, I mean, I’ve taken less than four car trips this year, one of which was yesterday to the vet, the others have all been either to your shop for an oil change, or the one to the bank. I don’t go anywhere if I can avoid it. Not saying I’m a shut-in, but people make me nervous.” I raise my hand indicating all the people in my house, currently making me less nervous than I would have anticipated.
“Shit…ok, well, um, I’m not sure what to tell ya, I can take another look at it, but I’m pretty sure it is gonna need replaced. Was it wobbly or anythin’ yesterday when you took it to see Leo?”
I sigh, pulling at my own hair, I don’t have the time or the money for this. But sometimes I need a car. “No, no, I believe you…I just…I can’t afford to do it right now. I need to take care of Sunny’s vet bill from yesterday, and I still have to pay for the tires and the oil change and I just… ”
I trail off, my stomach bottoming out. Good thing I haven’t had any food yet.
I’m suddenly exhausted–feeling overwhelmed by everything from the last two days, and unable to hold back a whine. I want a do-over. Let’s just go back to last weekend, so we can redo this whole week. My hands come up cupping my elbows, and then a pair of big arms wrap around me, one hand still holding a spatula.
“What the fuck man, what did you do?” It’s Jacks again, looking aggressive and staring daggers at Gabe. I reach up and pat his chest, not wanting a fight in my house.
“Shh, it’s ok, he didn’t do anything. Just some not great news, and I miss my cat. I’m sorry, I just…I’m sorry,” I can’t hold back the tears as the stress from the last couple of days comes crashing down on me.
“No. No. It's ok Little Lion, I got you.” Then I’m being lifted off my feet and carried back to the kitchen. “Here, finish her pancakes.” He thrusts the spatula into Xan’s hand, before turning and marching me back towards my nest.
Once we’re inside he closes the door, and sets me down on the mattress. “Bunch of nosey old biddies, I swear. Don’t worry about them. You stay here, rest, get a shower, just breathe if you need to. I’m going to finish making your breakfast, then we can talk once you feel better, ok?” He brushes my hair back and places a gentle kiss on my forehead, before leaving and closing the door behind him .
I can hear raised voices coming from the living room, but honestly, I don’t care at this point. After going to lock my nest door I head towards my en suite bathroom. Once the shower’s on, I turn up some classic rock to drown out the rest of the argument and just let the hot water and the music soothe my jangled nerves.
Leo
A scent match? How the hell did I miss that before?
Yesterday was busy all day with seeing all the new clients since Dr. Jerry had an emergency and called out.
And then surgery on Freddy– I should probably call the office to check on him, I’m seriously over my lunch break. I should call to let them know how long I’ll be gone.
Then Candice’s car.
Of course, I know I reacted to her yesterday, but how could I have not realized.
I run my hands through my hair again, yanking on it hard enough to make my eyes water. I feel like a fool .
“Hey, Leo, you tryin’ ta pull start your brain or something? I may not be the one that went to the fancy medical school, but I don’t think it works like a lawnmower.” I smile up at Xan, he still has the spatula in his hand.
He has always been the jokester, the one who tries to make everyone feel better. And I appreciate him for that. He hides it well, but he’s smart enough to have gone through medical school. He just said it would be too much paperwork, and he would rather play with cars all day. I don’t begrudge him that, we are comfortable enough with the four of us, and honestly, I don’t think he has the temperament for it. He can be soft hearted, and losing a patient like I did yesterday, even though I saved another one..I think it would break him eventually.
“Do I smell smoke?” I pretend to sniff the air, in truth, I have been trying not to breathe through my nose since we came inside this house. Candice’s perfume is everywhere, and it is making my mind fuzzy.
“Shit! Fuck! Jacks is gonna kill me!”
Xan scrambles back into the kitchen.
“Oh you asshole, no, nothing’s burning,” he says with a smile, and I know he isn’t really angry. Jacks chooses that moment to come back out of the nest.
“Man, you better not be messing up the pancakes, those are the easiest thing to make. Can you keep on ‘em while I start the eggs and bacon?”
What is this, a restaurant?
Gabe. He’ll help !
He can help me sort out this whole thing–I’m not opposed to having an omega, but I don’t think any of us really planned for it anytime soon.
“Gabe, I need to talk to you, I fear I have something rather disconcerting to discuss with you.”
He raises his head where he has been staring at her iguana. “‘Sup man?” Ahh yes, my best friend and beloved pack leader, eloquent as ever, while I feel like I’m about to have an aneurysm.
Walking closer, I take note of the iguanas' large enclosure, heat rock, lamp, and ample water supply. I approve, she clearly takes good care of her pets. The aforementioned lizard is staring at me right now, and I wonder what it thinks of all these strange people in its house.
I wait until I am shoulder to shoulder to Gabe, keeping my voice low. “How are you doing, you look a bit vacant right now? Did you hit your head when you fell earlier?”
He lets out a loud bark of laughter causing the iguana to scuttle backwards and glare at him. “Nah, man, just…it’s hard to think in here, you know, I don’t know what it is…I feel like my brain is stuffed with cotton and I’m having a hell of a time not touching Candice. Just being close to her is driving me out of my mind.” He lets out a deep sigh. “I’m jealous of Jacks right now because she was curled up in his lap earlier, and I want that. I want her to snuggle against me, I feel like I need to comfort her and hold her and I need to fix her car, to make sure she stays safe. ”
“Yes…and this is just a theory, I remember reading more about it in school, but I believe that Candice might be our scent match.” The color drains from his face.
“But, no, those…those are like super rare right? How? How would we even check that?” He looks almost desperate.
“Well, your initial reaction, for one. The bond blasted wide open and…” I gesture vaguely to my groin, which my scrubs are not hiding nearly enough. “Not to mention Jacks’ reaction to her. I’ve never felt this drawn to anyone, even before I smelled her today. Yesterday when I met her in the office, even with the full scent dampeners on I was…compelled is the only accurate word. I felt like I had to comfort her and take care of her. It was the most puzzling thing. But this, I think this is why”
Gabe swallows a few times, licks his lips. He seems to be having trouble speaking. “Shit…yeah. Hey Xan, come here for a minute. Not you Jacks, you're good, just keep cookin’.”
Xan ambles over, all loose limbs, I doubt he is feeling anything out of the ordinary. But if he does he hides it well. “Yeah boss?”
“Gimme your thoughts on Candice.'' Gabe has all the subtlety of a brick to the face.
“Just…wow. I don’t know what it is about her. I mean, Jacks is obviously already in love.” We all send a surreptitious look toward the Alpha currently dancing around in the kitchen to whatever song is playing in his head. “But yeah, she smells so good. I mean, my dick hurts cause…yeah. Hey doc, I know the commercials say if it lasts for more than four hours to see a doctor, but do you have any suggestions, cause it has been at least an hour now and don’t wanna have to go back to work like this.” He looks at me but keeps going.
“She seems sweet, but I haven’t really gotten to talk to her much. Kind of anxious. I just want to hold her, and snuggle up, and see if she is really as soft as she looks…I also really want to lick her, but that seems totally inappropriate so not even going there.” Gabe looks stupefied, opening and closing his mouth like a fish.
“So, I’m assuming that we all feel this way, and judging by how comfortable she looked against Jacks when we came in, we can guess that the feeling is mutual. I don’t think there is any other test needed really.” I turn to Gabe, and yes, he is still doing his best fish impression.
“But, but…I don’ know nothin’ about courtin’ an omega. I mean, if she’s ours, do we need to court her?”
Xan’s brows draw low, and aggression blasts his scent into the room. “What the hell, if she is ours, of course we need to court her properly. I mean, not doing so wouldn’t just be rude, it would be disrespectful. If your mom heard you say that, she would tan your hide.”
Gabe ducks his head, appropriately cowed.
Jacks has stopped dancing and is watching us all, indicating that we did not keep this as quiet or secret as I had hoped.
“Wait, we’re going to court her? So, we get to keep her?” He looks hopeful, his eyes brighter than I have seen in some years. We all turn to Gabe .
“Now, everybody just hold your horses there. We haven’t even talked to her about this, and what the hell are we gonna do with an omega anyway?”
Too late though, Jacks is knocking on her door, after a few seconds of her not opening it he reaches over the door frame and pulls out a tiny key to unlock it–you know, that seems like a safety hazard. But in retrospect, I wonder if she even knew it was there, I doubt she could reach it without a step-ladder.
Jacks’ voice drifts out of the other room, “Great news, we get to keep you.” followed by a high-pitched scream. “Oh, and how do you take your eggs?”
Xan
C andice comes out wrapped in a towel, dripping and mad as a wet hen, dragging Jacks behind her. Snatching the key out of his hand, she shoves him out of her room, and relocks the door. Going back to finish getting cleaned up.
Jacks is out of her room and back in the kitchen finishing breakfast, apparently she likes her eggs unfertilized–her words, not mine–so she’s getting them scrambled. Jacks is back to dancing around the room cooking, Gabe and Leo are bent together over the iguanas tank having what appears to be a serious discussion, and I have nothing else to do, so I might as well invade her privacy a little more.
I wander down the entryway and around the corner to what appears to be an office and a bathroom. The office has posters and drawings hanging all over it. Some of them I recognise as being famous, most I don’t…quite a few are incredibly risque, and I can’t help my grin looking at some of the sketches.
Looks like we got a kinky one, awesome.
There are more bookshelves in here, loaded down with sketchbooks, so I guess she draws as well. Pulling one off the shelf I open it and flip through it…and close it, quietly putting it back on the shelf. I can feel all the blood in my face, as I leave the room, and walk back to the living room to sit quietly on the couch and not bother anyone. That was… jarring to say the least.
There were so many dicks, just on that one page…it was like a page of dicks. I don’t mind dicks, I mean, I have one, and I certainly enjoy Jacks’. But I have to wonder why I just opened a book filled with them. I know omegas are supposed to have a high libido, but that seems excessive. Does she draw them? Are those from previous lovers? I feel like I should ask, but at the same time I am a little terrified to do so, as some of them didn’t look human at all.
So here I sit, on the couch, trying not to think about those books and wonder exactly what we are getting into. Should I tell Gabe and Leo? I think they might want to know because some of those were really disturbing. I don’t even hear her door open or realize everything has gone quiet until she sits on the couch beside me.
Should I ask? If we are planning on courting her, isn’t this important information? I just can’t wrap my head around how to ask and I must look like I have something going on in my mind, because Jacks comes over and pokes me in the back of the head with his spatula. He’s finally finished cooking, and the counters are covered in food…I don’t know who all he was planning to feed, but I’m fairly certain it is more than the five of us could eat in a day.
He piles two plates high, one with a stack of super fluffy pancakes, and the other with a generous helping of bacon and eggs. He brings them over and sets them on the coffee table in front of the omega, then goes back for a glass of water and one of orange juice, syrup, grape jelly, strawberry jam, and apple butter. The omega’s fridge has got to be empty at this point. He sits down, pulls her into his lap and starts to offer her bites of bacon.
She squirms a little at first, but eventually gives in and eats what he’s offering, and his purr starts back up, vibrating the whole couch. Getting up, I wander over to the kitchen. There’s a fancy coffee maker, but only a canister of decaf on the counter.
What the hell? It’ll have to do. I grab a couple pieces of bacon, roll them in a pancake and start eating while my coffee brews .
Gabe’s sitting at the far end of the couch and he looks about ready to settle in for some sort of serious negotiations. “So, we noticed your office when we came in. What do you do for a living Candice?”
She doesn't get a chance to answer, because that is when I inhale the bacon roll-up I was chewing.
Thank fuck Leo knows the Heimlich .