4. Lainey
Three months later…
“I swear to god, Pose. If I have to smell one more case of B.O…” I trail off, fighting desperately to hold back a gag as I think about the particularly rancid scent of the alpha standing in line in front of me at the campus coffee shop this morning.
Posey looks up from arranging her desk with a concerned frown. “Lainey, you haven’t been feeling well for weeks now. Do you think maybe it’s time to see a doctor?”
My head shakes, the thought sending anxiety skittering down my spine. When my mom closed our store last fall, just a couple of short weeks after informing me of the sale, I lost my health insurance. And in her words, “I’m legally an adult now, so I should figure it out myself.”
Meaning I still don’t have health insurance. There aren’t a ton of options for unbonded omegas out there, unless I want to live at an Omega Care Center and be subjected to weekly mixers where hundreds of plucky hopeful omegas wait with bated breath to find their perfect pack.
Gag me with a spoon .
“I’m fine, Posey. It’s just stress. Between the store closing, moving into the dorm, my god-awful roommate… it’s just been a lot and my omega isn’t handling it well.”
Her expression drops into a sympathetic grimace. “I’m sorry. Are you sure you don’t want to move into my old apartment? It’s empty now and I think?—”
I cut her off, slicing a hand through the air. “Thank you, but no. You literally met your scent matched pack because the building has such poor ventilation that they could scent you through the vents. And I think the last thing either of us needs is my scent all over yours and your packs stuff.”
She pouts, but she knows I’m right. Posey met her pack shortly after I met her and their courtship was a whirlwind.
My best friend being packed up so soon into our college career might have made me sad, but she didn’t just bond into any pack, she bonded into my half brother’s pack.
Which means for all intents and purposes, Posey Hale is my new sister and I couldn’t be more thrilled with that plot twist.
The door to our first class of the day swings open and brings with it a wash of potent onion scent.
My hand flies up to cover my mouth and nose, but it’s not enough.
I spring out of my seat and practically dive out of the classroom, beelining to the nearest bathroom.
Luckily this building is small and only used for a couple of classrooms, so the restroom is blessedly empty.
I flick the tap on as cold as it will go and thrust my wrists under the freezing water as I take deep breaths, trying desperately not to hurl.
The door crashes open behind me, admitting a wide eyed Posey. “What happened?”
I shake my head, mouth filling with saliva as I recall the stench coming off that beta in waves. “You didn’t smell that guy?” I mutter the question through the corner of my mouth. My teeth dig into the flesh of my cheek in a bid to distract my mind from the churning sensation in my stomach.
Posey shakes her head slowly, confusion etched onto her features. “He was a beta. I couldn’t have scented him unless he was right next to us. How did you…” Something dawns across her expression, and I watch as confusion drops into concern. “Lainey… when was the last time you had your cycle?”
It takes longer than I care to admit to understand her question, and when I finally do, I lose the battle with my stomach and throw myself down in front of the toilet just in time for the meager coffee and muffin I ate before class to make a reappearance.
Blinking watery eyes up at my best friend, I swallow hard.
“My cycle has always been irregular, and I take suppressants to stop my heats.”
She crouches down next to me with a wet wipe she produces from who knows where. I take it gratefully and wipe my mouth, knowing there’s nothing that can be done about my breath at the moment. “When was your last cycle, Lainey?”
“Before fall term,” I whisper.
Posey sucks in a sharp breath, pulling out her phone. I space out as she dials someone, most likely one of her alphas, but I’m aware enough to catch the words “hurry” and “bathroom”.
What feels like hours, but is probably only fifteen minutes later, there’s a tentative knock on the door. “Everybody decent?” A soft voice calls.
I heave a sigh of relief when I realize it’s Posey’s alpha Paxton and not my brother, Jude.
The last thing I need right now is my older brother going all alpha and threatening violence on every man who’s ever touched me.
Not that I think he would do that, but, well.
I don’t really know. We’ve become closer since Jude bonded Posey, but not that close.
Paxton sighs when he walks in and finds us huddled on the floor next to the toilet.
I’m not sure when Posey joined me on the floor, but I’m eternally grateful to have her at my side.
“Alright you two. I bought five different brands, a plastic cup, hand sanitizer, mouthwash, ginger candies, and some lollipops that claim to be good for nausea.” He hands Posey the bag and places a soft kiss on her forehead before bending at the waist to meet my eyes.
Paxton is the gentlest of Posey’s alphas, and he has always been kind to me. “How are you doing?”
I shrug, not sure I have the energy for much more than that yet. He just nods in understanding. “I have to get to class, but Mack and Parker are just outside if you need them, okay?” This he aims at Posey, and she nods.
As soon as the door closes, Posey flips the lock and hauls me up with a determined look.
She starts ripping plastic off boxes and carefully reads the instructions on each different test, handing them to me as she does.
On any other day I might feel weird about peeing in a cup in front of my friend, but I think I’m too in shock to care.
The test wait times vary from three to five minutes, so we set a timer for five and decide to wait it out and read them all at once. Those minutes go by way too fast and not fast enough all at once, and before I know it Posey’s phone dings.
“Alright,” she turns to me. “You ready?”
I shake my head, nausea rearing up again, but grab a test anyway.
Taking a deep breath, I flip it. My brain refuses to accept what my eyes are seeing, so I flip the next one.
And the next, and the next. As soon as the last one is facing up, mocking me with its shiny little plus sign, my knees give out and I drop to the floor as tears stream down my cheeks.
“Lainey!” Posey cries, dropping to her knees next to me. The door crashes open seconds later, admitting two very large, very panicked alphas.
“What the fuck happened?” Parker barks. He’s Paxton’s identical twin in everything but attitude. Where Paxton is kind and gentle, Parker can be abrasive and doesn’t really like anyone outside of his pack. Well, and me I guess.
“Hush! You’ll scare Lainey,” Mack shushes his pack mate.
His eyes have strayed to the multitude of positive pregnancy tests lined up on the bathroom counter, so he isn’t even looking at Parker as he issues the command.
McKenzie Madden is our school’s star pitcher for the baseball team and absolutely massive at over six and a half feet tall, but he’s all marshmallow.
He’s probably the alpha I get along with best in Posey’s pack, so I know what he’s going to say before he even says it. “Who do we need to kill?”
That finally knocks me out of my stupor, and I snort a laugh that quickly turns into a hiccuped sob. “What am I going to do? I don’t even know…”
“Ball boy?” Posey asks quietly.
I nod, sniffling. “Ball boy.” Of course I told my best friend about my night with the football player, but what I didn’t tell her is that I still dream about him every night despite going out of my way to avoid the jock spaces on campus.
Something about his scent hooked my omega that night, and despite my best efforts, I haven’t been able to get him off my mind.
“What’s ball boy?” Mack asks.
Posey pats his chest, not batting an eye at his nosiness because that’s just who he is, but she still looks to me for permission to explain.
I nod faintly, my energy having been zapped for the day.
“Our Lainey had a one night stand at the beginning of fall term and all we know is that he is an alpha, probably a football player, and according to Lainey, stupid hot.”
Parker growls, probably hating that his omega called another alpha hot, but we all ignore him.
Mack tilts his head. “And you didn’t get his name?”
I shake my head. “He has a bunch of tattoos that include lightning bolts on either side of his lower abdomen, that’s all I know for sure.”
Mack and Parker glance to each other, suspicion lining their features before Mack shrugs. “I can ask around for you if you want? Obviously I won’t say why, but maybe we can find this guy.”
My own eyes widen. “What?” I screech. “Why would we try to find him?” The question is hysterical, but the thought of this guy thinking I’m lying or worse, trying to baby trap him, makes me want to puke all over my friends.
“Are you keeping it?” Parker asks bluntly.
I find myself nodding without conscious thought. I am all for women having the freedom to choose, but I’ve known about this baby for ten minutes and I am already attached.
“Then hon, he deserves to know, doesn’t he? Even if he wants nothing to do with this baby, doesn’t he deserve the choice?” Posey asks carefully.
Well, when she puts it like that. “I feel like an asshole for not thinking of how he might feel.”
Posey just smiles and offers me a sideways hug. “Take a few days to process, and then we’ll do what we can to try and find ball boy, alright?”
Taking a deep breath, I place my hand on my stomach and nod, bracing myself for whatever comes next. “Alright.”