Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Brooks
A soft tap on my shoulder startles me from the zoned-out headspace I was in and I jump, nearly dropping the electric trimmer. I look down into the biggest brown eyes I’ve ever seen, and my alpha thumps a mighty beat in my chest.
It’s the omega I glimpsed the other day.
I rush to turn off the trimmer and shove down my noise cancelling headphones so they’re around my neck, then turn to face her.
And holy shit.
She’s… my scent-match?
I suck in a breath and my entire body bows toward her, curving over her petite form as I inhale her floral essence.
“Omega,” I whisper, my hand reaching for her before I realize what I’m doing.
She takes a startled step back, dropping her eyes to the ground and ripping me out of whatever hypnosis she had put on me. I blink to clear my head, then notice she’s holding out a mug of coffee.
Her hands are shaking so badly that it’s spilling over the edges, and I throw my trimmer down so I can take the hot mug from her. Is she burned?
“Are you hurt?” I ask, taking one of her hands in mine.
She flinches at my touch, and I pull back, alarmed.
I try to hunch down, dropping to one knee before her, but there’s no getting around how much bigger than her I am.
Her eyes dart around, and her scent keep spiking.
It fluctuates between overpowering lavender and the bitter, soapy floral I noticed last time.
I can’t figure out what it means; I haven’t had much experience with omegas.
“Omega?” I try again, this time crouching down so I’m closer to her level.
She glances up, big eyes offering me a glimpse into a soul I want to know, before looking away again. Does she not speak? It’s okay if she doesn’t, but I’d like to figure out how to communicate with her if that’s the case.
Her eyes keep drifting to the front door, and I don’t know if it’s because she wants to leave, or if maybe it’s as I suspected before, and the alpha she lives with isn’t a good man.
I lean slightly away, wanting to give her space, to ensure she doesn’t feel crowded or unsafe, but her body follows. She sways toward me, wavy hair and flowing skirt drifting into me on a slight breeze, and my alpha rumbles approval in my chest, causing her to look up at me again.
“My name is Brooks.”
Her eyes dart to my mouth when I speak this time. I try to make my voice soft, while seeming as non-threatening as I can. I know my size can be intimidating, and the last thing I want to do is scare this woman who already seems terrified.
And yet…
I hold up the mug of coffee. “Is this for me?”
Her brows furrow and she stares at my lips for a moment, before her eyes travel to the mug. Then she nods, and speaks so quietly I have to strain to hear.
“Yes, alpha. It’s for you.”
Her voice is melodic, so soft. I could listen to it all day, and yet I get the sense she doesn’t use it often.
“Thank you.”
She jerks her head once, hair rippling with the movement, then glances at the door again.
I’m not a huge coffee person, but I don’t want her kindness to go to waste. Plus, I’m glad it brought her out here to me. I might have never known, otherwise. I eye her as I take a sip, trying not to grimace at the bitter black flavor.
Then I notice her hands. She’s fidgeting, her fingers picking at the skin around her cuticles, and one has started bleeding. She doesn’t seem to have realized, though.
I slowly reach out, ensuring she sees my hand before I make contact. She freezes when she notices, and her eyes track my fingers until they gently close around hers.
“You’re hurting yourself,” I whisper.
Her throat bobs with a harsh swallow, then she looks up at me again, this time with confusion swimming in her eyes. She shrugs one shoulder, the white of her clothing making her skin look sallow, but doesn’t move her hands from mine despite her gaze darting around the yard.
“Is this okay?” I ask, tapping one finger against her hand.
She nods again, and my alpha starts to vibrate in my chest. Something is off.
“What’s your name?” I’m desperate to hear her voice again, to know even one thing about her.
“Sage,” she says, a regular whisper this time, easier for me to hear.
“Sage,” I say, practically purring it as her name resonates in my heart.
My alpha wants to flex his dominance, show her how strong we are, but I don’t think that’s the right call. I have a feeling that would send her running, and the last thing I want is to scare her away.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Sage.”
“Omega!” A harsh voice yells from inside the house.
Sage’s eyes flare so wide I can see white all the way around, and she jerks her hand out of mine.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, quickly backing away from me.
My alpha wants to roar his displeasure, but I hold it in, remaining on my knee so she can see I’m not a threat to her. The front door flies open, banging off the wall as a different man from last time comes storming out.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he yells, and I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or her.
Sage turns away from me and rushes back to the porch, her head down and shoulders hunched. I set the coffee down and straighten to my full height, trying to rein in the instinctive response to snatch her back to me.
She might be my scent-match, but that doesn’t mean she’s mine. I should have asked if she was bonded to these alphas.
The man steps to the side and glares at Sage, murmuring a threat I barely catch as she slips by him. “I’ll be dealing with you later.”
Then he slams the door behind him and stomps over to me.
“You fucking asshole, who do you think you are?”
He’s yelling loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, so I hold my hands up in a sign of surrender, even as I bristle at the affront.
I can sense my alpha is stronger than his, but I’ve never been one to play the dominance game.
This is the first time I’ve been tempted to, but I don’t have the whole story.
I don’t know her, or anything about this situation at all.
“Hey man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
He’s not deterred, and his face starts to turn red as he continues to yell profanities. “Get the fuck off my property. You don’t come near my omega. I don’t ever want to see your face again!”
“Sure, no problem.” I bend down to pick up my tools, keeping one eye on him as I grab my things.
He’s muttering, although not very quietly, so it’s easy for me to hear what he says as he stomps back to the porch. “Fucking omega slut. Locking her in the nest the rest of the day. Can’t do one simple thing right.”
Then he’s inside, and the front door slams closed.
My body is frozen at what I think I heard. Locking her in? An omega’s nest is a safe space, though. So she’ll be okay in there. It’s probably where she’d want to be anyway, even if she is locked in.
A flash of white draws my eye to a window on the second floor. Sage is there, brown eyes wide and stricken, shoulders hunched up to her ears as she huddles in the corner of the window looking down at the disaster below.
I can hear him yelling inside the house, then a second angry male voice joins in. I look up at her, trying to convey with my eyes alone how sorry I am, but she steps back and disappears from view. I force myself to turn away and take one step, then another.
My alpha is howling in protest, raging against this decision, but I have no right to be here.
There’s nothing I can do.
I’ve been thinking about it all day—thinking about her all day. It doesn’t feel right, her being there with those two alphas. I don’t know what the right move is, but I can’t get her out of my head.
I’ve never been drawn to someone like this before, but I want to get to know her. It feels more like a need at this point than a want: to know what makes her smile, her passions and hobbies, her fears and worries. I want the good and the bad, but most of all, I want to ensure she’s alright.
I keep an eye out for her as I’m working in the neighborhood the next couple days, hoping for a glimpse as I drive by, but she’s nowhere to be seen. I’m becoming a restless ball of agitation, when finally on the third day, I feel a pair of eyes on me.
I’m mowing a side lawn, mostly hidden from view by a line of trees and shrubbery, when prickles along the back of my neck put my alpha on alert. I slowly tip my head, angling it to the side so I can look around, and that’s when I spot her.
She’s across the street, frozen, staring at me with an expression tinged with fear and… longing? My heart thumps and I release the push-mower, automatically turning it off as the handle drops. The sound cuts off, a sharp silence descending as I glance up and down the road for her alphas.
She’s alone.
I take one step forward, but she responds by stepping back. My brows pinch, and I hold my hands out to the sides, placating.
Pleading.
She bites her lip, her fingers twist together, but then she glances up and down the street before hurrying across it.
She stops on the sidewalk about twenty feet in front of me, and I don’t dare get too close.
I don’t want any hint of my scent on her for fear of what her alphas might do, nor do I want to make her uncomfortable.
But I do have something for her.
I hold up one finger for her to wait, and she gives a jerky, confused nod. Her eyes are constantly moving, searching her surroundings, and it reaffirms my suspicions.
I pull a small bundle out of my pocket and hold it up until her eyes drift back to me, then I walk over to the tree line and place the two items on the ground.
I nod, angling my head as I back away, then gesture for her to move forward. She eyes me, brows drawn together, but then scurries over to the package. She unfolds the paper, leaving it there, and pulls out the cheap cell phone and charger.
My heart is pounding, my alpha frozen in my chest as I wait to see if she’ll accept my gift. If she’ll recognize it for what it is.
Sage looks from the phone to me, then her lips form words slowly. I can’t hear her, but it’s easy enough to read what she says.
“For me?”
I nod, point, and mouth the reply, “For you.”
She looks back down and bites her lip, contemplating for a moment. I wonder what she’s thinking, when she walks into the trees and gestures for me to turn around. I do so, of course, but I’m only becoming more confused by the second.
When I hear a soft “Okay,” behind me, I turn to see the phone and charger have disappeared. She pats the waistband of her pale yellow skirt with a delicate hand, her lips barely twitching up for just a moment.
She was hiding it. Smart omega, I hadn’t thought about that. I let out a relieved breath knowing I have a way of contacting her now, of checking in on her and, if she’ll allow it, get to know her.
Sage gnaws on her lip, then suddenly turns and walks a few steps down the street. I force my face to remain neutral, not letting the disappointed frown show, and I’m glad of it when she twirls around for a brief moment to send me a tiny wave.
I smile at her and wave back, then she disappears down the road, and I return to my work.