Curvy Dirty Omega (You Think You're Slick? #1)
1. Lucy
CHAPTER 1
Lucy
More often than not, my days started with blood and murder.
You’d think I’d be used to it by now considering I was the daughter of a serial killer.
A serial killer who was also an omega .
But for some reason today started with rain as if hoping to give me a fresh start – washing away the tacky sensation left on my skin from the nightmares that always haunted me. It had been a day just like this when I’d been forced to say goodbye to that boy.
Looking up at the dark sky, it was strange to think most people didn’t feel the same way I did about rainy days. They always lamented the overcast sky and the lack of sunshine or warmth, but for me…
It evoked the same feeling as a cozy, safe nest with a cup of steaming tea and a good book as I occasionally looked up to see rain dripping down the glass – the soothing pitter-patter in the background.
Not that I’ve ever had a safe nest to snuggle in, but I imagined that it would look and feel a bit like that – an entire room dedicated to soft sounds and comfort with only the smells and sounds I chose to allow into the space.
Oranges. The rain always reminded me of oranges.
That subtle scent of citrus always lingered in the back of my mind, one I could never put to a name or face, but it was reminiscent me of the perfect sweet orange – tart and juicy, washing away the taste of everything else.
Except this powerful scent was tempered by something almost sweet, and for whatever reason, rainy days always brought the memory of that lingering scent to the forefront of my mind.
Haunting me.
Tipping my head back, I took a deep breath and let the cool water tickle my face and run down my neck. My exhale left a small cloud in the air and, for a moment, I allowed myself to wish for something I could never have.
All I needed was his name, because I’d never remember his face. I sighed, knowing it didn’t really matter, and trying not to be bothered I didn’t know his real name always put me in a bad mood.
Usually my memory was damn near photographic, but when it came to names and faces, I was a total mess.
Face blindness they called it.
If two people looked too similar, I couldn’t easily tell them apart. If they had a mustache and then shaved it off one day, I wouldn’t recognize them until they reminded me where I knew them from.
A hair color change? Totally new person.
But when it came to someone’s scent and voice, I could pick them out of a crowd full of millions of people. There was just something about the sound of their voice that stuck with me…the way the vibrations through the air tickled my skin.
And each scent was unique. My nose was better than most omegas – hell, even most alphas. Had to be, I supposed, when I had such a hard time recognizing someone if they suddenly weren’t wearing glasses anymore.
The only downside to my nose was that most people wore scent blockers in the city. It was considered the norm and polite in a place where so many people were pressed so closely together. Too many overlapping smells could make me sick, so I appreciated it, but some days I just wanted to be surrounded by the perfect mingling of scents.
Days like today.
“Lucy! You’re going to catch a cold, standing in the rain like this,” Frankie scolded, opening a massive umbrella the second she walked through the café doors to join me on the street. “Why didn’t you wait for me inside?”
The umbrella was now blocking the stormy sky, but I didn’t stop looking up, as if I could see through it – each shade of grey and white as clear as crystal in my mind. It was easy to remember the soft pattern they made, unlike the name of the boy who always filled my thoughts on days like these.
It had been a day just like this when we’d been forced to say goodbye.
Taking a deep breath, I let Frankie tsk at me over my wet hair as she tried to pat it dry. She was always taking care of me, and she was the only person allowed to. No other alpha had the privilege of getting this close to me.
What was the point?
I wasn’t considered conventionally attractive thanks to being way over the average height for omegas. Nothing about me was soft except maybe my curves, and even those were an illusion. Working out with Frankie five days a week made sure I was more than capable of doing my job.
Becoming a private detective wasn’t all that strange, but an omega detective who worked in the field instead of behind a desk? People hated it.
Society had progressed in regard to the preconceived ideas that omegas couldn’t be more than extremely submissive, barefoot and pregnant, but we still had a long way to go.
The police academy had consistently refused my application despite being at the top of my class when I’d graduated with my master’s degree in criminal psychology. Even being the valedictorian hadn’t been enough.
So, I’d gone private when Frankie had convinced me to apply to her agency.
How that girl had gotten the CEO of the Genesis Private Detective Agency to hire me, I’d never know.
I gently pushed Frankie’s hand away from my hair, brushing my wrist against hers so she’d know I wasn’t upset or angry. Our platonic bond swirled around us when her scent marked my wrist, strengthening the bond even further.
Frankie was my knight in shining armor, and I was her weird omega who didn’t have all the traits I was supposed to have. But Frankie didn’t care, and with her alpha scent lingering on my skin, most other alphas left me alone.
We were both too broken for anyone else.
This kind of platonic relationship between an alpha and an omega was rare, but we needed it just as much as we needed air. Trusting others…
Neither of us wanted to make that mistake again.
“I take it we got the call?”
“We did.” Frankie grinned and flicked one of my magic-eight-ball earrings. “How did you know?”
“We closed the most cases last month,” I reminded her, reaching up to stop the swinging of my earring. “And there’s no one else who’s solved more murders than us.”
“So cocky,” Frankie teased, linking her arm through mine. “I’ve known you forever and every once in a while it still shocks me how often you’re right.”
Smiling slightly, I looked down at my feet as Frankie led me down the street, my eyes on the pink axolotls and cherry blossoms against the black canvas of my high-top Converse. The splishing and splashing of my shoes through the puddles on the sidewalk was a soothing sound as I tried to ignore the old anxiety.
Being able to read patterns and remember the smallest details was what made me so damn good at my job, but people didn’t always appreciate my ability to predict an outcome based on previous experiences with similar patterns.
I’ve even been accused of committing the crime, because how else could I have known so many details? How could my predictions be so accurate without any physical evidence? It was annoying how stupid so many people could be, but I was used to it now.
Learning the hard way that most people didn’t think the way I did was why I kept most of my predictions and theories to myself. Only Frankie was safe enough to confess them to.
No one else.
She would never abandon me just because she didn’t like my opinions or predictions. She would never ghost me for my bluntness and matter-of-fact tone…all the things that made everyone else call me a bitch.
No other insult pissed me off quite as much as that one.
But as long as I had Frankie by my side, I didn’t have to worry about shit. She was a very good alpha. Overprotective, and stronger than she had any right to be. I’m pretty sure they called her type a ‘muscle mommy’ these days.
She was the pack mother I never had.
Frankie tossed her long red hair over her shoulder as she effortlessly led me through the city. “Can you believe someone killed the heir of Valor Enterprises last night?”
Honestly, no.
It had been a messy, public murder. The mangled body of the heir had been found in his office around midnight by the janitor. Such a high-profile, legacy alpha getting murdered like that? I hadn’t thought there was anyone strong enough, or stupid enough, to murder Gideon Valor .
Which narrowed the list of suspects to mostly alphas and dominant betas, if the rumors of what the body had looked like were true.
There was no shortage of motives when it came to a person like Gideon Valor. Not only was he the heir of Valor Enterprises, but he was also the eldest son of the next generation of the Valor pack – a bloodline well known for their legacy alphas.
Keeping my eyes on the ground, I picked up the pace when Frankie did, jogging to jaywalk across the street.
After Frankie had basically adopted me when we were freshmen in high school, she’d made a point to learn exactly what I needed to thrive. Her motherly instincts paired with her alpha instincts made her insufferable for most people, but I didn’t mind it. I actually liked that about her, and it was probably the only thing about me that was a desired omega trait.
Frankie was the only pack I had.
No one would have ever guessed we’d get along, not after her father had put mine away for multiple murders, but she’d taken one look at me in that courtroom and crossed the aisle to wrap her arms around me. Somehow, she’d sensed my growing panic the moment I realized a room full of adult strangers were staring at me.
The daughter of an omega serial killer.
Betrayal was a bitter taste on the back of my tongue, even now. It still infuriated me I hadn’t noticed – that I hadn’t seen any signs. I should have figured it out sooner, but he’d known me so well.
Frankie had perfumed the day my father was taken away to prison for life. It was way too early considering her age, but her body had recognized my faint omega scent and reacted so that the strong scent of alpha erased all the other scents in the courtroom with hers to ease my panic.
Citrusy, just like that boy’s, but different. He’d been more like sweet oranges, and she was all tangerines with the underlying note of lavender, accented with cinnamon .
I couldn’t help but wonder what that boy’s scent had evolved into. Would it be sweeter like hers, or sharper?
Based on his personality…
Honestly, I shouldn’t try to guess. Knowing my luck, that boy was probably a murderer now too.