Chapter 20
Nadia
This wasn’t what I wanted.
I didn’t say that on the drive over to Crowe Corp. If I was nervous last time I stepped into the elevator, I felt flat, numb, now. Couldn’t blame that on the hangover though, could I?
“It’ll be OK.” Tex settled against the back of the lift, almost close enough to touch. “Everything will be alright. I’ll make sure of it.”
But how could he be so sure? I wanted to ask that, say a whole bunch of things, but instead I went very quiet and very still.
There was a tension in me, coiling tighter and tighter as the floor numbers flashed past, preparing my body to fight or flee, but I did neither.
I waited for the doors to open and then walked into the office of the people that knew a lot more about what was happening than I did.
But I didn’t want to be here.
There was no way I could say that out loud. These very nice, highly regarded scientists had come into work on their weekend to help me, so instead, I sat down in a chair, arranging my hands in my lap.
“Hi.” The red-haired woman was using the soft tone used to soothe children. “I’m Riley.” Her hand went to her chest, then gestured to the much shorter woman next to her. “This is Candy. We’re the geneticists that work for Crowe Corp.”
“You’ve gotta be shitting your pants right now,” Candy said.
I blinked, frowned slightly, and then stared at her.
Was I that transparent? Could she hear the rapid beat of my heart that was drowning out almost all other sounds?
“It’s OK. We’ve dealt with plenty of latent omegas before.
We’ll get some testing done, design a custom treatment for you, and then you’ll be back in the arms of those alphas pacing around in the waiting room for some knotty fun. ”
“Testing.” A lazy morning of watching TV, some painkillers and sexy times had pretty much sorted my hangover, but my hands went to my temples now.
Rubbing small circles there just seemed to make everything hurt more.
Needles and scans and machines that go ping.
I didn’t want them either. “So you might discover I’m not an omega after all.
Tex…” My fingers curled tight. “Tex might be wrong. I might not his mate.”
I didn’t know how I felt about that.
“An alpha’s response to their mate is the test.” Riley came to sit on the edge of her desk and shot me an apologetic look. “They know. We think it could be a complex combination of olfactory, psychological, and physiological instincts coming into—”
“Ah, Riles?” Candy said. “I’m not sure if Nadia is up for a Cliff Notes version of what we do here.” She turned to me. “But I can tell you this. There’s only been one pack that’s come through here that claimed a beta as their mate.”
“So it is possible.” Yes, that, I wanted that, and at that thought, something shifted inside me. Like the need to pace back and forth, but… more. “I could be a beta and—”
“The beta in question,” Riley said. “They love her because she’s a beta, not despite that fact. She’s never felt like she was anything else to her pack.”
“Right.”
My body fell back, pressing hard against the foam of the office chair. Fingers raked down my thighs, leaving lines in the sweatpants’ material, until something snagged. I turned my hand, staring at my fingers, just in time to see my nails… change?
I definitely did not want that to happen.
“OK, if we needed any extra evidence that you’re an omega, we’ve got it.
” Candy tried for pleasant, but failed, going very pale.
“How about we do some breathing exercises?” She sucked in a breath theatrically, nodding to me to do the same, but her breath went in and out faster and faster.
“Nope, that’s just hyperventilating. Don’t do that. ”
“Nadia.” Riley’s tone changed then, becoming far deeper.
A growl. She leaned over and suddenly the tension in my body shifted.
It was like someone, something else, was in charge and it was ready for a fight, if that’s what this woman wanted.
“You’re OK. We will keep you safe here. I’m a latent too.
” Her eyes had turned perfect silver right now and somehow that was mesmerising.
“I tested all the protocols on myself first. With our help, you’ll be able to find your wolf, complete your first shift, and if you want to claim your mates… ”
I... reached for an answer and couldn’t find one.
Surely there should be some sort of instinct kicking in, telling me that the guys were the ones I wanted to spend the rest of my life with?
Instead, I just felt a tight snarl of emotion sitting heavy in my gut.
Seconds ticked by. Everyone was staring, obviously needing some sort of indication of how to proceed, but while the need to answer was pressing me hard, my throat worked, and nothing came out.
While I struggled to use my words, he didn’t.
The sound of shouting in the hallway got louder and louder.
We all saw the blurry shapes of people storming past the privacy glass, right before the doorknob was tried, then the door was kicked open.
Tex, that was my first thought, and why did that idea ease some of the tension inside me?
Imagine my surprise to see Grey standing there.
Ethan and Tex were at his back, but he was the one gripping the doorframes.
The sound of claws dragging through the metal filled the air, right before he launched himself at me.
“My mate,” he growled, the declaration echoing around the room, right before he picked me up and held me close to his chest. “Mine to keep safe.” His nose was buried in my hair and he took a deep breath in.
“Mine to see through your first shift.” With a scowl, he surveyed the room, but that expression softened slightly when Tex drew closer. “Mine to protect.”
“Ours.” Tex grabbed my hand. “How we doing, omega? You want out of here? We’ll make that happen, because we can work shit out.”
“Sorry.” The men that had been introduced as Riley’s mates appeared in the doorway. “We gave the guys the run down and Grey’s wolf had thoughts about that.”
“It’s OK.” Riley regarded the room with a small smile. “Emotions have to be running high.”
Was that what this was? The ringing in my ears, the strange thrum of tension and the way my entire awareness was centred on all the points where my body pressed against Grey’s. My hand twitched, then moved more deliberately, sliding across his powerful lat to draw small circles there.
“Or you can’t.” Ethan swallowed and then shook his head. “I’ve been through a partial shift and I… I wouldn’t wish that shit on my worst fucking enemy.”
“Nadia.” The one Riley had called Colt stepped forward. “You’re the omega, so you’re in charge of what happens here. The omega always chooses, and if you just want to pursue medical treatment on your own, we’ll make that happen.”
Why was everyone asking me all of these big fucking questions?
I woke up with the capacity to choose a TV show and that’s about it, but as I turned to face Tex and Grey, some strange instinct had me moving.
Good men’s aftershave was always a turn on for me, so perhaps that’s why my head quested forward, nostrils flaring as I breathed Grey in.
Spicy, woody, it made my nose tingle and saliva fill my mouth as I drew closer.
This was insanely intimate, especially as the man had made clear he didn’t want to be touched.
So why did he let out a low rumble of satisfaction as my nose trailed along his neck?
“Goddess…” I hissed. “You smell edible.”
“Both of us?” Tex grinned, but there was something vulnerable in his eyes. My hand shot out, hauling him in closer as I closed my eyes and breathed him in too. Piney with an edge of sweetness to it, it was a lighter, head clearing scent. I let out a little sigh of pleasure.
Only to open my eyes and see everyone in the room was watching.
“Yep,” I replied, even as my cheeks burned bright red. With a pat on Grey’s arm, he set me down, if grudgingly so. “I…”
It felt like my head was filled with cotton wool and all of these people were demanding I make a really important decision. My hands turned over and over in front of me, but my nails looked reassuringly normal now.
“I just want to get back to my life. Things were getting better, and I was…” Staring at the grey carpet, I had a realisation.
“Starting to get better at asking for what I want.” Squaring my shoulders, I nodded.
“I don’t know if I want to shift ever. I’ve never felt like I had a wolf…
” My voice trailed away as I felt that weird sensation again.
Like I needed to move my feet or something within was doing just that.
With a shake of my head, I turned towards the guys, because they were the ones that needed to hear this.
“I’m hungover and tired and just want a big greasy burger and a nap right now.
” Small snorts of amusement went up around the room.
“We were having fun. I want more of that. Can’t I have that? ”
“What do we have to do to keep Nadia safe, doc?” Tex said, looking over my head at the others. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
“If I was going through this when I was still a latent.” I turned to see that Riley was talking to me. “Then I’d sign up for inpatient care.”
“What…?” I breathed.
“We have amazing facilities here,” Candy said. “It’s like a five-star hotel. Hot tubs and big comfy beds and awesome food. I tried to persuade Riley that I was a latent once, just so I could crash out in one of the suites.”
“There’s nothing latent about you,” Riley said, her eyes narrowing as she stared her colleague down. “You’re completely overt in every way.”
“But work…? My place…?” As my vision went out of focus, my mind raced. “Maybe I could get clearance to work from home?”
“We’d be happy to talk to your employer and provide the necessary paperwork to make that happen.”
It felt like discussions were held around me, not with me, as I sank down into a chair. Wolf, omega—
“Hey.” I looked up as Tex dragged a chair over to my side and then he took my hand in his.
That warmth, those calluses, that strength allowed me to let a big breath out.
“I know this isn’t what you wanted. It sure as shit isn’t what I had planned.
Before…” His lips twitched. “I had it all rehearsed inside my head, ready to tell you.”
A thumb brushed across my knuckles.
“What were you going to say?” I asked in a low voice only we could hear.
“That the moment you walked into that office, my body was set alight and I’d never craved anything like that burn.
” His eyes studied my face as if he was seeing it for the first time.
“When you touched me, my heart tried to beat its way out of my chest to get to you. Nothing felt as right as when my lips touched yours. Then…”
That boyish flush had me smiling despite the apparent life or death scenario.
“Everything else that happened was pretty bloody amazing. When you left, I should’ve followed. Would’ve, if I hadn’t started arguing with Grey. Not being able to find you.” His fingers gripped mine. “That damn near killed me. I was about to grab Brendan and shake your contact details out of him.”
“That wouldn’t have gone well,” I replied with a wry smile.
“You said you have difficulty asking for what you want?” he asked. “Well, ask me. Whatever you need here, whatever you want, I’ll make it happen.”
Huh. No one had ever said that to me before. My smile was kinda tentative, but why? One look into his eyes and I could see Tex was sincere.
“OK.” Hearing the room go quiet in response to my voice was freaking weird and what was that growly note to it? “I’ll stay here, but if I’m going to go on a journey to find my inner wolf, I wouldn’t mind some company.”
“You got it,” Tex said, cradling my hand against his chest.
“A suite for four...” Candy was tapping something on her screen. “Got it. There’s a nice, private one right down the end.”
“Three,” Ethan corrected. He shot me a wary smile.
“I’ll grab some stuff from home for Grey and Tex, and I can do the same for you, Nadia.
If there’s any way I can help…?” His voice trailed away as his smile disappeared.
“But you need to spend time with your mates, work out whether or not you want to bond with these idiots.”
“Ethan—” One of Riley’s alpha’s rumbled.
“If there’s anything you need, you’ve got my number.”
Just not his presence, it appeared. As he headed for the door, I nodded to myself.
“So, if you want to come this way?”
No, I didn’t want that at all, but I got up and followed Riley and Candy out of the office and down the hallway to my new temporary home.