Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kara
The side eye I kept getting from my sister as I sat next to her working on a quilt was making me anxious. It didn’t help that I couldn’t bring myself to shower and wash off their scents.
When Jonathan had gotten a text from Kayla saying it was okay for me to go back, he and Anya had walked me home. They had been incredibly nice the few hours I was at their place. I could see why the pack had them as betas.
“So...” Kayla took a straight pin out of the pin cushion wrapped around her wrist and pinned two pieces of fabric together. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I needed to, but what if she called our parents or OPS? Kayla wasn’t a traditional omega, but even she knew when there had to be boundaries, and I’d crossed them all. When it came to my safety, she’d do what she needed to protect me, just like I would for her.
“Do you still have your suppressants?” I slid the rotary cutter down the side of the acrylic ruler. It was therapeutic making quilts, and I could see why my sister was making it a career.
The only career trajectory I had was being an omega.
“I do. Why?” She grabbed the piece of fabric I’d just cut so she could pin it to another. “Where are yours?”
“Consumed by N’Pact’s dog.” I bit my lip, hoping the dog was all right. I didn’t even have any of the guys’ phone numbers to text them and make sure. “Can I get their phone numbers?”
Kayla turned in her chair, tucking a leg under her. “Kara. What happened? You smell like them... and not in the ‘passing by them’ kind of way. In the ‘you were really close to them’ kind of way. Did they...”
“No! God, no.” I put the cutter down and sat the same way as her, so we were facing each other. “Their scents... I just... out of all the packs I’ve met, my soul responds to them.”
She raised an eyebrow, her frown turning up a little. “Your pussy is not your soul.”
I shook my head. “I know it sounds weird, but I just... I know they’re my pack.”
“They just had a massive party a week or so ago and the cops were called. They are nice guys and all, but their life right now is nuts.” Of all people to be concerned about that, I never expected Kayla.
“They can’t have an omega.” I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. “But I can’t just ignore what I feel.”
“Did they knot you?” Kayla reached for my hand, and I let her take it. “Because if they did, we need to report them.”
“We didn’t do that, but I would let them without question.” I pulled my hand away and stood. “I thought you would be more understanding about this.”
She followed me out of her sewing room, which was right next to her nesting room. I held my breath as I passed the closed door. It did nothing to stop the scents inside from seeping into the hall.
“I do understand, but I don’t know them that well. Why can’t they have an omega? And why are you suddenly just... being impulsive and ignoring everything we’ve been taught and told?” She wasn’t wrong in her assessment of current Kara.
I got to the bottom of the stairs and turned toward her, making her stop a few steps from the bottom. “Because what we’ve been taught and told are lies.”
“So, it’s not true that when unbonded alphas are around an unbonded omega they will try to claim you as theirs?” She put her hands on her hips, and if it wasn’t for her straightened hair, I would think I was looking at old me in the mirror.
“This isn’t that! Weren’t you around them unbonded? Did they try to claim you?” I crossed my arms over my chest. I hated arguing with my sister, but I needed her to understand. Otherwise, I would be alone in this.
“They knew I was claimed. I just don’t want you to get hurt or be disappointed. You barely know them. How can you be their omega if they can’t do Omega Match?”
“I don’t know, but I know them better than if I’d met them at a meet and greet.
I’ve spent hours with them instead of minutes.
I’ve experienced how they’ll take care of me.
” My stomach twisted into a knot, and I let my hands fall to my sides, my shoulders slumping.
“I know I need to protect myself, but just thinking about them and smelling them on me...”
“Then go take a shower and change out of those clothes. I’ll get you my heat suppressants before you send yourself into heat.
That’s the last thing you need, and if you are attracted to alphas and they’re nearby.
.. I really don’t want you going into heat here.
My pack will be home tomorrow night.” Kayla scrunched her nose, and I couldn’t blame her.
With both of us being omegas, it was surprising enough that we were as close as we were. Even more surprising was that she hadn’t flipped out over me staying with her.
“I thought they would be gone for longer.” The whole reason I’d come was because I knew they’d be out of town on a business trip.
“With the gate thing and our bond being so new, they’re freaking out.” She shook her head in annoyance. “I needed to see what it was like being bonded and being away from them. None of us are ready to let any betas close to us, so this is how it has to be.”
She shuddered, and I put a comforting hand on her arm. She’d been through a hell of a lot in the past month, and I was surprised her pack had let her stay by herself, even if she was locked inside.
I’d go with N’Pact wherever they went. I was certain of that.
After a shower and a lengthy nap, I felt like I could finally think clearly. There had to be a workaround for Omega Match, or at least a way for me to convince them to let the pack take part.
I didn’t know what the assessment they were doing entailed, but they hadn’t been at all feral toward me. Yes, there had been moments where none of us could hold back, but that was a natural reaction when anyone was attracted to someone, not just alphas and omegas.
Mid-afternoon, Kayla and I put on a movie and had just dug into a bowl of popcorn when the front gate buzzed. We looked at each other before we both jumped up at the same time and ran to the intercom that showed video.
“It’s Alvaro… and he has Jane and Princess.” My thighs squeezed together as my core did a happy little dance that it should not have been doing. “Let him through.”
“We don’t even know why he’s here. He could be holding them hostage.” Kayla pressed a button with a speaker on it. “We didn’t order anything. Go away.”
I pulled her away and pushed the button. “She’s joking. She’s going to let you through. Hold on.”
I thought Kayla was going to fight me on it and I threw my arms around her as she pushed a button and the gate opened. I was a little bummed it was just one of them, but one was better than none.
“I’m not leaving you alone with him.” Kayla went to the door and opened it. “I feel like we’ve done a twin swap and now I’m the perfect one and you’re the one that’s getting mayonnaise all over your sweater.”
“Maybe we’ve both always been the ones to get mayonnaise on our sweaters, but I’m better at hiding it.”
Since the day I hadn’t matched, exhaustion had taken hold of me. It wasn’t easy trying to do everything right all the time day in and day out.
That had been my life.
Alvaro came up the stairs from the driveway and I barely suppressed a squeal of joy as I skipped outside like a kid on Christmas morning discovering Santa had visited. He grinned, dimples appearing in his cheeks where I hadn’t seen them before, at least not in person.
I could feel the burn of Kayla’s eyes as I threw my arms around Alvaro’s neck and kissed him. His chest rumbled in a barely audible growl, and he dropped my Squishmallows to wrap his arms around me.
His lips were so soft and moved against mine with a skill and need that made my knees weak. I didn’t know if his intention was to come over and tempt me, but he was, and if my sister wasn’t shooting daggers at my back, I would have stripped naked right then and there.
Kayla coughed loudly, and Alvaro and I broke the kiss but didn’t move away from each other. “Time to go before any bones are jumped or knots are formed.” She walked to us and picked up my Squishmallows.
I put my forehead against Alvaro’s chest and readied my Squishmallow voice. “Oh, no. Kayla has turned into such a mom! Jane, remember that one time she ran down the hall in the dorms in her bra and panties, dildo raised shaking in the air and yelled she was queen of the schlong?”
Kayla groaned and Alvaro’s chest shook with laughter. I smiled, loving the sound of his laugh. It was deep but had a musical quality to it.
“I sure do, Princess! And there was that time in Advanced Pack Management she did a presentation applying the theories to managing a sanitation facility instead.”
“All right, all right. That’s enough or I’m taking Princess and Jane to my quilting room.” Kayla whacked me on the back with one. “Don’t make me regret leaving you alone. Here.”
I lifted my head and turned around, only to be hit in the face with one. “Hey!”
She dropped them both and ran into the house, shutting the door behind her. At least my sister hadn’t completely lost her carefree attitude.
I bent down, picked up the stuffed animals, and heard a growl from behind me as I stood up.
“Don’t do that,” Alvaro said through clenched teeth. “You just presented your ass to me.”
My cheeks flushed, but I wasn’t about to apologize. “You’re here alone. Where’s everyone else?” There was a planter box off to the side of the door and I went to it, sitting down on the edge.
Alvaro peeked out between his fingers and then joined me. “Cal and Tate went to pick up Gizmo. He’s going to be fine but will be lethargic for a few days. We got him to them in enough time, thanks to you.”
I hugged the squishes in my lap and folded over to rest my cheek on them while looking at him. “Thanks to me he was in that predicament to begin with.”
He reached over and cupped my face, putting me at ease. “He’s going to be okay. That’s all that matters.”
I shut my eyes, and he moved his thumb back and forth across my cheek. “Where’s Avery?”
He grunted, and I looked to find him staring off into space, his frown making a small sliver of doubt creep in. Did Avery decide I wasn’t worth the trouble? Did they all? Was that why only the leader of the pack was here to break the news?
“When we formed our pack during college, Avery was in a rough place. It’s his story to tell, but the rest of us helped him heal and we started talking about the future and having an omega and a family.
” He looked over at me. “That was ripped away from him and it opened a lot of old wounds for him. If last night was any indication, he does want you, just like we all do, but letting that hope take hold and it not happening will break him completely.”
A tear fell and he wiped it away. “You want me?”
He sighed and put his forearms on his legs, staring at his hands. “We do, but we don’t know if they will let us do the fall match. We did better on our assessment, but they won’t tell us our results until later today.”
“We won’t use Omega Match. We can just bond and-”
“I’m not going to risk that, Kara. We don’t even know what they’ll do. They could take you from us or throw us in prison.” He stabbed his fingers into his disheveled hair.
“They wouldn’t break a bond.”
“If it’s newly formed, they’d do it. We’d all be in the hospital for a bit, but… no. We aren’t going to risk it. I understand completely if you don’t want to wait for us, but you deserve more than a rushed bond because we-”
I dropped to my knees and took his face in my hands, barely able to see through my tears. “I’ll wait for you as long as you need me to.”
His hands covered mine and our foreheads pressed together. “You barely know us. We’d understand completely.”
“I know you better than I would meeting some pack for five minutes of a meet and greet. I feel safe with you… like I’ve found my home.” It was so hard to explain how it felt. For some alphas and omegas, it took longer, but some got lucky and knew right away. “Unless your pack isn’t sure.”
“We’re sure.” He sat up and pulled me into his lap, burying his face in my neck. “We’re so sure and it hurts that we can’t have you right now.”
I thought not matching was the worst feeling in the world, but the ache in my chest knowing I couldn’t stay with them was so much worse. “There has to be a way…”
“I will try everything in my power to see if there is. We have our tour coming up in a few weeks. At the very least, we have to do that. A lot of people’s jobs depend on that tour…
” Alvaro’s voice shook, and he sounded so lost and conflicted.
“Maybe taking time off and extending our contract to make up that time would be enough to satisfy the record label and OPS.”
His lips brushed along my neck, and he ran his hands over my body as if he was memorizing my curves. He was saying goodbye, but I wasn’t ready to let him go.
“Stay, just for a little while longer,” I whispered, my own hands moving along his neck and back.
The longer I was around him or any of them, the harder this was going to be. I knew that. Every single part of me yearned for them and what could be, what would be.
One day.