Omega Dinner
Chapter fifteen
Iknew there was an omega in the house, of course.
It was impossible not to, with that damned lemonade scent floating around the house.
Actually, I took that back, it wasn't sweet at all.
This omega smelled like she'd make your face pucker up if you licked her.
And for some reason, that made me want to lick her more.
When I was myself, I could control these urges, so I stayed far away from Vale and his bedroom, where he'd holed up with the sour omega. Instead, I headed into the gym room and did push-ups and pull-ups until my arms were rubber. That should stop me from choking the asshole out when I next saw him.
After I heard Vale in the kitchen, I headed up to my room to shower off all the sweat I'd built up during the day. The scent of lemon was stronger in the hallway when I heard Kienan call me for dinner. She must have left the room.
I sniffed the air, scenting all my pack members and the lemony omega. There was something else hidden under the sour notes, a hint of mint to give it some spice. Interesting.
Jogging down the stairs, I went into the kitchen, fully prepared to see the omega cooking for us. But no. It was Kienan at the stove, as usual. The omega was sitting at the table, beside Vale and facing Zephyr. My inner alpha started to growl. We wanted her. She was our mate.
Still, I didn't want to give a bad first impression, so I grabbed some plates and went to the table to distribute them. As I set the plate in front of the omega, she peered up at me from behind a curtain of wavy dirty-blonde hair.
"I'm Dean," I said, sticking out my hand.
"Olivia." She shook my hand and studied me for a moment. "This is all of you, right?" She looked around the room.
"Just the four of us," Zephyr assured her.
"Dean, grab the salad," Kienan called.
Salad? We never had salad. Already, this strange omega was changing things up. I grabbed the salad and put it on the table while Kienan brought over the other dishes and Zephyr got the silverware.
Once we were all seated, Olivia just sat there, staring at the table. Finally, Vale started to pile food onto her plate and she gave him a grateful look that filled me with jealous rage.
Quickly, I grabbed a roll, split it and buttered it, then placed it on her plate before adding some of the salad that was in front of me.
I shot Vale a triumphant look, but he was just nodding in approval.
Like it was both our jobs to feed her. I flashed my teeth at him and saw the fire spring to his eyes.
Zephyr put a hand on my arm. "It's okay, she's eating, see?"
She was. A bite of the roll first. Pride burst through me. She'd chosen my offering before Vale's.
We were so busy watching Olivia eat that neither of us were eating. When she realized, she looked up, looked at our empty plates, and went pale.
"I'm s-sorry. I shouldn't have started until you were ready."
"Eat," Vale said, a hint of his feral creeping into his voice.
"You first," she insisted.
All of us broke through the spell the little omega held over us and piled the food onto our own plates before digging in.
As usual, Kienan had made a delicious chili.
I topped mine with cheese and bacon and added a little more cheese to Olivia's plate when no one was looking.
Then I spied Vale adding some bacon to her chili.
Bastard. Still, she looked happier with everyone eating, so I dutifully dug into my own food.
After dinner, Kienan pulled out apple pie and I swear our omega's eyes grew three sizes.
"Dessert?" she breathed.
"As much as you want," he assured her, adding a giant piece to a plate. He put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and handed the plate to her.
Olivia stared at the pie for a long minute, watching the ice cream melt and drip off the edges. Then she picked up her fork and looked around the table, waiting for us.
Kienan had never dished up a pie so fast. He practically threw it at us.
I quickly shoved a bite of the warm apple pie into my mouth and watched in satisfaction as Olivia copied me, closing her eyes as she savored the flavor.
"This is amazing," she said, digging into the ice cream. "I wish we'd started with this." Then she looked embarrassed. "I mean, dinner was delicious too. I just need more stomach space."
"There's always food in this house," Vale assured her. "Eat what you want, when you want."
Nodding in agreement, I finished off my pie and just sat there watching her chew her food.
She enjoyed it so much, almost smiling at each bite, her pink tongue flicking out to clean up a little ice cream caught on her upper lip.
It took everything in me not to crawl over the table and claim her right now.
As it was, I couldn't even get up until after the table was cleared because my raging hard-on wouldn't go down.
Olivia got up quickly when Zephyr and Vale started to clear the dishes. "I can do that."
"It's okay, rest. You've had a rough couple of months," Kienan said.
She ducked her head and I heard her quietly mutter, "More like years."
The words sent rage roaring through my veins. Who had made her life hell for years? I would find them and tear them to shreds with my barehands. A rumble in my chest had Kienan giving me a sharp look and I bared my teeth, but managed to keep it together. Barely.
We finally moved to the living room to watch a movie, but that was the last thing on anyone's mind. Kienan didn't even pretend to turn on the TV. He pointed to a chair where Olivia could sit and we all sat down, watching her.
"I'm sure you have some questions," Kienan started.
"I have some fucking questions," I said, seeing Olivia's terrified look at his words. "Like, where the hell did an omega come from? Shouldn't this be something we discuss as a pack? No offense, darling. I can smell you're our mate, I'm just wondering how this happened."
She bit her lip, blue-gray eyes flicking between Kienan and me.
"Well, we have a problem in this pack," Kienan sighed. "We aren't eligible for an omega in the normal sense and we can't qualify for one through ORC either."
That wasn't news to any of us. Except maybe Olivia. She was watching our leader warily.
"Why?" her voice was soft, but her question hung in the air like poison.
"Because Vale and I are cursed," I blurted out.
Instead of being scared, she frowned, looking more curious. "Cursed how?"
"They're going feral," Zephyr said heavily. He dropped a hand on my thigh. "Have you heard of fever bloom?"
She shook her head.
"It's a virus that can cause alphas to turn feral. It's something most alphas get and our bodies fight it off in our teens. But in both their cases, they didn't get it early on and it was adult onset. The virus works differently in a fully presented alpha and can be devastating."
"So you were feral yesterday when you built me a nest?" Olivia looked at Vale.
He hung his head. "Yeah. Sorry."
"It's okay, it's not something you can help, right?"
Vale shook his head and I could have hugged the woman in that chair for making us both feel better.
"So what's the cure? Is there one?"
I spoke up this time. "They're working on a vaccine that would ensure all young alphas get exposed early on in life. And supposedly, there will be injections to suppress our feral side, but it might not come in time."
"It's progressive then?"
"It is." Kienan glanced at us. "Vale is further along than Dean, but both of them are set off by anything that triggers harsh emotions, jealousy, anger, etc."
"What happens when you go completely feral?" Olivia asked curiously. "Do they lock you up?"
"Usually. Some alphas are put into cage fights." I swallowed hard. I could imagine fighting someone to the death when I was in the depths of the fog.
"What?" Olivia looked horrified. "That's so wrong!"
"Most alphas prefer to… remove themselves from society when it gets too bad," Kienan explained.
The little omega looked absolutely shocked.
"That's where you come in," Kienan told her. "Studies show that bonding with an omega can halt or even reverse the effects of the virus. But feral alphas can't get an omega assigned to them, so we had to go about it unconventionally."
"Wait, how unconventionally?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"They bought me," Oliva spat out. "Paid for me to be kidnapped, thrown in the trunk of a car, and turned over to them like a piece of meat." She clearly wasn't over the indignation, even though she hadn't tried to run or escape once here.
"What the fuck?" Vale roared, leaping out of his chair. He lunged at Kienan. "You bastard!"
"She was in the heat dens!" Kienan tried to defend himself. "You know those are just glorified brothels!"
Vale snarled and his hands encircled Kienan's neck. I would pull him away, but I was fighting my own urge to do the exact same thing.
Olivia shocked me by jumping up and running to Vale, wrapping her arms around him from behind and burying her face in his back. "Vale, please stop. I need you to stop."
He did. Just let go and turned to gather her up in his arms and carry her back to her chair. He sat down, pulling her onto his lap so she was straddling him, her head on his shoulder while he sniffed her neck.
I watched his tongue flash out and he licked the tender skin right there on her neck. Rage exploded through my last restraints and I was across the room in the blink of an eye.
"MINE!" I roared. Right in his face. My teeth snapped.
Vale snarled right back.
The omega pushed her face between us. "Stop, please," she begged. A whine crept from her throat.
We both looked at her and she turned those pretty gray-blue eyes on us. "Don't fight. We're here to be reasonable and fix this situation, right?"
"Right," Kienan said. He tried to pull me back. I resisted and buried my nose in her tart lemon and mint skin. Smelled so good. I wanted to taste. Wanted her lemony blood running over my tongue.
I licked her neck and felt her shudder under me. My hard cock pressed against her spine. I settled onto Vale's knees. He was kissing her neck. I took the other side. Kissing. Licking. Rubbing. Until something turned my head into a buzzing mess.
My dick exploded, flooding my underwear with hot cum. I desperately wanted it inside her, but moments after the guttural moan escaped me, I froze.
What the fuck? I'd just cum in my pants like a schoolboy, from humping her back, while sitting on Vale's legs.
Standing up, I ducked my head in shame. "I'll be back."
Running out of the room, I cursed my feral side. How had it come to this… and why had a fucked-up orgasm from dry humping pulled me back into my head?