Awkward
Chapter sixteen
The intense moment between Vale, Dean, and me ended so abruptly, I was left aching and whimpering. Desperate for a cock, for a knot. I hadn't craved that in over a year. Still, it was embarrassing and the second Dean ran out of the room, I scrambled off Vale's lap.
He looked normal again, panting, eyes half-lidded as he sucked on his tongue, savoring my flavor. His hands cupped his erection and he hunched forward. He hadn't erupted like Dean, but then again, neither had I.
I shuffled to sit near Zephyr and could see the disappointment in Vale's eyes. It wasn't safe though. I'd accomplished what I needed to, getting the two alphas to settle down and not kill everyone else in the room.
"Is it always like that?"
"Without the spontaneous orgasm, yeah," Zephyr snorted. "Usually more blood and flying fists, too."
Dean returned a few minutes later, looking pink, his hair tousled and wet. He was hotter than ever after a shower. Or maybe it was just the amped-up pheromones in the room.
"Back to business," Kienan sighed.
"Wait," Zephyr raised a hand. "I need to know something.
" He turned to me. "I'm not saying this to be offensive.
I know you're our scentmatch. I don't want you to leave.
But the heat den you came from, where we found you, that's not for regular omegas.
It's specifically for those who have been found defective and cannot be assigned a pack. So, why were you there?"
This was it. Now they'd want their money back, I thought bitterly. Just my luck even kidnappers wouldn't want my sorry ass.
"I'm infertile."
He blinked. "That's what wrong with you?"
"Yeah. Deal breaker, right?" I gulped. Even though they'd kidnapped me, it was still rejection.
"How did they know?" Dean asked.
"What do you mean?"
"How did they know you were infertile? Were there tests? Is there something physically wrong?"
"I had a pack before and we couldn't have a baby.
They tried everything. Injections, medicines, diet.
We visited doctors all over. They even did forced heats every month.
" That was probably something they should know, too.
"The doctor at the ORC said I would probably never go into a natural heat again because of that. But still no baby."
"So they just gave you back?" Vale looked horrified.
"Well, they sent me to the ORC. But they got their baby. I guess they were out helping other omegas through their heats and one got pregnant."
There was silence. I steeled myself for the rejection that was coming. I didn't even know these men, it wouldn't be nearly as bad as the first time.
"Well, they're assholes," Vale muttered. "Who wants noisy kids running around anyway?"
"You don't want kids?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Not really. What if they end up like me?" he shuddered.
"Never thought about it honestly," Dean said.
Zephyr shrugged. "It's a whatever for me. If it happens, it happens, if not, no worries."
I looked at Kienan who was studying me carefully.
"I've always assumed we'd find an omega and eventually have some babies, since that's what you do," he mused. "But now that I'm thinking about it, I'd rather have my scentmatch than a bunch of babies."
"Do you want babies, Olivia?" Vale asked, peering at me carefully.
"I thought I did. But then it turned into such a big deal. It was my only purpose in life and I couldn't fulfill it."
"So, you wanted kids because your pack wanted them," Zephyr shook his head. "That's it then. We don't even think about babies unless you decide you do want one and we adopt."
"Adopt?" I raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that against the alpha creed? You need heirs, right? Someone with your blood in their veins?"
Zephyr snorted. "Not me. You guys?"
Everyone else shrugged. "Nope."
"So, you're keeping me?" I wasn't even sure how I felt about that, but surrounded by their comforting scents, it seemed like maybe it didn't matter.
"Of course," Kienan said. "Okay, down to business. You need to be claimed by the feral alphas for this to work, so we need to start as soon as possible."
"No," Vale growled. "First, we court her. Then she decides when she's ready."
"Vale, you don't have time for courting," Kienan said.
I watched the alphas nervously. Truth be told, I wasn't ready, even if time was of the essence. It felt like I was being forced into this, not just by nature, but by the alphas too.
"I won't bite her until she asks me to," Vale said simply. He looked at me. "You have the choice. You make the decisions."
"Thank you, Vale."
He just nodded at me and then looked pointedly at Zephyr and Dean.
"I can wait forever," Zephyr said, throwing his hands up.
"And I'm not the sort of alpha to force an omega into anything," Dean said firmly. He smiled at me. "You said you don't have heats, right? So, we don't even need to knot you until you're truly ready."
"There's one more thing," I said quietly. "I don't slick anymore."
"Not even when you're turned on?" Dean looked surprised. "I could have sworn I smelled arousal…"
"I was turned on," I admitted, my face heating. "But no slick. I'm always dry as a bone now." Maybe these guys would be kinder than my old pack. "Just, when you do knot me, can we please use lube?"
Vale's face darkened. "Did someone NOT use lube?" he rasped out, on the edge of feral again.
I shrugged, not wanting to send him over the edge again. "It's fine, as long as you do."
"Fuck." Zephyr stood up and started to pace the room. "Of course we'll use lube, but we're also not doing fuck all until you say we can. Right, Kienan?"
Kienan sighed. "Right. But we are on a deadline, at least with Vale."
"And I said I'm fine," Vale reminded him. "Just because she's an omega and our scentmatch doesn't mean she owes us anything, Kie."
"You're right, I'm sorry." Kienan took a deep breath. "So, courting?"
"I was assigned to my pack when I presented at sixteen," I told them. "I don't even know what courting is supposed to involve."
"Oh my god, you're trying to make them feral!" Kienan groaned as both Vale and Dean growled simultaneously. "Fine. We're courting you. I'm going to step back and let the two feral alphas do that first, provided they don't tear each other apart in jealousy."
"I'm not jealous," Vale pointed out. "Dean's the one with a problem."
"Oh, fuck off. Just because you like to taunt me," Dean snapped.
"We could court her together," Vale suggested, but Dean snarled at him.
"I think you better do this separately," I said tiredly. "You'll end up killing each other at this rate."
"She's not sleeping in your room again," Dean told Vale.
"Actually, she'll sleep in my room," Zephyr announced. "I bunk with Dean most nights anyway and that means you can have your own space, Olivia."
"That works for me." Suddenly, I realized I was actually entertaining the idea of staying and being courted by these alphas. The only one who made me uneasy still was Kienan. He was too pushy, too harsh, and he didn't respect me enough. If I was sticking around, that was going to change.