Page 49 of Curvy Dirty Omega

Frankie sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand in hers, wrapping her other hand around my wrist where our platonic bond felt like it was burning to nothing but ash. “I don’t think you’re defective, Lucy. I’m really sorry I said that yesterday. I was just projecting and I’ll make sure I never say anything like that again.”

“Right, of course.” I pulled my hand back and picked at one of my hangnails. “So, if I said I didn’t want treatment if there was a ‘cure,’ you wouldn’t be angry?”

“I don’t care as long as you’re healthy and happy.” Frankie tugged on one of my curls and I looked up, surprised to see tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t enough for you.”

“Why would you think that?” Did she really think I was unhappy with her? “Frankie, I couldn’t have asked for a better friend or alpha. You’re the only reason I’m even alive.”

She shook her head and looked away, angrily wiping away her tears. “You’re the reason I’m an alpha, Lucy, but I couldn’t even do that right. Liam Valor may be our client, but…I’ve never seen you sleep as peacefully as you did when you were in his arms.”

Guilt swept through me and I took her hand again, feeling like I’d lose her if I didn’t – as if she’d slip through my fingers even when she was right in front of me. “We can’t control what type of pheromones we get, Frankie. You’re a good alpha. It’s my fault you’re feeling this way. If I’d been a normal omega, you could have learned how to regulate omega pheromones with your own…”

Frankie’s sad smile made my heart feel as fragile as glass, cracking under the slightest pressure.

She squeezed my hand reassuringly and then pulled me in for a hug. “Let the doctor examine you. If for no other reason than you almost passed out yesterday and then had a panic attack, okay? It would help me worry less if you did.”

Despite my promise to never let another doctor touch me, I couldn’t say no. Not when she asked me like this, phrasing the question so this small act of submission would be for her benefit, not my own.

Sly little fox.

“Fine.” I hugged her tight and breathed in the scent of tangerines. “But I want my own clothes.”

Frankie laughed and kissed my cheek before pulling back. “Cassius grabbed us some stuff from the apartment this morning while you were sleeping.”

Cassius? I frowned and eyed the room I was in, wondering where the fuck my phone had gone.

“I’ll let them know you’re awake,” Frankie said, studying me like she was worried I’d try to run away if she left me alone. “Is there anything I can get for you? Some coffee maybe?”

I nodded and looked out the window again to watch the rain splatter against the glass like bugs delightfully committing suicide. “Coffee and my phone.”

Frankie opened the door and left without another word, leaving me alone in a stranger’s house. The sound of the door closing behind her confirmed my worst fear.

She’d given up on me.

I was no longer her responsibility, but Liam’s. Why? Because his pheromones affected me in a way hers didn’t? Why did that have to matter? Why was it so fucking important that she’d trust a stranger to help me?

How could he possibly know me better than she did?

I looked up at the ceiling to keep the sudden tears from falling and blinked them away.

How could she just give up without asking me if that’s what I wanted?

Frankie hadn’t asked me if I wanted to let Liam and his stupid pheromones take care of me. She’d just handed me over like the last fifteen years didn’t matter.

Why was fixing me so important to her?

I flopped back onto the bed and laced my fingers over my stomach to stare at the ceiling. I really shouldn’t take it personally. Frankie probably assumed I was defective because of what had happened with my father and hers. Because of that, she’d felt the need to take responsibility for me, and that single moment in time had triggered her pheromones.

Frankie had become an alpha right there in that courtroom. For me. Because that’s what I’d needed. Being an alpha had been everything to her…she’d leaned into it with more grace than anyone I’d ever seen. Frankie was a gentle alpha who had effortlessly kept me safe ever since I’d become an orphan.

She’d even left her pack. For me.

But I’d settled into my designation before they’d arrested my father. It wasn’t her father’s fault I’d perfumed way too young.

I was sick by normal standards and she couldn’t fix it, so her entire reason for existing was crumbling beneath her feet.

Objectively, I could see that, but it still hurt to watch her hand me over so willingly.

I ignored the knock on my door, but they didn’t wait for my permission. Frankie came through first, followed by the unfamiliar scent of clay, soil, and grass. It was the nice clean, earthy scent of a beta.

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