Page 43 of Curvy Dirty Omega

Liam

The conference room was empty for the first time in hours. I watched Frankie turn off the camera as well as the voice recorder before gathering her notes.

Francesca Lopez was the reason I’d spent so many years looking for a ghost, and I wasn’t exactly feeling inclined to forgive her.

The only reason she was still alive was because she’d done what I couldn’t. She’d taken care of Lucy when she’d needed an alpha the most – when I’d been across the country and locked up in a private school for my own safety.

And hers.

“We have a situation.” For some perverse reason, it pleased me to see her jump in surprise.

Frankie was a good alpha, but not a great one. She was flustered and tired. Whatever had happened between her and Lucy was affecting her – affecting my omega. I wasn’t pleased about that either, but I’d make them sort it out.

Neither of them had a choice in the matter.

Frankie stacked her papers and slipped them in a binder, keeping her eyes down. “What kind of situation?”

“Your partner is overworked and exhausted. Between that and those alphas at the morgue, she spiked a fever.” Leaning against the doorframe meant Frankie had nowhere to go, and she froze like she’d just realized that. “I was able to calm her down, but her pheromones were out of control. Has that ever happened before?”

“Out of control?”

The pure terror in Frankie’s eyes was very interesting, but it was also infuriating. What the hell had these two been doing all these years?

“I’ve never come across such strong omega pheromones in my life. Apparently the fact that I can scent them at all was enough to make her panic.” I watched as Frankie paled, slumping into a chair like she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. “Lucy also refused to let us take her to a hospital, but I’m not particularly fond of her going back to work tomorrow without getting looked at.”

“Why do you even care?” Frankie demanded, her blue eyes flashing.

So many reasons…there were so many reasons to care.

Lucy was mine.

“Since she responded well to my pheromones, I’m going to take her back to my house along with Cassius. A private doctor will come take a look at her, but she insisted she couldn’t leave without you.”

Frankie’s laugh was completely devoid of humor, and I tilted my head, wondering why she didn’t look surprised by any of this. She wasn’t acting defensive or territorial either, which didn’t make any sense.

“What exactly is it you want from me, Mr. Valor?”

I gave her a small smile, recognizing my victory in this fight even if I wasn’t quite sure why she’d already given up. There had to be something else going on. I didn’t know what exactly, but I had every intention of finding out.

“Well, I suppose I want you to come with us so that when she wakes up, you’re right there to reassure her everything’s okay.” I raised an eyebrow, releasing a small amount of my pheromones to warn her that was all I’d allow. “Frankie, that omega is sick. Why haven’t you been taking care of her?”

The way her cheeks reddened told me she was already aware of this problem, and had tried to fix it, but clearly, whatever they were doing hadn’t been working.

“She’s not sick, Liam. She’s damaged.” Frankie sighed and ran her hand through her bright red hair, looking exhausted. “Do you really think I haven’t tried to find her the right pheromones to help fix the irregularity? She’s never reacted to a single one – positively or negatively. Even a legacy alpha had no effect on her, at least, not until you. She can scent them, but nothing about their pheromones does shit for her. We’ve tried.”

“And yours?”

Another one of those pitiful laughs. Frankie shook her head and then shrugged, suddenly looking just as worn down as Lucy if not more so. “My pheromones don’t work on her either, but she finds them comforting. She’s always said she likes citrus scents – that they’re cozy. It’s probably why yours help.”

I froze, wondering if she’d been able to scent me on that fateful, rainy day. It would have been too soon though. Even I hadn’t known until a few days later when my eyes had turned red, but her sense of smell had always been something else.

“We’ve tried every medicine that’s out there. Anything and everything to get her pheromones healthy, but nothing’s worked. So, I guess if yours are helping, I just have to accept that because all I want is for her to be healthy and happy. No matter what I have to do.” Frankie stood and gathered the rest of her things before pushing past me.

I shook off the shock and grabbed her by the arm before she could get too far. Frankie looked so…devastated.

“She’s not damaged.”

The other alpha didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and that was almost as infuriating as her scent all over my omega.

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