Page 34 of Curvy Nerdy Omega

Legacy alphas were already a pain in the ass, but an unbonded one during courtship was notoriously dangerous. It was why so many were pushed to bond young to any omega that fit the bill, but Liam had put it off for much longer than most.

Maybe that was why he was so fucking crazy.

Crazy in lust.

I winced at my stupidity and nodded like I wasn’t losing my mind. “I’d like to start the suppressant regimen today. There’s no way I can live my life like this – constantly having heat symptoms until I regulate.”

Not to mention the slight nausea I felt around Frankie’s alpha pheromones. I couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be around alphas I didn’t trust.

“Lucy…” Frankie didn’t argue with me, but she didn’t seem convinced either. “Are you sure? We could wait a few days and see what happens.”

“Meaning, wait to see if my pheromones go dormant or spike hard enough I might just kill you this time?” I scoffed and shook my head. “We still have a case to solve and we’re running out of time.”

How much longer before the press found out the Valor pack had hired private detectives? How much longer until the trail was too cold to follow? There were things only I could do, and there was a very high possibility I’d need to work with Liam and Cassius in the same room.

We couldn’t afford for me to lose my mind for months. Not when I’d nearly bit my tongue off to keep from begging them to bond me while strapped to a metal chair in a fucking murder basement. We needed to detox, and then maybe…

No, it didn’t matter.

I needed to make some progress on this case. If Liam and Cassius were still interested in me after a few days of detoxing, I’d consider my options then.

A killer was out there, laughing as we floundered. I couldn’t let them win, not when I had a point to prove.

This would be the real test.

Could I still solve murders as an omega now that my pheromones were no longer dormant?

“Alright, let me explain the potential side effects of taking a suppressant this strong over an extended period of time…” the doctor’s voice faded away as I stared down at Frankie’s hand in mine.

This was the right choice. I could work with my partner again without hurting her, and I could get some distance from those two. That would give me the time I needed to find out why the fuck they had a murder basement and whether or not it had anything to do with Gideon.

CHAPTER 13

Lucy

Frankie watched me shake the packets of sugar and then flick them a few times like that was really going to do anything to help, but I was too mentally unstable right now to pretend to be normal like I usually did.

Ripping off the top of the sugar packets, I poured them into the steaming cup of coffee, trying not to touch the Styrofoam if I could help it. Why they didn’t use paper cups, I didn’t know, but if this thing made that awful squeaky noise, it might just be my last straw. I’d toss the whole thing across the café if it did.

My knee bounced under the table, but I was careful not to let it shake the whole thing as we both waited to see how I’d react to the highest dose suppressant I could possibly have for my body weight. It was a risk the doctor wouldn’t normally take for anyone who wasn’t a legacy alpha, but we didn’t have any other options.

If this didn’t work, then I had no fucking idea what we would do.

Stacking up the tiny little creamer cups, I started the process of adding them to my coffee as the sounds of the café swirled around us. It was freezing in the café on the bottom floor of the building where Nathan had his private practice thanks to the industrial air filters being on the highest setting, but it was also nice to have nothing but the smell of coffee filling my nose.

I’ve always been able to smell others’ pheromones, I just never reacted to them. It took a lot to make my stomach queasy, but the slight hint of Frankie’s fermented tangerines was hitting me harder than I expected.

The overpowering scent of ground coffee beans helped settle my stomach.

Carefully stirring so I didn’t touch the Styrofoam, I decided to be nice for once and let Frankie off the hook. We had bigger problems than my hurt feelings and holding a grudge wouldn’t help anyone.

She’d earned my unconditional forgiveness at least once.

I pulled open my note app on my phone and typed out what I’d found in Liam’s basement using the code we’d made up in high school. There was a possibility Liam might have mirrored my phone as well as whatever tracker he’d put on it, but there wasn’t a single program in existence that could crack this code. I’d made sure of it.

Sliding my phone across the table, I turned my gaze to the window and watched as the cars whizzed by.

When Frankie slid the phone back across the table, it slipped over the edge and she lunged forward to catch it, but I caught it before it hit the floor. Her eyes went wide when she saw I hadn’t even looked but now it was in my hand, unharmed.

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