Page 20 of Claiming Their Omega

The four men escort me out of the bar and into the cool night air. I immediately feel a bit better away from everyone else and with a breeze hitting my overheated skin. But not by much.

“What is wrong with me?” I beg.

“You’re going to be okay,” Hendrix says. “Can you look at me? I need to see your pupils.”

I want nothing more than for him to lean in closer. It’s almost alarming how much I crave that in this moment. I want to rip his clothes off. I want to rip my clothes off too, come to think of it.

“Whoa, whoa, hey.” Cade stops my hands. “Grace, I need you to breathe for me.”

I glare at him. “Oh, now you’re Mr. Talkative? If you want to tell me what to do, then tell me what’s going on. Why do I feel like this?”

Cade swallows hard, then says, “You’re an Omega.”

I stare at him, blinking. “That’s not possible.”

Surely if I was an Omega I would’ve presented by now. I would’ve presented ages ago, when all of my classmates did, Alphas and Omegas showing their true colors while Betas like me just kept on keepin’ on. That’s how it works.

“Some Alphas and Omegas can be late bloomers,” Easton says cautiously. “I remember it was kind of briefly talked about in sex ed class.”

I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. I feel like an idiot for panicking like this, but the shame and humiliation I feel is nothing compared to the horror at my whole life getting derailed. “I can’t be an Omega. I have a job. I have to go back. My boss will be furious if I have to go through the whole courting process.”

“Your boss will understand,” Jesse growls. He sounds furious, although I could swear that it’s on my behalf. But that can’t be right. I must be mistaken.

I wipe at my eyes, still feeling flustered and hot everywhere. I don’t want it to be true. I don’t want to admit it. My whole life is going to change if I really am an Omega.

But I can’t deny that the symptoms do match what the men are saying. I can remember my classmates who presented as Omegas when we were just eighteen, and how they described the feeling to me. It sounds like what I’m going through now.

“You’ll be okay,” Hendrix assures me.

“No, I won’t be,” I blurt out. “I have dreams! Plans! A whole life in New York, and none of that involves being a stupid Omega!”

“That’s unfair,” Easton says quietly. “Omegas aren’t stupid, and they don’t lead lives that are any less than yours.”

“My plans don’t involve being an Omega and being stuck with an Alpha or a pack of them. I’m not going to just sit around in a house all day.”

“The right Alpha—or pack of Alphas—wouldn’t ask you to,” Easton replies.

His voice is soft, soothing, without being condescending. Jesse strides away, putting distance between us. Hendrix gives Easton a look and follows Jesse, probably to calm him down or tell him off for being rude.

Cade sticks by my side, looking around him like he thinks some crazed random Alpha will come out of the dark to attack me.

“I can’t be an Omega.” I hate myself for it, but I burst into tears at last. I want to blame the alcohol, but I think the truth is that it’s hormones. I feel like a child. “I can’t!”

“Hey, hey. Come here.” Easton pulls me close and hugs me. Enveloped in his scent, I feel better. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how scary this is. I’m sorry.”

The fact that he’s just admitting how scary it must be helps me feel better. He doesn’t try to act like it’s all fine, or like as an Alpha he can possibly know how I’m feeling. “Thanks,” I muffle the words into his chest.

Being held by him helps, but I don’t want to tell him that. I’m humiliated enough already. “I was always happy as a Beta,” I whisper. “I liked who I was.”

I know there are Betas who wish they were Alphas or Omegas, wishing they could be considered powerful and strong, the biggest and baddest in the room, or wishing they could be waited on hand and foot. I know there are Betas that read a lot of Omega fantasy novels, for sure. I’m in the publishing industry, it’s my job to know that kind of thing.

But I’ve never been that person. I have nothing against Omegas, lots of my friends are Omegas, but I’ve always liked who I was. And I had a very specific plan for my life and how it was going to go. I had ambitions.

Now all of that is going up in smoke. I know how the whole Omega process goes and it’ll take weeks if not months out of my life and that’s if I even bond with someone right away. If it takes me a few rounds to bond then who knows how long it could take me. My dreams all put on hold.

“You’ll find someone who will support your dreams,” Easton points out. “It’s not the Victorian age anymore, right? Plenty of Omegas have jobs outside of the home. You know that.”

“It won’t be the same. Don’t lie to me and act like it’ll all be the same. I have a life and now I can’t go back to it.”

---