Page 26 of Claiming Their Omega

Here we go.

Chapter 9

Grace

The officer with the braid leads me through the ORD offices and gets me registered. It’s a nice place, but small. Makes sense. There aren’t a ton of people and so even though this building has to serve the entire country, it doesn’t need to be big.

“You guys must be pretty quiet,” I note.

“Oh, yes, except about once a year in the spring we get a surge. All those teenagers.” The woman shakes her head fondly. “There’ve been studies wondering if it’s a seasonal thing with a lot of Omegas presenting at the end of the traditional school year or if it’s a mental thing where the presentation tends to happen when the schedule has lessened up, like the body can sense the freer schedule.”

I shrug. It’s not really my thing.

She gestures for me to sit down. “Now, we’ve called your employer and you’ve been granted a leave of absence.”

“You what? I’m—what?”

The woman blinks at me. “It’s common if an Omega reveals their status late. You can’t fight biology. It would be in your employee contract or perhaps your employee insurance.”

I hadn’t paid attention. Why would I have? I was a Beta, totally convinced I never had to think about anything regarding Omegas.

Man, am I regretting that now.

“Now, let’s talk about what is in store for you here, at your presentation, and being an Omega.” The officer smiles at me brightly. “I know the transition can be hard when you’re older. You have a job, a life, possibly a partner…”

I do snort at that. Yeah, turns out that William’s cheating couldn’t have come at a better time. The last thing I want is him posturing and trying to make this worse.

“But being an Omega is a beautiful, wonderful thing,” the officer continues.

Yeah, I’m not buying it. But it won’t do me any good to show rebellion now. If the men really do come through for me, and I have to hope that they will, then nobody can suspect that this is a fake courtship. I need to act like I’m totally swallowing all of this, and not give the officers here any reason to think I might be trouble.

The officer goes on about Omega biology, how the presentation will go, and takes me on a tour of the facility. She makes it all seem like this fairytale where I’ll be waited on hand and foot by one or more handsome Alphas, but that’s not what I want with my life.

I want to be able to continue my work in the publishing industry. I want to maintain my independence. All this sounds like to me is losing my freedom and my ability to shape my future. Everything has to revolve around my body and hormones now, these stupid heats that I’m going to go through.

I’m an intelligent woman. I’m not going to be a slave to my body. I have to figure this out.

“Being an Omega who finds your pack is a beautiful thing,” the officer continues. “I’ve seen so many Omegas find a pack, and be indescribably happy. That moment where they all lock eyes and you see that connection…” She sighs happily.

I feel sick and have to restrain myself from making an ‘ick’ face. I’m sure this kind of thing works on you when you’re eighteen, but it sure doesn’t work on me.

“I’m happy for them,” I say out loud, forcing a smile onto my face.

I have to hope that my brother’s friends will come and bid on me. But who knows if they’ll do that. Jesse doesn’t like me and Easton straight-up said we couldn’t do that. I know they care about Aiden, they’re his best friends, and they’re decent men who looked after me. But I don’t know how far that friendship and consideration will extend.

Without them, though, I have nothing. No plan. It’s reckless but at least I know these men. I’d rather bet on them helping me, as slim as that chance might be, than take the chance in New York that I’ll meet the perfect Alpha pack for me. Yeah, right.

I just keep picturing the shocked looks on their faces. It really doesn’t give me a lot of confidence.

Over the next couple of weeks, I prep and get ready—undergoing some basic tests to make sure I’m healthy, learning more about how hormone responses work for Omegas, and meeting with a mentor who tells me about her experience of finding a pack to bond with.

I’m the oldest Omega in the group. The others are all just out of high school or perhaps twenty at the oldest. It makes me feel weirdly old in a way that I don’t normally.

It also makes me roll my eyes. If I have to listen to one more young Omega gush about how excited she is to be meeting her dream pack, I’m going to hurl.

Both too fast and too slowly, the day of the presentation comes. We all get appointments to pick out a nice outfit, most of us choosing dresses. I pick a dress as well. I wish I could pick something unflattering, like orange. I look terrible in orange. But if I sabotage my chances of being chosen, then all that’ll happen is I’ll stay here at the ORD facility until the next presentation.

I have to look like I’m trying. I have to stay out of trouble.

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