Page 28 of Forget

“I was on suppressants, but those aren’t a great idea either,” Wren says. “Please don’t choose to go that way. I know that omegas will date solely to get through their heats. There’s no strings attached. Is that an option?”

“How would I even go about that route?” I ask. “I don’t date, and am I just going to start hitting bars to hook up with alphas? Give me your knot and fuck me for four days, please?”

Wren snorts, covering it badly, and then the three of us are giggling wildly.

“Okay, maybe not quite like that,” Wren wheezes. “Aren’t we in the process of vetting Hollis? She runs the dating site Flynn met the guys on.”

“She runs a tight ship,” Flynn says with a nod. “What if we use you as our guinea omega to see if it’ll work for our organization? You don’t have to sleep with them if you’re not comfortable with it, but it’s an option.”

“An option for what?” I ask, sighing. “I can’t scent alphas, because I use an alpha blocking gel right under my nose. I started as a bartender, and now it’s like a security blanket. Besides, the last time we spoke, she was working on setting up a system for us.”

“Is that why the different scents in the house don’t bug you?” Wren asks, surprised. “Most omegas would have an issue usually.”

“I’m not normal,” I snort. “I can smell other omegas, but that’s it. Betas don’t typically have a scent strong enough to bother me. I don’t know that I’ll ever meet my scent match, and it feels like too much of a gamble to stop using it.”

“You can’t use it forever,” Flynn says. “Ais, you’re going to need knots during your heat, and the scent of an alpha you click with will help during it. It doesn’t have to be a scent match, but someone to help you ride it out will be better than being checked out of the world.”

My body shudders as I let those words wash over me. I really don’t like being out of choices, and I feel as if that’s what’s happening. Pulling out my phone, I swipe away my tears and take a sip of water.

“May as well get this over with,” I mutter.

“Aisling,” Wren says, but I shake my head angrily.

“I fucking hate this. If I have to pretend I’m doing this as research for the Haven, then fine. I don’t even know if I want a pack right now, but because my body self-destructs once a month, I have to at least try,” I tell her.

“My Dad is terrified every time he watches me close my eyes when the medication takes effect, but all I can remember is the pain I went through. I can’t get over it.”

“Hayes is a dead man,” Flynn snarls. “Maybe I can get a cake delivered to him that’s baked with laxatives.”

“As long as he hates his life and comes out the other side, go for it,” I say, dialing Hollis. We’ve had preliminary conversations, but I was waiting for a building to call home before beginning to bring other omegas into this.

It makes sense that I give this a trial run as the only unpacked foundation member, though.

“Hello, Aisling,” Hollis says smoothly, making me smile.

“Hi, I don’t know if your ears were burning, but Flynn, Wren and I have been talking about your dating service,” I greet her. “We’d like to move forward with our collaboration, but we have a question first.”

“Okay, shoot. I’m all ears. I was starting to feel itchy, now that you mention it,”she teases, helping me to relax as I smile.

“We’d like to see a simulation of your services to learn how each step works,” I explain. “Flynn went through it, but it’s been years since he has.”

“That makes sense. Are you volunteering as tribute?”she asks.

“I am,” I say, despite the butterflies in my stomach. Flynn doesn’t let go of my hand, and Wren leans into my side as support. “I want to go through the full process so we can make sure it’ll work for our omegas at the Haven. We bought a building, and we’ll be beginning to set things up so we can get everything up and running as soon as possible.”

“Any reason for the newfound enthusiasm?”Hollis asks, and I chew my lip.

“I wouldn't necessarily call it enthusiasm,” I tell her. “I’m having an issue regulating my heats alone, and I’m hoping this can help.”

There. I can be an adult about this. Look at me talking about dicks, knots, and cum like it’s some newfound medication.

My cheeks are flaming, but only my friends are here to see it.

“That makes sense, and one of the reasons that omegas search out my services,”Hollis says gently. I know it’s why Flynn decided to date, and his parents wanted him to do it safely.

He was lucky enough to find his scent matches on his first date. I doubt I’ll be able to do the same. I’d have to be willing to stop using my scent blockers first.

“I’ll email you the beginning paperwork and get things underway,”Hollis continues.“Be as truthful as possible. This will be fun! Just watch.”

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