Page 29 of Forget

I swallow back an undignified grunt, and murmur, “I’m looking forward to it,” instead before saying goodbye.

Lips twisting, I gaze down at my phone, wondering if I’ll have the ovaries to go through with this.

“You can do this,” Wren says softly. “Compared to everything else you’ve gone through, a couple of dates will be a walk in the park.”

“Maybe,” I mutter. “Who wants to help me fill out this paperwork?”

My laptop is sitting on the coffee table because we also got a little work done before hanging out, and it dings that I have an email.

“I’m going to get some wine,” Flynn says, standing. “I have a feeling we’re going to need it.“

“I think you’re an angel,” I tell him, reaching for the laptop. “Here goes nothing.”

This is either going to be the best thing to ever happen to me, or the worst.

Chapter 6

Aisling

Three months later

I should not be boredto tears right now, but I am. Smoothing back my blonde curls, so it’s not in my face, I take a small sip of water. Somehow, it continues to be magically filled, but it doesn’t taste or smell any differently.

The staff at this restaurant are very attentive, which is what I’m going to chalk this up to. I need to make sure I tip them well. I’ve been incredibly busy the last few months, partially because I’ve been working at Omega’s Haven with Wren as we accept new omegas.

It’s rewarding and exhausting work to set everything up from scratch, but I’d rather be filling out paperwork or having my eyelashes removed one by one than be sitting here right now.

“You look like you’re a little skinny for kids,” the alpha across from me says as my eyes widen.

This is Pack Dayton, and we’re meeting for dinner at an Italian restaurant just outside of Minneapolis. It’s a small town, one of the concessions my dad asked for safety purposes. He’s not sure this is the best path, but he’s willing to let me see it through.

The doctor said I have two more months until he’s going to have to cut me off the medication. I’ve been having medicated heats for almost a year, and started having headaches recently.

I know I’m running out of time, but I swear, each one of these dates is worse than the last.

Every date I’ve been on has been at this restaurant. I don’t need a guard for these, but I text my father when I arrive and leave. I secretly think the staff is also realizing this is my date place, which is why they’re so attentive.

I don’t know if I should feel embarrassed or flattered that they’re watching out for me.

“Ah, I think you’re misunderstanding the point of my dating,” I tell Fredrick. “I want a pack willing to help me through my heats. I don’t want to go through them alone, I can’t actually, and this may be the best option for me.”

“So you’re fucking a different pack every month,” Fredrick asks, appalled as his pack listens to every word.

Harold, Fredrick, and Taylor seem like nice alphas, even though they are incredibly beige as far as personalities go. They have good jobs, a nice house, but all I’m interested in is what those knots do. God, maybe I really am a virgin whore.

“No,” I say slowly, intent on being heard. This is the fourth pack I’ve met with in as many weeks, and I’m getting tired of explaining it. “I would like one pack who wants to play heat fucking buddies once a month. A heat is a biological function that I can’t get around. If that pack becomes a forever pack, then so much the better.”

I gave up my precious alpha pheromone blocking gel for this, and the peppery, pickle, and sweet pea scents are overwhelming to the point that my stomach turns. Ugh, this is going to ruin dinner for sure.

Our food is taking forever to arrive, and at this point I may simply leave. I’m trying to be polite, for science’s sake. I don’t think I could be intimate with any of these men though, even while blind with need.

“I don’t like it,” Taylor mutters. “It makes this feel transactional, and we want a relationship with an omega, Aisling. We’re approaching our late twenties. It’s time for us to settle down now that we have good jobs. You just barely turned nineteen, maybe you’re simply too young to appreciate where we’re coming from.”

The fuck I am.I would love to find a scent match on the one hand, but on the other, what if they’re complete assholes? Alphas hold so much power over omegas. It hardly seems fair.

“I don’t think my age has anything to do with this,” I say, standing. “I do think we have very different interests. I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

“Wait,” Harold says, but I’m already walking away. My profile specifically mentions what I’m looking for, and when I looked through the website, I’m not the only omega dating for this reason.

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