Page 24 of The Omega Project

“It didn’t happen like that for us.” That’s the understatement of the year. “We’re mates, but the bond isn’t fully there. Not yet, I mean.”

She makes that humming sound again and leans forward, her kiss a blend of sweet vanilla and sympathy. “That must be so hard. But we’ll hopefully fix that, right?”

If anyone else suggested it, I’d bite their head off. We’ve been working on a solution for over a year, and so far, we’ve fixed shit. But I’m quickly becoming convinced that Finn was right. This beautiful girl in my arms could be our missing piece.

I must have waited too long to reply, because she slowly pulls back, her skin flushed as she climbs into her own seat. “If I knew dry humping another alpha would get rid of him, I would’ve done this a long time ago.”

I look at her blankly, and she nods towards the windscreen. I have no idea when her arsehole ex left, but he and his car are nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry,” she says, drawing my attention back to her. “That’s not exactlydry, is it?”

Her cheeks are now burning as she stares at my lap, but my brain has gone way offline. Because the scent wafting up from the damp spot on my trousers is as potent as omega slick.

“Um… I should probably go inside.” She grabs the handle, but then looks back at me, her plush lip caught between her teeth. “Thanks… for bringing me home.”

I want to thank her back. For the touches. The trust…

But if I open my mouth, I’m not sure what will come out.

“Goodnight.”

She’s gone before I can reply, and I barely twitch a muscle until she disappears inside the apartment building. The front gate would be termed decorative if it wasn’t falling the fuck down, there’s more weeds than shrubbery in the handkerchief garden, and the security light blinks twice then fizzles out altogether. I can see at least three windows cracked open on the first floor, not that the shitty lock on the front door would keep anyone out, anyway. Fuck, I hate this place. It takes everything in me not to follow her inside, scoop her up, and carry her back to my car.

Instead, I text to make sure my guy on the next corner is still awake, and once I get his confirmation, start my car and dial Finn’s number.

Even though it’s the middle of the night, he answers on the first ring, his voice as cool and collected as ever. It’s enough to make me see red. “Did you know this could happen?”

“Be specific, brother.”

I’d roll my eyes if I wasn’t glaring a hole in the red traffic light in front of me. “You said that if Emily was compatible with Soren, like she’s compatible with the rest of us, that she could tone down his condition, right?”

“She’s the closest thing we’ve come to a solution.”

I grip the steering wheel tight enough to make the leather whine. “And what if this isn’t part of her life plan?”

“She’ll adapt.” I gun the engine, and he sighs. “How about you pull over, take a deep breath, and explain why you’re driving thirty over the limit?”

Of course, the fucker is tracking me, but it’s a good reminder that I’m being reckless, and I force myself to slow down. “Emily just dry-humped me in my car – her words, not mine – and then left a puddle of slick in my lap.” The silence from the other end is deafening, only I can’t tell if it’s because Finn’s surprised, or because he’s hiding the fact he’s not fucking surprised at all. “Did you know she’s a switch?”

“No.” He takes a beat, then I can hear his keyboard going to work in the background. “You know I thought she was a null. Her blood work, her scent, and the Command Method all suggest she’s as clinically close to that state as you can get.”

It sounds like an evasive answer, but I’ve read the same files he has. Nulls are about as rare as it gets, and most spend their lives passing as betas. But powerful alphas with highly dominant traits can sometimes identify them, since nulls have little to no scent and are immune to an alpha’s command. They’re basicallydesignation free, and questions have been raised if they can bond in any meaningful way. So much of our world is based on instinct, dominance, and mating bonds, nulls are a rarity that no one has any real interest in researching.

“Maybe you were wrong. Maybe herfatherwas wrong.”

One of the first things Finn did was hack into Brigadier Nash’s files, only to discover he’d been trying out his designation manipulation techniques on his kids over the breakfast table. Not only is commanding a family member frowned upon, but a senior military officer doing it to his oblivious, underage children would get him dishonourably discharged, at the very least. “His notes say he was trying to turn her into an alpha, right? But what if she isn’t a null. What if she was predisposed to being an omega? All those commands he was shoving down her throat could’ve short-circuited her fucking wiring!”

“Ty,calm.”

There’s just enough command in his voice to make me thump a hand against the wheel, but I realise I’ve slipped over the speed limit again. Fuck it. No one is around at three in the morning, and if I slam into a guardrail, this car is designed to be bombproof. “I won’t fucking calm down, Finn! If we’ve just played Russian Roulette with this girl’s life, I won’t fucking forgive myself.”

I jab the call button so hard, I think I might have broken it.

Tough shit.

I screech into the facility parking garage, and stride right past Finn, but he catches my arm, pulling me up short. “What are you doing, Creed?”

“I have to know. I’m grabbing a testing kit, and taking it back to her place.”

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