Page 50 of One Last Chance

It won’t be easy getting her out of there without embarrassing her. Being out in public when in heat is one thing as an adult is uncomfortable enough in itself. Even sitting in my cubicle most of the day, I get irritated with people, their looks, their smells, with the loud noises… Controlling my emotions and my pheromones becomes so much harder.

Nowhere near as hard as it is for someone having one of their first heats. Mina is going to be out of it, and she has no experience with anything—experiencing other people’spheromones while in heat, holding hers under the lid, or dealing with the hormones coursing through her body.

I glance at the back of my car and thankfully see the thick cardigan that’s been sitting there for god knows how long. I check for mold or weird smells, and thankfully it only has some leftover scent of one of my perfumes. It will do.

I get out and head inside, feeling my heart in my throat again. How strange is it going to be seeing her after what happened last time? More importantly, how will I handle seeing little pieces of Rowland in her?

Taking a deep breath, I pause by the entrance to the bathrooms, grounding myself. I look around before entering, and try to sniff out the situation. There aren't that many people inside, probably because it’s a nice, warm day and most chose to sit outside. Good.

I then focus on the complex mixture of scents in the air, attempting to follow the most intense one. There’s definitely been a few alphas and omegas in here today. The two younger guys sitting by the window, with an older woman… One of them is an alpha. But they seem distracted. If they have paid no attention to Mina yet, we should be good.

The toilets are unisex, with three separate doors behind an open wall at the back of the cafe. Only one is locked, so I carefully walk toward it. I hear her breathing in there, which abruptly stops when I get closer.

“Mina? It’s Dayton,” I say cautiously.

As soon as I’m inches from the door, the scent comes to me. Something like jasmine and slightly charred wood. It’s harder for omegas to smell pheromones of other omegas. I was never very good at it, andmuchmore susceptible to alphas’. But she is without a doubt like a smoke bomb, unintentionally spilling out her pheromones all over the place.

This could have gone badly. Every omega has heard the horror stories. Someone inexperienced in heat, alone and vulnerable, getting stumbled upon by an alpha, one that is either in rut or just a bad person. Either way, a dangerous situation.

“Mina, are you—”

The lock clicks, and Mina cracks the door open a little, half of her face hiding behind the door. She holds onto it like a shield and meets my eyes, but only for a moment. She looks a mess. As expected. Her cheek is red, her eyes glassy.

I smile awkwardly, swallowing as more of her scent hits me.

We gotta go.

“Here,” I say, handing her my cardigan. “Put that over yourself. Cover your head. I’ll lead you out and straight into my car. It’s parked right in front of the door, okay? You’ll be safe there, I promise.”

She stands there, still hiding behind the door, before she finally nods and slips out. Her movements are wobbly. Heat radiates out of her body as she gets close. I put the cardigan over her like she’s a celebrity trying to hide from paparazzi and gently put my arm around her shoulders to keep her steady.

We rush out of the bathroom. I don’t care about anyone or anything, don’t meet anyone’s eyes. All I care about is getting her into that car. Once she’s safely sat in the back, I shut the door behind her. I hop into the driver’s seat, firmly wrap my hands around the wheel, and look ahead.

Now what?

I didn’t quite think this through. Taking her to Rowland’s, if she doesn’t feel up for it, would feel like a kidnapping. In her state, she’s anxious and paranoid enough. The hospital? Maybe, but they would call him—or worse, her mother—anyway, and I worry a little about a strange man bringing a young girl unrelated to him there in such a state.

Think, think, think.The only other safe place I could take her would be—

Ha! Of course.

“Alright, listen,” I say, feeling a little more confident in myself. I only look at her through the rearview mirror to keep some distance between us and put less pressure on her. “I know you feel like crap right now. I’m sorry. You can tell me where you want to go, but if you don’t have any ideas, I can take you to my parents' house. Both my mothers are venus, and my mom is an omega. She’s the sweetest person and she’ll help you with this. Trust me, she'll know exactly what to do.”

I watch her rosy face, half buried in my cardigan that is now on her shoulders. After a moment of thinking, Mina nods.

“Good,” I say, starting the car. “Put on your seatbelt.”

This is the best I can do for her right now. Mom will probably have some suppressants, or know which are safe for her. What’s more, even if we’re both omegas, I’m sure there are things Mina would rather talk about or ask another woman.

I turn on the radio as we drive, putting the volume low enough to not give her a migraine that I know I’d get in her state. The atmosphere is as awkward as one would expect, and I’m not sure if I should speak or keep quiet.

Every so often, I glance back at her in the rearview mirror and see her sitting there all fidgety. She shifts around, pressing and rubbing her legs together. She must be cooking under that cardigan, though I figure she’d be sweating buckets even without it. No more tears, at least, so that’s a win.

“Aren’t you gonna say it?” she mutters after about ten minutes. I barely catch what she said, so I briefly turn with a questioning brow raise. Even looking like she’s running a fever, Mina has it in her to make that grumpy frown of hers, even if for just a moment. Plus, I don’t think it’s really aimed at me. “Are younot…going to tell me how you said so? Th-that this is all my fault?”

I furrow my brows deeply and tighten the grip on the wheel.

“Of course not,” I say firmly. “This isn’t your fault. The way you acted before, maybe, yeah. Not this. It’s out of your control and you’re suffering enough for me to pile up on you as well.”

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