Page 18 of Nanny Omega

“Ersa has the final say,” Dr. Alora said, his gaze drifting to Ersa. “If he doesn’t have any objections, we can start tonight. Ersa, do you want to go ahead with Master Quin?”

Ersa chewed on his bottom lip as two sets of eyes focused on him, waiting for his answer. Any other alpha, the decision would have been easy, but Master Quin was his boss. He couldn’t have sex with him. Ersa turned to the alpha, then paused as he remembered he’d been willing to have sex with a total stranger seconds ago. Would it seem odd if he refused now? Ersa dropped his gaze to his lap, his fingers twisting the fabric of his pants, torn.

“I know being with an aggressive alpha can be daunting and…”

“What?” Ersa’s head snapped up at Master Quin’s words, his heart thudding in his chest when his words finally registered. His emotions must have been written all over his face because Master Quin seemed to shrink before his eyes, his broad shoulders slumping as if weighed down by an invisible burden.

“I wouldn’t ask this of you if there was another way,” he admitted, his voice heavy. “Benjn is…”

Benjn. Ersa’s heart broke as he thought about the cub.

“I’ll do it,” Ersa said, his throat growing tight.

Chapter 5

Xander

Vina’sfootstepshitthefloor in rapid succession as she tried to keep up with Xander’s longer strides and make note of all his orders at the same time. Xander slowed down, giving her a moment to catch her breath before he continued. “Prepare the guest bedroom on the first floor for us. And we’re going to need food for the next four days. Ask Ersa what he likes to eat during his heat and make sure he has everything he needs.”

“Yes, Master.”

“A nurse from the health center will arrive soon. She’s going to need a place to set up her stuff and rest while we…” Xander trailed off, unable to bring himself to say what was going to happen in a couple of hours. He dug his fingers into the muscles at the back of his neck in an effort to release the tension that was slowly twisting the muscles there into knots. “And Benjn…”

“I’ll take care of him. Focus on what you need to do.”

Xander’s hand hovered over the access pad on the wall as Vina’s words sank in. “This is not how I thought things would end up. I never…”

“I know, Master. Things don’t always go as planned,” Vina said. “Benjn’s health is at stake. You have to do everything you can for your cub.”

“I know.” Dropping his forehead on the door panel, a sigh slipped from his lips, the exhaustion from last night pulling on his muscles. The cold from the surface seeped into his skin, cooling his heated head. “He barely slept last night. I need this to work.”

“It will, Master,” Vina said, her voice full of hope that Xander wished he could feel. He pressed his palm to the access pad, and the door slid open, releasing a quiet whoosh that echoed around them. Vina trailed close behind, her voice already rising as she stepped into the office after him. “While you were out, the agent from the agency sent the contract for you and Ersa to sign. I left it on your desk.”

“They did?” Xander moved to the desk and picked up the e-reader, the contract loading as soon as the screen lit up, then pressed his thumb to the scan pad for the system to capture his fingerprint. “Please give this to Ersa.”

“I will. Will you be needing anything else?” Vina asked, reaching for the e-reader and tucking it under her arm.

“No.”

“I’ll get to work.” She bowed and walked out of the office, the door whooshing closed behind her. The silence made Xander feel antsy, made his thoughts sound too loud in his mind, and he started to doubt his conviction. An inexplicable wave of anxiety rippled down his spine, coiling tightly in his stomach and stealing the air from his lungs.

“It’s okay. I just have to control myself, that’s all,” he mumbled to the empty room.

No biting, no pinning the omega down, no scratching… damn, this was going to be torture. His claws always slipped out when he got excited, a primal response he could barely control. The thought of holding back, of keeping himself reined in when every instinct in his body screamed otherwise, made his skin itch with frustration. No excitement, then. Xander let out a long, weary sigh, staring at the ceiling as if it might offer some kind of solution. But there wasn’t one.

Restless energy thrummed through his muscles, propelling him to pace from the window to his desk and back again, over and over, like a caged animal seeking escape. When a knock sounded, interrupting his gloomy thoughts, he bolted to the door, too grateful for the distraction.

“Hicks, come in,” Xander said, stepping out of the way for the alpha to waddle into the office, a stack of boxes balanced precariously in his arms. Xander snatched one from the top, his fingers already ripping through the foamy material.

“You can’t wait to see it, huh?” Hicks’s laughter rumbled from his chest to swirl around the room as he placed the boxes on his workbench. “I couldn’t wait either. I had to get it to you as soon as the parts arrived from the warehouse. This one is going to be a hit.”

“You say that about every damn waste bot we roll out,” Xander grumbled, though he found himself laughing right along with Hicks, the alpha’s laughter and excitement contagious. “Let’s see what this baby can do.”

“Yes!” Hicks jumped up and down, a gleeful smile stretching his lips, as if he were a cub. And for the next two hours, Xander shoved every thought from his mind and focused on testing his new waste bot. He wanted it small, quiet as a whisper, and efficient enough to surpass the bulkier models already in use. The prototype gleamed under the overhead lights as Xander fed it various types of waste—metal, cloth, leftovers—monitoring its internal breakdown systems, sensors, and chemical reactions.

His brow furrowed. “It’s still too noisy,” he muttered, frowning at the faint whirring coming from the bot’s core.

“I don’t hear anything,” Hicks said, crouching beside it.

---