Page 1 of Such a Shy Omega

Chapter One

Heath

“There are treats in the break room if you want,” Grant said. He was my supervisor and trainer for the next week.

“Treats?” I asked. Since moving to the city and getting a job at Cuffed, I realized every day how removed my life was from the pack. Pack rules. Pack shared everything. Pack hierarchy.

Pack control.

“Yeah, you know, something out of the ordinary that makes us happy.”

I dipped my head, the heat of my blush filling my cheeks. “I mean, what is the treat?”

“Oh. I think it’s muffins. Someone baked them.”

“Thanks,” I muttered and realized that not only could I use a snack, but coffee would be fantastic after staring at the screen for so long. But going to the employee area would mean seeing others and, while I knew I had to get into practice with socializing, I wasn’t ready.

There was too much muck in my head. The thoughts infiltrated the veins of my head and interrupted conversations.

Trauma was a real bitch.

I pushed away from the desk and steeled my resolve not only to get the muffin and the coffee but to talk to someone. I had to get into the habit.

Cuffed, before it opened, was like a well-oiled clock. The clinking of glasses from the bar. The spritz of disinfectant and the swish of the mop along the always-spotless floors. Before applying and getting the job, I checked them out online. Everyone said this place was the best of the best and they weren’t wrong.

The moment I stepped inside for an interview was the first time I’d ever been in a club like this. Or any club, for that matter.

Everything was new, which was equally exciting and terrifying.

“You must be Heath,” someone said as I stepped into the break room. My eyes were trained on the larger-than-life blueberry lemon muffins. When I looked up to see the person speaking to me, my heart hammered in my chest.

It was him. No. No, it couldn’t be. There was no way Ramsey was here, at Cuffed, in the city, or anywhere in the vicinity for that matter. My vision cleared up and then I could see. This man had some of Ramsey’s features, but no, it wasn’t him.

“I am,” I managed to croak out.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Harry. Bartender.”

“Ah, I don’t drink. Well, I never have.”

All conversation around us ceased. Oh, boy. I’d done it again.

People were fascinated by my life, especially those who had never been in a pack setting. They had questions, but the last thing I wanted to do was to talk about pack life and pack rituals that almost chained me to Ramsey for life. Packs and alphas claimed they believed in fated mates but only so far as the notion fit into their politics. If there was land up for grabs or a merge to be fulfilled, they would use any means necessary, even a mating outside of Fate’s plan.

And they wondered why things went to hell after that.

“Well, come on by the bar, and we’ll start you with something light, if you like, that is. No pressure.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

The other people went back to their conversations as soon as Harry smiled and left the room. Everyone was friendly here. They meant no harm with their shock. Couldn’t be helped.

I picked out a muffin and added plenty of cream and sugar to a cup of coffee, something that wasn’t allowed for omegas in the pack. Our diets were monitored. Silliest thing I’d ever heard. It was nearly impossible for us to gain weight, especially with the way the omegas were responsible for the hunting of meat for the pack. We ran our asses off and needed all the sustenance we could get.

I ate in the break room, not wanting to take the chance of spilling anything all over the computers and equipment. My rent was paid through the next two months, thanks to the money I’d tucked away while living in the pack, and my first paycheck would come in this week. I had to have this job and was thankful I had some training in the pack for this sort of thing.

Even though the pack life wasn’t for me, I had learned some things that served me in this life.

Ramsey would’ve gone on one of his rage tirades if he knew that I was here, working, at a sex club.

---