Page 17 of Where There's Smoke
“No, no. It’s the teacher, right?”
Samson nodded. “Yep. Hailey set up the date a while ago. She's an omega, she's really kind and loves children, and she loves teaching.”
On paper, that sounded like the perfect omega for us: someone dedicated to their job, who understood the desire to help others, who was all about family. Hailey was an EMT we worked with regularly, an omega who was tough and sweet. But…
I chewed on my lip, finishing with the computer work and slowly closing the laptop. “Would we be assholes if we canceled it?”
“Youdon'twant to go on the date? You've been the most anxious of all of us to find an omega.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him, putting my laptop down and standing up, stretching as I did so. “We both know that's a lie. You may not talk about it, but you want one as bad as I do.”
“Yeah…maybe,” he admitted.
“Then work with me. Because I think we already found one.” I looked him dead in the eye. “How do we convince her that she's an omega?”
Samson shrugged. “I have no idea, but I have a feeling Elliot's going to lose his mind soon. She keeps insisting that she can stay in her car or go to a cheap motel or a shelter, and I think his brain is going to implode. It’s her first day here, and he’s losing his mind.”
I scoffed out a laugh. “Ha! Seriously? Oh, buddy. Yeah, there's no way we’re letting Melody stay in some shelter, and certainly not in her car. She thinks she’s a beta. She has no idea the kind of risk she’s at in those sorts of places, considering the much more likely truth is that she’s a late-blooming omega. Fuck, we need to convince her.”
Samson’s stare fell to the floor as he sighed. “We need to give it time. The loss of smell is probably temporary, thanks to the fire, so give her some space, make sure she's safe, and hopefully she'll heal. Hell, it's her first day at the fire station, and she's holed up in her room, coming out only when she's getting a bottle for the puppy.”
“It's not just her sense of smell, though. What if she goes into heat?” I said pointedly.
Samson’s ears turned red. “I…I hadn’t thought about that.”
“What if she grabs the first random alphas she finds on the street?”
Unwanted images filled my head, and nausea churned in my gut at the thought of Melody using someone else to take care of herself like that. It clearly had the same effect on my pack mate because his face went slightly green.
If Melody was going to go into heat, thenwewere going to help her through it. That was, if shewantedhelp through it or accepted us at all, for that matter.
“She should be on heat suppressants…”
“But she doesn't believe she's an omega, so she wouldn’t take them.” Samson sighed, running a hand over his face. “Plus, she’s beautiful. You know, there are plenty of guys at this station who would happily take her out.”
“Trust me, I’m well aware of that. And I don’t like it. Someone else being wrapped up in that summery melon scent? Absolutely not.”
Laughing at me, Samson shook his head again. “Dude, you can’t force it. Melody needs to come to this conclusion for herself, and she might not even like you. You’re super annoying.”
Glaring at him, I put my hand to my chest in exaggerated outrage. “I’m adorable, thank you very much. You’re the giant oaf with no social skills.”
“Hey!” Samson glared back. “Social skills, I’ve got. You’re thinking of Elliot.”
At that, we both laughed. He was undoubtedly the worst at it out of the three of us. But the humor didn’t change the situation. Melody needed protection while she was dealing with this new information about herself and while she was still looking for a place to live and stash the animals. Thankfully, it looked like I was helping with that last part.
“We need to keep her safe, Samson. A shelter isn’t the right place for a burgeoning omega. You know that as much as I do.”
“Yeah,” he said, nodding, “I do. We just… Ugh, we’re going to have to be gentle. Freaking her out over all of this will scare her away faster, right into the arms of some shit alpha who won’t care how vulnerable Melody is.”
That thought was worse than the others. Lord knew there were some creeps out there, and we’d all heard way too many horror stories about what had happened to omegas suddenly in heat around the wrong alpha. Hence, the creation of suppressants.
“We take it slow. I agree. But we do whatever we need to keep Melody safe and away from any creeps. Yeah?”
Samson nodded decisively, walking the few steps to shake my hand.
“Agreed.”
Chapter 9
