Page 5 of Follow the Rhythm
“Your keys,” he said warily, looking to Austin as if they might explain why the Omega was not a bubbly ball of sunshine.
“Thanks,” I said and snatched them before stalking to the elevator. Henry, the doorman, had left the cart with my sad stack of possessions there. Austin followed me, giving Jack a little wave.
“Poor kid. I think you ruined his day,” Austin said.
“The last thing I want is some teen sniffing after me,” I said. Hot annoyance rushed through me. “And I don’t owe him anything, anyway.”
“Being nice to people doesn’t mean you’re weak,” Austin said, giving me a pointed look as the elevator swept up to the twelfth floor.
“Yeah, yeah, we get it, you’re friendly,” I said, bumping their shoulder.
My new apartment was small with only one bedroom - but it had four windows that looked out over the city, including a tiny sliver of the bay. The hardwood floors were a warm brown, and the walls were a soft fawn color that put me instantly at ease.
Austin whistled in appreciation when I unlocked the door.
“I told you it was nice,” I said.
The bedroom was windowless and had a large walk-in closet that had been designed as a mini-nest, with an entirely padded floor. Just big enough for an Omega and her one “approved Alpha guest.”
The first thing I unpacked was my stupidly expensive Bluetooth speaker so Austin and I could have a soundtrack. The second was the corkscrew and wineglasses to pop open a celebratory bottle of wine.
I put on Velvet Howl’s first album and poured two enormous glasses of Pinot.
“Oh wow, such a hostess,” Austin said when I passed them their glass. “This is that band you’re obsessed with, right?”
“I’m not obsessed,” I said. “That implies my interest is unhealthy, when it is, in fact, totally normal. Plus, a lot of people like Velvet Howl, okay? They are super famous for a reason, you uncultured swine.”
Austin laughed. “So defensive! By the way, I have a surprise for you when you’re done getting railed by a stranger. I’m taking you out on the town.”
Austin was the only person who could convince me to go out and do things. Being an Omega sucked for a lot of reasons, but the constant unwanted attention in public had to be high on the list. When we first met, I hadn’t wanted to do anything, ever, but they kept bugging me and finally, I agreed. I would always remember that first trip out after I arrived at the Center. We went to a bar two blocks away and had a single beer, but it felt like I’d climbed a mountain.
As with so many other people in my life, I didn’t know why Austin even enjoyed hanging out with me, but it was too weird to ask them. I knew our relationship was strictly platonic, since the one time I’d tried to kiss them it had ended with both of us laughing about how weird it felt, like kissing a sibling. But I didn’t have much to offer as a friend.
I looked at them suspiciously. “Is this a surprise that I will like, or are you forcing me to go to a screening of a foreign language movie with no subtitles?”
“That was one time! But yes, this will be a surprise that you like. I promise,” Austin said, smirking, then clinked my glass with theirs. “To new beginnings.”
“So corny,” I said, smiling. “To new beginnings.”
Chapter 2 - Jess
“Where is this guy?” I muttered. I was sprawled on my bed, horny and crampy and annoyed, waiting for my heat partner to arrive. To be fair, he wasn’t exactly late, but my body didn’t understand that, and I’d also lost the charger to my vibrator, so I couldn’t even take the edge off.
Of all the reasons I resented being an Omega, heats were at the top of the list. Every three months, I felt betrayed by my body. I’d tried riding out a few on my own over the years by convincing myself it wasn’t as horrible as I remembered, but it was always worse; excruciating pain, so bad it made me puke, and dangerously high fevers. I didn’t think Omegas could actually die from their heats, but it fucking felt like it sometimes.
So I’d learned to make my heats an exercise in reduction. A heat partner minimized the pain, usually kept the fevers from spiking too high, and made the experience either tolerable or mildly pleasurable depending on their scent and general vibe.
Finally, my phone buzzed with the notification to allow my visitor up from the lobby. I groaned in relief and rolled off the bed to answer the door. I was wearing the smallest set of pajamas I owned, and the AC was turned down to arctic, but Iwas still burning up. A wave of cramps hit me low in the stomach as I walked through the kitchen.
I opened the front door and got hit with a face full of cherry and vanilla scent that lit up the scent receptors in my stupid little Omega brain like a Christmas tree.
“Oh, fuck off,” I said emphatically. The Alpha in front of me not only smelled like a dessert, but he was stupidly gorgeous. He had dark blond hair and eyes like buttered toast, stubble that highlighted his strong jaw, and a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. That smile faltered a little, even as his pupils dilated in response to my scent, which had kicked into overdrive.
“Hi,” he said, unsure. “I’m from Heatsync. Is something wrong?”
I sighed in frustration. “No, it’s fine. You’re just… Can I see your ID?”
He pulled out his Heatsync card, and I scanned the QR code with my app. It lit up green. He was, in fact, my heat Alpha and not a psycho stranger.
