Page 117 of Dream Girl
Not Wes. But part of me was happy an alpha had come.
“I don’t know.” It came out raw and rough. At this moment, I didn’t. Where had we failed her?
“Okay. Can I come in?”
“You can open the door and sit in the doorway.” I wasn’t ready for him to come in, but I wanted, no, needed, to hear his voice.
The door opened, and he sat in the doorway, wearing only briefs.
“Did something happen? Do you want to join Jett and me?” He sounded sleepy, but it was still the middle of the night.
“Grace is spiraling.” My voice broke. Sheerasedherself. Wefailedher.
“Grace.” His voice went sour, his scent bitter. “Grace is in here with you? No wonder it smells gross. Can gammas even spiral?”
“Do you understand what gammas are?” My voice went tart, tired of his attitude.
“They’re failed omegas, aren’t they?”
“Do you know why theyfailed, versus being a beta with dormant omega traits, or an unawakened omega?” I pushed, needing him to understand.
He made a face. “Genetics?”
“Sometimes. Most times, it’s the environment,” I told him, still stroking her hair. “At some point the body literallystopsthe process of becoming an omega–usually because of a lack of resources or because something tells them thatit’s not safe. Considering the situations I’ve seen omegas raised in, can you imagine what must happen for a little body to goShit, it’s too dangerous to do thisandhalta genetic process?”
“Are you saying that if you love her enough, she’ll suddenly become an omega?” Sarcasm laced his voice.
I kissed her forehead. No matter what, I still loved her. “I think it’s way too late for that.”
Sometimes it happened. But from her medical records, it wasn’t likely–or could take a long time.
“Oh.” He frowned a little.
“The best way to interact with a gamma like her, atextbook gamma,is to treat them like an omega but don’t expect them to react like them. Do you know why?” I asked, still stroking her hair and snuggling her little body.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“Because their danger response is fucked up. Instead offight or flight,they can get stuck onrandombecause their body thinks surprising their attacker is the best choice. So, they do things like slap alphas.” Which we needed to be aware of. She wasn’t going to act like we’d expect.
“And kiss omegas in front of their alphas,” he grumbled.
“That was her being a brat. I’mherefor bratty Grace.” It was also probably a fucked-up danger response, but I felt like baiting him. Would it hurt for him to be nicer to her?
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Annoyance came through the bond.
“She’sspiraling.Like I used to.” I held her tighter, not knowing what else to do. Her heartbeat and breathing were better, but she was still cool and clammy.
“But what does that even mean, we’ve given her everything, so she–”
“Go look in her fucking room and tell me what you see,” I snapped, angry that my words were doingnothing. “Then wake Wes’ ass up. He’s not responding to my texts, and obviously he’s so fast asleep he can’t feel that something is wrong.”
“I felt you, which is why I’m here in the middle of the night. I’m your alpha, tellmewhat you need,” he growled.
“You are my alpha, but you’re not hers.” I pulled her to me protectively.
“Well, of course not,” he snapped.
It hit me. It was him. Fuck. On some primal level, she didn’t feel safe in the house, even with Wes and me present, becauseof him. He resented her. Brennan rejected her presence. He complained she didn’t do things right–which must have triggered a childhood response to her mom berating her for not being tidy.
