Page 25 of The Alpha: Part One
It's Minos, his elaborate lion mask pushed onto his head. And he's laughing at me.
"Thinking of putting down roots, Pratchett?"
I return to my watch, trying to appear much more at ease than I am. "It crossed my mind."
He follows my gaze to where Desir'ee and the twins are. "Ah, yes. Desir'ee Romero. I knew her father. He was a wonderful man."
"Was?" I ask, tilting my ear toward him. I haven't asked about her parents. I knew she lived with her brother's pack, but I didn't want to dig into a past she didn't want to share.
"Yes, he passed about ten years ago. Terrible thing. I wanted him for the council. He did so much for the community, he would have been perfect for it. I was after him for years, but he didn't want the hassle. He just wanted to live his life."
That sounds exactly like Corso, and now he's sitting in a council seat he never wanted because of me. "What happened to him?" I ask, still not looking at him. I hope he doesn't think I'm being rude, I just really don't want to split my visual attention.
"He was killed. I've been quietly investigating for years. There are a handful of people who I think may have had a hand in it, but I'm not sure enough to make the accusations. It was bad. The whole pack was lost, except for her mother. Consuelo, Desir'ee's mother, just left one day. People assumed she had a nervous breakdown or something similar due to the loss of her pack, but I know better. She would have never left her children, especially her daughter. I think it's all connected."
That's enough for me to give him my full attention. I look at him for three or four full seconds, meeting his solemn eyes, before I turn back to my post. "Why are you telling me?" I'm not from here. I'm not part of his inner circle.
"Because you have an interest, and because the WCC paints a pretty picture, but that's all it is. I need a set of outside eyes." He pauses, then chuckles. "Well, one outside eye."
That's why he's been showing me everything.
"You see that pack there, the tall blonde in pink with the old men in suits?" he points to a group of dancers in the crowd. "That's my pack. We're entirely too old for her, but she loves us. We weren't expecting her. She's from the Southern territory. I heard you met Lopez. Have you met his lead alpha, Flores?"
I shake my head.
"Flores introduced us to Mallory. Brought her to a poker game. He's introduced several omegas to other council members. We've all been very blessed."
Blessed, indeed.
"Anyway, I usually watch my pack from the other side of the ring. I just wanted to come say hello. I'm very glad you found your way here tonight. I'd actually like to get together with you next week for a poker game. I don't know if Flores will be in attendance. I never know where he'll pop up. Nice mask. It's suiting."
Minos leaves me to stand guard over a pack that isn't actually mine, in a place I don't belong, with my mind spinning with more questions than I have any hope of answering.
Chapter twelve
Desie
This cannot be happening. Not after I've made so many comments about omegas going into heat in public and how irresponsible it is. I'm not in heat, not yet; but I've had two minor spikes during this shift already and I just know that it’ll be in full swing by dinner time. I knew it was coming, I've been having and handling spikes for a few days. Usually, I'll have a couple weeks of build-up, but this one is coming on all at once. This is happening because I skipped a couple so I could pass my exams and graduate. I know that. I understand it. It's a price I was willing to pay when I was paying it, but now that I'm in the middle of my shift at the job I worked so hard to get, I'm doubting my decision-making skills. Michael was right. He told me it was too long to take suppressants. He begged me to only skip the heat cycle near graduation, but I wouldn't listen.
This is going to be a big one. I need to get somewhere,anywhere, other than the floor I'm working on, and I need to get there fast. I doubt I'll make it to my car, the parking garage is way too far away, but I could make it to the empty room at the end of the hall. I can shove a blanket in front of the door to block the scent as much as I can and lock it. And I'll call Benny because he won't say I told you so.
I make it to the empty room without doubling over, but it's an effort. I pass several other nurses and one doctor who all avert their eyes, the scent is probably already strong. After I lock the door and cover the crack at the bottom, I go to the ensuite bathroom and shut and lock that door, stuffing a towel under it as well. Then I call Benny.
"Hey, baby," he purrs into the phone, and whatever sound I make in response has him cursing on the other end of the call. "Fuck. Michael, we have to go. Now. Ramirez, can you tell the chief we had an emergency? Yeah, I'll call him later. Come on Michael, just leave it. We have to go. Where are you, Desie?"
"No, no. You don't have to leave the station. It's just a spike, but I'm leaving as soon as it's over. I just wanted to talk to you during, it helps." I don't want to cause trouble for them at work, not over a spike. This was their week to be in-house. Usually, when they have shifts, they hang around the station watching old movies and sleeping in the bunks for the night; but when they're scheduled in-house, that means they're there for at least three days and they're in charge of equipment maintenance. I don't know the hows and whys of being a firefighter, and right now I don't care. I just need to listen to him while I breathe through this spike.
"Alright, just stay on the phone with me, baby. How much time do you think we have before we need to be home? Our shift is over at six, but we can leave early if you need us to."
"I don't know, I think I'll make it until six." The last words are said between panting breaths. "I'm going to your place as soon as I can leave."
I listen to Michael asking about what's going on and Ben explaining it to him. He starts to purr while he talks, and it helps even though it's distorted through the phone call. Michael tells him to put the phone on speaker so they both can talk to me, then he tells some guy named Elijah to fuck off and mind his business. "Do we need to come get you, Desie?" he asks.
"No," I whisper, "just talk to me. About anything. I just need to hear you. I'm okay." I'm not about to shove my hand down the front of my scrubs. It took me a few unsuppressed heats when I was finally old enough to handle them to understand that trying to get myself off during a spike just makes it a million times worse. I can usually handle them with breathing exercises, but listening to the boys helps it go faster.
"Okay, baby," Benny says, still purring. "We had to replace one of the big hoses today. The connector was—"
"Don't talk about hoses," I interrupt, and drag a breath in through my nose. One of them snorts on the other end of the call, but neither of them comment on my adolescent word association.
