Page 31 of Their Perfect Omega

His lips were so soft and moved against mine with a skill and need that made my knees weak. I didn’t know if his intention was to come over and tempt me, but he was, and if my sister wasn’t shooting daggers at my back, I would have stripped naked right then and there.

Kayla coughed loudly, and Alvaro and I broke the kiss but didn’t move away from each other. “Time to go before any bones are jumped or knots are formed.” She walked to us and picked up my Squishmallows.

I put my forehead against Alvaro’s chest and readied my Squishmallow voice. “Oh, no. Kayla has turned into such a mom! Jane, remember that one time she ran down the hall in the dorms in her bra and panties, dildo raised shaking in the air and yelled she was queen of the schlong?”

Kayla groaned and Alvaro’s chest shook with laughter. I smiled, loving the sound of his laugh. It was deep but had a musical quality to it.

“I sure do, Princess! And there was that time in Advanced Pack Management she did a presentation applying the theories to managing a sanitation facility instead.”

“All right, all right. That’s enough or I’m taking Princess and Jane to my quilting room.” Kayla whacked me on the back with one. “Don’t make me regret leaving you alone. Here.”

I lifted my head and turned around, only to be hit in the face with one. “Hey!”

She dropped them both and ran into the house, shutting the door behind her. At least my sister hadn’t completely lost her carefree attitude.

I bent down, picked up the stuffed animals, and heard a growl from behind me as I stood up.

“Don’t do that,” Alvaro said through clenched teeth. “You just presented your ass to me.”

My cheeks flushed, but I wasn’t about to apologize. “You’re here alone. Where’s everyone else?” There was a planter box off to the side of the door and I went to it, sitting down on the edge.

Alvaro peeked out between his fingers and then joined me. “Cal and Tate went to pick up Gizmo. He’s going to be fine but will be lethargic for a few days. We got him to them in enough time, thanks to you.”

I hugged the squishes in my lap and folded over to rest my cheek on them while looking at him. “Thanks to me he was in that predicament to begin with.”

He reached over and cupped my face, putting me at ease. “He’s going to be okay. That’s all that matters.”

I shut my eyes, and he moved his thumb back and forth across my cheek. “Where’s Avery?”

He grunted, and I looked to find him staring off into space, his frown making a small sliver of doubt creep in. Did Avery decide I wasn’t worth the trouble? Did they all? Was that why only the leader of the pack was here to break the news?

“When we formed our pack during college, Avery was in a rough place. It’s his story to tell, but the rest of us helped him heal and we started talking about the future and having an omega and a family.” He looked over at me. “That was ripped away from him and it opened a lot of old wounds for him. If last night was any indication, he does want you, just like we all do, but letting that hope take hold and it not happening will break him completely.”

A tear fell and he wiped it away. “You want me?”

He sighed and put his forearms on his legs, staring at his hands. “We do, but we don’t know if they will let us do the fall match. We did better on our assessment, but they won’t tell us our results until later today.”

“We won’t use Omega Match. We can just bond and-”

“I’m not going to risk that, Kara. We don’t even know what they’ll do. They could take you from us or throw us in prison.” He stabbed his fingers into his disheveled hair.

“They wouldn’t break a bond.”

“If it’s newly formed, they’d do it. We’d all be in the hospital for a bit, but… no. We aren’t going to risk it. I understand completely if you don’t want to wait for us, but you deserve more than a rushed bond because we-”

I dropped to my knees and took his face in my hands, barely able to see through my tears. “I’ll wait for you as long as you need me to.”

His hands covered mine and our foreheads pressed together. “You barely know us. We’d understand completely.”

“I know you better than I would meeting some pack for five minutes of a meet and greet. I feel safe with you… like I’ve found my home.” It was so hard to explain how it felt. For some alphas and omegas, it took longer, but some got lucky and knew right away. “Unless your pack isn’t sure.”

“We’re sure.” He sat up and pulled me into his lap, burying his face in my neck. “We’re so sure and it hurts that we can’t have you right now.”

I thought not matching was the worst feeling in the world, but the ache in my chest knowing I couldn’t stay with them was so much worse. “There has to be a way…”

“I will try everything in my power to see if there is. We have our tour coming up in a few weeks. At the very least, we have to do that. A lot of people’s jobs depend on that tour…” Alvaro’s voice shook, and he sounded so lost and conflicted. “Maybe taking time off and extending our contract to make up that time would be enough to satisfy the record label and OPS.”

His lips brushed along my neck, and he ran his hands over my body as if he was memorizing my curves. He was saying goodbye, but I wasn’t ready to let him go.

---