Page 16 of Pack Rivals, Part One

I find Courtney sitting cross-legged at the end of my bed, a book in her lap.

"I've been waiting for you to wake up all day."

"All day? What time is it?" I moan.

She glances at her watch. "Noon."

"And the day?"

"Saturday."

I've been asleep for over twelve hours. The most I've slept in one go since the whole mess with Karl.

"What happened?"

Courtney tosses her book aside, and crawls over the bed, snuggling down beside me. "What happened is you sent me this long rambling text message last night that made no sense. I tried to call you back and you didn't pick up. Then some big burly man and a small waitress dropped you off at home. He put you straight into bed and you haven't moved since."

"He put me to bed?" I peer down, relieved to find I'm fully dressed, although apparently clutching a sweater that isn't mine. A sweater that smells really good.

"What did the man and the girl say?"

"Nothing much. I tried to interrogate them but they hot-legged it out of here pronto. Although the big burly, super-hot dude did leave his card and said if you needed his help to call him." She scrubs her hand against her nose. "You also stink by the way, like someone dropped you into a vat of perfume. What happened? Did you get drunk?"

"Drunk? No, I was working!"

"Hmmm." Courtney doesn't sound convinced. "You sure seemed drunk. You could hardly string two words together last night."

"I … I don't know what happened." I sniff my skin. I do smell like caramel dessert. "There was all this talk about me being an omega. Even though I told them I wasn't. And then they said I couldn't stay there and … what?" Courtney stares at me wide-eyed and open-mouthed. I pinch her arm. "What?"

"They said you were an omega?" She rests the back of her hand against my forehead. "You do feel warm."

I push her hand away. "I'm probably sick. That would account for the weird behavior last night. And the way my sense of smell went all haywire."

"It did? How?"

I pinch her again. "I'm not an omega."

"You sure smell like one. Now I come to think about it, you were all mewling and whimpering like one last night too. That man – that alpha!" her eyes grow even wider, "had to practically peel you off him."

I bury my face in my hands. "Oh god, that is embarrassing."

"Have you ever had any other signs that you might be an omega?"

"No," I say firmly. "It's impossible. You don't get to 26 believing you are a beta all your life, only to find out you're actually an omega."

"It happens."

"It does not. Besides, it doesn't run in our family. We're all betas."

"Aunt Julia is an omega. So were both Grandma's sisters."

"Aunt Julia is an omega? What the hell! No one ever told me that."

"Really?" Courtney frowns. "I think she and your mom had a falling out."

We're both silent, staring at each other.

"Do you really think I could be an omega?" I ask, the words sounding crazy as they fall from my lips.

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