Page 77 of The Omega Lesson

I press my face to his shirt, breathing him in as the door opens behind me. When I reluctantly pull away, a part of me can’t believe I’m staring up at Travis Lyall. He’s been that perfect boy in my mind for so long, and now he’s in front of me, his shirt crumpled from my hands and his mouth swollen with my kisses. “You’ll come, too. I don’t know if this is a heat, but I want you there.”

He nudges me gently back into the elevator. “Try and keep me away.”

The door slides closed between us, and I catch sight of myself in the mirrored wall. Yikes. If I’m not in heat, I’m a very frustrated alpha.

I try to smooth my pink curls down a little as the elevator whooshes up to the top floor. Travis is right. It doesn’t stop for anyone else, and then I’m stepping out into the penthouse suite.

The familiar scent of my mates is almost lost in the huge space and I pull Travis’ jacket to my nose, breathing him in. It sends another jolt through my body, this time pooling between my thighs, and I give a needy little moan as I drift towards the windows. There are a few lamps on, but the room is mostly lit by moonlight. But I stop dead when I realise someone is already standing there, his back to the wall as he watches me cross the room.

He's almost lost in the shadows, his black hoodie pulled up over his head. Bad enough, he looks like a thug come to rob the joint. But my heart rate skyrockets when he pushes his hood back and I realise I’m staring at Finn Visser.

“What are you doing here?” My voice comes out small and reedy as I look around, searching for a weapon. Of course, the casino’s decorator went for a minimalist vibe, so there’s not a heavy vase or fireplace poker in sight. “My mates will be up here in a minute.”

“I’ve got control of the building security,” Visser replies, still leaning against the wall, his pale eyes glinting in the low light. “It’s not a threat, but I want to have this conversation without interruptions.”

A wave of frigid fear sweeps over me, and I clutch Travis’ jacket tighter.He’s not a threat?This is the man with alpha containment cells in his basement. Why would he go to all this trouble to get me alone unless he was planning something that’s the definition of threatening?

And then the real issue hits me. What if Ihaveswitched, and I’m going into heat right now? Mating Jack has given me a power boost, but the extra dominance zipping through my bloodstream is nothing compared to the alpha across the room.

“Mr. Visser, I will defend myself if you come near me. And I won’t stop until one of us is dead.”

He pushes off the wall, his pheromones hitting me like a battering ram, but he puts his hands up in the air. “That’s the last thing I want. And I know I can’t put you at ease just by asking you to trust me, but I promise I won’t hurt you.” Instead of coming closer, he sits on a wingback chair and places his hands on his knees. “In fact, I can help you. I have information that will put Drummond in jail permanently. I also have the influence to reverse the court decision regarding custody of your daughter. All you need to do is have a conversation with me.”

Anger swells inside me at the mention of Bree. “What makes you think I can’t get those things for myself? Either way, I’m not interested in making deals with you.”

“Fine, but at least let me explain why I’m here,” he says, unperturbed by my glare. “Did you know that five percent of all animals have the ability to change sex to maximise reproduction? Garden snails inseminate each other. Some reptiles change their sex while still in the egg. Corals are capable of repetitive sex change.” He waves a hand at the door. “Take that fancy new aquarium downstairs. Over four hundred species of fish are hermaphrodites. Clownfish, starfish, and jellyfish all adapt as needed.” He nods his head, like this is all making perfect sense to me. “And those oysters you dislike so much are protandrous hermaphrodites, spawning first as males and then changing sex to spawn as females.” He shrugs. “They might taste like shit, but they’re clever little suckers.”

My anger has now reverted back to skin-numbing fear. How the hell does he know about the oysters unless he overheard me with Travis? Is he spying on me?Stalkingme? And why is the scariest alpha in existence giving me a lecture on the reproductive habits of sea creatures?

Before I can ask, he goes on, “The truth is, we know a lot more about how this works in the animal kingdom than we do in our own world. But we’re trying. And if we can get a large enough study group, we have a chance at really understanding how switches work.”

“Hold up a second,” I grip my hands together so tight I can feel my nails cutting into the skin. “Are you asking me to join some kind ofresearch project?”

He gives me a smile that’s almost endearing, if not for his weird-as-hell eyes. “You’re the first female alpha I’ve met who switched. The trend is mostly male omegas switching to alpha, and then triggering betas to be omegas. We assumed it was like oysters. The males wanted to improve their dominance in breeding terms. But you’re different. Jackson Lyall triggeredyou, a dominant female. Despite being on an excessive dose of suppressants since he was a teenager, he was able to unearth your omega nature. Is his strong alpha bloodline a factor? Was it because you’re particularly fertile? Maybe some part of him chose you because you already have a child…”

“Enough!” I spit. “I don’t want to hear any more.”

“There are things I need to know,” he goes on as if he didn’t hear me. “You could be the missing piece, and for that, I’m prepared to give you anything you want.”

“I want you to get up and leave.” When he just stares at me with those eerie eyes, I squeeze my hands together, my mind buzzing with my very limited options. I know I can’t overpower him, and if he gets any closer, he might discover this switch conversation is more than just academic, and I’m an omega right now. And that… Fuck, that could trigger the kind of situation where one of us really does end up dead.

But, terrifying alpha stalker aside, I don’t have anything against research if it’s under the right circumstances. Sarah Finchley, for instance, is someone I could talk to about switches for days. “I’ll think about it. But not like this. If I’m going to help, it has to be formal. Clipboards and white coats. And I’m not having you examine me in some creepy basement clinic.”

He blinks at me, like the thought never occurred to him. “Clipboards and white coats? Just like that?”

“No,notjust like that,” I huff, squeezing my hands tighter. “I’m obviously agreeing with you to get you to leave. But, if your research thing is real, I will consider it. I have questions of my own, though, so this information you’re after will have to go both ways.”

He nods, his shoulders relaxing. He’s clearly more comfortable thinking my motives are at least a little selfish. And maybe that’s how you get a psycho stalker out of your hair, because he gets to his feet and heads towards the door. I watch him with my heart in my throat, silently begging him to keep going. But he pauses with one foot in the hallway.

“You’re not in heat,” he says quietly, “But Jackson Lyall is getting close. You might want to get him up here as soon as you can.”

My mouth drops open, but he’s gone just as there’s a ding from the elevator. I rush to the door, terrified he’s going to bump into my mates, but I realise he’s headed up to the roof. I force myself to follow, my knees trembling with every step. And then I’m staring in shock as a huge black helicopter lifts off and disappears into the night sky.

Noah

If I ever had a happy place, it was sitting at a poker table at White Castle, making grown men cry into their dwindling piles of chips. But of course, that was pre-Lexi, when the closest I thought I’d get to the perfect pack was a Royal Flush.

But I’m not even thinking about the gaming floor as we watch her get dragged off by a shithead who can only be Anton Novak, her older brother. My own less-than-stellar sibling goes with them, Travis looking like a constipated security guard as he flanks her other side.

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