Yup, she may have accused me of being an alpha predator looking for someone to bite…
SABS
But she got home okay? Alone?
ME
Yes, why? Is something wrong?
Sabs doesn’t reply in three seconds like she usually does, heightening my anxiety. Sabs is a chatterbox who hasn’t stopped talking since she came out of the womb. She never shuts up when I want her to, yet now is the time she goes radio silent?
ME
Can I help?
Is there anything I can do?
God dammit, what’s taking her so long? I pace back and forth in front of Margie, driving a hand through my unruly, auburn curls. Reply already!
SABS
I’m on it, big bro! Just leave OV, and stay the F away from Faye… For now, at least.
I want to reply that staying away from her is the last thing I want to do, but Sabs probably doesn’t want to hear how Faye has just become the subject of all my dirtiest fantasies. I’m already thinking about how I can make it up to her. She lives with my sister, so we’re going to run into each other again soon, right?
I open Sabs’s profile on social media then scroll through it. It’s a good thing Sabs broadcasts most of her life online so I can see the list of upcoming events that she has marked as attending, including a party on Friday. My stomach somersaults. There’s definitely a chance that Faye will be there too.
I guess it looks like I’ll have to convince the guys to wear costumes as we’ll be heading to Club Knotty.
EIGHT
Faye
I hug my knees, my wet hair falling over my face as I inhale the safe scent of the mystery alpha’s hoodie. After having a bath, my discomfort and heat symptoms faded, leaving me shaken and confused.
I don’t know what came over me in the greenhouse. I’ve taken suppressants for years. They don’t entirely alleviate the discomfort when the time comes every three months, and I can get slight cramps and a raised temperature, but they suppress my urges enough to allow me to skip a heat and function normally. The pain during my first unmedicated heat at sixteen was almost too much to bear, so I never want to go through that again. Especially not at SVU where I’m surrounded by alphas.
I expected to get an education without tempting alphas added into the mix, but studying here won’t be as easy as I thought. Thankfully, my symptoms eased shortly after returning home. However, I’m still struggling to forget about the alphas I met this morning. Together, their scents make an incredible combination: spicy ginger cake and chamomile tea. Wow, I never thought I’d be grateful for the much needed restraint the fumes of the putri flower provided me.
“Faye? We’re here.” Sabs knocks on my door. “Are you okay? Can we come in?”
“The doors open,” I call out from my spot on my sofa.
My Stella sisters bundle inside, concern etched over their faces. Sabs hurries over to my side while Kady—who has bags from Sunshine Pharmacy hanging on her arms—and Delilah—who’s carrying a plate of cookies in one hand and iced coffee in the other—stand in front of me.
“It was a false alarm,” I mumble, feeling like an idiot for making them return home prematurely. “I don’t know what happened. I guess I must’ve smelled something in the greenhouse that set me off, then I panicked.”
“Sounds like a heat spike to me.” Kady nods knowingly. This is when an omega experiences heat onset symptoms without it progressing to a true heat. “What suppressants are you taking?”
I gesture to the pills on the table.
“Uh-huh, I see. It’s a slightly lower dose than most omegas take.” She examines the bottle. “Have you ever had a problem with them before?”
I shake my head. “But I’ve never been around so many people before. Gram’s shop doesn’t get many customers aside from the regulars, and those who travel to see her are usually omegas. I’ve never actually…” I bite my lip, realizing they’re going to think I’ve lived under a rock. “Met an alpha before. You know, in the flesh.”
“What?” Delilah’s jaw drops. “Never?”
“Well, I guess there was a pack who visited the shop with their omega once,” I shrug, “but I was so busy working that I barely spoke to them.”
