I feel like I’ve known Piper for years, even though we’ve just met. I’ve never met an Omega, apart from my brothers, who I can talk this easily to, want to pull into my nest to snuggle with, and would already be embarrassingly nuzzling if he wasn’t sitting on top of the parapet.
I’m desperate to know what he smells like.
I edge closer, trying to subtly smell him.
My cheeks pink.
“Pack?” Piper stares at me in shock. “But you know who I am. I’m independent and can’t even pretend to be submissive and?—”
“And you sound just like me.” I cross my arms. “I can’t wait to find out more about you. My family and friends love each other for what they are and not for what they’re not.”
“You’re something else, Gracie.” Piper leaps to his feet, holding his arms out to balance himself.
He wobbles and almost falls.
“Pip,” I yell in panic.
Adrenaline blasts through me. My heart hammers in my chest.
My gaze darts over the edge.
The pavement now seems a dizzyingly far way below. The new HO would break every bone is his body if he slipped.
He’d die.
My gaze jumps back to Piper, as he begins to walk unsteadily up and down the parapet like a circus performer.
My heart is in my mouth.
Unless hewantsto fall?
Does he intend to jump?
It’s a danger with HOs in the first couple of weeks.
“Pip,” I say, trying to keep my voice as even as possible, despite my eyes being blurry with tears, “please, it’s not safe. Why don’t you get down and tell me some more about your brother’s motorcycle?”
“Why? Omegas aren’t allowed licenses to drive their own. It’s what I wanted as a kid: to be a racer. But I couldn’t because I’m an Omega.”
Shit. This is why I am not a good negotiator.
Icarus would have had Piper in his arms and happily purring by now.
“Fuck’s sake.” I clamber up onto the parapet myself.
I’ve spent my childhood athletically climbing onto things and taking the same risks that Piper is right now.
“Respect.” Piper grins. “Doesn’t the world look different from up here? Don’t tell me that you don’t feel more free?”
My pulse is roaring in my ears, but I’m grinning too.
I’m breathing fast, but a wild excitement is thrumming through me.
I feel like a kid again, when I played at being Robin Hood and trusted that the Sheriff could be beaten.
“Yes.” Our gazes meet. “It’s incredible.”
My heart is pounding, as we smile at each other. I lose myself in the midnight green of Piper’s eyes.
