Auryn stands there, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers—mine, since I’m the smallest of the guys—and one of my t-shirts.
A strange sort of pride swells within me as I look at her. She looks every bit an omega on the outside. Petite. Curves in all the right places. Dark, inviting eyes. Her chestnut hair falls over her shoulder as she cocks her head to the side, eyeing me like prey.
It’s not the first time she’s looked at me like this, but before I just attributed it to her curiosity. She was practically feral when we’d found her. Something inside of her was broken. I saw it that night, before she jumped. She wasn’t just running, she was running from the things they did to her. Then we brought her in. We captured her, and we held her in a cage, too. But that cage disappeared, and she didn’t run. Somehow, the tables flipped.
Somehow I find myself trapped in a cage of our own making as she approaches me, and I wonder how I never saw it before. Nothing Auryn does is small or sweet.
Every move is as calculated and solid as the words that come out of Gage’s mouth.
“Are you…okay?” I ask, my gaze roving over her. Her sweet cinnamon scent fills my lungs, and she shrugs. I don’t even bother getting a bowl; instead I just grab two spoons. I wordlessly offer her one, and she smirks, taking it from my hands.
“That’s a loaded question,” she says, settling next to me. I offer her the tub first, and she glances up at me.
“Do you, uh,” I clear my throat as she takes a heaping spoonful, “want to talk about it?” I watch as she thoughtfully regards me while licking her spoon clean. “About…earlier?”
“No,” she says, digging her spoon into my ice cream again. I take a small scoop myself. The cool sweetness blossoms on my tongue, and she scoots closer to me.
“Okay,” I say. She grabs the tub of ice cream from me, and I don’t think twice about pulling her closer, settling her and the tub of ice cream against my chest. She purrs in contentment.
She purrs.For me. Because she’s an alpha.
She’s my alpha.
“My…alpha…” she starts, scooping another spoonful.
“What about your alpha?”
“Is it…you said Emmett’s omega was temporary….”
I set my spoon in the tub.
“I don’t know,” I say, watching as her expression falls. “Emmett only received a single shot, so his alpha DNA is stronger than…the omega proteins. Without another shot…”
My gaze settles over her arms. At the scars there. My heart churns in my chest.
“Your natural proteins have been exposed to the omega ones a lot longer, so there’s no telling if they will fade or not, but if I had to take a guess…”
Auryn looks at me with a worried glare.
“You’ve been here almost two weeks, and you’re still exhibiting omega-like tendencies…”
She growls at me.
“...sometimes.” I finish, going in for my bite of ice cream.
“And the…other thing?” she asks carefully.
I search my brain, trying to remember what else there was, and then my eyes widen.
“Oh…uh….” I clear my throat again. “Have…you ever been pregnant before?” I ask carefully. “Have any of the alphas at Orion’s compound—”
She shakes her head. “No.”
A heavy pause falls between us. She doesn’t look at me when she says that solid word. No.
“Makes sense. Lesser probability, I suppose. They didn’t have knots, right?” I ask between bites. Auryn leans her head against my chest as she dives in for another bite.
“No,” she says solidly. “No knots.”
