I shrugged. “I used to work for Gunner. He would never let an omega work for him, so I disguised myself as an alpha by taking pills to change myscent.”
George didn’t seem phased like some of the alphas had been. “How didtheywork?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “They must have changed my body chemistry. Made me more like an alpha. They didn’t really make me stronger or anything, though. Honestly, I just puffed my chest out more and acted like a big strong alpha.” I rolled my eyes. “Thankfully, they’re not that smart so they were easytofool.”
The older omega was eyeing me seriously. He leaned in closer and muttered to himself, “I’ve never seen anything like thisbefore...”
He was starting to wig meout. “What?”
George crossed his arms. Suddenly he rummaged through a leather bag at the back of the tent and pulled out a plastic container filled with pills. I recognized them instantly, even before George asked, “Did they looklikethis?”
“Yes.”
George nodded sagely. “We managed to take some with us when we fled. We thought we could disguise some of the highly-guarded omegas as alphas, or at least throw off any potentialattackers.”
“Oh,” I said. I shuffled, not knowing whattosay.
Suddenly I was hit with a thought. I hadn’t taken the pills in a long time, not since I ran out a month after the confrontation in the clearing. But their effects had obviously lingered since everyone could still smell alpha-scentonme.
“Do you think,” I began, choosing my words carefully, “that I would need to continue taking them to keep theeffects?”
“Whicheffects,dear?”
Doubt flickered in my mind. I remembered the night of passion I spent with Virgil, and the fact that he had knotted me. If I had never taken those pills, I would surely have been pregnant. But the scent had lingered on me, so surely the other effects must have donethesame…
“The… body chemistry changes,” I said, trying to be as vague aspossible.
Slowly, George’s eyes widened. He let out a deep, thoughtful grunt before moving closer to me and inhaling. Finally, he murmured, “Isee.”
“See what?” I asked. All this suspense was drivingmenuts.
“You and that alpha,” George began after a pause, “are youclose?”
I stiffened. My stomach churned in apprehension. I knew what he was reallyasking.
“We had sex,” Iblurtedout.
“Hmm.” George nodded, as if everything was starting to make sense. I only wish it made sense tome.“I thought so. The lingering alpha scent disguised it, but there’s no mistakingitnow.”
I almost wanted to shake him. I was trembling now from anxiety. “What? Justtellme!”
“Hector, I believe you’re pregnant,” George finallystated.
I shook my head in disbelief. “That can’t be true. The pills - they should havepreventedthat!”
“The pills only change your scent. They do not changeyourbody.”
My blood rancold. “No…”
George stuck a hand in the bag again. When he produced a pregnancy test, I nearly passed out. “Here. We don’t have many, but this should be proofenough.”
I stared at the narrow box like it was the devil. I couldn’t be pregnant. There were so many reasons why Ishouldn’tbe pregnant. This was not the time or place to have a baby. Not here, not now. My body trembled with stress andnerves.
“You are not alone,” George said firmly. “There are other omegas here, who have had children before. I’m oneofthem.”
I swallowed hard. My voice cracked. “But Ican’tbepregnant!”
George never broke eye contact with me. He was no-nonsense, solid and unmoving as a stone. He was serious about this. With a shaky hand, I reached out to take the testfromhim.
