CHAPTER ONE
Linus
My heat was coming, and I was more than a little jumpy. I always got that way when it was sneaking up on me. Most omegas did, and I know I’m not really special, like,at all, but I’d always imagined that my skin started to get more sensitive at least a week in advance and that my sense of smell heightened and made me alert to any alpha within a ten-mile radius.
Like the one sitting across from my desk in my bright and cheery classroom.
“Eddie is smart,” Mr. Wallace insisted, leaning forward slightly with a stern expression that bordered on bullying. “He’s the smartest kid in this entire class, I know. He’s starting to present as alpha, too, and I want that encouraged, not held back by a milquetoast omega like you.”
I smiled as best I could, keeping my hands folded tightly together on my desk, mostly to stop myself from reaching out and decking the aggressive father. “Eddie is a lively lad and a joyto have in my class,” I said. “He engages well with his lessons, but his reading is lagging behind the rest of the class.”
“He’s nearly seven. He should be reading by now,” Mr. Wallace insisted.
“I agree,” I said with a nod. “He struggles with new words, though and often gets upset. I think it might be time to have him tested for?—”
“There’s nothing wrong with my kid,” Mr. Wallace growled, slamming a hand down on the desktop.
I jumped, my heart racing. The faintest bit of slick leaked from me, which had my face flaring hot. I was not in any way attracted to or interested in Mr. Wallace, or any overbearing, know-everything alpha like him, for that matter. But omega instincts weren’t particularly discriminating around their heats. Heat plus alpha aggression equals breed the ever-loving daylights out of me.
“I understand,” I said, still trying to smile and be the sweet, compliant primary school teacher I was, “but with children like Eddie, it’s best to have them tested so we know what we’re dealing with instead of forcing them to suffer along without knowing why some things are harder for them than the other children.”
“My Eddie can do anything,” Mr. Wallace said, pushing back his chair and standing. My body tensed and heated again at the bald display of power, and I frowned. More over my reaction to the jerk than what he was saying. “If you don’t believe in him, then I’ll have him transferred to another section of first grade.”
“It is your right to do that,” I said slowly, gripping my hands together even tighter, “but we’re deep into the second half of the year, and moving Eddie could be traumatic for him. Also, the school would want to speak to you and your omega first to make certain?—”
“I’m the one who makes the decisions for my family around here,” Mr. Wallace cut me off. “I don’t take the advice of omegas. I’m going to go speak with Principal Jones right now.”
“Mr. Wallace, I really don’t think?—”
Before I could finish, Mr. Wallace turned and stomped out of my classroom.
As soon as he was gone, I blew out a breath and deflated. “What an asshole,” I muttered, then immediately felt guilty for swearing in the classroom. Even though it was after school and no kids were there.
There was nothing I could do about Mr. Wallace. Eddie was a good kid, but he clearly had undiagnosed issues. And he wasn’t presenting as alpha. Kids didn’t fully present as alpha, beta, or omega until they were closer to ten, but I had a pretty good radar for guessing what they were. Eddie was a beta, I would have put money on it.
But what could I do? Alphas like Mr. Wallace never listened to omegas like me. Heck, the only people who did listen to me, sometimes, were my first-graders.
Shaking my head, I got up and gathered a pile of picture books from the side of my desk to take back to the shelves in the reading nook. My frustration got worse the more I worked. I should have said something more to Mr. Wallace, defended Eddie. I had been teaching for five years now, and I knew kids. I knew what they needed and how to get through to them.
With a huff, I sat on one of the cushions in the reading nook so I could put the books away more comfortably. I could deal with kids, but trying to convince parents that their babies weren’t as perfect and wonderful as they thought they were and that there was nothing wrong with testing for learning challenges required far more force than I had. It required much more courage, too.
I was just about done with the books, and nowhere near close to finished with berating myself for not having more of a backbone, when Tina, one of my colleagues, popped her head into the classroom.
“Was that Vince Wallace I saw storming out of your classroom a few minutes ago?” Tina asked in a voice like she was looking for gossip.
“Yeah,” I said gloomily, pushing myself to stand. “He thinks Eddie is a genius and an alpha and wants to have him transferred to a different class.”
“Eddie?” Tina blinked. “That sweet kid who is obviously a beta?” I wasn’t the only one with a sixth sense for how kids would present.
“Yep.” I wandered over to where Tina had helped herself to a seat on one of the low, small desks. The encounter with Mr. Wallace still had me squirmy, and unfortunately, Tina, who was also an omega, picked up on it.
“He does have that certain alpha something that makes the slick flow, doesn’t he,” she said, adding a playful growl at the end of her words.
I laughed, even though I didn’t find it particularly funny. “He’s absolutely not my type,” I said.
“Honey, he’s an alpha,” she fired back. “It doesn’t matter if they’re our type. When heat comes knocking, we answer the door to anyone and everyone.”
“I’d like to think that I’m a bit more careful than that,” I said, giving up and sitting on the desk across from where she sat. “I always hire Bangers & Mash for my heats.”
