"I tried! Remember the bachelorette party? I made a whole speech."
"I thought you were just drunk."
"I was also drunk. But it was a warning."
I smile despite myself. "Well, consider me warned. Six months too late, but warned."
"Better late than never." There's rustling on her end. "So what's going on? You sounded weird on the phone yesterday. Not just wedding-escape weird."
This is it. The moment I tell someone outside The Negrorios Pack and Pedro what's happening to me.
"Stacey, I need to tell you something. Something medical."
"Are you sick?" Her voice sharpens with worry.
"Not sick. Just... changing." I pull Dad's shirt tighter, breathing in his fading scent for courage. "I'm omega, Stacey. Late-presenting. I've been on suppressants since I was sixteen, thought I was beta. But I stopped taking them a few weeks ago and now everything's happening at once."
Silence on the other end. Long enough that I start to worry.
"Mel?"
"Oh my God." Her voice is soft. Wondering. "Oh my God, Jess. That's... that's huge."
"Yeah."
"How are you feeling? What are you experiencing? Do you need anything?" The questions tumble out rapid-fire. "Have you told your mom? Does Callum know? Please tell me Callum doesn't know."
"Mom knows. She's in Mexico but she knows. Callum doesn't know, but his mother just called and apparently Patricia at the clinic told her bridge club so it's probably spreading through town as we speak." My voice cracks. "I'm terrified, Stacey. My body is doing all these things I don't understand. My sense of smell is insane. I can smell everything. My own scent is everywhere and I hate it. And Pedro says I'm going into heat in less than two weeks and I don't know what to do."
"Okay. Okay, breathe." Stacey’s voice shifts into the practical, take-charge tone that's gotten us through a dozen crises over the years. "First, your scent is probably beautiful even if you hate it right now. Omegas always think they smell too strong but trustme, it's not as bad as you think. Second, going into heat alone for your first time is brutal. Do you have somewhere safe you can be? Someone who can help you?"
"I'm alone in my mom's house. Mom's in Mexico. I don't have anyone."
"What about The Negrorios Pack?”
My stomach flips at the mention of them. Why is she bringing them up? "They're Callum's friends. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Jess. Come on. Don't play dumb with me." Stacey’s voice is gentle but firm.
"You've been in love with that pack since before you left Largo Waters. And they've been in love with you. Everyone could see it except apparently you and Callum."
"That's not—"
"It is. And now you're omega and they're a pack of alphas without an omega and you're about to go into heat and you're telling me you haven't thought about it?"
I have. Of course I have. Carlos's sandalwood and sawdust scent. Pedro's sage and honey making me feel safe even in the clinic. The memory of Sergio's warmth, Nacho's steadiness.
"It's complicated," I whisper.
"I'm engaged to three men who used to be business rivals. I invented complicated." Stacey pauses. "Listen, I'm omega. I know what you're going through right now. The hypersensitivity, the emotional intensity, the way your body is screaming for pack and safety and alpha. It's biological, Jess. You can't fight it. And trying to go through your first heat alone? That's not brave. That's dangerous."
"I know. I just..." I stop. Swallow hard. "What if they don't want me? What if I'm reading everything wrong? What if I go to them and they reject me and I have to live in this town seeingthem everywhere knowing I threw myself at them and they said no?"
"Then they're idiots and you move on. But Jess? I don't think that's going to happen." Her voice is warm. Certain. "The way Carlos looked at you at that Fourth of July party? The way Sergio watched you when you laughed? The way Nacho was always just there whenever you needed something? Those men are gone for you. Have been for years."
"I ran from Carlos yesterday. Literally ran."
"Because you're scared. That's allowed. But fear is just fear. It doesn't mean you're making the wrong choice. It just means you care about the outcome."
