I know my Alphas assumed the heats would be different based on how the textbooks made them out. And my last one only lasted a couple days because I’m under way too much stress. But I hate asking other people to do things for me here at Heat Wave.
The final push to pursue my dream of opening a heat clinic was the detectives telling us there’s such a gap for omegas and servicing their heats.
But it’s not just any heat clinic.
We have top-of-the-line amenities, professional service providers to help keep omegas groomed, clean, and happy during pre-heats, and, the main thing I care about, omegas call all the shots.
The option will be available for omegas to sell their heats to the highest bidder for each heat and have the freedom to never have to bond if they don’t feel called to. They will have the option to try out different packs if they would like. There’s going to be tiny houses all over the property for unbonded omegas to live in, on their own—safely. And we will even give the omegas the opportunity to work here if they’d like. Hopefully, putting an end to the societal norm that omegas can’t work and have to be bonded.
Because no omega should have their choices taken from them, or be forced to bond for their safety.
I pop the bubble we’re in, needing to get this situation with the construction workers under control. They love to fight withme, assuming I shouldn’t be in charge of anything, let alone a whole business start-up. And they definitely don’t appreciate taking orders from me.
But I don’t fucking care anymore.
“I’ve got it handled, my little omega,” Abel murmurs, while running his hands over my chest, paying special attention to my pebbled nipples.
My body reacts to his comforting touch, and I just about melt to my knees. But I hold strong, fighting my still-new-to-me omega instincts. “I need them to listen to me. They look at me like a fifties housewife who’s drugged out of her mind.”
They both huff a laugh, and Kev tries to comfort me with his words. “Let your Alpha handle it. They’re his employees, and I’ll take you back to the house.” He gives me a wink when I peek over my shoulder to look at him.
And that’s all the convincing I need, but I still huff and roll my eyes, acting as if I don’t want to go home and be coddled. “Fine.”
CHAPTER
TEN
ABEL
“Axel!” I yell down the empty, freshly drywalled hallway. He stops in his tracks, slowly spinning to face me. I pick up my pace until I’m in his face. He backs up into the wall as I tower over him. I’m not much taller than him, but he sees how pissed off I am, shrinking into himself by the second.
With a clenched jaw, I grind out, “You’ve talked down to my omega one too many times, Axel.” My Alpha bark is close to making its appearance.
“I-I?—”
Mocking him, I say, “I-I… I don’t want to fucking hear it. I’ve explained to all of you the meaning behind this project highlighted, and why it’s so important to August, but here you are still with your head up your ass.”
August walked into the heat servicing rooms that Axel had been working on and found he still hadn’t put the wallpaper up that had been agreed upon. If this were the first fuck-up on Axel’s part, we wouldn’t be reacting like this, but there’s a laundry list of things he’s taken upon himself to change or just not complete during this build.
Axel happens to be good at what he does—when he follows the plans. There’s not one thing he can’t work on when it comes to construction, or he’d no longer be employed by me. But his attitude toward omegas is what we can never see eye to eye on. It’s less than acceptable. We didn’t find this out until we started working on this project, and it was the worst time to learn, given how much this project means to my pack.
I should have taken him off of this project as soon as the first hateful words spilled from his lips about omegas, but we were thinking maybe he was just having a bad day…
It wasn’t just a bad day.
And now he’s responsible for the interior of a center designed for omegas, by an omega. And not just designed for omegas, but made to put omegas in power. To take control of their heats, profit off of them, and to never settle for less. It was bound to cause problems with an Alpha that has no respect for omegas. He has had the plans that August approved for the interior for over a month, and Axel continues to change small things he thinks none of us will notice.
Hell, I probably wouldn’t notice them, but August sure does. He knows the plans he made like the back of his hand, and everyday it’s a new problem that Axel creates for him.
“The velvet wallpaper has to be added to the rooms, Axel. It’s a non-negotiable. Omegas love their comfort, and that starts with the walls.”
“But it?—”
I cut him off again before he goes on another tangent that I’m too tired to hear. “Axel, who exactly cuts your checks?” I don’t give him a chance to answer. “Yes, that’s right. Me.” I take a breath, but continue before he can speak. “When it comes to comfort and the space that an omega is in, it has to be perfect. And putting your spin on shit, no matter how small it is, isn’t your job.” He gets about a quarter of an eye roll in before myhand flies up, grabbing his jaw. “You’re never going to find an omega acting like a goddamn child. Fuck, I don’t think a beta would put up with this shit either…”
He huffs like that wasn’t a knife to the gut, but I know for a fact it hit him right where I needed it to. He’s been on the hunt for an omega for at least a decade, and none of us knew why he couldn’t find someone. This project highlighted those exact reasons.
He treats them like they’re lesser than, never listens, and runs them off before he can even get a second date from most of the stories I’ve overheard. I always assumed the people he was going on dates with weren’t vibing together, but it seems he has a deep hatred for them.
