How would being an omega affect my dancing? Would I still be able to dance with alphas?
What did any of this mean for my career? This pack had their dream of creating some star-studded super ballet partnership with the omega bond, but that wasn't me, right? Surely they didn’t automatically think I would just say yes—assuming I was an omega, which I probably was not. I mean, yeah, it sounded amazing, of course, every dancer dreamed of being at the top, but obviously, I never imagined this would be my path.
And there was so much I didn't even know about omegas. They were supposed to be high-maintenance, constantly needing support. They had to build a nest like some mating bird for their heat, an omega’s reproductive cycle, where didn’t they succumb to their animalistic mating needs? I’d always seen a pack of possessive males swarming their omega female, and that was so weird to me. Did omegas do anything by themselves?
And what about all the perfuming? Anytime I had arousing thoughts, I'd just leak out some unknown scent? What even was my scent?
I inhaled my arm deeply, trying to capture anything I could smell. There was still sweat from this morning’s class, a bit of body odor as well, but there was also a faint scent of rosewater and white chocolate. Was that me? I inhaled deeply again. Now, there was the tiniest hint of that delicious dark chocolate and roasted coffee scent from Demetrius’s office—this must’ve been his scent. Seemingly, my ability to smell had improved in a day.
What were the other guys' scents? Actually, who was the rest of the pack? Out of curiosity, I picked up my phone and searched Arco Ballet Company, hoping the company website would highlight them. There was a tab asking if I wanted to learn more about the pack.
A picture of all four packmates loaded up on my phone, along with a brief description of the Arco pack history. Ispotted Demetrius standing in the middle with his arms folded. The shorter guy standing next to him looked familiar, too. Was he the photographer taking my picture during class? The other two I didn’t quite recognize yet…wait…I saw this tall, blonde guy in the other studio stretching during the water break earlier.
Well, they were all cute…actually, they were all kind of sexy in their own way, which made me even more nervous. What if they didn’t like the way I looked? Images of them kissing me emerged in my mind, and more perfume drifted off my skin. I inhaled the scent again—definitely rosewater and white chocolate. I found it wild that I could smell very specific components of my scent now.
Surely she was joking about me being an omega…right?
***
Demetrius
It’d been over twelve hours since I’d talked with Ivy on the phone. I stood in my office, once again watching company class. She wasn’t there—Dr. Laughlin had told her to stay out of the building until her test results came back.
This morning, I had unusually high levels of energy, but I needed to be cautious.
Don’t get your hopes up…
I repeated that back to myself over and over again. If it turned out this girl wasn’t our omega, the Arco pack might not survive the disappointment.
I should have kept her a secret from the pack until her omega status could be confirmed. No, that would've been impossible. Yesterday, I was too hyped to keep this in.
My mind kept drifting to the dream: a bonded omega-principal couple, backed by a bonded pack. We’d have Isaac as a choreographer attuned to their needs, Lukas as our marketing manager would highlight them in the best way possible, and I, as the director, could pick the best shows for them to star in. We'd all work to bring them to the international stage. Preston would be our star, and our omega would dance with him. This was what we—and every other alpha ballet company—had ever wanted.
My cell on the desk rang—Dr. Laughlin.
“Hello, Dr. Laughlin, any updates?” I asked, a bit more excited than I’d care to show.
“Yes, and Ivy gave me permission to share her results with you.” Dr. Laughlin paused, killing me with suspense. “She’s an omega.”
I exhaled loudly. “She’s the Arco pack’s scent-match. I know it.”
“Well, I can’t confirm any of that, but I will say she’s extremely nervous about everything. Ivy’s been under the assumption she's a beta this whole time. She’ll need a lot ofguidance on what it means to be an omega. I’ve sent her some material to read, but she’s going to be experiencing a lot of unexpected changes in her body pretty quickly, especially if she is your pack’s scent-match.”
“Understandable, we don’t want to overwhelm her.” I paused, tapping my fingers on the desk as the excited pounding in my heart continued. “The entire pack’s eager to meet her. Can you be a support person for her?”
“You’re going to overwhelm her, there’s no getting around it. I’d suggest maybe only two of you meet her at first, probably you and Lukas. And yes, I’d be happy to be a support person for her. Just let me know when.”
“Will do.”
“Don’t you want to know when her first heat is?” Dr. Laughlin quickly asked.
My stomach flipped. Her heat…I’d been so excited about the ballet side of everything that I’d neglected the actual implications of having an omega in the pack. She’d need us to take care of her, support her, and protect her. I could feel the desire already, but then there would be the whole courting part of this and forming a relationship. The thought was a bit overwhelming. We couldn’t get this wrong.
“When?”
“Two months—about 8 weeks from now.”
“Between our first and second productions. I’ll talk to you later.”
