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The Case of the missing Omega
Three Days Later...
-- Lexie --
A taxi beeps at me as I cross Fifth Avenue, and I turn to give him an agitated look. “The light’s red!” I yell, pointing at the red traffic light.
Behind the wheel, a young man waves at me, lifting his eyebrows suggestively. Oh. So he wasn’t trying to hurry me across the street.
“Want me to kill him?” Otto growls from my side.
I laugh despite myself. “Is that what you do to people you don’t like?”
“No. But it is what I do to people who look at what’s mine.” He wraps a possessive arm around me as we step up onto the sidewalk. The light is still red, and Otto shoots a dirty look over his shoulder at the cabbie, who has already moved on to ogling another woman crossing at the light.
“I think you’re overreacting a little,” I tell him, leaning into his embrace.
“Welcome to your new life, omega,” Baz jokes from my other side. He gives me a wink. “Now that we’re committed to each other, there will be a lot more growling in your future.”
“I hope you’re ready for the same,” Gage says from Baz’s other side, looking down at his packmate with an expression of abject lust.
The expression reminds me of how Gage looked at Baz this morning before he took him hard from behind. Baz was licking my cunt at the time, teasing my clit as he nursed me through orgasm after orgasm. Otto was standing beside the bed, feeding his cock into my mouth.
Fuck. Now I’m all slick again.
“Are you cold?” Otto asks, I assume picking up on my shiver of arousal.
“No,” I reply. “Just… thinking about this morning.”
Three purrs rumble through the air, and now I’m really slick. I’m trying to remember why we aren’t home in our nest right now, snuggled up under the covers. That’s right — we’re on the way to see the lawyers.
Otto holds the door for me, and then shepherds me inside with a hand on my lower back. Over the last few days, he’s taken to touching me any chance he gets. He’s still a stubborn ass, and we’ve been clashing up and down the East Coast. Mostly we’ve been fighting about me coming with them today. Otto didn’t like the idea that I’d have to be put under scrutiny. He worried that I’d be upset by it.
“You’re new to being an omega, Alexis,” he pronounced with the authority of a man and an alpha. “You don’t know what’s going to upset you yet. Or how your body will react when you are.”
“I’ve been an omega longer than you,” I pointed out, “and Phillipa says I’m handling it fine.”
“She’s not a doctor.”
“Neither are you.”
Baz and Gage mostly stayed out of it. They offered support in the form of sex, and both Otto and I accepted it readily enough.
In the end, I won by telling him that if he didn’t take me, I’d make my way down here myself. Apparently that was too much to be borne.
You would think that I would struggle more with the overbearing alpha-ness of Otto… and even Baz and Gage. And it’s true, I’ve probably said goodbye to the days when I might work cases alone late at night. But the trade off of having protectors and lovers who truly care about me, support me, even love me? It’s worth it.
Besides, being an omega doesn’t mean I can’t fight like hell, be that with an adversary or an alpha.
***
Up on the top floor of a Manhattan skyscraper, I’m about to be examined by a doctor who specializes in dynamics. Baz told me in confidence — read: while he was very drunk — that this doctor had expressed skepticism about my change. He apparently told the alphas that there was a strong chance I was faking it to trick them into bonding with me.
He also reminded them that there was no sure-fire test to prove someone was an omega; he would only be able to tell us if he examined me in person, but he was already disinclined to believe it was possible. Still, apparently the prospect of a trip to New York on my alphas’ dime was enough to get him to come in for the exam.
The doctor is already here, sitting on the far end of a conference room table. There are at least ten lawyers in the room along with him. All betas, from what I can smell. The head lawyer, a beta named Matthew Carave, introduces each of the lawyers in turn. I try to remember their names as I nod and smile, but they all blend together, falling through my brain like pasta water through a strainer.
The doctor, however, is clearly an alpha. He carries an energy that pulses through the room. He’s enormous, with broad shoulders and a shaggy head of hair that falls low over intense, dark eyes. Carave introduces him last. “And this, of course, is the esteemed Doctor Grayson Talbot. As I understand it, he’s going to perform a brief exam, and then we’re going to talk about next steps. Take it away, Dr. Talbot.”
Dr. Talbot gets to his feet and crosses the room, eating up the floor. His nostrils flare as he comes to stand in front of me.
“You are Alexis O’Shea?” he rumbles, his English is slightly accented with something vaguely Eastern European.
I can feel my three alphas posturing around me, standing closer, stiff and ready to spring at the first sign that this doctor is going to throw me over his shoulder and carry me away.
“I am,” I tell him, sticking my chin in the air. “Pleased to meet you.” I stick out my hand.
Talbot regards me carefully before accepting my gesture. He slips his large hand into my own and curls his fingers around me, almost like a caress. He looks deep into my eyes, his expression inscrutable. “My god,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s true.”
“That’s enough touching, I think,” Baz says lightly, but he leans forward and pulls my hand away, letting his thumb caress my pulse point.
Gage wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me back against him.
“Does this complete your exam, Dr. Talbot?” Otto asks in his deepest rumble.
“I’d like to do something more thorough, of course,” Talbot says. “I’d like to study you, if I could. Find out more about how all of this happened.”
“What does that mean?” I ask. “How would you… study me?” My voice is thready, and I can feel the alphas around me reacting. Their bodies are pressed to my sides, their scents getting stronger, their possessiveness pulsing in the air.
My slick is getting more intense, and I know they can smell it. Even Talbot.
The thought makes me blush. I’m content with our pack as it is, and I don’t want to add any new members — we’re perfect as we are — but an alpha like Talbot will always pull at me.
Phillipa makes a point about this in her upcoming book, The Modern Omega and How to Win Her. (She gave me an advance copy.) But I can’t quite remember what she wrote with all these alpha rumbles drowning my thoughts in lust. My knees are shaking, and I’m starting to forget where we are. I need to be back in our nest, back where I can have the scents of my alphas around me.
Talbot clears his throat. “I’d like to take a sample of your…” His eyes drift down over my body.
He might as well have grabbed hold of me and kissed me. I’m snatched off my feet in a flash, and moved behind a barrier of all three alphas.
“Over our dead bodies,” Baz says smoothly.
Carave clears his throat. “Dr. Talbot, if you don’t mind, I’d like a little clarity on this — are you saying that you cannot certify that Ms. O’Shea is an omega without a more… thorough… exam?”
Dr. Talbot stares into my eyes. The darkness lurking there is powerful. There’s passion, definitely, but also pain. I swallow hard, unable to look away.
“Doctor?” the lawyer prompts.
“No,” Talbot says, though he doesn’t break eye contact with me. “I don’t need to do more examinations. She’s exactly what they’re saying she is. An omega.”
-- Gage --
I didn’t know I was nervous until Talbot said it aloud. We all breathed deep sighs of relief, almost in unison.
“Congratulations,” Talbot says. “Though I understand there have been no pack bonds exchanged yet. Is that correct?”
“That’s correct,” Baz says in his calm way. “But now that we have the go ahead…”
“We have prepared an area for this purpose,” Carave says happily. “If you’ll follow me.”
“Wait,” Talbot says, stepping closer. “Ms. O’Shea hasn’t approved this plan. We shouldn’t let them take her until she’s sure.”
A growl rumbles through my body, echoed in the chests of my fellow pack members. “We would never take Lexie against her will,” I tell him. “And fuck you for suggesting it.”
“It’s ok,” Lexie says, getting in between me and Talbot. She puts a hand on my chest. “Gage,” she smiles. “Were you going to get into a fight?”
I blink down at her. “You bring out the alpha in me, sweetheart,” I murmur.
Lexie chuckles, slipping a hand into mine. “Lead the way,” she tells the lawyer.
The space Carave shows us is a lounge of sorts, complete with couches and dimmed lights. There are curtains covering the windows, though I doubt anyone could look in; we’re in the highest building in the area.
Carave whispers something to Lexie, and she smiles her thanks, even as Otto growls at him. The door clicks closed, and we’re alone together.
“Who do you want first, gorgeous?” Baz purrs. He puts his hands on her hips, and I’m struck, again, at how gorgeous they are together.
My cock throbs as I watch him press his lips to her neck, tracing his tongue along the sensitive skin there. She gasps, leaning into him as she reaches for me. I step closer, letting Baz’s arm wrap around me as I press my mouth to the other side of her neck.
“Are you sure, sweetheart?” I whisper before sucking on her ear lobe.
“Yes,” she says.
And then she cries out as we bite down together. Her blood bursts on my tongue, hot, salty, sweet, thick. I lap at it, comforting her as she shakes against me. The thin thread of our connection is there now, starting to grow. We have a lifetime to nurture it.
“Oh,” Lexie whimpers. Her knees start to shake, then weaken, and Baz and I support her as we complete the bond. The scent of her slick fills the air, and it’s all I can do to stop myself from pulling down her jeans and fucking her hard against the leather couch behind us.
But it’s Otto’s turn now. He steps forward, his eyes black with desire.
Silently, Baz and I turn her over to him, and he pulls her tight against his chest. He takes her chin in his hands and tilts it up so she’s looking at him. Trickles of blood run down her neck from her dual bites.
“Gage?” Baz asks from my side.
I turn to look at him, and find him adjusting himself. I smile, leaning closer. “Something you need, baby?”
He nods, and lets out a low moan as I turn him to face Otto and Lexie. He’s unbuttoning her shirt, holding her eyes with his own as his hands caress her skin.
I unbuckle Baz’s belt and unzip him, pulling his cock into my hand. Baz’s head falls back against my chest.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” I purr in his ear. As I pump him with one hand, the fingers of my other hand find the puckered circle of muscle between us. I press in, first with one finger, then a second, as we watch Otto lick the blood from our bond wounds. Lexie’s arousal pounds through our connection. He pulls her breast free from her bra and sucks her nipple into his mouth.
Baz cums all over my hand with a low groan. I take his cum in my palm and use it on his asshole, readying him.
As Otto bites down on Lexie’s breast, she cries out, shivering and shuddering through an orgasm. I press the tip of my cock into Baz’s ass, and thrust deep. He makes a keening sound as he bends forward, giving me better access.
I fuck him hard as I watch Otto and Lexie.
When I cum, I can feel the pack bonds in my mind, becoming a spider web of connection that will keep us close for the rest of our lives.
One Year Later...
-- Lexie --
“Phillipa!” I call across the Quincy Market. I weave my way through the crowd of Christmas revelers. Well. I would weave my way if the path weren’t being cleared by a very grumpy Otto. Baz and Gage are at home, working, though I have a strong suspicion they’re also going at it. That’s what they do more days, from what I can gather from the scents and intense gazes they share whenever I arrive home.
Phillipa opens her arms, and I run into them, laughing. “You look amazing!” I tell her.
And it’s true — the five-foot-nothing woman is ravishing, as ever, but dressed in a floor-length rose-colored duster with a big necklace and oversized glasses, she looks more like a fashion icon than a recluse researcher.
“Thank you!” she laughs. “Not much reason to dress up out in the wilderness, but I do like to make a statement when I’m out in the world. Look at you, girl!” Phillipa gestures to my summer dress — it’s my favorite at the moment. It’s a deep green color that brings out my eyes, and the billowing cloth feels soft against my skin. The hem flutters around my knees, leaving my legs bare to the summer.
The added benefit of the extra room around the waist is an extra relief.
After nodding his hellos, Otto moves away out of ear shot. Since our first introduction, Phillipa has turned shy around the alphas, so I asked Otto ahead of time to give us a little space. He wasn’t happy about it, but he also didn’t like the idea that he might be making her uncomfortable.
I don’t know much about her history, but I’m guessing something happened there. Something not great.
“That doctor reached out to me,” Phillipa says as we stroll through the market.
“Talbot?”
Phillipa nods. “He’s kind of a dick, and arrogant as all get out, but I also think he’s really smart.”
We walk to the small coffee stand at the corner, and order drinks. Otto hovers nearby with an espresso, frowning at anyone who gets near our table. Phillipa tells me all about her life, which seems to be mostly the same as it was before. She’s working on a new book, but she’s not ready to share the details.
“Suffice to say, it might mean the beginning of some new things for me,” she says. “Some scary things, but that can be good, right?”
“It can be good,” I agree. “Look at me. A year ago, my business was on the verge of collapse, and I was torturing myself about these three guys I wanted but I couldn’t have. And now,” I look over my shoulder to smile brightly at Otto. He’s standing just far enough away that I don’t think he can hear what we’re saying, but when he sees me watching him, his frown melts into that small, secret smile he reserves just for me. I sigh as I look back at Phillipa. “Now I have an awesome business partner, and more work than I know what to do with.”
“Are you still spending half your time in New York and half here?” Phillipa asks, sipping her drink.
“More here than there, lately, actually. I think the alphas are starting to like Boston, after all. And Otto’s choice to leave his company to work with me? That’s worked out better than I would have expected. But tell me about this stuff with Dr. Talbot. He reached out?”
Phillipa nods. “We’re going to meet up in New York in the new year.”
“Well that’s exciting.”
“Not as exciting as what you’re about to tell me,” Phillipa says, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
I lower my cup to the table, glancing over at Otto, who is scanning the crowd with his arms crossed. “How did you know?” I ask softly.
“Something about your… glow, I guess?” Phillipa says with a smile. “I assume you haven’t told the pack yet?”
I bite my lip, shaking my head. “We just got settled into a routine. I’m not sure how they’ll take it.”
“I mean, have you been using protection with them?”
“No.”
“Then can they really be surprised?”
I sigh. “I’m not sure they’ve been thinking about it. I mean, I was a beta when all this started. Maybe they’re just used to betas… and they’re not very likely to… get… you know.”
“They know you’re an omega,” Phillipa says logically. “You got a huge amount of money for it, didn’t you?”
“We did. Gage’s inheritance paid out. But…”
“But nothing. They’ll be thrilled.” Phillipa starts to drink her coffee and then stops as something occurs to her. “Are you happy?”
I smile then. “I am,” I say softly. I reach down to touch my belly, wondering at the little poppy seed growing there.
Phillipa snaps her fingers as if she’s just thought of something. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling something down. “Here’s the number of a dynamic ob/gyn. She’s an omega, too, and really sweet.”
“Thank you. Is she…?”
“She’s in New York. Remember that enclave I told you I wanted to research? She’s one of the people I’ve reached out to. She didn’t think it was a good idea, unfortunately.”
“Why not?”
Phillipa sighs. “I guess your alphas weren’t really part of it?”
“No, they stuck mostly to themselves.”
“Well apparently it’s very insular, and hard to get a foot in the door. I’m still working whatever angles I can, but it’s tough.”
“Why do you want to get in there so badly?”
Phillipa hesitates for a moment, licking her lips as if she’s going to say something, but then her gaze flicks up to Otto, and she just shrugs.
“Really? Seems like maybe you have a stronger motive than that.”
“Maybe we can talk about it another time,” Phillipa says, getting to her feet. She smooths out her coat, then gives Otto a nervous look over my head. “I think your alpha needs some time with you now.”
-- Otto --
I was trying to give her privacy, even though being in this crowded place is making me crazy. Phillipa is important to Lexie, and that makes her important to me.
Unfortunately, people keep brushing past my omega, or stepping into my line of sight, and the beast inside me is going nuts.
Phillipa writing Lexie private little notes doesn’t help.
I trust Lexie implicitly, of course — but I’m also dying of curiosity over here. What was on that note? Why did Phillipa need to write something down?
If Lex is working a case without me, I’ll be hurt. We’ve become such good partners in the last year. Why would she need to hide something from me?
Phillipa and Lexie say their goodbyes soon enough, and much to my relief, Lexie is back with me, leaning into my arms. I breathe in that delicious scent, letting my hands linger on her back as I pull her close.
“Have a good day, Otto,” Phillipa calls from a distance. “Lex, don’t forget to call that doctor.”
I feel Lexie stiffen against me as Phillipa waves and then disappears into the crowd. I’m sure I stiffen, too. My thoughts are reeling. A doctor — she has to call a doctor. Is she sick? Is something wrong?
“Home?” Lexie asks tensely, taking my arm. She starts to walk, but I stay put, my feet planted to the floor.
“Not until you tell me what that was about,” I growl.
“It was nothing, really…” she starts, but I shake my head.
“Don’t give me that, Alexis.”
“Otto, it’s not what you think. It’s just not something I want to talk about out here, in front of….” She gestures to the crowd around us.
I look around and spot a door marked PRIVATE. Grabbing her hand, I pull her toward it, ignoring her protests. I’m relieved to find it unlocked and unoccupied. It’s a fairly large supply closet — paper towels, soap, and clean sponges line the shelves. There’s a naked light bulb with a string, and I reach up and turn it on before closing the door behind us. The noise of the crowd fades into the distance. All I can hear is the sound of Lexie’s breath, coming in fast little bursts.
I put my hands on her hips and guide her back against the metal of the door even as I turn the lock on the handle. Then my hands come up on either side of her head and I lean down, exerting as much influence as I can. I’m trying so hard not to panic. That won’t help of course. But all I can think is that we just found her — we can’t lose her.
Not now, not ever.
“Whatever it is, we’ll get through it,” I say gruffly. “Just tell me.”
“It’s not… Otto, I shouldn’t… let’s go home and I can tell you and Baz and Gage all at once.” She squirms in my arms, her hand reaching for the door handle. I grab her wrist and pin it above her head. I do the same thing with the other one. I can feel her breasts brushing against my chest.
“No, omega,” I rumble. “You will tell me now. Why do you need to see a doctor?”
She blinks up at me with those wide eyes before licking her lips. “I’m pregnant.”
I stare down at her, stunned. “What?”
“I’m… I’m pregnant. I know it’s fast. We just got settled. That’s what I was telling Phillipa. It’s so soon. I know we weren’t trying to prevent it at all, so I’m not sure what I expected to happen, except that I just wasn’t thinking, and when all of us get together it’s so intense…” She strains against my grip, clearly hoping to use her hands while she’s talking, but I won’t let go. “I wanted to tell you all together so we could… make a plan, you know? But Phillipa said you would be happy, and you’re clearly not, so—”
“Not happy?” I interrupt.
She takes a shaky breath. “Obviously not.”
“What makes you say that, Alexis?”
“You’re… you’re glowering at me.”
I chuckle, leaning closer. My heart is beating a mile a minute, but the relief flooding through me is beyond anything I can describe with words. “I thought you were sick, omega.”
Lexie turns her head to the side, giving me access, and I let my lips wander over her skin. “I probably will be in a week or so,” she murmurs.
“Our baby.”
“Well… someone’s baby… it could be Baz or Gage…”
“Ours,” I correct her. “All of ours. We’re all its fathers, and we will treat it that way.”
“I know,” Lexie whispers.
My mouth traces over one of the pack bites on her neck — Baz’s, I believe — and my cock swells against her belly. I move my hand to the hem of her dress, lifting it as I run my hand over her naked skin.
She stirs against me. “Otto, not slow, ok? Fast this time.”
I smile against her neck. “All right, omega.”
I slip my fingers under her panties and find her slit, groaning at the slick already there. I press the moisture to her clit, circling it, teasing it, as her breathing comes in sharp pants.
“Don’t tease, Otto, please don’t tease.”
Her need pulses through our bond, and I can feel myself starting to lose control. Lexie’s hands move between us, and she fumbles with my zipper, freeing my cock and fisting it tightly in her hand. I growl against her.
“You like that, alpha?” she pants. “You want to fuck me?”
I grit my teeth as she pushes her hips out, inviting me in.
I don’t need a second invitation. I move her panties to the side and slide into her slick. I find her entrance and push inside with a single hard thrust, only my knot halting my progress.
I gather her legs and wrap them around me. She whispers my name like a prayer as I snap my hips, fucking her hard against the door. “You’re fucking beautiful,” I grit out as I slam into her. My knot is getting fatter by the second, and her little cries are only driving me higher.
We fuck like that, Lexie holding on for dear life as I remind her who she belongs to. I position us so that my knot teases her clit as I move, and I can feel her climbing toward the brink.
“Together, Otto,” she begs. “Cum with me.”
And as her head falls back against the door, her pussy fluttering around me, I cum with a shudder, filling her with my seed, and locking my knot inside her.
I hold her like that for a long time, kissing her, nuzzling her, reminding her that she’s cherished and important. Her arms are around my neck, her head buried in my shoulder. She whispers back, telling me that she can’t wait to see us as dads.
When my knot finally unswells enough for me to pull out of her, I do it slowly, and help her slide down until her feet touch the floor. I have to steady her for a few minutes until her legs will hold her weight.
“Are you ready?” she asks me, smoothing down her dress. It doesn’t do much to stop her from looking rumpled and well-fucked, and I’m not complaining.
“Ready for anything, with you,” I tell her.
And then arm in arm, we walk home together.
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