The Arrangement (Omegas of Hunter's Point Book 1)

Chapter 28

Von awoke, suffocated by an oppressive heat that was charring her from the inside out. She went to kick off the blankets before realizing that the blankets were already bunched at the foot of the bed, her sweaty breasts bared and exposed to the night air. She was suddenly wracked by a strong cramp that was accompanied by a rush of slick between her thighs.

Oh, no! No, no, no! Not now. Estrous wasn't due for another week, at least. Fancy was supposed to be there to help, but Fancy wasn't there.

Damian was there.

She was alone, in estrous, and broadcasting pheromones that advertised her unclaimed status, with an alpha only inches away. He stirred, grunting, but didn't awaken. Havens help her if he woke up. Not long from now, estrous would reduce her to little better than a prey animal whose sole purpose was to mate and breed. It never seemed to matter to her body that she couldn't do the second part. If Damian, or any alpha, caught the scent of her, he'd enter a similar state in which his base predator would come out to play, making him unpredictable and potentially volatile. The two of them would remain that way for days, lost in a mating high. Millennia of generational biology would demand he claim her, and neither of them would have enough rational mind left to question the urge.

Her thighs clenched, tightly, she eased out of the bed. Gods, please don't let him smell it. It hadn't soaked through the bedding. Maybe she could still save this. She considered heading for her own bedroom until a cramp bent her double and slick flooded down her thighs. Damian sighed in his sleep, shifting.

Shit. Shit!

She could run for it, but if he woke, he'd chase, and there was no question in her mind which of them was faster. She crept across the floor on silent feet to the bathroom, closing the door so slowly that the latch catching was the only sound. Clean up, then make a break for her own bedroom where she could ride out the remainder of estrous behind a secured door. Cranking the water, she was wiping the evidence away when there came a knock on the door that made her about ready to jump out of her skin.

"Von, are you okay?" Damian's voice asked from the other side of the door.

She'd forgotten to secure the bathroom door. Her stomach curdled in fear as a sense of impending doom settled over her. "Yes. Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to take a shower."

"At 3am?"

"Yes?" She grimaced. There was no way he was going to buy that.

"You're in estrous, Von. I can smell you. Let me in." His voice sounded pained.

Von quickly turned the manual lock on the old-fashioned handle, then mentally castigated herself. No lock was going to keep an alpha out. Did she want him to stay out?

Real mate, her omega began chanting, monotonously. Real mate!

The handle jiggled, then jiggled again with more force. Deadly calm came Damian's growly response, "Von...let me in."

Her omega was growing stronger by the minute, insisting this was natural, smothering the rational side of her mind that was screaming at her about bad judgement and bites.

A methodical pounding shook the door in its frame. He was coming in whether she wanted him to or not.

Von backed up against the far wall and prepared herself to Be Omega. Eyes down. Head down. Hands visible. Remain quiet. Don't struggle.

With a burst of wood splinters, the doorframe gave way, the door slamming into the wall and sticking there.

Damian stalked in, the consummate hunter. He swooped in close, dominating her more diminutive frame. The scent of her slick, made all the sharper by omega pheromone, permeated the room. He inhaled deeply.