Jeremy

I couldn’t imagine eating. I didn’t want to do anything at all. I pretty much just wanted to get in bed and stay there for the rest of my life. But there was something about Alex’s touch and the way I felt in his arms that really made me feel different. Somehow, when I looked up into his eyes, I felt like everything was going to be okay, even though I was terrified of what was happening to me.

I still barely knew him, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had last night. That somehow we belonged together. It was a feeling that kept creeping up from the back of my mind like the memory of a dream, and even though I didn’t understand it, it comforted me so much. I wanted him near me and I wanted his arms around me, even if I wasn’t planning on keeping this baby.

It was already past noon when we sat at the table and ate breakfast. It had gotten cold while I stood there crying like an idiot in the hallway, but Alex was right. I felt a little better after I ate. At least I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to cry anymore. But the thought of having a baby inside me still scared me so bad I had to keep my hands on the table to stop them from shaking.

“You want to go lay down for a bit?” Alex asked after I hadn’t taken a bite in a while.

I didn’t look up at him. I just stared down at the half-eaten food on my plate. “Don’t you have to go home or something? I don’t want to take up any more of your time.” I knew I was feeling sorry for myself, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to crawl into my bed and never come out and I knew if Alex stayed and tried to make me feel better he would. And all I really felt like doing was wallowing.

“You’re not taking up my time at all,” he said, covering one of my hands with his. “I want to be here.” I felt that wave of calm spread through me again with his touch and suddenly all I could think about was what he had just suggested—lying in bed with his arms wrapped around me. “I do need to call my parents, though. I told them I’d be over there today. In fact, they probably expected me to come back to their place last night. I’m sure they’re worried. I’ll make a quick call then we can lay down for a bit. How does that sound?”

I looked at Alex’s hand on mine, but couldn’t bring myself to look up into his beautiful, dark eyes. “Sure, whatever,” I mumbled.

While Alex was outside making his phone call I cleared the table and started washing dishes. I don’t even know if anything was getting clean. I just kept moving the sponge around in circles while I stared out the window, thinking about my future as an omega. A future where I would never be taken seriously again. Where I would be excluded from working certain jobs or going to certain places just because of my status. Where I would be ogled and catcalled and harassed by horny alphas and betas and probably pitied by the rest of the world.

I knew the way omegas were treated, like pieces of meat that were only good for one thing. I knew because I had been one of those betas. I had done all of those things at some point. I had harassed hot omegas that dared to walk down the alley behind the steel yard when we were all on a break. I cringed now when I thought about what an asshole I’d been, but I cringed even more thinking about being the target of that kind of behavior. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn’t go back to work there.

“I can take care of that,” Alex said as he walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I could feel his massive bulk behind me, and how he towered over me slightly. It felt really strange but comforting at the same time. I was pretty much used to being the one in control. I hadn’t really had many long-term relationships—the longest one lasting about six months—but in the ones I’d had I was always the one that was bigger and stronger and took the big spoon position. I was always the one that towered and hovered and made my mate feel small and safe. But having Alex’s body pressed up against my back, and his arms wrapped around me, it made the knot in my stomach start to melt away just a little bit more.

“It’s okay. I’ve got it. I like to get the dishes done right away, otherwise this place can get trashed really fast.”

“Yeah, I noticed how clean your trailer is. To be honest, from the outside anyway, it looks like it would be a little bit …”

“What?” I asked. I knew exactly what he was thinking. “A little like a trash hole?”

I could feel his muscles stiffen slightly at my comment. “Yeah, I guess,” he said with a soft laugh. “But you’ve got it really nice in here. Kinda retro and kitschy. I like it”

I was glad Alex felt like he could be honest with me. Another thing that made me feel safe in his arms. “Yeah, I guess a single wide isn’t the classiest place to live, is it?” I turned the sink off and dried my hands. “And it’s definitely not a good place to raise a kid.”

Alex buried his face in my hair. I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he spoke softly into my ear and its sent shivers down my spine. “So you’re thinking about keeping it?”

“I didn’t say that. I just meant … eventually.” I closed my eyes and felt Alex’s arms tighten around my chest. I still didn’t understand what was going on. Why this guy? What was it about him that set my skin on fire whenever he touched me? I had a fleeting thought of what it would look like, Alex and me and our baby together. It made me smile inside and sent a small surge of hope through me, but that was immediately dashed by reality.

I would never hear the end of it if any of my friends or family found out. And it wasn’t any one thing—the fact that I was an omega now, or that I was pregnant, or that Alex didn’t look like me. It was all of those things put together.

And then there was the biggest joke of them all. The fact that what I really wanted to do was style people’s hair. It was like all my life the universe had given me the opposite of everything I wanted … or thought I wanted. I wasn’t even sure what that was anymore. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be a total laughingstock.

The big, redneck omega hairdresser that lived in a trashy trailer out in the woods. Awesome.

“What happened?” Alex asked. “Your whole body just tensed up.”

“I don’t know. I … I just have no idea what I’m gonna do now,” I said turning around in Alex’s arms and facing him. “My whole life revolves around being a big, manly beta. I don’t want to be an omega,” I said, feeling tears well up in my eyes again. It was infuriating. I hadn’t wanted to cry this much since I was a kid, and here I was blubbering all over the place like a … well, like an omega.

“You just need some time to get use to it,” Alex said, his hands on my waist now. “Eventually no one will care. And the people who do aren’t worth it. There’s nothing wrong with being an omega, Jeremy.”

“Oh yeah?” I said, pushing Alex away and walking over to the couch. I sat down and put my head in my hands. “How would you feel if you were suddenly an omega? Not to mention pregnant. How do you think your friends and family would react?”

Alex came over and sat down next to me, but he didn’t touch me. He just sat there and spoke softly. “There’s no way I can answer the question. But I’d like to think that I’d be okay with it. I have a lot of omega’s in my life that I respect. And no, they’re not all big and strong like you are, but there strong in a lot of other ways. Ways that I’m not.”

“Like how?” I felt tears rolling down my cheeks again and wished I could just hide. I hated that this big alpha was watching me have a complete emotional breakdown. “I feel like I have nothing to offer anyone now if all I can do is cry like an idiot.”

“Stop it. You’re not seeing things clearly right now, Jeremy. I think eventually you’ll see that you’re still the same person, only maybe a little more emotional, and definitely more capable of creating new life. But that doesn’t make you, or any omega, an idiot or less than any other status.”

“I’m a freak of nature. I don’t want this to be happening,” I said into my hands. Just as I felt Alex is palm on my back my phone vibrated in my pocket. “Fuck,” I said as I looked at the screen.

“Who is it?” Alex asked.

“My dads. They need a hand with their car. Fuck!” I did not want to go over there. They’d immediately know that I’d been crying, and I was absolutely sure that if Alex could scent me as an omega that they would be able to as well. At least my alpha dad would, anyway.

“Do you want me to go over there with you?” he asked, keeping his hand on my back as I stared at my phone.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I said. I stared at my phone for a moment longer, then turned to look at Alex. “Why are you being so cool? You don’t even know me.”

Alex smiled, then leaned toward me and wrapped his hands around my neck. “Because I feel it too.”

“What?” I asked, holding my breath and waiting for his answer.

“Whatever it is that’s going on between the two of us. I don’t know if it’s some sort of ultra compatibility or what, but I can feel it, and I have a feeling you can too.”

I smiled, then laughed out loud, partly because I was relieved that I wasn’t the only one that felt it, but also because what he said struck me as kind of hilarious. “I don’t think we have anything in common at all.”

“You know what I meant,” Alex said as he stared into my eyes, then slowly brought his lips to mine. When he kissed me I felt it again and I couldn’t deny what happened when we were touching. Every cell of my body tingled during that kiss. It was like Alex was giving my body something it had been craving for years. I had no idea how badly I needed what he gave me until I tasted it for the first time, and now I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to live without it.

I got up and splashed some water on my face and the two of us hopped in my truck and headed over to my dads’ house.

When we pulled up the two of them had the hood of the car up and were standing there staring at the engine like it was somehow going to fix itself. They were both pretty helpless when it came to anything mechanical and I was always happy to help. I just prayed they’d be too preoccupied with the car to notice anything different in me. “Hey,” I said. “This is my friend Alex.” My alpha pop was the first one to shake Alex’s hand. My omega dad introduced himself to Alex next, then came over and stood next to me. I didn’t want to get close to either one of them, but it looked like I wasn’t going to have a choice. “What’s going on?” I asked, moving away from my omega dad and over to the engine of the car.

“I think the battery is dead,” my pop said. “Nothing happens when I turn the key.”

“But it could be the solenoid. That happened once, remember?” my omega dad reminded him.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” my pop snapped.

“Well, neither do you or this car would be running right now.”

“Okay, okay, calm down and let me take a look,” I said as I glanced at Alex. The corner of his mouth was turned up in a smile like he’d experienced this same thing with his own dads before. “I’ll get the jumper cables out of my truck and try that first.”

While I pulled my truck up next to their car and hooked up the cables I noticed the two of them talking to Alex, and when I got within earshot I realized they were telling him about our financial problems. I couldn’t fathom how they got on that subject so quickly. I’d only been in my truck for a minute. It was just like my dads to embarrass me with the one new person I’d brought over to meet them in years.

“What we really need is someone to cut down about half the trees on the property. That would probably solve most of our problems right there. We could sell the timber at a pretty good price because a lot of the trees are fully grown and they’re badly in need of being thinned.”

“I’m sure Alex doesn’t want to hear about our problems, pop,” I snapped.

“Actually, I am interested in hearing about it,” Alex said. “I’d love to see the property. My family has been in landscaping for over thirty years and I’ve actually been involved in some jobs are we had to fell a number of trees.”

“Really?” my omega dad asked. “Do you think your family could handle a job this big?”

“Well, I don’t think my entire family would be able to take the job.”

“Yeah, Pop, his family is in landscaping. They’re not lumberjacks.”

Alex looked at me and laughed, then turned back to my dads. “Well, it’s not so much that. They have a lot of landscaping jobs lined up through the end of summer and need to get as much work in as they can. Come winter time the landscaping jobs all dry up and there’s not much money coming in. But, you know what, I’ll talk to them because I might be able to get some of the work done now, and maybe even bring my pop and brother in to do the rest throughout the winter.”

“You don’t have to do that, Alex,” I said as my alpha pop started the car up.

“I told you it was the battery,” he said as he got out of the car. My omega dad gave him a look but didn’t say a word.

“I know I don’t have to do it,” Alex said, his arms folded in front of him. “I want to. Can I have a look around the property?”

“Of course,” my alpha pop said. “Why don’t you drive him up the old logging road, Jeremy? It hasn’t been maintained in decades but the logging companies still use it to get to surrounding properties. The lean we have that allows them access is one of the only ways we make any money at all right now. The two of you should come back later. We’d love to have you for dinner.”

I ducked under the hood of their car to unhook the jumper cables. “I think I’m gonna be busy tonight, but I’ll give you a call in the morning.” I closed the hood of their car and put the cables away, then waved and jumped in my truck before they could say anything else.

I didn’t speak to Alex as we drove through my parent’s wooded property. But I had a feeling that even though we’d just met yesterday he could already read me.

“Are you mad?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes and gripped the steering wheel, then blurted out what was on my mind. “I just wish you would have asked me before you offered to work on my parent’s property.”

“Why?”

“I just … I don’t want everything getting mixed together.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, mixed together? You can fuck me and you can have my baby inside you, but you don’t want me to talk to your family? Have I got that right?”

I sighed and stopped the truck. I had to lay it on the line once and for all. “Dude, there’s no way in hell I’m having this baby.”

I didn’t look at Alex, but I knew he was staring at me. I could feel the intense vibe coming off of him and I had a feeling I knew exactly what he was about to say.

“We’ll see about that.”

Yep, typical fucking alpha.