Page 43 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
The doctor continued while I half listened, still hung up on kids. “The pheromones an alpha emits erode an omega’s sense of reason. As a result, they are susceptible to every whim of the alpha, and I’m sure you can imagine the negative implications that has had on the lives of many omegas. For that reason, omegas are often cloistered away from society. Additionally, their scent is irresistible to an alpha when they are in heat and unmated.”
Irresistible was an understatement.
“What the hell have I gotten myself into?”
I was only aware I’d said those words out loud when the doctor raised placating hands. “Now, now, let me assure you this is wonderful.”
The doctor scanned through more information on his datapad. The white feathers along his wings tucked behind his back in a neat stair-step pattern. My heart ticked like the timer on a bomb, and I grew lightheaded and shivery all over. What else could he add to that? It’s too fucking much. With stilted steps, I clambered back into the pod. The seat deflated like a whoopie cushion when all my weight landed on it.
“Oh dear.” The doctor placed his solid hand on my shoulder, and I shrugged it off. “Clearly, I’ve distressed you. Is there someone I can call to fly you home? Nurse Claice always tells me,‘less is more, don’t overwhelm them with too much information,’ but I want to be thorough. Wouldn’t you agree it’s better to have all the facts?”
The doctor talked to himself as he dampened a cloth and placed it on my forehead.
I tapped out a message to JayJay. “I’m fine. My friend can pick me up.” I pushed his hand away. Heat swamped me, and the wilder part of me—the alpha?—took over as I wrestled with the new information.
Dr. Ten smiled, all beak. “Yes, yes, you’re exhibiting alpha signs,” he muttered as he stepped away. “I will send some information to you. Please read through itcarefully. We’ve barely mentioned alpha traits. I encourage you to set up a second appointment to discuss any questions you may have. I will leave you in peace until your friend arrives.” The door swooshed shut behind him, and I dropped my face into my hands.
Pink clouds of dry soil puffed up from where I stood outside the doctor’s office, toeing the earth with my boot while I waited for JayJay. I stretched into the beginner set for tai chi, desperate to settle my rattled nerves. I’d never dreamed of being a father before. Brush left knee and push. As I rolled the idea around in my head, it didn’t strike me as the world’s worst idea, but I still wasn’t sure it was something I wanted. Grasp bird’s tail. Plus, Makir was running hot and cold. He was calling me Archbuilder again, for fuck’s sake. Step forward, parry, block and punch.
Would a child tying me to Makir be a good thing? Sex with Makir had been off the charts, but I hated how I turned into an asshole in his presence, and he didn’t deserve that. Fist under elbow. He was such a sweetheart. Way too good for the likes of me. Turned out anyone—well, any alpha—would have the same reaction I did when he was in heat. Turn body and chop with fist. I wasn’t even someone he found special, just some asshole he’d happened to be trapped with because of pheromones and the moon. Fuck, life on Tern was as complicated as life on Earth—maybe more so. I wished Ginger was here. She’d know what to do.
“Boss man, you dancin’ again?” JayJay rumbled as he pulled up on his hoverbike.
I climbed on behind him, leaving as much space between us as his seat would allow. “I’m so tired of riding like a child clinging to its parent on these damn bikes.”
“Dr. Ten has put you in a much better mood, I see.” His lawnmower-like laugh vibrated the seat.
“What the fuck is an alpha?” I shouted over the downdraft as we flew to Makir’s hovery.
“Dominant, assertive, desirable…” JayJay trailed off, reciting a list of words no one had ever used to describe me.
“I don’t get it. Dr. Ten said Makir’s an omega and requires an alpha to service him while he’s in heat.” I hated the term ‘service.’ It sounded so institutional, like I was a dick for hire or something. “I’m not an alpha!”
JayJay’s huge palm reached back and clapped my knee twice as his body shook. “Whatever you say.” He didn’t even have to raise his voice to be heard over the downdraft.
Ten minutes later, the tension had mostly bled from me. As we approached the hovery, the proximity to Makir loosened the tether, and my shoulders eased. JayJay rode his hoverbike through one of the three brand-new bay doors. I barely had a chance to absorb what my crews had accomplished since my return from the cave with Makir before the tether grew taut once more, its urgency pulling me forward.
Laughter spilled out from the courtyard. Apprehension launched me straight off JayJay’s bike, and I jumped over the newly installed back gate toward the fear zinging through the tether. The pool, glistening in the overhead sun—no longer a mud-filled hole—teemed with splashing bodies.
I stormed to the pool’s edge, fuming. “Tino, Sully, get the hell out of that pool and back to work. The bay doors still need to be installed. Get on it,” I barked. My skin was on fire, and the hairs on my arms stood on end. Makir scrambled backward in the pool, where Raz circled him like a shark.
I strode to the pool’s edge nearest Makir. Eyes wild, he splashed toward me as I’d anticipated. We were drawn to one another like magnets. As soon as he drew close enough, I squatted low, hooked my hands under his armpits and tugged him straight over the lip of the pool and into my embrace. I didn’t care one bit that my overalls were now soaked.
“Enough,” I scolded Makir. “You don’t like the water and can’t swim.” I scooped my arms under his legs and carried him like a new bride toward his bedroom, heedless of our audience. “You were going to be over your head in the next couple of steps, and you didn’t even know it.” I cautioned a bewildered Makir.
Raz’s Lizzard tail lashed the water. “But, Makir, you were about to offer to s-s-show me your nest.”
Makir whimpered, still cradled in my arms as I turned and snarled, “Over my dead body.” I’d deal with our unwanted guest later. Right now, Makir was priority number one.
JayJay’s lawnmower laugh rumbled behind us as we moved out of the courtyard toward Makir’s room. “Not an alpha. He thinks he’s not an alpha.” Laughter filled the courtyard and carried down the short hall.
Makir traced a finger down my forearm before looking up at me from under his long lashes. “Geo, are you okay?”
Gently placing him in his nest, I rushed toward the bathroom, pulled a fluffy bath sheet off the heated towel bar and returned to his side. Dabbing softly, I blotted Makir’s wet fur. I loved the swirls his velvety fur made as he dried.
“Geo…” He batted my hands away and took the towel. “I’m demonstrating the pool to a few potential customers for you. Raz is one of them.”
I stood tall and threw my shoulders back. “I don’t need him as a customer.”
