Page 21 of The Omega Switch: Part 1
“It’s not even an issue,” Hunter said when I mentioned it, then looked at me with those deep blue eyes, the corner of his lips lifted. I didn’t see him smile like that often - it made me blush like a fool until Arabella had floated over, standing in front of me as she showed him the latest photos for their campaign. Ronan had simply raised his eyebrows at me and mimed zipping his lips. He’d kept his promise of not outing me when I told him the staff made the sandwiches Arabella had claimed to make. I don’t know why I told him that - maybe I just wanted one person to know that she took credit for things that weren’t hers.
Truthfully, I loved having them come over - when they were here, I finally felt like no one would bother me. And no matter how bad Arabella and Clara were to me, they were forced to turn it down when Pack Vale was here. It was like every time I was around the pack, I felt more at ease.
And I could tell my body wanted to perfume around them, which was another oddity. My scent glands were dysfunctional - I almost never perfumed. But every time I was near Elias, Ronan, or Hunter, I felt them tingle despite my suppressants. I knewthat I’d never hear the end of it if I let out so much as the tiniest hint of perfume with an unbonded pack in our house, so I made sure to layer the descenter around my body even more than usual when they were here.
And every time I was around them, I felt more normal. Like my opinion was actually important, and that it was possible that a pack could actually want me. Especially when they ordered me the vintage equipment - as far as I knew, they hadn’t bought Arabella any gift. If they had, she would have paraded it around the house for days. But gifts to an omega weren’t a small deal. It was the precursor to courtship.
I’d never received a gift from a pack before, and I sure wasn’t going to tell anyone in my family about it. They’d be livid that someone besides Arabella was getting attention. Part of me hoped that she’d get matched with a pack right away, so that I could finally have her out of my hair. That would be a dream - then I could talk to Pack Vale more, even when the campaign was over. I had never felt this way about any pack, ever - and I hoped beyond hope that there might be a chance that I could be someone’s choice, too.
Chapter 14
Hunter
The past few weeks had been easier than any I could remember. Something just felt different. We’d sent out the free Bond profile testing and matching offer to every omega at the gala, and almost all of them had responded eagerly. And yet, some part of me thought that maybe, even if we never found someone with a high compatibility rating through our own company, then it didn’t really matter.
Because I was starting to think that maybe we’d found something that a lab test couldn’t define. Spending time over at the Carrington house was opening up parts of my alpha side that had long been dormant. I’d spent a lot of time working to be successful, prioritizing Vale Labs over other areas of my life. It had made me somewhat numb over time. But when I stepped into the Carrington house, it was like my shoulders instantlyrelaxed. Working over there made me feel so full of life that I started making excuses to go back.
Arabella certainly made me feel like a king there. She fawned over me in a way that made me feel like asking. And I noticed that she always had food ready for our pack when we planned a visit. She’d present it to us, looking like the perfect domestic omega every time.
And yet, when Ivy was around… that girl didn’t even bother taking off her lab coat half the time. She bowed her head and bit her lip when she was near me. It was like she didn’t want attention. It should have been an instinct to ignore her, disregard her for the very obvious omega who was proving herself to be a viable partner to us as much as she could.
But I couldn’t possibly ignore her. Ivy would sometimes slip up and say something so damn insightful that I was shocked she wasn’t higher up in her own family’s company. Or she’d look at me with those eyes, and something deep inside me wanted to reach out to her, take her somewhere safe and care for her, and treat her so well that she opened up so I could find out every one of her secrets and why she’d become so damn quiet.
But today changed everything.
I heard the automatic ping of an incoming email while I sat at my desk reviewing quarterly financial reports. Normally, I ignored incoming messages until the end of the hour. Constant interruptions were the fastest way to destroy productivity. Butfor some reason, my attention snagged on this one. I minimized the reports and opened my inbox.
MATCH IDENTIFIED - PRIORITY REVIEW REQUIRED
I straightened in my chair, my heart immediately racing as I saw those words. I knew what they meant - we’d seen it often for our clients, but never for ourselves. This was for me - for our pack. A potential match from our database.
Our system rarely flagged anything as a priority review. The compatibility algorithm was intentionally designed to avoid false positives, so most results fell within the specified ranges. Anything above 90% was extremely rare and almost always a scent match. I opened the report, my heart pounding in my chest. All I could think about was that scent from the gala. For several seconds, I simply stared at the screen.
Compatibility Score: 98.0%
My pulse raced. This type of compatibility wasn't just rare - it was practically unheard of. Immediately, I opened the full report breakdown, scanning the data with growing disbelief. Every category reached the same conclusion. The psychological compatibility was nearly perfect, and the bonding stability projections were off the charts. This omega’s hormonal synchronization scores with our pack were among the highest our company had ever recorded. The software wasn't just identifying a strong match between our individual members and the omega - it was identifying a near-perfect match for our entire pack. I was already out of my chair before I knew it.
"Elias, Ronan!"
My voice carried across the entire house. Within minutes, my two packmates had gathered around my desk.
“Well? What is it?” Elias asked, his hair askew. “I felt the pull from your bond all the way out in the garage. You had me thinking something drastic happened.” He said, a wry smile on his face as he looked at me. I was usually the composed one of the group - now I was sure I looked wild and feral.
I pointed to the screen. “We found a match.” The room went silent as their eyes went wide, both of them rushing to look at the computer screen.
"Well, shit," Ronan muttered, and I felt his excitement, though he didn’t say much. Elias looked stunned.
“Ninety-eight percentile?” He asked, his hands gripping his hair. “I’ve never seen such a high score!” His excitement was palpable through the bond, as much as Ronan’s.
Nobody spoke for several moments as we read through the results together. We built this company ourselves. We knew exactly how difficult it was for a single omega to score highly across an entire established pack. The odds alone were staggering. I read through the report, the excitement building as I saw how perfect this one was for us.
Optimal Omega Compatibility Profile Identified
Primary Emotional Functions:
Ability to stabilize pack stress responses: 95%
Creates emotional safety during periods of high pressure: 99%
