Page 24 of Omega Scorned

But the hole had been patched up when we took Gertie out to play fetch. I peered over the fence, but there was no sign of Emilia anywhere.

When Santi and Jude got back, we all sat at the kitchen table to discuss the issue.

"We don't know that she's not sick. Autoimmune disorders can be pretty severe and come on suddenly," Santi said, playing devil's advocate.

"She's not sick," Jude stated. "That bitch is just hiding her."

"Okay, so we need a way to contact Emilia. Does anyone have her number or social media info?" Oren asked.

None of us did, but Jude quickly jumped online to search for her.

"This is a delicate situation," Santi reminded us. "Taking someone else's omega can get us in hot water and we don't need that. It could end with her going back to ORC and that is the last thing we want. Let me do some digging and figure out how to do this properly. If she even wants out."

"We wouldn't force her!" Oren looked shocked.

"I would." Jude shrugged. "She might be brainwashed. Getting away from those people is her best chance at a good life."

"And she's our scentmatch," I pointed out. "The chances of her not wanting us are pretty low."

"But not zero." Santi sighed. "Just let me figure some stuff out, okay? You can try to contact her online, but let's keep going to the house to a minimum, so we don't get their suspicions up."

"I think we should invite them over again," Oren said. "Then one of us could slip over and see where she is."

Santi rubbed his stubbled chin. "Just, hold on for a week or two, alright?"

"Fine," Jude and Oren both grumbled at the same time.

I knew how they felt, but we had to hold out. Santi would figure out the best way to get our omega home to us.

***

A month later, we were no closer to finding out what had happened to Emilia. We'd caught a glimpse here and there through a window while walking by, but the two times we tried to talk to her at the door, we were turned away. She was still weak from the illness, they said. I didn't buy it, but what could we do?

We'd even invited them over for dinner one night and Oren had gone to knock, but the house was dark and silent and Emilia didn't come to the door.

"I think we might have to accept the fact that she doesn't want anything to do with us," Santi told us one evening as we sat on the back deck. "We know she's been in there and she could come to the fence if she wanted to."

"But we're her scentmatches!" I frowned.

"I want to hear it from her," Jude declared. "She can tell me she doesn't want help. Or us."

Oren nodded. "That's only fair. She can't just avoid us forever."

"She can," I pointed out. "She has. It's been weeks since we've talked to her."

"I do have one idea," Santi said tiredly.

"What's that?"

"We can call for an omega wellness check. One of the Omega Protection agents will come out and see if she's alright."

"They'll know it was us," Jude said.

"So what?" I shook my head. "Let's do it."

"One more month," he urged. "Then I'll call it in. It's going to cause some serious issues between the two packs."

So, we settled in to wait another month.