“What did you do? Don’t tell me your dad had to bail you out of jail for indecent exposure.” Bryce laughed at his own joke.
I wasn’t laughing.
I pulled into the parking lot of Keller Enterprises’ headquarters and turned off the engine. “What else could I do? I got her the fuck out of there and into my car. I had to stick my head out the window like a fucking mutt while we drove so the fresh air could bring me back to my senses.”
Bryce was contemplative for a few moments. “I’ve never heard of anything like that happening before. Sure, we’re all physically attracted to a wolf in heat. Our dicks might perk up, but a primal reaction like that from a crowd… It’s unheard of.” Bryce went quiet again. He stared at the manicured lawn, obviously in deep thought since he wasn’t glued to his phone. Finally, he spoke up again. “Unless...”
I loathed it when he left me hanging. “What? What were you going to say?” When he remained silent for longer than I could stand, I slapped him on the shoulder. “Say what’s on your mind. I’ve probably already thought of it, anyway. I’ve been driving myself crazy thinking about it.” And I had plenty of other things to worry and think about.
Bryce laughed it off. “I was just wondering if maybe Liza was an omega.”
I snorted, immediately dismissing the idea. “Omegas aren’t real. They’re a myth. A legend at best.” Weren’t they? “And even if they were real, they existed a very long time ago.”
It just wasn’t possible.
Bryce shrugged. “It was just a thought. Don’t get your panties in a wad.”
“I’m just surprised you came up with that as an option. An omega. Hmph.” It would explain a lot. It would also generate a shitload of new questions.
“From the stories I’ve heard, omegas have intoxicating scents that draws unmated wolves to them. Like moths to a flame.”
I rolled my eyes. “What I experienced was more like steel to a magnet. I was powerless.”
“Need I remind you that the Keller pack is rumored to have derived from an omega.” Bryce cocked his head to one side. “Maybe it’s not so far-fetched.”
We had no time left to hash it out. We had to head into our first meeting, but I struggled to keep my mind on the matters at hand all throughout the day. I zoned in and out of meetings, the idea of Liza being an omega continually interrupting my thoughts. It made me look incompetent, and more than once, a manager had to ask the same question multiple times until I registered what they were saying.
It was clear I was having an off day, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
Bryce’s suggestion had blown my fucking mind.
I didn’t know Liza well enough to know whether there were indicators that she might be an omega. My brain spent the entire day working overtime while I tried to recall the story I’d heard multiple times as a child.
It was believed that no one had witnessed the birth of an omega in centuries. Supposedly, the Keller pack had gained lifefrom a goddess-like wolf believed to be an omega. She was the first to ever walk the earth.
Omegas were rumored to be the purest of wolves. They carried genes that could birth theperfectwolf, and had a high sex drive that pushed them to reproduce often.
It was also said that an omega had powers and strength that far exceeded that of a normal wolf.
I’d never actually seen Liza in wolf form, so I had no way to confirm or deny that she possessed special attributes. In her human form, though, she seemed so delicate; so gentle. I couldn’t imagine her being a hypersexual, mythical creature.
I thought back to every encounter I’d had with Liza, starting with that night at the mating ceremony. I hadn’t witnessed anything significant from her that I would deem special. She obviously had a strong power over me, but I assumed that was due to our being fated mates, not because she was an omega.
If the stories were true, the Keller bloodline was diluted from the original omega. Though my senses were more enhanced and finely tuned than most, and I was about five times stronger than the average wolf, there wasn’t anything specific about our bloodline that made us stand out from other shifters.
I snapped out of my deep thoughts just in time to hear Bryce ending the meeting. I watched as the branch managers shuffled out of the room for their lunch break.
Sitting back in my chair, I replayed my conversation with Liza in the park. She’d mentioned her upcoming appointment with the doctor to discuss her hormone medication. I didn’t specifically know if there were tests a doctor would run to determine if she was omega, or if there was a specific process to figure it out, but she had some of the signs.
After the managers had cleared the room, I turned to Bryce. “Have you ever heard of female wolves taking daily hormonal medications?”
Bryce clipped a stack of papers together and swiveled in his chair to face me. “I know plenty of wolves who take suppressors to stop their heat because they don’t want to risk getting pregnant. But daily? Nope.”
My curiosity had never been so piqued. “That’s weird, isn’t it? The way she explained it, she needs a certain dosage to keep her pheromones at a normal level to avoid incidents like the one I witnessed at the coffee shop.”
Bryce nodded in agreement. “I don’t know what to tell you other than that is really unusual. I’ve never heard of any shifter taking daily hormone medication before. Seems like it would be too much for the average female. Of course, I’m no doctor.” He looked at me with a knowing expression. “Liza might be an omega. I’m serious.”
I shook my head, still not sure it was safe to believe it. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Nothing else could explain why she would need to take daily hormones.
