Chapter 3
Grayson
Grayson had never seen so many Omegas in one place before. The little classroom had about ten people, all waiting for their crash course in male Omega pregnancy and childbirth.
“You from a small town?” a woman sitting nearby asked. “You look a little overwhelmed.” She had long, sleek brown hair and beautiful, tan skin. Her eyes were sharp and dark, but creased with faint laugh lines. Late twenties if he had to guess.
Grayson gave her a feeble smile. “You’re observant.”
“I’m Jenna,” she said, sticking out a hand. It was neatly manicured, and nearly as large as his own.
“Grayson,” he said with a quick shake. “So… is everyone here an…?”
Jenna raised a sculpted eyebrow. “Omega? Yeah. Standard humans can technically get jobs in Paeil, but most places prefer to hire us. Reduces the stress on the Mermate program, you know? You’ve got a nice scent, by the way.”
Grayson blinked, taken aback. “Oh. I’m not wearing anything.”
Jenna smothered a laugh. “No, your Omega scent. It’s like… sugar and flowers or something.”
“You can… smell me?” A small bubble of panic rose in his chest. Had people back home known?
Jenna sat back in her chair. “Damn. Must have been one small town if you don’t know that. Can you not smell me?”
Grayson took a deep breath through his nose. Now that she mentioned it, there was some kind of perfume wafting from her. It reminded him of the sparkling rosé he used to smuggle back to his dorm room in the dead of night.
“Kind of… like sweet wine?”
Jenna grinned. “So I’ve been told.”
Grayson leaned back, head spinning. “This whole time, everyone has been able to tell I’m an Omega? Because I smell like sugary flowers?”
“Well, not exactly,” Jenna reassured him. “People might assume you wear some kind of cologne. And it sounds like the people in your town weren’t exactly in the know.” She smacked her hand on the table, causing Grayson to nearly part ways with his skin. “Violets! You smell like those old fashioned violet candies.”
“Is that… good?”
Before Jenna could answer, their lecturer strode into the room. He looked human, but Grayson had heard the Mer could shapeshift.
“Morning, everyone,” he said brusquely. “You’re all here because the good old US of A hasn’t bothered to add male pregnancy to the health curriculums. Lucky you.”
A few soft chuckles littered the room.
“I’m Corey, and before anyone asks, my credentials include a Bachelors in Nursing, ten years as a nurse in Paeil Miami, fondly referred to as Mermade Miami, and three kids I’ve had to evict from my body.”
“Damn,”someone said. Grayson saw a man in the corner clap a hand over his mouth.
“ ‘Damn’ is right,” Corey grumbled. “Don’t forget to take your suppressants, kids. Pheromone Overwhelm is a real thing.”
Grayson jerked his head to look at Jenna. She raised a brow.
“Pheromone Overwhelm?” he whispered.
“No one told you? Basically your body’s not used to Alpha pheromones, so just getting off the boat in Miami can trigger a heat cycle.”
Grayson blanched.
“It should be fine if you’re on suppressants,” she said quickly. “But if you get any heat symptoms, you need to visit an Omega clinic ASAP.”
“Okay folks, we have a lot to cover and not much time so sit tight and shut up.” The lights dimmed and a projector lit up the front of the classroom, depicting an anatomical drawing of a human male Omega. Grayson stared at it. He’d never seen a diagram of his own body before, yet here it was, as if it were perfectly normal.
