“So, how is your dear, sweet boss?” Roxie asked with a grin, knowing damn well she was about to start a full rant. She took a sip of her tea and waited, raising one dark eyebrow.
“Oh, dear, sweet, Karen?” I questioned in mock innocence. The woman was truly the devil in disguise.
Roxie snorted out a laugh. We both knew that wasn’t really Eliza’s name, but she was quite possibly one of the worst human beings I’d ever worked for. She was a petty, angry at the world beta who had some kind of vendetta against all omega-kind.
“The same heinous bitch as always,” I admitted. “She spent an hour at our after-hours meeting the other day, berating me on being too flirty with the clients. I guess basic charm is now flirting?”
“Was the client even upset?” she asked as she took another sip of her tea, watching me with those eyes that had me wanting to spill all of my secrets.
“No. It’s not just me, either. Linda got called out for not folding towels the proper way and Diane was berated for being five minutes late when she was running a company errand. She’s a witch on a power trip.”
“There’s just not enough positions in North Crossing. I’d have to take something entry level or out of my field.”
“Something will pop up,” she said with confidence. “I’ll keep my eye out for anything.”
Then Mac was there, his arms loaded down with plates.
With a flourish, he dropped a plate full of thick slices of fresh bread, still steaming. Then three small bowls of butter.
“The first one is leeks and herbs, a recipe that came from my ma. The second is strawberry rhubarb, and the third is plain, in case you’re not the adventurous sort.”
Oh, that was absolutely a challenge.
“That sounds incredible,” Roxie said, not even waiting for him to finish before she was slathering butter onto a slice.
She tried the leek one first, and the groan she let out was positively sinful.
My omega perked up immediately, torn between happiness at seeing our omega enjoying herself and pure jealousy. I wanted to get territorial, to rip her away from Mac and make sure he didn’t get to hear those sounds coming from her.
Mac just looked pleased with himself, happy someone was enjoying his food.
I was officially being a psycho. This was definitely not ‘roommate’ territory.
Mac seemed to notice, throwing me a reassuring wink. “Good idea bringing her to Mac’s for your first date.”
Then he was putting more plates in front of us. Chicken piccata, a hearty salad with peppers, pepperoni, and cheese, and finally a platter of pasta still bubbling from the oven with golden cheese melted on top. It felt like he was trying to feed alphas, not two omegas.
“If you make it through all this, I’ve got dessert tonight, too,” he promised.
“Oh, I’m absolutely going to have dessert. I’m an omega. There’salwaysroom for dessert,” Roxie said with pure confidence.
I loved that she embraced her omega side. Unfortunately, the world wasn’t always kind to us omegas and you didn’t see it often enough. Every designation had their issues.
Alphas were at the top, generally excused of their outbursts and asshole ways because of what they were.
Betas were overlooked.
Omegas were either seen as a nuisance or as someone fragile and not as a person.
Then there were the deltas. Between their ruts, dens, and possessive, chaotic nature, there were a lot of people who didn’t trust them.
I wasn’t among them.
Until a delta broke my heart.
Now I had trust issues for days and enough hurt to keep my defensive walls strong.
I wasn’t naïve enough to think I had no part of why my ex left. He wanted us to be out and proud. It wasn’t that easy for me.
