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“No, but this one, she practically spits fire.”
Sighing, I stood from the cushions, and he sprawled out to take over my spot, too. “You’re not making any sense.”
He gave me a little waggle of his fingers. “You’ll see.”
I made my way around the corner to the bar that we’d only passed for a few seconds when we’d gotten inside. With every step I took closer to it, my nose tingled more. A familiar scent. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t imagining it, though. Not until I was mere steps away from the bartender, a chemically tinted aroma of vanilla and coffee drifting around me.
Nearly identical to how Sigrid smelled in my memories of my past life.
Chapter 3
Freya
Mynextheatwasclosing in on me with a vengeance, sooner than it should be. Cared for Omegas went into heat once every four to six months, helped through the state of neediness and desperation by their Alpha or Alphas. Originally my heats had been spaced that far apart. Over the years they’d gotten closer and closer together, and now I had one once a month. With how flushed and sweaty I was, I’d say this time my heat was going to force me into my nest about three weeks after I left my nest from the last one.
Being at work was difficult when all I wanted to do was purr and press myself up against every Alpha who so much as glanced in my direction, no matter how unsuitable they were. Touching was worse. Fingers would graze mine as people grabbed for their drinks before I could place them down, the contact sending tingles shooting through me. My panties were soaked through from the arousal, and my scent dampener was working overtime to cover up the Omega notes of my scent.
People would still scent that I was aroused — that was unavoidable — but the dampener stopped me from perfuming up the whole club.
One man stepped up to the bar with a smirk on his face, clearly looking to flirt, but my feral glare sent him running with a shot of vodka in his hand, alcohol spilling over the sides. “We’re getting complaints, Freya,” Mattie said behind me, and I stifled a sigh. We’d only been open for thirty minutes. I’d hoped to make it longer before dealing with this talk.
My boss, the owner of Club Chaos where I’d been working since it’s inception, put up with a whole hell of a lot of shit from me. Increasingly frequent week long vacations. Taking off early if an Alpha got close enough to trigger my heat. Without knowing my designation as an Omega, he had to think I was a terrible employee, but he let it slide. All he asked in return was a faux sunny disposition when dealing with customers and maybe a little flirting with the men so they’d keep coming back to buy drinks. I used to be passably good at faking it.
Now, my temper was so short I glared at everyone, even on my good days. Today wasn’t one of those.
“Bad day,” I grunted, offering a tight smile to the purple-haired fae woman who came up and ordered a round of pornstar shots for her table.
I didn’t turn around, but I felt Mattie’s gaze burning into my back as I poured the drinks and put them on a tray for her. No easy way out of this conversation, unluckily. When she was gone and the bar was clear of people once again, I turned around.
Matthias was a tall man with cool-toned brown skin, hovering around six and a half feet with a broad frame. Muscles corded his arms, especially when he crossed them over his chest like he was doing right now. He wasn’t what anyone expected when they thought of a vampire. Typically they weren’t as muscular, not needing to spend time in the gym to best most species in a fight. Humans always assumed they were sallow-skinned and pale, a la everyone’s favourite vampire movie series. Vampires only went sallow and sunken in real life when they were starving, and that took weeks. With a balanced diet, they looked like the rest of us did.
His Alpha pheromones filtered through the air toward me, heavier because of his irritation, but his were easy to ignore compared to the rest. I’d never thought of him that way, and he was always doused in his Omega’s scent. Thereon smelled to me like sickly sweet strawberries and cream, not far from turning sour, and I was grateful for his blatant scent marking. I would be disgusted with myself if I ever entertained thoughts of Mattie in compromising positions, like I’d done with every other unclaimed Alpha in the bar tonight.
“Your bad days have been scaring people off. A lot. Can I do anything to help you?”
Holding back a sigh, I grabbed my rag and wiped down the clean bar surface to avoid eye contact. It would be easier if he were mad at me. Then I could fight back. I had no fucking clue how to deal with his incessant concern. “Don’t need any help.”
“Clearly you do.”
“What makes that clear?”
He gave me a once over. I hated that he was right. I’d lost weight over the past year, my usually slim form now painfully skinny. The only places I hadn’t lost weight were my tits and ass, thanks to my cursed Omega genes. Had to be sexually appealing to Alphas, even if I was starving. I tried my best to overeat when I wasn’t in heat, but when I was I couldn’t stomach anything for long. My silver hair was stringy and flat, caked in grease that I couldn’t rinse out no matter how many times I shampooed. The shadows under my eyes were dark, deep indents in my pale skin.
“I’m fine. Actually, you know what you can do to help?” I asked, my tone harsh.
Mattie cocked an eyebrow.
“Get me on vacation a few days early. Melissa might want to work. I’d love some more time for R&R.”
Sighing, he rolled his eyes. He thought I was fucking with him. If he’d asked me what he could do to help six months ago, I would have been. Help wasn’t something I asked for, needed, or accepted when offered. This time I was hoping he would grudgingly agree. When I’d booked my vacation, I hadn’t accounted for my heat coming early. Getting it covered ahead of time was better than calling out. Or worse, being behind the bar on a busy night when I fell into my heat for real. My scent dampener couldn’t mask that level of Omega perfume. And there was the little fact that I’d be begging every Alpha for their knot.
“Ask her yourself if you want that R&R. And seriously, Freya. Stop glaring at the customers. I know you’ve got something against…” He trailed off, glancing around at the half empty bar. “Fuck, you seem to have something against everyone. Leave it at the door when you come to work, OK?”
I lifted my hand in a salute. “Got it.”
He looked like he was going to say something else to me. Probably expressing his concern again, telling me that he’d be there if I needed something. I glanced up to the VIP balcony behind him and saw my out. Emotional conversations made me uncomfortable. “Oh, Gemma got saddled with that group of elderly male witches again,” I said, tilting my head upwards. “They always look at her like they want to eat her right up.”
Expression flickering with annoyance, he turned to look. My boss wasn’t stupid; he knew that was a diversion. I also wasn’t lying, though, and Mattie’s protectiveness over Gemma was an instinct that he couldn’t resist. The group of men truly were seated in the upstairs VIP section, the tiny blonde Beta fae balancing an overfull tray of beers on one hand. When one of the men reached out to help steady the tray, his fingers grazing the back of her hand, I couldn’t believe my luck. Mattie was upstairs faster than any human could move, grabbing the tray and possessively placing his hand on Gemma’s shoulder.
