15. Ollie

OLLIE

Hearing about Juno’s triggers from Miles made Ollie angry in a visceral way that he had never experienced before. He bent forward, carding his fingers through his hair as he tried to process the maelstrom of emotions inside him.

“How can you stand this?” Ollie asked, pressing against his eyelids to try and ease the hollow ringing in his head. He didn’t know if he needed to hit something or throw up. One glance over at Isaac and Everett told him they weren’t experiencing the same dilemma. They were having a silent conversation with their eyes.

Murder?

Of course.

Good.

Miles smiled sadly, “It’s not about me. I just try to do what’s best for her.”

That brought things back into focus for him. He could do that. Leave the vengeance and fountains of blood to Isaac and Everett.

“I know where I want to take her for our date.”

* * *

“We’re going to the zoo?” Juno turned to him excitedly before her expression faltered. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to the zoo. My parents never brought me. They probably thought it would’ve been a waste of time and money.” She let out a half-hearted sigh.

“We’re going to spend as much time and money here as you want.” Ollie wondered if Juno knew just how wrapped around her little finger she had him already. Would she use her powers for good or evil?

She tapped her chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “And if I want every soft toy in the gift shop?”

Ollie pulled out his phone. “Gotta organise hiring a truck then. Think they’ll be happy to wait for us in the parking lot?” he asked, as Juno shrieked and batted his hands away from his phone telling him to stop.

It was funny that she thought he wouldn’t actually do it.

Juno bounced through the main gates and gasped when she saw the giant elephant statue.

“Take a picture!” she shouted, as she wrapped her arms around one humongous leg.

Ollie quickly lifted his camera up to his face. “I’m not sure you know this but the rest of this place is filled with real animals,” he teased as she stuck her tongue out at him. Click. Perfect.

As they made their way through the different trails, Ollie soon realised Juno’s pure and unfiltered joy was utterly addictive to him. It was actually dangerous.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t deal with how cute these meerkats are! I want to put them in my pocket!”

Was there some sort of meerkat fostering program that existed?

“Look, that koala has the tiniest baby on her back. I’m going to die.”

Should he find out if any other koalas were pregnant and time their next visit for after the birth?

“Ollie, I can’t believe how close the giraffe is! This is amazing!”

Could he possibly organise to get her into the enclosure? Surely you couldn’t get closer than that?

Before he was able to voice what he later realised was a very dumb thought, Juno leapt up onto her tiptoes, pointing excitedly. The movement caused her baggy T-shirt to ride up, exposing her bare narrow waist for a brief moment. Ollie felt like a Victorian lord who’d gotten a glimpse of an ankle for the first time.

But his favourite photos came from inside the butterfly enclosure. He would swear up and down that those delicate, beautiful creatures sensed a kindred spirit in her, surrounding her like colourful little satellites.

“Ollie, come see,” she whispered, staying incredibly still as one landed on her outstretched arm.

He drew closer, taking in her radiant smile bathed in golden sunlight.

“Beautiful,” he whispered back.

Throughout the morning, their hands had accidentally brushed around five times and he almost followed through with taking hold at least twice. Plus, there was that time when she was trying to get a better look at the giant tortoise and leaned against him, the entire right side of her body suddenly pressed against his left. His arm tingled for ages afterwards and he was high on peaches for at least a full minute.

So maybe he was not progressing like Miles had progressed but still. It felt right for them.

* * *

“An otter?”

Juno looked down at the sketchpad she was proudly displaying under the chin and back up at him.

“Yep. Look how cute you are!”

Alright, maybe being an otter wasn’t so bad. Juno had drawn his glasses, freckles and mop of dark hair on top of the small furry thing and even Ollie had to admit the resemblance was uncanny.

They had been enjoying a picnic lunch Ollie had organised, sprawled in the stippled shade of a native gum. Juno was propped up on the majority of the pillows while Ollie suffered with a single cushion.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“What about the others?”

Juno tapped her pencil against her chin, lost in thought for a moment. Inspiration clearly struck and she began sketching. Ollie tried to look and got a territorial hiss so he laughed and fed her grapes instead. She was so preposterously beautiful like this, focused and doing what she loved. He lifted his camera and clicked right when her tongue made an appearance out the side of her mouth and it was a frontrunner for Best Picture He’d Ever Taken.

“Done!” she announced proudly, turning her book around. Ollie took one look at the three figures that had joined his otter and lost it.

“Is, is that Ev as a—”

“Super muscly alpha kangaroo? Sure is.” It looked ready to fuck up your day, just like Everett. She had even drawn tattoos down his impossibly jacked arms.

“And Miles is that monkey that we saw earlier stealing food and running away. The uh—”

“Capuchin monkey,” Juno answered fondly, giving the little white-faced monkey wearing one of Miles’ trademark loose linen shirts an affectionate pet on his head.

Ollie pointed to the black panther with Isaac’s perfectly groomed stubble and a single lock of hair curling over his forehead. “And Isaac’s just a sleek, apex predator that we can’t make fun of. Seems accurate.”

Juno sniffed as she idly added more shading to his glossy fur. “I think my pencil would have spontaneously broken itself if I tried to draw him as anything else.”

She really was talented — he’d known exactly who each animal was immediately. Not only that, she was incredibly fast. Yes, it was rough but the idea was more than conceptualised.

“Do you want to be a character designer? Or maybe a storyboard artist?” Ollie asked her impulsively. “Not that I don’t think you couldn’t also make a living as an artist with your creepy drawings either. And I don’t mean creepy in a bad way, I mean in a beautiful, amazing way. You know, I fully support your right to…” he trailed off once he clocked Juno’s bemused expression from watching him flounder. Ollie tried to start back up again but she pressed a strawberry into his open mouth.

Her pencil continued to add details across the page as she answered. “My art direction class discussed storyboarding a bit this week actually. I know I want to make a career out of this.” She gestured vaguely at her page. “But I want something stable. I’m still not sure what would suit me best. That’s what I’m hoping to work out at SCCA.”

“I’ve done some commercial work. It pays well and it’s consistent.” Ollie loaded a cracker with prosciutto and brie and brought it to her lips. She ate it almost absentmindedly and his alpha hindbrain purred with delight. “Sometimes I get storyboards as a reference. It’s usually what the agency’s commissioned to help get the idea across the line with the client. I mean, you wouldn’t be drawing the most boundary pushing art, though.”

“Oh, that doesn’t bother me at all. I can draw what I like in my own time. I want to be able to pay the bills.”

Ollie wanted to say that Juno would never have to worry about paying the bills if she joined their pack, but didn’t. He could see the determined fire in her, to be independent and earn her way. He would never deny her that.

“You’re fast, and your work is clear and detailed. There’s no reason you couldn’t give it a go.” Ollie was unsure if he was pushing too far. “I…have some contacts if you ever want to explore it.”

She laid her hand on top of his and he didn’t even care that the pencil scratched him slightly. Ollie wanted her sugar scent on him forever. “You’re sweet, Ollie. Thank you. I’ll think about it for sure.”

He glanced at her sketch again and noticed a grave error.

“You should add yourself, too.”

“Yeah?” she stumbled, not quite meeting his eyes. “And what would I be?”

He mentally flitted through a million permutations of every fluffy cute thing imaginable, his mind resembling a toddler’s stuffed animal collection.

“A puppy. No, a kitten. No, a bunny! Shit, but birds are pretty cute too. Baby chick, baby owl, baby penguin…”

“I’m sensing a theme here.”

“You could even be a snake and I bet you’d look like the cutest little danger noodle I’d ever seen.”

“Danger…noodle?”

“You know…cause,” Ollie trailed off as he made a slithering motion with his arm before hissing and nipping her with his fingers. She stared at him incredulously and Ollie was certain she was about to get up and flee (he would completely understand and not blame her one bit) but instead she broke out into the most wonderful giggles.

Her cheeks were tinted slightly pink when she spoke. “I kind of like the idea of being a snake.”

Ollie wasn’t sure where his next words came from but it felt very important to say it. “Then you should be a snake. I know you’ve gone through some things that probably make you feel safer being a snake, all poisonous and scary but I want you to know that if there’s a part of you that wants to be a cute soft thing then you can be that too. But I like you no matter what you are and I’m sure I can figure out how to cuddle you regardless.”

Juno’s eyes glimmered with a myriad of emotions. “You know it’s just a drawing, right?”

He carefully tucked the pencil that had fallen from her grip back into her fingers. “Of course.”

Ollie watched her draw and the urge to kiss her grew wild and unchecked within him. Unable to contain himself any longer, he leaned in, his eyes beginning to close. His entire body froze when Juno inhaled sharply, her breath stuttering with fear.

Fuck. Fuck.

They spoke over each other in a rush of apologies.

“I’m sorry, Ollie, I didn’t mean—”

“No, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have, it was too soon and I should’ve known that—”

Juno cut off his self-flagellating diatribe with a clear voice. “I want you, Ollie. I’ve been wanting you to kiss me all day.”

His brain short-circuited.

“I think if that butterfly wasn’t on my arm earlier I would have.”

And this entire time I thought that butterfly was a friend. The betrayal!

“My reaction just now, it was nothing to do with you. I swear. I didn’t use to care that I had this…mental block with alphas. But now, I hate it.” She fisted the hem of her dress in frustration. He gently took her hands and unwrinkled the material.

“Yes, I’m an alpha,” he conceded. “But I’m also Ollie.” How could he make her see? He pointed at the otter version of himself she had drawn. “Did you know otters fall asleep holding hands? It’s so they don’t drift away from each other in the water. Isn’t that just the best thing ever? I think I would be happy just holding hands with you for as long as you wanted.”

He resisted the very real urge to pull out his phone and start showing her otter videos. “What I’m trying very badly to say is — even though I’m an alpha and you’re an omega whose scent makes my brain go stupid, it’s not the reason I want you. You’re worth the wa—”

Ollie didn’t have very long to wait at all. One moment he was talking, and the next, Juno had wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips finally, finally found his and his heart almost burst from how right it all felt. His hands slid around her waist and their breaths mingled as they took sips of each other, growing more lightheaded with each passing second.

If Ollie had once thought her happiness was addictive, it was nothing compared to this heated sensuality. He was gone for her. Absolutely gone for this girl.

“That was…” Her eyes fluttered as she was lost for words. She stroked his cheek, a sweet intimate caress. “You’re wonderful. Kiss me again.”

Ollie took the melting omega back into his arms, as rich caramel sugar melded with vibrant espresso.