20. Pretty Little Omega - Chapter 1

“Calliope! Sweetheart, can you help at the front desk please?” Marge’s voice called from the front of the library. I let out a huge sigh, put the books I was shelving back on the trolley, and made my way to the check out desk.

It wasn’t her fault. I was getting close to my heat, and even with the suppressants I used to help keep the heat at bay, I still struggled with some of the symptoms.

I muttered to myself in annoyance as I stepped up to the computer, not paying attention to who was standing there waiting for assistance.

Until a deep chuckle met my ears.

I looked up, shocked. No way. I had to be wrong. I’d know that chuckle anywhere. Growing up, I’d listen to him and his best friend, dreaming and fantasizing about them from afar.

When my eyes met his and took in his face, my knees grew weak. When I took in a shocked breath, I was met with his scent. His utterly delicious allspice and honey scent. I could feel the slick pooling between my legs and tightened them in the hopes of containing the smell of my arousal.

“Calliope, what a nice surprise.” Zaair’s voice was filled with mirth. His dark blue eyes were sparkling, and that damned smirk on his face was exactly the same one I’d drooled over all through high school.

“Zaair. Uh… Hi.” I had nothing else to say. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He’d left right after graduation. His dad had enrolled him into the best Alpha academy, and he’d not been back since.

I heard the rumours, just like everyone else. He had made a big name for himself as a hot shot agent. Other than that, everyone still liked to gossip about the fact he still hadn’t found a pack, an Omega, which also made him one of the most eligible bachelors. That got him a whole different kind of notoriety.

“How you doing, sweetheart? How’s your mum? I was very sorry to hear about your dads.” His words instantly doused my arousal, and any day dreams I was having about him went out the window.

Any reminder of Mama and her sorrow was enough to put anyone off. Even after three years, she still wasn’t coping well, and it was getting to the point where I was worried I wouldn’t be able to hide it for much longer.

“Thanks,” I muttered and looked down at his hands where he was holding a stack of books. “She’s fine. Here, let me check you out.”

It was the same phrase I used a hundred times a day, but the second the words left my mouth, I heard it. And felt my cheeks heat up.

“Uhm, let me check out the books. Yeah. The books. So you can go,” I said quickly, trying to cover for my blunder.

Zaair chuckled again and handed over the books. My hands touched his, and I could have sworn I felt a spark as our fingers grazed. He let out a huff of air, but instead of looking over at him, I busied myself with the process of putting his selection through the system.

He had exactly the kind of books I’d have imagined a big burly Alpha like him reading. Some intrigue, some spy novels, and a very good murder mystery I myself had just finished a week ago. But the last one, the bottom of the pile, drew a reluctant giggle from me.

“I didn’t picture you as the kind of person to read Aisling Cousins.” I chanced a look at him and grinned when I saw his sheepish look.

“It’s my first time. I liked the cover.”

“Oh well, then you don’t want to start with this one. Restoring Their Trust is the second book in the series. Let me see if we have the first one.” I quickly clicked through the programme and pulled up the search engine. “Oh, damn. Sorry. The first one is out. It won’t be back for another week. Would you like me to book it for you? Then you can grab both of them at the same time.”

Zaair was quiet. When he didn’t respond, I looked up at him, and he had his hand running through his dark, wavy hair. Messing it up in the exact way I’d always imagined myself doing. If possible, he looked even more embarrassed than he did when I first called attention to his choice.

“Uh. See… I read the first one.”

The bark of laughter that escaped me surprised even me.

The look of pure agony that flitted across his face made me feel bad enough that my laughter dried up, and I took his hand in mine.

“Zaair, sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun.” I squeezed, and he returned it.

And then the fucker smiled his cheeky fucking smile.

Asshat.

“Oh, you’re an asshole!” I say with a laugh. “I was really worried I hurt your feelings.”

“You did! So much. I think you need to make it up to me. What time do you finish here? Let me take you out, please?”

It’s then that I realized he was still holding my hand. That connection between us turned electric again, and I couldn’t get myself to meet his gaze anymore. When my eyes fell on our connected hands, my stomach plummeted. His large hands completely dwarfed mine, and it looked so very much like everything I’ve always wanted. Someone big, strong, and capable protecting me, just like my dads protected Mama.

I quickly pulled my hand from his and reminded myself exactly who he was. He was joking. Had to be. So instead of giving in to my gut like I so very badly wanted to, I sucked it up and turned him down.

“Somehow I think you’ll survive, Zaair. There are plenty of willing girls in town who’d be happy to soothe your ego.”

He grew quiet at my words, and the silence that hung over us as I finished my work was oppressive, even to someone that spent their days in a library.

After stamping the last book, I put them in a bag for him along with a complimentary bookmark that a local author had dropped off for marketing purposes.

“There you go. I hope you enjoy your books.” I didn’t look at him as I handed him the bag. His fingers closed around the handle, and as I let go, his other hand grabbed mine again.

“Sweetheart, look at me.”

Dammit. I couldn’t resist that simple request.

When I looked up at him, something in his expression pulled at me in a way I didn’t want to analyze.

“I can see you’re exactly the same Calliope from years ago. I’m very glad to find out you haven’t changed.”

His words baffled me even more than the unfathomable look.

“I’ll be seeing you. Send your mom my love.”

And I watched him walk out. Well… maybe I checked out his ass a bit. It looked fine in the jeans he was wearing after all.

“Was that Zaair Evans?” Marge asked me as she inched her way towards the checkout desk. Her small frame was hunched over, and the glasses she was wearing magnified her eyes to a comical size.

“Yes, Marge.”

“What’s he doing back in town?”

It’s then that I realised I never asked him why he was home and how long he’d be back. Not that it was any of my business.

“I don’t know, Marge. You should ask him when he brings his books back,” I said as I walked back towards the shelves I had been stacking before my interruption. Best to get lost in the work than to drop into fantasy land.

I’d spent most of my teenage years in that fog. It never boded well for me.

High school was not a good time for me. I was a late bloomer. So by default, everyone assumed I’d be a Beta. As such, I was ignored by the Alphas and picked on by the bitchy girls (regardless of their designation) because not only was I weird for not going through puberty when it was expected, I wore glasses, hid in my books, and never liked standing out. The only silver lining was that even though the girls were bitches, both Zaair and his best friend, Griffin, made sure that they never did any proper damage.

I was like a sister that annoyed them with my presence.

Yet, to me, they were the two princes that I dreamt of every night.

And then we graduated. They had some kind of fight, no one ever really knew about what, and Zaair left.

A year later I finally freaking hit puberty. As I was already in university and working on getting my bachelor’s in library science, I hid the fact that I was an Omega. Mom got me suppressants even though my dads did not agree. She understood my need to do this for myself before finding a pack of Alphas.

For two more years, it was a battle. My dads wanted me protected and in a pack of my own, but they didn’t want to go against Mama’s or my wishes.

Suddenly, there wasn’t a reason to fight anymore because they were dead. Just like that. A stupid car crash took both my fathers away from me and my mom in one go.

I’d graduated in a fog of grief. And even though the original agreement was that I would go register as an Omega and start looking for a pack, I just couldn’t do it. Mama was a mess. She needed me more than I needed an Alpha.

We had been living in this limbo for three years now.

Sooner or later the castle of cards would come tumbling down, exposing all of my carefully hidden secrets.

Mama’s deteriorating mental health.

My status as an Omega.

The one that scared me most? That someone would find out that I’m a secret Little.