Page 3 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

“You’re safe. That was all I was going to say about the matter anyway before you made a big deal about it,” I shared, then sighed and flopped against my pillows. “I thought Randall was the one. We met in the hospital when I had pneumonia from that stupid cold anyone could handle while his brother was also getting treatment. There were no surprises when it came to the fact that I’m a broken, defective Omega who will be needy and high maintenance all her life. He liked me for me… or so I thought.”

The image of that woman’s face as Randall railed her from behind played on repeat in my head.

“Why bother going out with me in the first place?” I asked, not really expecting an answer. “Bottom line is I’m not the Omega anyone wants. Knowing this, why would I put myself out there to be rejected, insulted, laughed at, or cheated on? All I want to do is give what’s left of my broken heart to someone for the rest of the life I have to live. My fairy tale doesn’t exist out there in the real world. It’s too jaded and pragmatic to take a chance on the factory reject.”

My bed jostled as Crew crawled up to lay beside me and slid his arm under my head so it rested against his shoulder. He’s always smelled like carrot cake to me—full of spice and life but earthy at the same time. It fit who he was as a person full of life, jokes, and fun, but when you needed him, he was there for you like now.

“I’m not saying this to try and fix anything, but I just can’t hold back from saying it,” Crew said, then paused a second. “Randall is fucking lucky to be alive for making you feel this way. If I ever cross paths with that shitstain, I will give him a black eye as a warning to the world that they should stay the fuck away.”

“Did you want me to invite him over?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure I could guilt-trip him into talking to me face-to-face.”

“LouLou, are you trying to put me in jail?” Crew demanded.

I let out a sigh. “No. I just really wanted to see you lay his ass out flat, and if it happens randomly, I might not be there to see it.”

“Damn, that’s cold.” Crew chuckled. “I like it.”

“Thank you for listening,” I shared, nuzzling into his comforting presence. “I’m still not leaving my room, though.”

It was good to be back.

Finally, after almost eight years of traveling all over the country, I was once more in Windermere. I’d gone right from college to work for a company that my family bought into fifty years ago, Infinery Petroleum Industries. My family operates the downriver portion of the refinery process or, as most people understand it, finding and drilling for oil. My job was to establish new drilling sites by installing the oil pumps, train the new team, and ensure they followed state guidelines for operation. Once complete, I would move on to the next site or revisit a location that might be struggling. This didn’t lead to a life with a permanent home, a budding social life, or regular hours.

After graduation, all I wanted was to be on my own and start my career. So I got right down to business making things happen while traveling the world. However, something changed two years ago when I turned twenty-eight. I suddenly realized the time for a family was running out, and the glamor of travel was all but gone. Working hard to have the life I wanted was important, but here I was with a well-stocked bank account and nothing else. This realization led me to sign up for the Scent Matching service to help me find a pack, a family unit, if you will, of men I would be compatible sharing a life with.

For me personally, I was looking for a group of brothers. Men who I could count on, experience life alongside each other, and one day have a family with our Omega. After my new pack was formed through the Matchers and we got to know each other, we decided it was time to find our Omega. Building a pack was step one in becoming a family, and now we needed that last piece of the puzzle to complete the picture.

As a whole, we chose to only accept scent options from female Omegas, but as we approached a year and a half with no luck, we started to doubt our choice. So far in my life, I’ve never been drawn to men in an intimate way, which was the same as my packmates. However, now we all started to question if excluding the option of a male Omega was the right choice.

When you’re scent-bonded with an Omega, that’s it. You’re done. That Omega is the one you were meant to be with, and no one else will do. Some people compare it to soulmates, like the ones you read about in books. If that were true, then it wouldn’t matter what gender your Omega turned out to be. They would be our scent-bond and perfect for our pack, end of story. Coming to that conclusion as a group, we decided the next check-in we had with our Matcher, we would inform them of the change.

Breaking down the last box of things I’d just unpacked, I looked around my room now that it was properly set up. The guys bought the house while I finished my last project, which took six months longer than it should have. They’d been living here full time while I came back every chance I could to spend time with them. We’d tried out other areas since my packmates were from different places, but as a family, we agreed this was the right city for us. It offered everything we needed, and I was glad to be done with all the moving.

“Hey,” Warrick said as he knocked on the open door to my room. “You need any help?”

I looked over my shoulder at him and grinned. “Your timing is perfect as usual… I just finished.”

Warrick was the guy who liked everyone, and everyone liked in return. He could get along with the worst people who would drive anyone else insane and have them eating out of the palm of his hand. My logic was since he had such a baby face, everyone treated him like a kid, not almost thirty and a successful business owner. His bar, The Fat Mule, was one of the coolest spots in town. The place was packed during happy hour and had a two-month waitlist for table service on the weekends.

Warrick flashed me a shit-eating grin, his brown eyes telling me he knew I was done before he asked. “What can I say?” He shrugged. “I just know the best time to make an appearance. It’s a talent, you know.”

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the five other flattened boxes and dropped them in his arms. “You’re absolutely right about that. It’s uncanny how you knew there was no way I could carry all the garbage out in one trip. Now we can do it together, and my unpacking will be complete.”

“That’s me, the ever-helpful pack brother always looking for ways to be of service,” Warrick answered cheerfully as he backed out of the room with his armload.

“Be careful on the stairs,” I warned.

Warrick groaned. “Look, I keep telling you it’s because Vili used the wrong cleaner on the wooden steps that I slipped. Seriously, I’m not that clumsy.”

“If that’s the story you’re sticking to,” I teased as I gathered the garbage bags I’d filled with packing paper, listening as he walked down the stairs. When there was no sound of crashing or swearing, I knew he had safely made it down.

Having moved from place to place meant I didn’t have much stuff. For most jobs, I stayed on location for roughly four to six months. There was something cathartic about knowing this was the last time I had to unpack for a good long while. I finally had a place to call home and a room I could make my own. An odd thing to get excited over at this point in my life, but as they say, your priorities change.

Just as I was about to head down, my phone started to vibrate. Glancing at the screen, I saw it was Crew, my best friend since I was ten years old. His family was the founder and controlling members of the company my grandad bought into. I hadn’t had a chance to catch up with him this week, so I grabbed the phone. “Hey, man,” I answered. “It’s official, I’m back for good this time.”

There was a whoop of joy on the other end and clapping of hands. “That’s what I’m talking about. I needed some good news today.”

Immediately, I was frowning. The only thing that could bring Crew down was something going on with Bailey-Rose. “Happy I could help, but is everything okay?”