No Reservations
Her mates are her own, with one waiting in the wings. Now, she needs to finish what she started and get a little revenge at the same time.
Olivia has been rescued from years of torture and is working to settle into a life with her mates and the omega next door and another feline alpha who wants to join their group. She is gaining confidence, friends, and now, there is one thing to do... go on dates with her mates. Oh, and she has to finish a very important memoir.
Putting her pain on the page is difficult, but the reaction is beyond what she could imagine. A bidding war for her memoir spurs legal action, and before long, she finds herself in court. Does she have the right to tell her story with all the documentation that the Omega Centre found, or does her sleepy hometown get to remain oblivious to their part in the most heinous act of aggression on an omega in the last two decades? Is honesty the best policy, or should she forget about the pain?
Life continues, and she finds that getting surprised by another heat is uncomfortable while having dinner with the in-laws and her mates can’t get her home. She is really glad that Ford has been helping her make friends because she really needs one now.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No Reservations—Part Two
Copyright © 2021 by Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-989892-91-6
©Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.
Published by Viola Grace
Smashwords Edition
Look for me online at violagrace.com.
No Reservations—Part Two
Omega Next Door, Book 2
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Olivia controlled her breathing, hid behind the wall, turned, aimed, and fired. The howls of fury made her grin, and she crept to the next spot of concealment to take down her enemies. She had been constantly grinning for an hour.
Country girls and paintball were a lethal combination. Argus had chosen an excellent first date. She had been giggling silently for forty-five minutes. There were three members left on the other team, and they had Argus pinned down, identifying him as the greater threat than the little lady he was there with.
She crept forward on her belly and fired, hitting two of the men in the side of the helmet that were waiting for Argus. Kill shots. She rolled for cover when the last shots were fired at her, but they couldn’t hit something that moved like she did.
She giggled, and Argus fired the final shot. The lights came up, and he came over and pulled her to her feet. “Squirrel shooting?”
She grinned, but he couldn’t see it behind her mask. He put his arm around her, and they filed to the end of the course. The other team had gone from bragging about their wins to sulking as they passed Argus and Olly in the hall.
She went to the ladies’ change area, and their chatter froze mid-sentence. “It’s a woman?”
She went to change, and when she emerged, she handed her small gear to the attendant, who asked, “Did you want a video of your point of view sent to your email?”
Argus came up behind her. “Send them both to me.” He signed up for the video record and chuckled.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple. “Did you have fun?”
“Shooting alphas and betas? I could do that all day.”
He chuckled and offered her his arm as they walked toward the exit. “Did you want to stay here and eat?”
“Nope. They are looking like they are working themselves up to a fistfight. Unless they let me shoot them from a distance, I wouldn’t be any good as backup.”
“Then, I know a great place that serves food that would get Ambrose into a fury.”
“What is his deal with food?”
“He had issues with his health when he was young, and controlling his food helps him manage his health. So, now, he manages it for everyone else. He knows you burn a ton of calories with us, so he wants to make sure that you are healthy as well as happy.”
“Oh. And what do you want?”
He held the door to his truck open, lifting her into the passenger side. “I want you stuffed full of food that you enjoy, then I want to cuddle, and then I want to slowly fuck you while you are too torpid to move.”
She laughed and buckled up. He closed the door.
He got in on his side and leaned over to kiss her. The belt fought her, but she touched his face, and her tongue flicked out to taste him.
“Aw, I want to just stay here and make out. I want to spend the next week with you just rolling round in your nest.”
She whined, and his hand on her cheek warmed considerably. He kissed her again, and her hands fumbled at the seatbelt so she could climb onto his lap, and she could breathe in the cold wind and pine that made her feel clean and relaxed.
He pulled back and blinked. “Oh, kitten. Your pupils are huge.”
She mewled and reached for him, but it was a full-sized truck, and if he didn’t meet her halfway, she was stuck. She huffed and sat back.
“Yeah, that happens around you guys.”
He chuckled, put his own seatbelt on, and got the truck on the road.
He held her hand as they travelled. She looked around. “This is near home.”
“Yeah. About two miles.”
“Oh, I can walk there.”
“No. Not without an escort. Your perfume is more apparent now that you are letting it out more frequently, and while you are bonded, you are still very tempting.”
She smiled. “I know. That has been reinforced until I walk funny.”
“I saw your list, by the way.”
She nodded. “Good. You guys are the reason I made it.”
“We are colour-coding things that we can do with you. You get to choose who takes you to which event.”
She grinned. “I saw a bunch of colours next to a theme park. Does that mean you would all go with me at the same time?”
“Yeah, even Ford and Yemeen. He thinks it is an ideal first date venue, even if it is a group date.”
“I want someone to get me a giant stuffed animal.”
He chuckled. “We can do that.”
“Make sure to put it in the equation when we are making vehicle arrangements. Don’t forget that Ford needs a bodyguard.”
“I won’t forget.”
They pulled into a small diner, and it had an active clientele. Cars came and went, and he parked before walking around to help her out of the vehicle.
He kept his arm around her as they entered the public space, and while a few heads turned, she followed him to a just-cleaned booth.
She looked at the multi-page menu with wide eyes. “Wow. This is a lot.”
He chuckled. “Did you want to try a bunch of stuff? We can take the leftovers to Ambrose and watch his head explode.”
“Or put them near Dexter and watch them disappear. I hope he stops at six-foot-eight. He is already heavy when he’s on me.”
He had been sipping coffee, and he spluttered. “Right. I hadn’t thought about that. How do you deal with the difference in height and well... scale.”
She smiled. “Oh, I dunno. You guys are pretty good about not crushing me. My boobs take the worst beating. They spring back pretty well.” She looked down, checked, and nodded.
He snorted. “That they do. Teeth, tongues, hands, they take it all.”
Olly grinned and bit her lip when the lady came to take their orders. “Can I g
et waffles?”
“Sure, hun. What do you want on them?”
“Strawberries and cream?”
“Done. What do you want, darlin’?”
“Cheeseburger, everything, and fries. And lemonade for both of us.”
“Got it.” She took the menus and left.
Olivia looked around with wide eyes. “I didn’t have this on my list. Nice.”
“Are you having fun with Ford, kitten?”
“I am. He’s nice, a little self-involved, and considers me a project, but he cares, and he has a major crush on you and wants you for his heat.” She smiled and nodded to the waitress with the lemonade.
He blushed. “That. Would that bother you?”
“Not really. I have already agreed to be there for the next one.”
“What?” His voice was loud, and a few people stared.
She laughed. “Yeah.”
“You two have already...”
“Yup. I had to initiate, but we did. It was like a slip and slide when our junk collided.” She grinned. “Fun, though. I can see why the centre kept the guys somewhere separate. Super sexy.”
He started to growl, and then, he paused. “But you aren’t obsessed.”
“Of course not. If I want to watch something I am obsessed with, I can just institute no-shirt Friday at the house, which, hopefully, will lead to no-pants Saturday.” She raised her eyebrows. “Ford would be all in as long as I participated as well.”
Argus spluttered his lemonade. “God. You are... adapting well.”
She laughed. “It is sink or swim. I have chosen to swim. I have always been a good swimmer.”
He held his hand out to her, and she placed her left hand in his. He rubbed their bond mark with his thumb. She shivered and sighed as his touch sent a soft pulse through her.
When the server brought the meals over and scented the air, Olivia blushed, but she didn’t apologize. That was huge. Telling her body that it was okay that people knew when she was happy or scared or horny was taking some getting used to.
“So, about finding a friend. That might be trickier. We don’t associate with a lot of single women, and that socialization will be decreased now.”
She chuckled. “That’s fine. I want to make a friend, not be assigned one. Working with Ford exposed me to people and let me know that I could have a normal conversation with women on equal footing. We chatted, gossiped. Everyone wanted to know if Ford had high-powered alphas over to visit, and I got to honestly say I had no idea. Yeah, they all thought I was a beta until the motorcycle, but until then, it was just them and me.”
“Yemeen is around a ton of women. Maybe you can make a friend there.”
She chuckled. “I met some of the dancers and models on the shoot with Ford. They are all like bitchy gazelles. I am sure that some are nice, but I didn’t meet one.”
He nodded.
“How did you end up in construction?”
“Oh, well, when my dad left home to find a pack, he ended up with a pack who built and designed office buildings. I grew up and knew that I wanted to make homes for people. So, I set off and took some courses, made sure that my grasp of physics was firmly in place, and I got my contractor license. I started making sheds, pool houses, and finally, someone took a chance on me for a house. I assembled the best teams, best trades, and pulled out all the stops. The house was great, the owner had to sell it because they couldn’t afford all the extra features, but the build was solid. The architect came by and took a look at how I had executed his vision, and he discussed a large project that he had just gotten for a certain psycho omega.”
“Ah, that is how you met Ambrose.”
“Yeah. He can see the way things need to be, but he can’t build them himself. He needs me to do it. We recognized that we were both the same type of alpha and decided that cohabiting next to the big project would make the build a little easier. The rescue came shortly after that.”
She nodded. “That fills in some gaps. How did you meet Dexter?”
“I was buying a gift for my mom. Ambrose came to add his fashion sense; as his mother is also an omega, he had an idea of the aesthetic I was looking for. Dexter was working behind the counter, and when Ambrose explained who I was shopping for, they started going over the options, and we walked out of there with the present for my mom and the third in our pride.”
She smiled. “So, putting together a pride or pack is simple?”
“Not really. You need to discuss the ramifications to your family, how the interaction will affect them. How your work will interfere with that of your pride mate. Ambrose and I have to declare our connection when we work on any jobs. Dexter’s fine. He has made a lot of designs with peaches on them lately. Ever since we were at the rehearsal party, actually.”
Olly grinned. “Yeah, he’s adorable. I am actually glad I met him now. A year from now, he’s going to be a filled-out hunk, and I think he would possibly terrify me.”
“Why?”
“He’s super enthusiastic, but it is his learning that makes it endearing. If he knew what he was doing right off the start, he would be terrifying. I need the pauses to catch my breath.” She finished the waffles. “Ambrose coaching him is bad enough, but at least they can play nice together.”
He nodded. “That was an eye-opener, but seeing Hector with Caesar, it is sort of bleeding through.”
She chuckled. “I really hope Hector is pregnant.”
“So does Caesar. I don’t know if he is up for that again. She exhausted him.”
Olly giggled. “Well, whatever he has fertility-wise got a workout.”
He smiled. “It is strange how the cats took to you. I was pleasantly surprised. I know that the boys love you, but all of the cats at the rescue just calmed right down when you showed up.”
“I have that effect on most animals. Chickens, pigs, goats, you name it. They all just settle in and cuddle me. I think it is just chronic distress pheromones.” She shrugged.
“No, that would be setting me off as well. I think it is just you. Before your designation became apparent, you gathered people around you. You were loved, respected, and a wild little psychopath.”
She smiled brightly. “Aw, you remembered.”
“You set Uncle Derek’s car on fire.”
“No, I didn’t.” She looked at her nails. “I used a firework to set the remote-control car on fire, and Paul drove it under his dad’s car. The resulting fire had nothing to do with me.”
He nodded. “Right. So, why did you do it.”
“Pay attention.” She looked at him seriously. “Always share your toys.”
He glanced at his truck. “Is it in danger?”
“Nope. Not yet. If I need to use it, and I use that term, just hand me the keys. I am not going to ask for your precious truck if I don’t need it.”
He sighed in relief. “So, what are you going to do with the money you are earning with Ford?”
“Um. Buy a truck?” She grinned. “It will take a few more videos, but I should be able to manage it in a few months.”
“We can drive you where you need to go.”
She drummed her fingers. “You can’t. You have an on-site job. Ambrose has to go to sites, Dexter has to go in to work with his parents. If I don’t stick onto Ford, I need to be able to get around on my own.”
“What about Yemeen?”
“He and I haven’t even had a date yet.”
He chuckled. “You are a sucker for a big cat.”
She sipped at her lemonade primly. “Maybe.”
“Would you accept new pride members after Yemeen?”
She huffed. “No, I think my dance card is full.”
“More mates means more financial stability.”
“I am fine. I would be fine if everybody had to go out and came back sweaty and gross. Like you!” She beamed at him.
He narrowed his eyes. “Thanks.”
“Ah, but then, you get into the shower, and you are all muscly an
d slippery...” She leaned back and fanned herself with a napkin.
He chuckled.
She grinned and leaned forward. “And I think the guys need someone other than me who can do basic home maintenance. I don’t think Ford even knows how to plug in his television.”
Argus snorted. “I am sure he is fine.”
“So, what do you think of the idea of moving to Ford’s house.”
“You are happier there.” He shrugged.
She sighed. “He’s sort of... teaching me how to react like I am supposed to if that makes any sense.”
“It does. You weren’t educated, exposed to others, or even trained at the centre during weekend classes like they do for teens. You are starting cold with the mature reproduction drive but little to no idea what to do with it.”
“The reproduction drive. It sounds like a sci-fi thriller.” She chuckled.
She stretched, and his eyes went to the front of her shirt. She leaned left and watched his gaze follow then leaned right. Then burst out laughing.
The bill arrived, and he paid then took her hand and wrapped his arm around her, purring. She sighed and leaned against him. There were other people and couples looking at them as they got to his truck, and she heard the word omega whispered. She looked up at Argus. “I think they’re talking about you.”
He laughed and boosted her into the truck, leaning in for a kiss. “Yeah, I am pretty sure that Ford and I could be twinsies.”
She kissed him softly then bucked up for the drive home. She was going to have to have them both side by side and do a thorough comparison. The thought made her giggle all the way home.
Chapter Two
Yemeen waited for the courier and saw Argus’s truck pulling up in the drive. Based on the happy laugh as Olivia jumped into Argus’s arms and the fact that he was wearing her as he headed into the house, it had been a successful date. He smiled. His turn was coming.