Claire tosses her drink at the Omega and the other woman lunges for Claire’s hair.
“Oh fuck,” I hiss out, moving as fast as I can to put my body in between them. Doing my damn best to make sure I don’t hurt this other woman, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let her put a hand on Claire.
“You don’t talk about him like that,” Claire shouts, pointing in the woman’s face as I use my body as a shield between them.
“He’s the best you can do since you can’t fucking read, huh?” the Omega covered in champagne says, and I watch as Clairecompletely shuts down, her face dropping, her bright blue eyes filling with tears.
She turns around, and begins to walk away.
“Shit,” I groan, and thankfully, Wells is finally storming back in our direction.
“What the fuck happened?” he asks.
“I don’t know. Can you make sure Andie isn’t left alone? I’ll go after Claire.”
His brows furrow and he introduces the pack he brought over to meet Andie. The other Omega scurried off somewhere during the altercation. I stroke my hand through my beard and sigh.
I’d been degraded plenty by my own father, I know how bad it can hurt. I don’t care what that other Omega thinks about me, but I do care that she obviously struck a chord with Claire.
When I finally catch up to her, she’s frantically pressing the elevator button to the Omega’s only elevator.
“Come here,” I tell her, a slight bark to my voice.
I know she’s not okay. There’s no point in asking, but what I can do is offer the comfort she needs. She sniffles and turns around. Some of her makeup is running under her eyes and I use my thumbs to wipe it away the best I can.
She plops her head against my chest and I cradle the back of her head, holding her there.
“Do you want me to get her kicked off the ship?” I ask.
“Preferably while we’re in the middle of the ocean,” she says, and I can’t help it when my chest rumbles with a laugh. “I shouldn’t have thrown the drink in her face, but I didn’t like her talking to you like that. There might also be years of built up animosity between us too.”
I continue petting her hair. Claire usually over shares when you’re quiet enough.
“I thought she was my best friend at camp when I was thirteen years old. It was a month-long overnight camp, and Iwas excited to be around other girls. With three dads and two brothers, it was just me and my mom. I told her things I didn’t tell other people, things that I’m insecure about.” She pauses and is fully rubbing her face all over my chest at this point.
I don’t know if she even knows that she’s scent marking me for comfort or not.
“I’ve struggled with dyslexia for a long time, but those years were really tough, middle school going into high school. I’ve learned a lot of ways to overcome it with different fonts and taking my time, but it can sometimes be a challenge. The ship’s apps fonts and colors have been difficult to navigate.”
My chest rumbles with a purr wanting to soothe her, it has me wanting to share my experience as a kid, how I didn’t really talk and have any friends, how my dad was the one to beat me into silence, but now doesn’t feel like the time.
“Anyway, she created a superlatives list for all the campers and wrote that I was most likely to never finish a book because I couldn’t read.”
“What a cunt,” I say, and that has Claire letting out a laugh and pulling back.
“Ever since that summer, we’ve competed for everything and hated each other along the way. We even got into a physical fight sophomore year of high school when she was belittling my older brother for being a Beta,” she tells me with a shrug. “She can pick on me all she wants. I know she’s insecure, but when she hurts the people I care about, that’s where I draw the line.”
“You care about me, little Omega?” I ask her, cupping the back of her skull as she looks up at me.
Her eyes are an ethereal blue right now and there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s the one. Only two other people in my life have ever stood up for me. My grandfather and Wells, and now Claire.
“Probably more than what’s reasonable for how long we’ve known each other,” she admits, her hands running up and down the expanse of my chest.
Her scent is wafting over me, and it’s like I can’t think right. I just want to wrap her up, take care of her, and make sure no one ever hurts her again.
“What do you need right now, princess?” I ask her, running a finger over her perfectly smooth face.
“I should go back, I can’t leave Andie there alone.”