Portville Summer Series: The Complete Collection Books 1-4: (MM Nonshifter Omegaverse)

by Xander Collins

  “Fix what?” Jeremy asked, looking at me like he genuinely didn’t know what I was talking about.

  “I don’t know, it sounds like you lost your muffler or something. This truck is just so insanely loud.”

  “A lot of work went into making it sound like this,” Jeremy said with an edge to his voice as he put it in gear and took off.

  He was the strangest omega I’d ever encountered in my entire life, although that made sense if he really had been a beta for the last ten years. He was so big and manly and just … insanely hot. I watched as he shifted gears, the muscles in his arms flexing each time he moved the gear shift from second gear, then to third, then to fourth. That was another thing that I found fascinating. Hardly anyone I knew in Portville owned a car, and no one drove a stick shift. It was such a simple thing, but watching him change gears turned out to be unbelievably hypnotic and was making me embarrassingly hard.

  “So, you’re telling me you’ve really been a beta up until yesterday?”

  Jeremy glanced over at me as we drove down a country road. “No,” he said with that same testy tone. “I’m telling you that I am a fucking beta.” Suddenly he slammed the truck into fifth gear and hit the accelerator, causing us to lurch forward and me to almost get whiplash. Then he swerved into the oncoming lane to pass the car in front of us. But when he got back into our lane he didn’t slow down right away, which I was pretty sure meant I’d pissed him off … again.

  “Sorry,” I said after a moment. “This is all pretty weird, and I don’t mean to make it any weirder. I mean, I have heard of this sort of thing happening. I’ve just never known anyone who it happened to. If anything has happened to you at all,” I said quickly. I didn’t want to piss him off even more and have him hit the gas again.

  “I don’t even know why we’re doing this.” Jeremy pulled into the parking lot of a small town mini mall. There was a rinky-dink looking grocery store that wasn’t part of a major chain, a dingy laundromat, and a couple fast food restaurants. There was also a drugstore, which is where Jeremy parked his truck. “Look, if it makes you happy I’ll take the test, but there’s no way I can go in there and get it,” he said, staring straight ahead. “I mean, I live here and I know everyone in that store—”

  “No problem. I’ll grab it. It’ll only take me a few minutes. Do you need anything else?” I asked before I climbed out of the truck. “Something to eat maybe?”

  Jeremy continued to stare straight ahead for a moment, but then his body seemed to soften a bit and he looked over at me. “Nah, I’ll head into the grocery store and grab some breakfast stuff. Does that sound good?”

  He suddenly had the sweetest look in his eyes and his words came out in an incredibly sexy drawl. Kind of like he was from the South. As I stared into his eyes, trying to catch my breath, I noticed the anger and defensiveness were both gone and I could tell he genuinely wanted me to come back to his place at eat with him. “Yeah, that sounds really good,” I said with a smile, then turned and jumped what felt like four feet down from the cab of the truck.

  I honestly had no idea what I was even doing. This guy was alternating back and forth between pissing me off and making me hard and I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of it. I wasn’t even sure I liked him as a person, but there was a strong drive inside me to make sure he was okay. That he wasn’t going off the deep end from his transition, whether he was pregnant or not. Plus that sweet look in his eyes pretty much instantaneously melted my heart.

  I knew he must have friends he hung out with in Portville. I mean, before last night I assumed he lived there because his truck drove up and down my street almost every day, making noise and blocking driveways. But apparently not, and even though he said he had his parents there on the property, his trailer seemed really isolated. I wondered if he was lonely living out there by himself.

  It took me less than five minutes to grab a pregnancy test, and when I didn’t see Jeremy anywhere in the parking lot or near the truck, I decided to find him in the grocery store. I walked in, then across the front of the store, looking down each aisle, and on my way back one of the grocery store employees came up and asked me if I needed any help.

  I looked down at the woman and raised my eyebrows. She hadn’t approached anyone else since I’d come in the store. Just the huge dude with dark skin. I was annoyed, but I was also use to that sort of thing. The questions and the tone that was usually reserved for people they thought were about to steal something.

  “He’s with me, Barb.” I turned around and Jeremy was right behind me with a cart full of food.

  “Oh, all right, sweetie, just come on over here and I’ll get the two of you checked out,” she said with a smile. I was still a little annoyed but I also knew that freaking out wouldn’t do me any good. It was exhausting being angry with small minded people all the time—the kind that didn’t want to bother giving anyone that looked a little different the benefit of the doubt. But as we walked to the register I laughed when I thought about my own prejudices. What I thought about the kind of guys who drove trucks like Jeremy’s, and the size of their cocks. I had been doing the exact same thing.

  After he insisted on buying the groceries, Jeremy threw the bags into the back of his truck and we headed back to his trailer. As I sat there in the passenger seat, watching his arm flex as he shifted and trying to disguise my quickly hardening cock, I really wished I knew what was going on in his head. If he actually was a beta that had turned into an omega overnight I couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard this must be for him, especially if there was any question as to whether or not he was pregnant. I didn’t really want to bring that sore subject up again, though, so I picked something else.

  “So, have you got a gun for this thing,” I said, gesturing to the rack behind us. I wasn’t a fan of guns at all. I’d never shot one, or even held one in my life, and whenever I saw a rack in a truck I immediately thought of the driver as a right-wing hillbilly. There were those damned stereotypes again.

  “Yeah, a ten gauge.”

  “Ten gauge?” I asked. I had no idea what that meant.

  “Shotgun. It’s used for hunting. Ten gauge is what you use for bigger animals, like elk. It’s a bigger sized shell. When the numbers get smaller the size gets bigger.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said, feigning interest. I didn’t really care that much about the difference in gauges at all, but I wanted to keep Jeremy talking. I liked listening to his slight drawl and his deep voice—yet another thing that made my pants uncomfortably tight. “How come you don’t have it up in the rack? Don’t guys around here usually put them on display?”

  “The rack isn’t for display, it’s for hunting,” he said with that irritated tone again. Man, this guy was touchy. “I don’t put my gun in the rack anymore because I don’t hunt anymore.”

  “Why not?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t the wrong question.

  “I just …” he started, then paused. He didn’t seem mad, though, just thoughtful. “I don’t want anything … or anyone else … to die.”

  Both of us were silent for a while. I wanted to ask him what he meant by that but I felt like I needed to keep things on the chill side for a while. At least until Jeremy took the pregnancy test and we knew what was going on. But eventually he glanced over at me and continued. “A friend of mine and I used to go hunting in high school. Sometimes it would be just the two of us but sometimes a group of us would go. One weekend we were all planning a big trip and when we got to my friend’s house to pick him up the police were there talking to his parents. He’d shot himself while he was cleaning his gun and he was dead.”

  “Oh, wow, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah, me too. He was my best friend.”

  By the time Jeremy was done with his story we were already pulling up to his trailer. I had no idea what to say to him, but after I got out of the truck and walked around to the back I put my hand on one of his shoulders. I could feel the tension melting away with my touc
h and it made me feel better that I could do that little thing to help him. “I’m sorry,” I said, meaning his friend, but also meaning what was going on right now.

  Jeremy gave me a sad smile, then grabbed half of the grocery bags. I grabbed the others and we went into his trailer.

  “I’ll make breakfast if you wanna get this over with.” I handed the paper bag to Jeremy and he stared at for a long moment.

  Then he looked up at me with the saddest eyes—eyes that completely broke my heart and made me want to wrap my arms around him and never let go. He looked back down at the bag, then grabbed it out of my hand. “Sure. If you need anything just holler,” he said as he turned and disappeared down the hallway.

  I had actually expected him to come out after a couple minutes, but by the time I was done cooking eggs and sausage and toast, Jeremy was still in the bathroom with the door closed. “Hey,” I said, knocking on the door. “Is everything okay?”

  I heard a lock turn and watched the door open slowly. There was Jeremy standing there with the pregnancy test in his hand and the corners of his mouth turned down and quivering slightly. His eyes were lowered so I couldn’t see them, but I knew by the water on his cheeks that he’d been crying.

  From where I was standing I could see the double pink lines on the stick. Jeremy opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but nothing came out. I watched as fresh streams of tears made their way down his cheeks, and when I put my hand on his shoulder again, his eyes slowly moved up until they met mine. He looked completely crushed and his eyes were bloodshot like he’d been crying for the last ten minutes.

  I didn’t wait for Jeremy to say or do anything. I pulled him to my chest and wrapped my arms around him.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” he said, in between sobs. “I don’t understand how something like this could just happen out of the blue. I can’t go anywhere now. I can’t face any of my friends or my family. I mean, fuck, what’s going to happen if I start showing? There’s no way in hell I can do this.”

  I let Jeremy talk and cry for a long time as we stood in the bathroom doorway. Holding him and letting him get his feelings out was the only thing I could think to do that would help him. But I wanted to do so much more. I knew I was going to do anything it took to make sure he got through this okay. “I’ll be here with you, Jeremy. I’ll help you with the pregnancy and anything you need.”

  “No. There’s nothing you’re gonna need to do. I’m not keeping it. I can’t. I never planned on having a baby, even when I … when I was a beta.” Jeremy stopped crying and out of his throat came a bitter, angry laugh. “Jesus, I can’t even believe this. I’m not a beta anymore. I’m a fucking omega.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with being an omega, Jeremy. My brother is an omega. One of my dads is an omega.”

  “Yeah, but they probably spent most of their lives knowing they were omegas, right? They didn’t just have the rug pulled out from underneath them one day by some bizarre medical switcheroo. Jesus, I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do.”

  I almost laughed out loud at Jeremy’s word choice. There was something so old-fashioned and quirky about him and it made me want him even more. “Why don’t we eat? Then we can talk about this a little more. Maybe even take a nap. I’m sure things won’t seem so horrible once you’ve gotten some rest.”

  I wasn’t even sure what words were coming out of my mouth anymore. The only thing I was thinking about was calming him down and making him feel safe. All I knew was that I suddenly wanted that baby more than almost anything in the world. But what I wanted most of all was Jeremy.

  Chapter 7

  Jeremy

  I couldn’t imagine eating. I didn’t want to do anything at all. I pretty much just wanted to get in bed and stay there for the rest of my life. But there was something about Alex’s touch and the way I felt in his arms that really made me feel different. Somehow, when I looked up into his eyes, I felt like everything was going to be okay, even though I was terrified of what was happening to me.

  I still barely knew him, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had last night. That somehow we belonged together. It was a feeling that kept creeping up from the back of my mind like the memory of a dream, and even though I didn’t understand it, it comforted me so much. I wanted him near me and I wanted his arms around me, even if I wasn’t planning on keeping this baby.

  It was already past noon when we sat at the table and ate breakfast. It had gotten cold while I stood there crying like an idiot in the hallway, but Alex was right. I felt a little better after I ate. At least I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to cry anymore. But the thought of having a baby inside me still scared me so bad I had to keep my hands on the table to stop them from shaking.

  “You want to go lay down for a bit?” Alex asked after I hadn’t taken a bite in a while.

  I didn’t look up at him. I just stared down at the half-eaten food on my plate. “Don’t you have to go home or something? I don’t want to take up any more of your time.” I knew I was feeling sorry for myself, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to crawl into my bed and never come out and I knew if Alex stayed and tried to make me feel better he would. And all I really felt like doing was wallowing.

  “You’re not taking up my time at all,” he said, covering one of my hands with his. “I want to be here.” I felt that wave of calm spread through me again with his touch and suddenly all I could think about was what he had just suggested—lying in bed with his arms wrapped around me. “I do need to call my parents, though. I told them I’d be over there today. In fact, they probably expected me to come back to their place last night. I’m sure they’re worried. I’ll make a quick call then we can lay down for a bit. How does that sound?”

  I looked at Alex’s hand on mine, but couldn’t bring myself to look up into his beautiful, dark eyes. “Sure, whatever,” I mumbled.

  While Alex was outside making his phone call I cleared the table and started washing dishes. I don’t even know if anything was getting clean. I just kept moving the sponge around in circles while I stared out the window, thinking about my future as an omega. A future where I would never be taken seriously again. Where I would be excluded from working certain jobs or going to certain places just because of my status. Where I would be ogled and catcalled and harassed by horny alphas and betas and probably pitied by the rest of the world.

  I knew the way omegas were treated, like pieces of meat that were only good for one thing. I knew because I had been one of those betas. I had done all of those things at some point. I had harassed hot omegas that dared to walk down the alley behind the steel yard when we were all on a break. I cringed now when I thought about what an asshole I’d been, but I cringed even more thinking about being the target of that kind of behavior. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn’t go back to work there.

  “I can take care of that,” Alex said as he walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I could feel his massive bulk behind me, and how he towered over me slightly. It felt really strange but comforting at the same time. I was pretty much used to being the one in control. I hadn’t really had many long-term relationships—the longest one lasting about six months—but in the ones I’d had I was always the one that was bigger and stronger and took the big spoon position. I was always the one that towered and hovered and made my mate feel small and safe. But having Alex’s body pressed up against my back, and his arms wrapped around me, it made the knot in my stomach start to melt away just a little bit more.

  “It’s okay. I’ve got it. I like to get the dishes done right away, otherwise this place can get trashed really fast.”

  “Yeah, I noticed how clean your trailer is. To be honest, from the outside anyway, it looks like it would be a little bit …”

  “What?” I asked. I knew exactly what he was thinking. “A little like a trash hole?”

  I could feel his muscles stiffen slightly at my comment. “Yeah, I guess,” he
said with a soft laugh. “But you’ve got it really nice in here. Kinda retro and kitschy. I like it”

  I was glad Alex felt like he could be honest with me. Another thing that made me feel safe in his arms. “Yeah, I guess a single wide isn’t the classiest place to live, is it?” I turned the sink off and dried my hands. “And it’s definitely not a good place to raise a kid.”

  Alex buried his face in my hair. I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he spoke softly into my ear and its sent shivers down my spine. “So you’re thinking about keeping it?”

  “I didn’t say that. I just meant … eventually.” I closed my eyes and felt Alex’s arms tighten around my chest. I still didn’t understand what was going on. Why this guy? What was it about him that set my skin on fire whenever he touched me? I had a fleeting thought of what it would look like, Alex and me and our baby together. It made me smile inside and sent a small surge of hope through me, but that was immediately dashed by reality.

  I would never hear the end of it if any of my friends or family found out. And it wasn’t any one thing—the fact that I was an omega now, or that I was pregnant, or that Alex didn’t look like me. It was all of those things put together.

  And then there was the biggest joke of them all. The fact that what I really wanted to do was style people’s hair. It was like all my life the universe had given me the opposite of everything I wanted … or thought I wanted. I wasn’t even sure what that was anymore. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be a total laughingstock.

  The big, bumpkin omega hairdresser that lived in a trashy trailer out in the woods. Awesome.

  “What happened?” Alex asked. “Your whole body just tensed up.”

  “I don’t know. I … I just have no idea what I’m gonna do now,” I said turning around in Alex’s arms and facing him. “My whole life revolves around being a big, manly beta. I don’t want to be an omega,” I said, feeling tears well up in my eyes again. It was infuriating. I hadn’t wanted to cry this much since I was a kid, and here I was blubbering all over the place like a … well, like an omega.