Omega Swipes Right

SERIES: Omegas of OAN
BOOK: 1 of 4
STANDALONE? Interconnected books with a series arc
TROPES: Dating App, Scientist Hero, Baker Heroine, Alpha Male, Superheroes, Dysfunctional Family, Hidden Identity, Hidden Omega

This omega can't stop running away and her Alpha's up for the chase.

Gwen doesn’t date Alphas.

They’re rude, entitled jerks, and she doesn’t want to deal with it. She just wants a nice, sweet boyfriend who doesn’t like her omega dynamic more than her. That’s why she exclusively dates betas, but when her best friend snags her datapad and matches her with a new super-cute guy on Swiper Gwen doesn’t know that she’s in for a shock.

Because Piotr is smart, cute, and caring . . . but he’s an Alpha.

Dr. Piotr Wyse is married to his job and the enemies just can’t seem to quit invading New York.

He doesn’t have time to date even though he’d like to have someone special in his life and maybe even start a family one day. Then his coworker makes a Swiper account for him and sets him up on a date. Gwen is sweet, charming, and gorgeous. The problem? She keeps running away from him . . . and Piotr is getting desperate to chase her.

Can Gwen and Piotr both learn how to bend a little?

Omega Swipes Right is a prequel novella for the Omegas of OAN series. Each book follows a different couple but there is a series arc and they've best read in order. A content guide is available for readers with sensitivities on the author's website www.alexisborne.com

“This movie is absolute omega fantasy garbage,” Gwen told Amber while shoveling another fistful of popcorn into her mouth and rolling her eyes at the cheesy love scene. In the bad romantic drama that was playing on the screen, the Alpha hero was throwing himself in front of a speeding car to protect his omega love interest from getting hit.

“What? I thought you’d like this one,” Amber pouted as her beta friend finished making her ice cream sundae, then flopped back onto the couch.

On the screen, the injured Alpha was waxing poetic about how he was just glad that he had saved the love of his life a little pain as he cupped the actress’ face, all tender and smoldering, before falling unconscious while she cried over his now-limp body. 

Yeah, right… as if an Alpha would ever be so selfless or heroic. The reality was far less romantic and sweet. Alphas only care about power, money, and sex. Getting their knot squeezed.

Gwen’s datapad lit up as she scrolled through her alert feed and stopped watching the terrible romantic drama that Amber had picked for their monthly girls’-night-in. She checked her social networks, then browsed through her emails, and then, out of habit, she skimmed through her new matches on Swiper. Gwen was only half paying attention when Amber leaned over her shoulder and watched her skim through her potential dating matches.

“Ooh, he’s cute,” Amber said when Gwen scrolled through the profile of an attractive beta guy whose profile claimed that he worked in the financial district. 

It said that he enjoyed hiking, rock climbing and that he was looking for a fit and active girl to take upstate on the weekends and holidays for adventures. After swiping left on his cute, smiling photo until it disappeared with a little animated sad face, Amber cried out as another guy’s profile immediately took his place. That was how Swiper worked. It was just an endless sea of faces, offered on a platter for anyone looking for a hookup, or maybe more.

“You’re too picky, girl. That’s why you’re still single,” Amber chided Gwen as the beta spooned a bit of chocolate syrup covered ice cream into her mouth and hummed happily around the spoon.

Gwen arched an eyebrow at her friend and shrugged her shoulders. “We would have had nothing in common. Besides, can you imagine me going on a hike? Like, on an actual mountain?” She laughed. The idea was ridiculous. 

I’m a pastry chef, not exactly the rugged sort.

Amber sat her sundae down and grabbed the datapad from Gwen’s hands.

“Hey!”

But the beta was already skimming through Gwen’s matches, browsing profiles, and looking through photos while holding Gwen’s datapad out of reach and waving the irritated omega’s grasping hands away.

“I’m going to find you your soulmate,” Amber declared as she skimmed through the profile of a twenty-nine-year-old bartender.

Oh, he’s pretty cute. 

But Amber unmatched him before Gwen could tell her she liked that one. Cutting her eyes at the beta, Gwen ate more popcorn while ignoring the movie as Amber flicked through the dating matches one by one, swiping left and right every once in a while.

“Fine,” Gwen gave in. “But he has to be nice.”

Amber frowned as she flicked through the datapad, mumbling as she sifted through the endless sea of faces. That was the problem with living in a big city like New York. Millions of people surrounded you, but you could be exceptionally alone and feel lonely at the same time.

Gwen watched the movie, only half paying attention as the omega heroine visited her broken, battered Alpha in the hospital. The actress held the actor’s bandaged hand in her own while she professed her undying love to him on the stipulation that he just needed to pull through and make it. Involuntarily, Gwen held her breath as the slow beeping of his heart monitor picked up, his heart rate increasing past the point of danger as the omega crooned to him on the screen. Yeah… garbage.

“Found him! Holy shit. He’s cute… and sweet… and smart. His profile’s been up for less than a day. Perfect!” Amber chortled from her end of the sofa.

Gwen’s attention was pulled away from the holo screen as she tried to look over her friend’s shoulder. Amber pulled the datapad away, shielding it as she clicked through options and then started typing rapidly, beginning a conversation with this unknown man.

“Wait… what are you doing?” Gwen asked as she lunged and tried to wrangle the device from her friend’s hands.

Amber absconded with it, fighting Gwen off as she typed out a message. The device made a little ding, the sound it made when your message went through successfully. 

She texted him? 

Gwen’s mind was still processing this when there was another ding as an incoming message came through. 

He texted back?!

“Oh my god!” Gwen yelled in a shrill voice. “What did you tell him?”

“He wants to meet you on a date. You’re welcome, bitch,” Amber chuckled as she tossed the datapad into Gwen’s lap.

Grabbing it, Gwen fumbled with the device before finally getting her hands on it properly. The profile image of her Swiper match stared back at her. 

It was a casual photo. Charming. He had brown hair and light brown, or maybe hazel eyes, and he was wearing glasses and a slightly rumpled button-up shirt. His hair was mussed like he ran his hands through it a lot, and he looked bashful, like he wasn’t used to having his photo taken. Cute. Like a sexy college professor.

Amber grinned at Gwen like the cat that ate the canary, all smug and self-satisfied. “You’re welcome.”

Gwen cut her eyes at the beta, too proud to admit that this guy really looked great on paper. Online dating was hard, though, and her last three dates had all looked great on paper, too.

Look at how that turned out.

***

Piotr

Maria Foxwell was probably the last person who Piotr had thought might try to talk him into trying online dating.

“I’m just saying that you should give it a shot,” she repeated herself as she leaned casually against the break room counter. “What do you have to lose?”

He blew on his cooling cup of tea and stared at her incredulously, blinking slowly over the rim of his topped up cup. “Well… let’s see. My career, my scientific focus, my self-respect… and apparently my self-control.” He winced, remembering when Beth, who’d been hiding her omega orientation, had gone into spontaneous heat at the last meeting, setting off his rut. 

Humiliating.

Foxwell, the tough as nails beta woman, pressed a fist to her popped her hip as she rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, come on, you’re being too hard on yourself. Any Alpha would have lost control like that.”

He took a sip to avoid answering as he considered the truth of it, but this woman was like a dog with a bone and she just wasn’t letting it go.

It was a week since his forced rut had ended, and it was going to be a hell of a lot easier to get over the trauma of what’d happened if people would just stop mentioning it to him. 

“Finn didn’t,” he grumbled as he idly played with the tea bag hanging off the side of his mug. 

Guilt still assaulted him as he considered what had happened with Beth. His hands remembered what she’d felt like when he’d held her. Hot. Her body had been flushed from the rush of endorphins and hormones of her heat. Soft. Her skin had been smooth to the touch. Most of all, though, he’d just enjoyed how he had felt while he was holding her. 

Strong. Protective. A little feral. It was a stark contrast to his normal, quiet, bookish self. And it had left him shaken to the core. Underneath every Alpha’s civilized demeanor, there was a beast waiting to be set free.

Foxwell sighed and rubbed her temple like she had a headache.

How she manages all of us here at OAN is just beyond me. Crafting complicated tech schematics, I get. Taking apart alien tech and reverse-engineering it? Piece of cake. Developing atmo-canons and space slingshots? A walk in the park. Navigating my damn Alpha dynamic and not becoming an absolute neanderthal when a fertile omega walks into a room? I’m a failure.

Self-control was the absolute forefront tenant of being a responsible Alpha, and he’d failed.

“Sure, but Finn has a beta lover who takes the edge off his hormones. You just need to find a nice beta girl,” she insisted.

Of course, it would have been great to find a nice beta girl, he thought. Someone to come home to. Go on trips out of town. Cuddle in bed. A girlfriend to cook breakfast with on lazy Sunday mornings. He’d always thought that he’d get married and have a family someday, but work was demanding, and the girlfriends were all eventually tired of playing second fiddle to science. They left.

Some people just aren’t meant for relationships. 

Still… It was hard to let go of that hope for more.

“Perhaps you’re right,” he caved, “but I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Foxwell beamed, taking out her datapad, and snapping a photo of him, and then she started typing. “Perfect! I’m just going to add this to your profile.”

It took a moment for what she’d said to catch up with him. “Wait… what? You already made me a profile?” He should’ve been offended. It was a gross overstep in personal boundaries between coworkers, and yet all he felt was relief and curiosity. Foxwell typed on her device and grinned. 

“What are you saying? Let me see,” he asked as he angled forward.

She held the device up so that he could see the dating profile that she’d made for him. It was some sort of app called Swiper, something that he’d never heard about. 

“I’ll let you know when you have a match,” she said as she began to walk away while still typing. Her finger moved rapidly left and right across the screen as she flicked photos to the side. Foxwell walked away, humming, and left him to contemplate the fact that his love life was now firmly in his coworker’s hands.

***

Gwen

After glancing at the map on her datapad to be certain that she was at the right coffee shop, Gwen stepped inside the crowded hotspot. People milled about, and she had to shove herself into a small gap between a young couple just to get through the door.

The coffee shop smelled like roasted, caffeinated heaven. Tugging her blouse back into place, she maneuvered out of the way of people and scanned the small, packed shop. 

Will he look like his photo? Is he going to be on time? 

Gwen had gotten there a few minutes early out of a mix of personal habits and nerves. Amber had only let her briefly glance at his profile once. Her beta friend said that memorizing their profiles and coming up with a list of conversation topics in advance was creepy and borderline stalker-ish. 

Gwen wasn’t sure if she agreed with the beta’s careless method of dating, though. 

What if I say the wrong thing? Run him off with a stupid remark? 

She was a bundle of nerves, her stomach too twisted to even handle a cup of coffee right now. With a subtle movement, Gwen pretended to scratch her nose, but really she was double-checking that her scent blocker had lasted through the long, muggy subway ride. It had become a nervous tick of sorts, and she never left home without it firmly covering her scent glands.

Then she saw him there, sitting in the back corner of the coffee shop with his head down and his attention buried in a book. It was an actual honest to goodness paper book. His hair was mussed just like in his photo, but his rumpled button-up shirt had been replaced with a neatly fitted long-sleeved sweater. Glasses perched on the end of his nose and he slid the slipping frames back up his nose with a push on the metal bridge with his index finger.

It was impossible to see what he was reading from her spot, although she was secretly charmed that he was reading an actual book instead of something digital on his datapad. 

Who reads on paper anymore? I like it though… it seems to suit him. Traditional.

He glanced up and scanned the coffee shop, and she could tell when he spotted her. His cheeks flushed, and he closed his book as he stood and surveyed the impossible crowd. It was too packed for him to make it through the crowd, however, without also losing his table.

Our table. 

Slowly, Gwen made her way over to him, apologizing if she jostled anyone too much as she crossed the busy coffee shop and completely regretted her outfit.

I’m too casual. I thought that a coffee date would be jeans and flats appropriate. But he’s wearing tailored slacks and an expensive-looking sweater and those glasses look designer. Holy crap. Also, he was gorgeous in that unassuming way that some guys had where they didn’t even know how hot they were. This guy is absolutely out of my league.

“Gwen?” he asked as she finally made it to the table.

“Hi, yes. It’s… um… nice to meet you. Piotr, right?” Gwen asked as she grabbed the back of a chair and moved to sit. Piotr sat as well once she was settled.

“Yes. I’m glad you found the place. It’s not usually this busy, though. I’m not really sure what happened,” he told her. He ran his hand through his wavy hair and mussed it some more. Gwen watched as strands of it fell into his eyes before he brushed them away again.

She smiled and shrugged, hoping that she didn’t look as nervous as she felt. Her hands were clammy as she wiped them off on her jeans underneath the table. “That’s Manhattan for you. Fads come and go like crazy. One day it’s all about the stuffed croissants, then the next month it’s crepes.”

He smiled back at her, his eyes crinkling at the outer corners. “I don’t get out much, I have to admit. Work keeps me pretty busy.”

“Oh? What do you do for a living?” she asked as she tried to recall what little of his profile she could remember.

He hesitated for a moment, then ran his hand through his hair again. “I’m a scientist. I work in research. What about you?”

Gwen’s hands itched to grab a napkin or straw wrapper and fiddle. She settled for picking at a loose thread on the side of her jeans instead. “I’m a baker. I work at a macaroon shop uptown.”

Piotr smiled and settled into his chair, and she mirrored his posture as his casualness makes her feel more relaxed as well. The din of the coffee shop faded into the background as they chatted and got to know one another.

“You know, there’s a lot of chemistry involved in baking,” he said.

And just like that, they had something in common. Piotr started telling her all about the chemistry involved with baking, and Gwen was happy to have someone to geek out with about baking. Nobody in her life really wanted to discuss the variances between different types of flour and the rise yields of the various popular yeast brands anymore.

Piotr activated the ordering screen portion of the table and together they placed their drink orders. She picked an iced chai latte, and he chose an Americano with almond milk. 

Once the barista brought out their drinks, they sat and chatted, getting to know one another over the noise and chaos of the busy coffee shop. After the first hour, he offered to order them something to eat, but she advised him not to eat there. Gwen had gotten a good look at the display case when she was threading her way through the crowd, and it hadn’t impressed her.

“Everything looks like it’s thawed from frozen. You don’t want to eat that,” she advised him.

“Well, you’re the expert, so I’ll defer to your judgment,” he said as he finished the last of his drink.

She played with the handle of her mug, unwilling to drink the dregs of her cold latte. It had been a pleasant hour, and she didn’t want it to end. Her heart was beating in her chest, a rapid little flutter that made her feel even more nervous as their conversation dwindled and ebbed. Here came the moment of truth. He’d either set up the next date or tell her something vaguely polite and follow it up with an ‘I’m sorry’ text… or worse, just ghost her and disappear. She hated it when they pretended she didn’t exist.

A group of teenage girls covered in moving tattoos and dressed to the nines in trendy pleather outfits gave them the stink eye. They wanted the table.

“Time to get out of here, I guess,” he declared as he stood.

Gwen stood up too, shooting apology glances to the girls, and together they moved towards the door. The blast of the muggy afternoon air was the opposite of refreshing, and the noise of traffic was nearly deafening as auto-cabs zipped past. They stood off to the side under an awning as they dawdled, neither one of them wanting to be the first to walk away from the other.

“I had a good time,” Piotr said as he stood there looking down at her. Her heart fluttered in her chest.

He was so tall that he had to tilt his head a lot to look her in the eye. She craned her head back to do the same, and Gwen watched as his glasses slid slowly down his face. With his hands in his pockets, Piotr stood between her and the street. Protective. 

Her back hit the brick wall, and she wondered if he was going to try to kiss her. It surprised her even more that she planned to let him. Gwen wasn’t a ‘kiss on the first date’ kind of girl, yet she felt drawn to him in a way that she’d never felt drawn to someone before. It was exciting. Scary.

Licking her lips, she bit the lower one and chewed it a bit as she considered it. His eyes tracked the movement, and his body went ram-rod still.

“I’d really like to see you again, Gwen,” he said.

The wind shifted and she could smell chai tea again. Oh God, I hope my breath isn’t bad… But then the smell stuck in her head, and there was an underlying musk to it. Her whole body froze as she realized that the smell was coming from him. His scent. Chai tea, and cream, and musk, and male, and sex. 

And he wasn’t a beta like she thought he was. 

Oh, no.

Piotr was an Alpha.

Gwen’s fluttering heart stuttered, and her hands grew sweaty for all the wrong reasons. She froze, her back pressed against the brick wall, and suddenly, the romantic nuances were gone. Fizzled out and replaced by primordial fear. She wasn’t pressed against a wall with a handsome man about to kiss her. Instead, she was backed into a corner with an Alpha towering over her. 

It was every unmated omega’s worst nightmare.

He frowned, his forehead creasing between his eyebrows as he stared down at her with a confused expression on his face as he waited for her answer.

She croaked out something like “sounds great,” before adding “but I have to go. I’ll talk to you later,” and then she scattered, slipped under his arm, and speed walked away as she tried not to run. 

To not entice him to chase her.

Turning to look back, she saw him standing there on the sidewalk with his hands still in his pockets as he watched her scurry away like a scared rabbit. She gave him a little wave, like an asinine idiot. Piotr waved back, his frown giving way to a smile again.

Gwen hurried away until she turned at the next corner and disappeared down into a subway tunnel. The stairs were falling apart and covered in urine and decay, but the horrific odors helped to clear the glorious smell of him from her nose.

His delicious, decadent smell. No! She shook her head as if to clear the muddled thoughts from them as she made her way through the subway tunnel. 

It was just her omega taking control of her mind, she rationalized. Enticing her to submit to the nearest genetically compatible Alpha, who looked strong enough to protect her from the rest of them. It was animal instinct, hidden within the depths of her mind.

After scanning her ident chipped wrist at the turnstile to pay for her fare, she pushed past the crowd of commuters and found her train platform among the maze of tunnels. A street performer was putting on a show, which would normally have entertained her on the way home, but her mind was just completely jumbled into a chaotic mess after that little surprise.

Pulling out her datapad, Gwen texted Amber that she was done with the date and hadn’t been kidnapped or murdered.

How’d it go? Amber asked in a text.

Gwen scoffed to herself, ignoring the questioning look from the person standing next to her. Great except he’s a freaking Alpha and you didn’t warn me.

What? Amber’s reply came through, and then the little delay icon appeared as Amber kept typing. It’s not on his profile I just checked.

Gwen sighed and looked up to make sure that she hadn’t missed her train in her distraction, but it hadn’t arrived yet. He was so cute too. And sweet. And smart. Fuck my life.

Amber’s reply was nearly instantaneous. Girl, I’m not seeing a lot of downsides here.

That was annoying, because Amber had known Gwen since middle school, and her friend knew what absolute hell Gwen’s dad had put her family through. I don’t want that kind of life. Gwen typed out another curt response. I don’t date Alphas. You know that. And it was why she listed herself as a beta on the dating apps so that she wouldn’t attract them, either.

But if he wasn’t an Alpha, you’d date him?

She didn’t even have to consider it. Although it was too hard to type out the words without feeling like a colossal hypocrite. I don’t date Alphas because I’m scared that the only reason they’ll want to date me is because I’m an omega, and I’m terrified that they’ll turn out like my dad. Angry and hostile. That I’ll become my mother. Weak and tormented. That I’ll have their marriage. No, I don’t want that… The thoughts came one after another, like a whirlwind.

Yet she still wanted Piotr, despite the ingrained fear, regardless of all the rules that she’d ever set for herself since she was a girl and she saw her father beat her mother half to death. Her body burned for Piotr. Something instinctive inside of her had woken up from a long sleep, and it refused to be put to bed again.

Gwen thought about it, then gritted her teeth and texted her back. Her response to Amber was slow. Yeah.

Okay, so what’s the problem? Not all Alphas are alphaholes.

Was Amber right? Amber always said Gwen had let her parent’s toxic relationship control every romantic decision she’d made as an adult. And where had that gotten her? A string of brief relationships that always failed spectacularly. Beta boyfriends who were sweet or fun, but nothing ever seemed quite right. Just a poor fit, she’d always thought. Just have to meet the right one. But what if the right beta never came because her omega wouldn’t let her be happy with anyone other than an Alpha? With anyone other than an Alpha who smelled delicious, like Piotr? It felt insane to her. They’d just met, and yet somehow it made sense too, in a way that she couldn’t comprehend.

She was going to date him, and that terrified her.

The train arrived, and Gwen joined the line that surged past the stream of debarking travelers. Moving back towards the end of the subway car, she got a hold of the railing. The train lurched forward with a jump, and she spread her knees to maintain her balance as she continued to stare down at the datapad and Amber’s text.

Gwen read Amber’s text again. What’s the problem?

Gwen liked him. He was the first guy who she’d been this excited about in what felt like forever. The first one to make her feel like all of that online dating hadn’t been a colossal waste of time. Her datapad vibrated Gwen’s chip implant, and she looked down at the screen, expecting another text from Amber, except that the incoming message was from Piotr.

I had a good time today, and I’d like to see you again. Are you available on Saturday?

Chewing her lip, Gwen considered just deleting the text and ignoring it, hovering her thumb over the x icon that would close it out. But she couldn’t. Something within her just wouldn’t let her ignore him. Before she could contemplate what a bad idea this probably was, she’d hit the reply button and was typing out a response. I’d love to. What time? I have a shift from ten to four.

Is seven okay with you? I’ll be stuck in work meetings until five.

Her heart was racing as she typed back her agreement and asked him what he wanted to do, and he told her he thought Coney Island would be fun, then asked if she’d ever been to Luna Park. 

Gwen smiled, feeling like a lovesick idiot as she agreed, excited to be doing something fun instead of just going to a restaurant or movie as usual. It was yet another point in his favor, and it loosened the ball of knots in her stomach as she texted him back. So excited. See you on Saturday.