Chapter 6
Braxton
This was worse than torture. I didn’t know what the name for that would be, perhaps there wasn’t one. I just knew that I was in hell.
The way the system was set up, all the omegas sat at individual tables with numbers on them and a pad of paper on each side so the speed daters could take notes on their dates.
Or I supposed the two could exchange phone numbers, or room numbers.
Meanwhile, I was with a group of alphas rotating through.
I did not have any interest in talking to any omega except for mine, but I was three seats away from him, trying to listen to what the omega in front of me was talking about, all the while keeping an ear and an eye on my omega, who was laughing at something some wolf alpha was saying to him.
The smarmy jerk put his elbows on the table and leaned closer like he wanted to better hear what my omega had to say. He smiled, flashing his pearly white canines, exposing a dimple on one side of his face. I’d bet the omegas found that charming. I wanted to slap that look off his face.
Then the two exchanged a slip of paper. Phone numbers? Room numbers? What were they talking about? Was I going to be out of the running before I even had a chance to prove myself? All because I was too much of a coward to just tell Kip outright that I sensed he was mine.
I let out a growl, and the omega across from me flinched.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and I scooched back to give him more space. Great. I was looking like a lunatic and scaring other innocent guests. If I kept this up, I would be kicked out of here.
“It’s okay. Is that your omega down there? You keep looking at him.”
I sighed. “Yes. He’s mine.”
“It’s okay if you’ve scented your mate and the two of you leave the event, that has happened before. You can go straight to him and bypass the line. It’s okay.”
“He doesn’t know,” I said quietly.
The omega’s eyes went wide. “He doesn’t know? How does he not know?”
I shrugged.
“Did you grow up in the same den?”
I nodded.
He reached a hand across the table and put it over mine. “He’ll realize. Sometimes it takes time, especially when you’ve grown up together. Your nose becomes blind to what’s right in front of you.”
I smiled, appreciating his kind words. “I hope so. I don’t know how much longer I can wait. It’s been two years.”
He snuck a glance toward Kip, who was currently staring at us. The bell had rung, and it was time to move on. The omega stood, leaned across the table, and kissed my cheek.
Thanks to my bear hearing, I heard Kip’s growl. It was low, and I didn’t think he even realized he’d done it.
The omega chuckled. “I don’t think he’s as immune to you as you might think. Go get him, tiger.”
“He’s a bear,” Kip said. Suddenly, he was standing right next to us. “It’s my turn,” Kip said. Somehow, we were jumping the line now, but I wasn’t going to argue. I skipped over the omega next to me and went to Kip’s table with him.
“He seemed nice,” Kip said, gritting his teeth.
Was he not as immune to me as I thought? “Yeah. He was sweet. Not my mate, though. Seems like you’ve met some nice people,” I said.
He sighed. “Yeah, I suppose so. I gave that last alpha a fake phone number. I think he realized it. I just didn’t click with him.”
“That’s okay, you know. You don’t have to give your number out if you’re not comfortable with it.” Inwardly, I was jumping for joy. That smug bastard hadn’t made an impression on my omega.
Kip bit his lip. “I should be comfortable. I’m of age, but it’s like... I just can’t relax around other alphas. Not like I can with you. Am I ever going to find my mate?”
My chest ached, and it felt like my heart was in a vice, squeezing out all of the love I had for this man right in front of me. Why couldn’t he see? “He might be right in front of you, Kip.”
Kip shrugged. “He might.” His eyes were locked on mine, and it was as if the entire room melted away.
The bell rang again, breaking us out of our trance.
“Whoops, sorry, folks,” someone called. “We didn’t mean to do that. You still have a few more minutes with your session.”
“Do you want to get out of here?” I asked. “The snow outside is perfect for building a snowman, and we haven’t been outside all day. I don’t know about you, but I could use some fresh air.”
“I should stay…” His gaze left mine for a moment, and he looked at the others around us. There were dozens of alphas and omegas all hoping to make a connection with someone. Not everyone was specifically looking for a mate.
“We have the rest of the week for events like this. This speed-dating thing doesn’t really seem like you enjoy it.”
Kip nodded. “Yeah, I don’t. Let’s go. I think if my mate was here, I would have sensed them already. What about you? Anything?”
“Oh, my mate’s here,” I said. “I can tell.”
I grabbed Kip’s hand and held it as we weaved our way through the people. A blast of cold air hit us, and Kip shivered.
I took off my hoodie and handed it to him.
“Won’t you be cold now?” he asked.
“You know me, I run hot.”
“Thanks, Braxton.” He slipped my hoodie on. His nose went to the collar of the shirt, and he inhaled deeply. “Oh, I could sleep in this. I might not give this back.”
“It’s yours,” I said. “Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
We made our way to the center of the courtyard and began our snowman.
Ours wouldn’t be the first to grace the courtyard.
Clearly plenty of visitors had the same thought as we did, and the area was filled with snowmen of varying sizes.
It didn’t take us long to have two big balls rolled up.
Kip grabbed the smaller one and hefted it, setting it on top of the other.
“Do you think they have scarves and things? We need a head.”
“Would you like head? I mean, did you mean make a head? Not do you want head. I mean, who doesn’t want—” He shook his head. “Never mind. My brain has left the building.”
I chuckled. I brushed my hand over Kip’s face. “You had some snow there.”
Flakes fell down around us. It was midday, but slightly overcast and cold. The wind whipped around us, and a light dusting of snow danced around like our own personal snow globe.
“I know I wanted to do this vacation on my own,” he said, “but it is nice having you here, Brax.”
“It’s nice being here,” I said.
I stepped closer to him. His breath hitched as he looked at me. My instincts got the better of me, and before I knew it, I was dipping my head down and brushing my lips over his. Sparks flew. I swore fireworks erupted in the sky.
All of the desire and longing that I had bottled up inside me from the years of waiting for him to notice me all came out at once. My bear howled with relief and excitement. This was our mate, and we could finally taste him, touch him how we’d always wanted.
I barely had to dip my head at all, since my mate was nearly my height. His lips were warm and soft against mine. He leaned into me and gripped the collar of my shirt.
When I lifted my gaze, I found a wide-eyed Kip staring at me. His fingertips brushed over his lips.
“What was that?” he said.