Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
JEWEL
I really had needed that. I truly wasn’t a fan of alpha scents, a little quirk that everyone seemed to be obsessed with. It wasn’t a big deal. But coating myself with Jade’s sweet beta scent had eased my nerves ahead of the event, letting me enjoy it fully.
It’s one thing to know that you have a fanbase in theory. Vivienne had been handling most of my social media, though I popped on there occasionally to say something particularly amusing or clever.
But actually meeting people who had waited for hours to see me?
That was something else.
Some of the alphas stank of nerves and barely said a word to me.
Not unfriendly, just wide-eyed and red-faced.
Starstruck, most likely. They’d answer my questions with nods or single-word responses as I signed pictures and blew them a kiss.
Others were more talkative, laughing when we didn’t match and promising they’d buy my rejection merch.
Some had already bought it before they’d come up, wanting a signature.
Others didn’t take our incompatibility so well. One omega burst into tears the moment he’d scented that I didn’t match his pack and practically ran offstage. There had been three packs that had to be forcibly removed, insisting there must be a mistake.
One scratched-up and very tired-looking alpha had sighed when he climbed upstairs. Apparently, his omega had told him to “Come back with Jewel, or don’t come back at all.”
In the middle of her heat.
Although the event was for packs, a lot of them had brought an extra beta or two who wanted to meet me.
And slip me their numbers.
Apparently, the fact I’d claimed to not want to pack with my scent matches implied I was available.
I flirted, which was easy to do since my bond with my betas was there to remind me it was all for show. These people wouldn’t get a single inch of the real me.
The number of packs I hadn’t matched with was adding up, but I didn’t mind. I’d find my scent match sooner or later—I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d attracted more packs than the Valentine’s division had in their database.
I’d just taken a quick break and was grinning at my phone as I climbed back up to my throne. I’d taken a selfie with a woman wearing a T-shirt claiming to want my rogue babies, and I’d sent it to our Prison-break house chat.
Jade: fuck off. As if the institute didn’t hate u enough already
Jewel: aw. Don’t worry, Jade, the only one having my rogue babies will be you.
Jade: fuck OFF, dickwad. this IUD isn’t going anywhere.
Damn. That was a shame.
Jade: From a scale of 1-10, how insufferable will Jewel be after this event?
Hugo: He’s already a 10. Can it get worse?
“Hugo, that’s just rude,” I said, pouting at the man himself.
He’d been hovering in the corner of the stage most of the day, which had pleased me immensely.
He’d told me he was merely bored, but we both knew he was keeping an eye on me.
Even if he wouldn’t meet my eyes and went scarlet every time he looked at me.
Jade: Trust me. It can get worse.
Jewel: I think you should all take a moment to appreciate what you have. I have literally thousands of people who’d kill to be you. *kiss*
Jade: FFS, kill me now
Casey: Hope you’re doing okay, Master Jewel. Do you want me to grab you a coffee?
Jewel: No, thanks, sweetheart. I’ll take a massage when I’m done, though, if you’re offering
I took a breath and signalled for the security to let in the next pack. I breathed in their scent. No match.
I smiled, offered the pack my regrets, signed my autograph, and waved them off.
Another one took their place. I glanced at my phone. Two hours left. Maybe I could convince Jade and Hugo to get in on that Casey massage after this? Wouldn’t mind a repeat of earlier.
Suddenly, the unwelcome sound of sirens swelled from somewhere nearby. I looked up to see two fully armoured Gold Pack and Rogue Enforcement vehicles round the corner and blaze down the street to the casino.
People cleared a path as they screeched to a stop on the curb in front of me.
I stood up and brushed off my outfit, keeping my face steady, despite how angry I felt. How dare the Institute come and crash my event!
And after they banned me from using their scent-matching services as well?
“Is all of this for me?” I called out from my dais.
Armed GPRE officers started pouring out of the vans, and one of them—with a rather large moustache—pulled out a megaphone.
Hugo appeared at my side, his aura making the hairs on my neck stand up. He looked furious.
“Julius Fairchild, under the Gold Pack Ferality and Safety Act, you have been designated a high-risk, unstable omega. A detention order has been issued for your containment and psychiatric evaluation. You are to be taken into protective custody to prevent potential harm to yourself or others.”
“What a shame. I’ll have to let Julius know if I see him!” I called. Despite my joke, anger was boiling in my veins, making me feel hot. There was a tenseness in my muscles that I usually got right before a fight.
This was fucking bullshit.
The GPRE was trying to cut through the crowd straight toward me, but they weren’t moving aside easily.
“Everyone, please stand back! This is for your own safety.”
If they thought it’d be that easy to arrest me, they were dead wrong. I was going to make them regret coming after me.
Movement from near the photo booth caught my eye as Jade skidded into view. She looked focused, her eyes darting all around.
She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Fuck the GPRE!” she shouted, her voice ringing with glee.
Then she shoved someone next to her so hard they fell before vanishing behind the tent.
She’d caused an alpha to stagger into the one next to him, and the crowd was jostled right into the oncoming officers.
The crowd was made up of mostly unbonded alphas, irritated because they’d been waiting in line for hours.
Jade had just dropped a match into a barrel of oil.
The air seemed to ripple as what felt like every alpha aura in the city went off at once, causing a cold sweat to break out on my back. The crowd was surging like a wild thing, alphas shouting and snarling.
A cackle split the air—one that sounded suspiciously like Kaos’s—and there was a large bang as a smoke bomb went off at the bottom of the steps.
Pandemonium erupted.
The GPRE was now using their weapons, their shouts ringing through the cloud of white gas concealing my view. I was tense, trying to peer through the smoke. Any second, crazed alphas or the GPRE could be on me, and I needed to stay alert.
I whipped around as something touched my shoulder, a snarl on my face.
Hugo towered over me, his face almost wild. His long, dark hair had come out of its bun, and his amber eyes were burning with intensity.
He growled, and before I could react, he’d scooped me up like I was a princess.
I was suddenly clutched in his warm arms, surrounded by his delicious scent. I fucking melted into him as all thoughts of fighting were swept from my mind. My heart was fluttering somewhere in my throat. Alpha. Mine. Saving me.
I mean, swoon.
I clung to his neck as he raced down the stairs and around the side of the building.
His aura was out, pressing against my psyche and making every sensation heightened as we raced through the gardens. I was pressed tightly against his solid muscles and very much enjoying myself.
I knew he’d been ignoring me since this morning, and I was ecstatic that he was holding me now. I didn’t want him to ever put me down again.
Well, maybe to fuck me. There were some things—branches?—scratching at my skin, but it was easy to ignore them. Hugo smelled so damn good.
Wait. Why was Hugo slowing down?
Why the fuck was he sliding me to the ground?
I snarled my displeasure as he tried to step away. He wasn’t even looking at me!
“We weren’t followed,” he said.
I’d clung to his arm, and a whine escaped as he tried to pull away again.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he said, his voice softening. His strong arms wrapped around me, one hand stroking my back.
That was better. I started a contented purr.
“We’ve got to keep moving,” he said.
Ugh, fine. If we had to. I scrambled onto his back.
“Jewel? You okay?”
Duh. Hence, purring. Silly alpha. Couldn’t he feel it?
“Where’s your phone? We have to ditch it.”
He had to repeat himself before I grudgingly dug it out of my pocket. Why was he talking so much? And why did he seem so stressed? We should find somewhere nice and cozy to curl up in. That would make things better.
?
HUGO
Jewel had gone into an omega drop.
And nice as it felt to have a sleepy, happy omega purring on my back, it really wasn’t the time. It was making it very hard to think clearly. All my instincts were screaming at me to protect him, so loudly that they weren’t giving me a moment to properly figure out how.
We’d gotten away from the GPRE for now. We were in the forest behind the casino. Jewel nuzzled into my neck, making a rush of affection sweep away my train of thought.
He was so fucking cute right now.
I dug my nails into my forearm, using the pain to focus.
Right. The stash point. As a teen, Jewel had done a lot of preparation in case he and Laurel ever got the chance to run. He had planned escape routes and left grab bags in various places.
Last month, he’d dragged me with him to check they were all still there. I’d thought he was a bit paranoid when he’d replenished them instead of cleaning them up, but here we were.
I wound through the gardens until we reached the willow by the stream. I crouched down, running my fingers through the dirt until I found the edge of the slat of wood. I heaved it up, shoving dirt and leaves everywhere. Inside was a fully loaded backpack.
“Jewel.”
He mumbled something. I sighed and tipped him onto the ground. He gave a little squeak of annoyance, his eyes narrowing as he glared at me.
“It’s okay. I wanted you to have this.” I tugged off my shirt and scent marked it. His eyes widened, and he snatched it from my hands. It kept him content as I changed his heels for sneakers, and he even let me pull my baggy shirt on over his top.
I studied my efforts to change him from peacock to pigeon. Almost. I pulled a New Oxford Striders cap from the backpack. They were our baseball team. Or maybe hockey? Whatever.
He snarled at it when I approached. It eventually took me scent marking that, too, before he allowed me to put it on his head. He still looked grumpy as I tucked his golden hair away.
“I know you’re gonna give me shit about it later,” I told him. “But you’re the one who packed it in the bag.”
He gave a very Jewel-like sniff of disdain, and a smile twitched on my lips. I guess some mannerisms were innate.