7. CALLUM
Chapter seven
CALLUM
H oly Fuck.
I sit in my car, still dizzy from her scent. Sweet maple syrup and warm cinnamon. I wanted to lick every inch of her, to have her flavor on my tongue.
I close my eyes. Her steel gaze, her soft freckles, her silky brown hair in my fingers. Her body, welcoming and strong beneath me.
Fuck.
I adjust my trousers to accommodate the nearly painful erection.
I need to talk myself down. This was… just a slip. It’s been a long time since Genieve. That’s all. And a room full of young, perfuming Omegas would be intense for any Alpha.
But I am not some young buck newly designated and ready to rut everything in sight, damnit. I am a fucking adult. I have discipline .
Gods Above and Below. I could lose my job. Assaulting an Omega like that. I could have hurt her, which would be even worse.
I pull out my phone.
Loren answers on the first ping. Of course he does. He knows I hate phone calls.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you get the paperwork Angela sent?” I ask, my voice gravelly. My throat is dry and I can’t shake the way her spicy sweetness clings to the wool of my lapels.
“Oh, it just came in.” His voice is laced with worry and confusion. “What’s this about Cal?” I hear the shuffling of paper on the other end, and his sharp intake of breath. “Travelers? You really think you have a group of Travelers here in the city? Right now?”
The image of the Omega– Katie –is burned to the backs of my eyelids. The way she looked at me with those huge brown eyes–really saw me. Not the uniformed facade, but the man beneath. Sweet Mother above, how could I not have pounced on her?
Then came the fear, the terror as she came out of her lust and realized a strange man was pawing at her like a common animal. Damn it . What must she think?
“Loren, they aren’t just Travelers. They’re Omegas. All five of them.”
Silence. I can almost hear his heart beating across the phone line. I can imagine his scrunched nose and furrowed brow as he runs through calculations and assessments.
Five unregistered Omegas could change the entire political landscape. Five unregistered and unbonded Omegas are more valuable than damn near any jewels the Old Families have stashed in their underground vaults. They could save entire bloodlines, entire shifter lineages that have dwindled to near nonexistence.
New Omegas. New bloodlines. New possibilities.
“Did you speak to them?” Loren asks in his clinical professor voice.
“Lor,” I sigh. How much to tell him, my oldest friend and packmate? Do I tell him I jumped on her at just one look, just one scent of her spicy-sweet perfume? That I nearly fucking bonded her in front of a crowd without her being in her right mind? Do I admit that maybe I am every bit the animal the Bellroses’ are convinced I am?
“I barely walked into the room and one of them, Katie, nearly threw me into a rut just scenting her.”
Loren gasps. “Cal you didn’t…”
“No!” I say firmly. “I didn’t bite her or bond her. But, fuck Loren, I wanted to. I scent marked her in front of Angela and all her sisters.” I rub my forehead. I tried to cover her in my scent. Part of me wants to march right back in there and do it again so no other Alphas get any ideas. Fuck .
“ You scent marked her?” Loren asks, incredulous.
I did more than that. She presented her sweet, slim neck to me. It would have been so easy. Then she’d be ours and I wouldn’t be in this stupid car with blue balls. I’d be home with my pack and my Omega, hearing my name on her plump lips.
And I’d hate myself for taking away her choice, taking away her right to choose a Pack, and to be chosen. There are Alphas willing to force a bond, but I am not one of them. I remember too well the hell of compulsion. I grip the steering wheel until my knuckles are white. This is not about Genevieve.
I swallow and pick my words. “It surprised me, too. Her sisters were not pleased.”
“They’re all sisters?” Papers shuffle, and Loren swears, “A set of twins as well? Sweet Mother of Wolves. And Angela confirmed they're Omegas— all of them?”
“Two double-blind blood tests.”
More papers shuffled and I know Loren is speed reading through whatever charts and graphs were sent over.
“This says none of them have had heats. But two of them are over the usual age. Do we even know what heats do to Travelers? Can they even bond?”
“I don’t fucking know. I’m an Inspector, not a biologist!” I slam a hand against the steering wheel. “But they scent like us, and they have Omega blood markers like us. Angela says it’s the first time on record. But you’re the expert on Traveler legends. You tell me.”
Fuck, what if she can’t bond? What if I bit her and she only felt pain? I would never hurt my Omega–or any Omega. Mother above, but if she’s a Traveler could it even work? Would I want it too?
I need to slow down. I am ahead of myself. She’s not my Omega. I’m not bonding anyone . Loren will sort everything out. I just need a good night’s sleep and some whiskey.
“Angela is right,” Loren says. “We have records of plenty of Beta marriages —even Beta Travelers bonding with Alphas in Packs. But no Omegas. This is a first.”
Beta Travelers were able to bond. That’s good.
“I told Angela they need to get them out of the general hospital and to the closest branch of the Conservatory. If an unbonded Alpha catches one of their scents….” I sigh again and run a hand through my hair. It stands on end, but I don’t bother smoothing it.
“Loren, I nearly lost control just scenting her from across the room. She was in a hospital robe. Imagine what will happen when they parade these girls out for the highest bidder. There could be another eruption of pack feuding overnight. Five unbonded and unknown Omegas will have every unbonded pack from here to the coast riled up. I have to call Captain Zhao; we need to be on alert once the word gets out.”
“Unless they have blood bonds,” Loren says carefully.
I hear the unasked question behind his words. Blood bonds are mythical—unless you're from one of the ruling families who have the luxury of time and resources to scour every Omega on the planet looking for the allusive blood bond. I’m not wasting time on that line of inquiry.
“Have you talked to Max?” Loren smoothly changes the subject.
“No. I just left. I… am not doing my best.” I curl my fingers into a fist. I need Max to take me into the ring and put me through my paces. Maybe beat some sense into my thick skull. Or at least beat the lust out of my body.
“Cal, was it all the Omegas, or just that Omega?” Loren is careful with his words again, the curious professor gone and the best friend and packmate returned.
This is the question, isn’t it?
If it was being in a small enclosed space with five perfuming Omegas all prepping for their first heat, well, that could be explained by biology. Forgiven. Excused. Written off as a temporary Alpha madness.
Because if it was just that Omega.
Katie .
We are so, so fucked.