Chapter Twelve #3
Before I could swerve away, he was rubbing his cheek against mine. I froze on the spot. “What the hell are you doing?”
“You don’t smell like me,” he growled, as if that answered my question at all.
I flinched, batting at him. “Get off. We’re in public.”
Caine bared his teeth and a sound thundered in his throat—a commanding rumble, an Alpha’s call to heel—and I stiffened. My scent gland pulsed as the compulsion to obey started washing over me. I managed to fight against it.
Just.
“Okay, okay.” I waved my hands in his face, forcing him to stop the noise and breaking the thrall. “Calm down. Just hurry up, will you?”
He scented me thoroughly, only taking a step back and nodding when he was content. “Don’t wander off.”
I rolled my eyes before I could remember the rules of the evening. Behave. “Yes, Alpha.”
After that ordeal, Caine never left my side again. In fact, he was practically glued to me. He got more handsy as the night went on, his touch always on me in some capacity, and if I pulled away even an inch, he tugged me back. His scent was concentrated in my nose, and I felt a bit suffocated.
Though at the same time, it dulled the cocktail of unfamiliar pheromones, so it was a benefit.
It was nearing midnight when a distinct hush fell over the crowd.
I looked to my left, and an older omega approached us.
I could tell by the subtle blending of his scent he was mated, but he had no Alpha with him.
The crowd parted, and I spotted the subtle head dips from any Devereux he passed.
He was taller than me—though that might’ve been the heeled ankle boots he wore—and his hair was a striking shade of red, the curled strands cascading from his regal updo a contrast to the white jumpsuit he wore.
His hips swayed as he advanced, his shoulders pinned. The picture of pure elegance.
The smile on his face was contained. Majestic.
He was beautiful.
“Mother,” Caine greeted with his usual indifference, though there was the barest hint of reverence in his tone.
The omega, Caine’s mother, bowed respectfully toward his son before his green eyes shifted to me. His smile warmed. “Forgive me for arriving late,” he said, his voice a wisp of gentle smoke, the trace of a French accent curling around each syllable. “I was delayed on my journey here.”
“Anything amiss?” Caine queried, and the omega chuffed.
“The runway was full.”
Caine hummed, a displeased sound, and my brow furrowed. Runway? He flew here? “This is my omega, Dylan Park.” He introduced me with my given name, before signalling to his mother. “This is my mother, Lyle Devereux.”
“It’s, uh, nice to meet you,” I managed to stutter out, and I meant it. There was something about him that drew me in, had me a little starstruck.
“Likewise.”
He was nothing like his son.
“You didn’t have to trouble yourself on my behalf,” Caine said, and Lyle’s eyes reflected a touch of sadness.
Melancholy.
“I did, mon ange,” he expressed. “You know I did.”
Caine hadn’t mentioned his mother to me, not even in his notes.
He’d only given me the names of those he suspected might actually speak to me, plus a little about them and their position in the pack so I was prepared.
So far, he’d been correct in his assumptions, but there’d been nothing about his mother.
In all honesty, I’d thought he was maybe dead, like his Alpha father—which I only deduced because Caine was the leader.
It was another interaction I hadn’t anticipated.
I didn’t know how to be.
I watched him for a while. He was soft spoken, but wasn’t as wholly submissive as the other omegas—and was given a modicum more respect.
Though he did still conform to the custom of Alphas being in charge.
He’d stop speaking when Caine did, or keep quiet if anyone approached, and only respond if he was spoken to. I hated it.
Out of everything to have happened tonight, this was what made me want to rebel.
Caine grew more and more agitated beside me. His jaw was clamped so tight I thought he might break his teeth. Without thinking, I squeezed his hand and let out a gust of my pheromones. His shoulders visibly loosened. “I need a drink,” he said, fixing me with a stare. “Stay here.”
I nodded, and he scented my neck before marching off.
I was left with Lyle. My throat bobbed on a gulp. “I—”
“You’re not what I expected,” he interrupted, his tone level, giving nothing away.
I didn’t know what he meant. Fuck, I’d blown it. “I—”
“I’m glad.”
My eyes narrowed a fraction, not knowing what to say.
He filled in the gap.
“I never thought this would happen for him,” he mused wistfully, his gaze drifting toward the far side of the room where his son had gone.
“He was against it, and for good reason, but it had to happen eventually. Whether it was now, five years, twenty years . . . he couldn’t rebel against tradition forever, no matter his convictions.
It’s just how our world ticks.” He glanced back toward me, and his eyes were glazed with unshed tears.
“Even if this isn’t what he wanted, I’m pleased he’s settled with someone who doesn’t fit in here. Never lose that spark.”
I nodded, my tongue not fucking working for once. There was too much to unpack there, too much vagueness, and yet . . . clarity? I didn’t know what to think. Was it true? That Caine hadn’t wanted a mate even though his position would’ve relied on it. I hadn’t realised. He hadn’t told me.
I just thought he wasn’t mated yet, and he had a bee in his bonnet because of the situation he’d landed himself in—impregnating an omega who wasn’t good enough to brush shoulders with him, a poor degenerate from district forty-two who didn’t follow the rules.
I’d showed up on his doorstep, making it impossible for him to ignore my existence again, and I’d guessed, because of some forced sense of duty, he’d offered me the contract.
That could still be true, but maybe there was another reason too. A deeper one. And whatever it was, could it be the reason why he’d abandoned us?
“You have an influence on him.” Lyle carried on. “I can tell. He takes those shots to suppress it, but your scent . . . it must be a balm to him. His symptoms don’t appear as tormenting with you around.”
I blinked.
I blinked again. “What do you mean?”
His head tilted, in the same way Caine’s did. And Minnie’s. “His aversion?”
I looked at him vacantly.
“To the scent of an omega?” When I didn’t say anything, he scoffed fondly.
“Of course he didn’t tell you. So much pride.
” He sighed, and gave me a wan smile. “Well, I won’t take that secret from him.
I’ve already divulged enough, but let’s just say, besides me, he would never have been able to bury his nose in any other omega’s neck. ”
My brain was overloaded. There was so much I didn’t know, but now he’d mentioned it .
. . was this why Caine’s expression darkened and he faced away whenever an omega was in his presence?
Why his nose twitched as if he’d smelled something rotten?
It wasn’t because he was a pompous prick.
I mean, he still was, but maybe not about this.
And if I was apparently the only omega he could stand the scent of, did that mean . . . I was his first?
All his staff were betas, his closest confidantes were betas, so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to predict he’d only slept with betas too. Was this his grounds for not wanting to be mated? Because it would cause him physical pain?
Shit, there were so many omegas in this room. Even if my scent was some type of solace, as Lyle seemed to believe, he must be in agony. He hid it well if so, but the realisation had indignation bubbling up from my gut.
Stupid fucking rules.
“I didn’t know,” I gritted out, suddenly irritated.
“It isn’t common knowledge, and he likes to keep it that way, but I thought . . .” He trailed off, his expression encouraging. “He will tell you everything when he’s ready, I’m sure.”
In that moment, it dawned on me I knew nothing of the man I’d mated.
Which was partly my fault because I hadn’t cared to know him.
I’d avoided him like the plague and had no intention of ever prying under the surface.
But it put it into glaring perspective for me that I’d probably be mated to a stranger for the rest of my life.
And I didn’t know how to feel about it.
Seconds later, Caine returned, and he handed me a drink—no alcohol. He had one of the posh nibbles in his other hand. He offered it up too. “You haven’t eaten.” With a silent sigh, I reached for it, but he pulled away. “Open your mouth.”
I wanted to argue. I wasn’t a dog, I could feed myself, but with his mother’s eyes on me, I got on with it—seriously, what is his deal?
He fed me by hand, and once I’d swallowed it down, he nodded in approval.
I licked up the crumbs at the corner of my mouth, and when I lifted my gaze, Caine was eyeing my lips, tracing the flick of my tongue.
I swallowed again, and his gaze snapped up. For a long stretch—too long—we stared at each other. I couldn’t look away. The background noise faded to a dull mumble, and my skin started to prickle.
A shove against my back had me careening forward, breaking the spell.
My drink spilled as I regained my footing, and Caine’s arms were on mine to steady me in an instant.
I peered up at him, wanting to laugh it off, but he wasn’t looking at me.
I followed his line of sight, to the Alpha who’d bumped into me.
It wasn’t one of the Devereux pack.