Chapter 2 #2
“Gotcha.” Elm winked and then shrugged. “I didn’t find out until the party that night, and then it slipped my mind after I embarrassed myself with you and Kenta.”
“The party?”
“Yeah.” Elm frowned. “Kian is the one who texted me that you were drunk. He must have been mistaken.”
“He what?!” Sky didn’t know what to be most surprised about. The fact that Kian was on planet, that he’d gone to a party, or that he’d messaged Elm about him.
“His training ended a couple of months ago,” Elm reminded. “He must have been allowed to leave work to return for Samhain. That, or he’s close to his rut.”
The Academy in their galaxy was on another planet, Unspoken, and that wasn’t even the worst of it.
People who went there were trained to become Intergalactic Police Force agents or members of the IPF, and part of that was renouncing ties to their home planets.
Because their biology and instincts differed from many other species, a special clause was worked into the Glyphians' contracts with the Intergalactic Conference.
Since alphas and omegas had to find mates to live fulfilling lives, the I.P.F.
allowed leaves of absence now and again for their agents to do so.
In reality, however, this only brought up other issues.
If you mated with an agent, your options were pretty limited.
The mate was allowed to move to Trigga, the planet where all I.P.F.
agents in this galaxy lived when they weren’t out on missions, or they could remain on their homeworld.
The first would allow them to see their mates more often, while the latter…
Elm knew all about Sky’s dreams of a stable, normal household. Ever since they’d been kids playing house on the playground, that had been clear. Another reason he always tried to get Sky to move on from his brother.
“He’ll probably only be here for a week or so,” Elm sobered some, losing that teasing edge. “Once he ships back out, who knows when or if he’ll get to return.”
“I know.” That was what becoming an I.P.F. agent entailed.
“Even if he got leave because his rut is coming, I doubt he’s here looking for anything permanent.”
“Okay.” Sky tried not to show the twist of disappointment he felt at that, though he’d already guessed as much. He recalled what Elm had told him at the party, about how he thought maybe Kian had an omega now.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he lied. He wasn’t going to let it affect his plans.
Even if Kian was here, nothing was going to happen between the two of them.
Proof of that was the fact that he’d supposedly been at that party, yet he hadn’t reached out or taken the time to see Sky.
Hell, he’d apparently thought he’d gone upstairs inebriated and was about to be taken advantage of, and Kian hadn’t bothered then either.
Instead, he’d texted his little brother and sent him to check on him.
“You’re the most attractive guy on campus,” Elm said as if having read Sky’s mind. “You could have your pick of alphas. Why you’re so hung up on my dumbass brother is beyond me.”
Sky laughed, mostly because he couldn’t think of anything else to do that wouldn’t come off weird or too serious.
“Tell you what,” Elm suggested, “why don’t we skip out on Mate Day and check out the Wild Hunt?”
Sky quirked a brow. “First of all, that’s not for a few months. Second of all, how long have you been sitting on that?”
“Planned on asking you when the time was right,” Elm grinned. “I already bought the tickets, and they’re nonrefundable.”
“No.”
“Come on, Sky. Live a little. Who knows, you might even get lucky and find your mate.”
The Wild Hunt took place on their neighboring planet Synastry.
Like the Glyphs, the people of Synastry also presented, though they lacked betas in their genetic coding.
Since they could only be alpha or omega, they took the hierarchy and finding true mates more seriously than Glyphs, and the Wild Hunt was just one example of that fact.
The official Hunt was held annually, and citizens from both planets were welcome to join in.
An application form needed to be filled out beforehand, with basic questions, such as whether the participants were alpha or omega.
There were also not-so-basic ones, like their sexual preferences and whether or not they understood the underlying deviancy of the event.
And there was a ton of that.
Though it’d been created as a way to combat the dwindling birthrates on Synastry, the Hunt was more often than not used as a way to blow off steam, an excuse for people to act on their baser instincts without having to worry about legal repercussions.
Omegas who participated signed away their right to choice at the beginning of the event, while alphas were permitted to chase them down like prey.
In the past, just the thought of the Hunt mortified Sky, but after that night four years ago…No.
No, he couldn’t entertain that idea.
Getting hunted and taken in the dirt like some filthy animal wasn’t something on Sky’s fantasy to-do list.
It couldn’t be.
Even if he felt his body starting to respond at just the idea of it.
“Take Darby,” he suggested, only to have Elm make a face.
“You know she’d never.”
“Well, neither will I.”
Elm sighed. “Why aren’t any of my friends fun?”
Before Sky had the chance to reply, Elm’s multi-slate started ringing.
“It’s Ace, maybe he’ll come with me.” He stuck his tongue out at Sky as if that bit of information would bother him when he’d been the one to turn the trip down and then answered the call, wandering off a few feet to take it.
Sky shook his head and caught another whiff of the cinna-cider. Since there was no telling how long Elm could be on the phone with a chatterbox like Ace, he decided to go and find one of the booths selling hot drinks in the interim.
He made it to one at the end of the row and got in line just as his name was yelled.
“Sky!” Kenta called from across the street and then zipped over to him, waving a bit too enthusiastically. Like a giant golden retriever.
This was who Elm was worried about? Whoever had told him Kenta was faking it wasn’t looking closely enough.
It should have been cute, adorable even, but Sky had to force his lips to curve in the welcoming smile that should have come naturally. Hoping to fix that, he accepted the hug once the alpha was next to him, turning his nose against the curve of Kenta’s neck to sniff lightly.
In many social circles, it was rude to scent another so openly, and he tried to be discreet about it. Since the two of them had discussed a potential courtship, it wouldn’t come off as out of bounds to Kenta. At least, he didn’t think it would.
Unsure, Sky pulled back, inspecting the alpha’s expression just in case. The tension in his shoulders eased when he found the other guy still smiling widely at him.
“I just got your text,” Kenta said, resting a hand on Sky’s elbow to urge him forward when the line moved up. “I was on the other side of the parade. I’m glad I found you.”
Sky had merely texted asking where he was and if he wanted to join.
“I’m glad you found me, too.” It wasn’t a complete lie.
“Here,” Kenta tapped on his multi-slate and turned it to the scanner to pay when they made it to the front of the booth, “let me get this.”
“Thanks. I—” Another scent cut through the smell of cinna-cider, rendering Sky mute. His entire body froze, the raucous noises of the parade cutting out and instantly leaving him in a silent sea as his senses misfired.
Teakwood, black pepper, and rose.
A familiar scent. One he’d only caught a whiff of whenever he visited the Erskine household after he’d presented. It’d been delicious then, but faint, since the eldest son was away. But now…
Before Sky could control his body, he was turning, gaze shifting to the right, where the object of that smell was coming from.
Kian Erskine was heading his way; his hands tucked into the pockets of his black pants.
He was smiling, but it didn’t reach his cerulean eyes or help mask the apparent exhaustion over the rest of his face and the stiff set of his shoulders.
His inky black hair was longer than it used to be, the strands at the front blown about slightly by a breeze.
One that gusted behind him and straight toward Sky, bringing with it more of that irresistible scent that—
Oh, Good Light.
Sky stilled all over again, but this time for another reason.
Even though he knew he shouldn’t, he couldn’t help but sniff at the air, his skin heating instantly.
His surroundings blurred momentarily before he could gather his bearings, but the fact that he was experiencing those first signs meant it was already too late.
Suddenly, Kian tilted his head, nostrils flaring just before he turned toward Sky.
Sky’s body did the most embarrassing thing it could possibly do the second they locked eyes.
He went into a full-blown heat.