5. Stanton
I stand on the balcony of my hotel room, staring out at the concrete jungle that is the City of New York.
Tonight, I did what I promised myself I wouldn’t. I picked up another beta, hoping I’d feel something... anything.
But I didn’t.
It’s the first time I’ve had sex in months and after abstaining for so long, you’d think I’d be on a high.
I’m not.
I feel nothing.
But what can I do? I know my teammate, Lucas, is my pack mate. Yet he claims he’s not interested in having a pack or an omega. The only thing important to him is hockey.
I get it. I want to be the best too, but I can’t stop this ache that is growing inside me. A yearning I never expected to feel.
And I just know once Lucas is my pack mate, together we’ll find our omega. Perhaps, there’ll be even more people in our pack.
I’m not sure, though, I don’t feel other alphas like I feel Lucas.
Unfortunately, Lucas is the one with his eyes fully on the game, and he claims an omega is not in his near future.
I need my omega now. I’m a few years older than Lucas and having sex with betas is no longer containing my appetite or how I feel.
But where do you find an omega in New York? The place where more alphas live than any other city.
I scan the noisy streets below. The music, car horns blaring, people shouting—everything is normal, just a typical night in the city.
Through the sea of buildings, I glimpse the arena. The place that tonight, we lost our first game of the season.
I feel guilty. Losing two easy shots on the net.
I grip the railing, the muscles in my forearms tense when the sound of crisp cotton sheets crinkle from the suite behind me.
The suite I booked to fuck the beta who gave me only the slightest bit of encouragement last night when I should’ve walked away.
Two fucking months I’ve abstained for, trying to prove to Lucas that I’m not the playboy he claims when he refuses to build a pack.
I don’t know why I’m so convinced.
“Come back to bed, Captain.”
God, I hate it when women call me that. But she seems to think it turns me on.
I twist on my heels and take two steps across the balcony, lean against the door and stare at the king-sized bed. Then at the strip of condoms I bought, despite her protests that she was clean.
I never fuck without condoms. I’m saving that one thing for my omega.
She’s draped across the mattress, with her long blonde hair cascaded over the pillows. One tit is uncovered as she curls her finger to me. “Fuck me one last time.”
I might be an alpha, but my dick doesn’t twitch.
And I warned her last night that I don’t commit.
Last night.
Fuck!
I hate myself for falling asleep. I should’ve left her in the room, as I usually do after my conquests.
I don’t care that she’s gorgeous. She isn’t mine.
“Let me feel you one last time.” She pushes the sheets back, revealing her naked body in all its glory. “Let me take your mind off the game.”
I laugh. She thinks losing the game last night is the reason for my hesitation.
Her smile widens as I stride to her. But I’m already wearing my pants and grab my shirt and push my arm into the sleeve.
“I told you, last night was all you got. One fuck. I didn’t fall asleep with you because I wanted to.”
Her body straightens.
“Bastard!”
I button up my shirt and nod before my eyes fall on hers. “And that’s why I don’t normally sleep with my fucks.”
“Your fucks!” Her once feminine voice turns into a shriek.
“Hey.” My voice is low as I grab my wallet. “You came onto me. I never pursued you.”
I’ve been trying to recall her name this entire time, but as I reach the door, I no longer care.
“You’re an asshole.” Her tone is chilly.
When I turn back to her, her fingernails are gripping the sheet over her body so hard that I’m sure she is going to tear through the cotton.
“I know.”
I do.
I’ve heard it many times from both my team and puck bunnies.
“But if it’s any consolation, you were my first fuck in two months.”
“I’m honored.” She smiles as she combs her fingers through her long, blonde hair. “I could make you feel good again. I could try to take your knot again.”
“You’re still not an omega.”
Her pretty face drops to stare at the sheets. “Then why don’t you have an omega?” Her wide eyes lift to mine.
I don’t want to have this discussion with a stranger.
The strange feelings I’ve been having lately. The feeling that my alpha is trying to claw his way out of my body each time that I’m sure I smell my omega. I know it’s some phantom perfume, but I also feel like it’s coating my skin.
I’m hoping that means I’m close to finding not only an omega, but my scent matched mate.
And somehow I know my housemate and teammate, Lucas, is feeling the same way.
I think this is happening at the same time because we’re ready to form a pack and then hunt out our omega.
Not that Lucas agrees.
“Because I haven’t found her.”
She smiles and gives a casual shrug. “Maybe it’s time you looked for her.”
Once I’m back in my apartment, I shut the door to my bedroom and make my way to the shower.
Washing away the beta’s smell and her overly sweet perfume.
I step out of the shower and grab a towel before rubbing it over my wet hair. I grab another towel and wrap it around my waist, and stroll out of my bathroom and into the bedroom.
I pull on some sweatpants and throw the towel into the hamper before I decide it’s time for another conversation with Lucas.
In the living room, I notice a tumbler on the coffee table. The glass still has the slightest amount of amber liquid inside.
Then I spot Lucas. He looks worse than I do—for a change.
“What’s with the gloomy look? Too much alcohol.”
Lucas lets out a harsh breath. “The beta I subscribe to...”
I stare at him as he turns and stares into the mirror.
“Yep.” I try to not make it sound like a groan. I hate that he’s on BetaFans.
He doesn’t turn, but our eyes meet as I sit on a stool around the kitchen counter.
“She’s an omega,” he groans.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck yeah!
Inside I’m doing a happy dance, while trying to maintain a calm indifference on my face.
“Ah. So you’re attracted to Omegas despite your protestations.”
He twists on his heels. “I can’t, Stanton. Don’t you get it? I can’t let anyone know I want an omega. The moment my father finds out, he’ll change everything for me.”
“Tell him to get out of your life.”
He rears his head back and laughs. “Try having a senator as a father and then add to him being a mean bastard. Do you know how many times he’s threatened to take this apartment away from me if I don’t follow his rules?”
“We pay him rent... good fucking money, too. It’s not like he subsidizes it.”
“He doesn’t care. All he is worried about is that he has the right people backing him on his way to the White House. And that means marrying a daughter of one of his allies. And right now, he is back to Raine Patten because he thinks her father has influence.”
“She’s an omega.”
“But she’s not my omega, Stanton. I’m not settling for second best when I know my omega is out there.”
“You do?” I murmur. “Do you think it’s the girl on the BetaFans account?”
He sighs. “I’m drawn to her. I wanted her before I knew she was an omega. It was like my alpha knew.”
“What are you going to do about it?” I question, while wondering if Lucas is going to go against his own ban on omegas.
“I want to take her through her heat.”
My tongue slides over my left canine. My cock throbs at the thought of an omega underneath me, with my knot molded inside her, right before my teeth sink into her neck.
“Her heat,” I choke out. “She’ll need more than you.”
Lucas growls. “She’ll need me. Not some alpha who keeps fucking betas.”
“Last night was a mistake and the first fucking one for two months. I need an omega. I need to knot.”
Lucas shakes his head. “Scarlett is mine.”