Chapter Two – Raeka #2
“Mercedes,” he said with a nod, slow to sit across from me and lean back, his green eyes studying me hard.
His light blond hair was a bit messy, a little longer on top while cut short on the sides, and his square jaw was lined with thick stubble.
He had a few years on the other alphas I interviewed, in his mid-thirties if I had to guess.
For a moment, I thought I was staring at Darius and not someone else.
I had the feeling it was a good idea I’d just taken my scent-dampening injection yesterday, otherwise this alpha’s scent would’ve hit me like a brick wall. Hard, fast, strong, totally unyielding. Everything about him was damn near overpowering, even with that injection keeping my senses subdued.
All I could think was: thank God I applied a liberal amount of that anti-scent cream on my neck and thighs before coming here. Not a fan of that stuff, but shit. An alpha like this was panty-dropping, even with that intense scowl on his handsome face.
And the muscles… ooh, the muscles on him went on for days, much like I bet his legs did under the table. He had to be at least six foot five, maybe even taller.
Fuck. Listen to me, practically drooling over this one. Picking him would be a bad idea.
“Pax,” Mercedes greeted him.
Wait. Pax? As in, Pax Alabaster ? Shit. No wonder he reminded me of Darius. He’s his brother. Elder brother, by the look of it, and just as über as Mercedes’s mate.
An über alpha by my side would definitely stop the average, run-of-the-mill alpha from trying anything with me. Still, something about this one made my stomach clench in the worst way. Picking this one would be a very bad idea indeed.
“So,” Pax started, his emerald stare on me.
His off-putting demeanor did not lessen as he looked at me, something I couldn’t say about the others.
The others all looked at me like I was precious, like they’d gladly do whatever they could to protect me.
This one looked at me like I was nothing and no one to him.
I was both relieved at that and also slightly offended.
“So,” I mimicked him. “You don’t seem eager to be here. Why is that? You don’t take meeting potential clients seriously?” I couldn’t help it, I sounded ticked off. Then again, that was how I usually sounded, so.
“I don’t meet with clients,” he said in a huff, leaning back in his seat and folding his hands over his lap.
That’s when I noticed he was decked out in some kind of strappy, all-black outfit, like he was an assassin or something, but missing all of his weapons.
The holsters on his body looked empty. “I’m more of an action man, not the face of the company.
If you’re looking for the face, you might want to meet with Darius out in the hall—but I don’t think Mercedes here is willing to share him. ”
All Mercedes did beside me was frown at him.
I tilted my head at him. “Then why are you here, Pax? Why do this little interview at all if it’s not your thing?”
“I’m here because my brother offered my services up to you, and so I’m here for you to judge me and decide whether or not you want me to scare off whoever it is you’re frightened of. It’s not a service any old omega would be offered, you should feel special.”
Ooh, he’s kind of an ass, huh? I’d definitely make a mistake by choosing him.
Then again, he might be just what the doctor ordered.
“I am special,” I said, giving him my best omega smile—and that smile of mine only made him frown harder, like he had to physically work to ignore the way his body wanted to respond to mine.
“I’m a Whittenhall. I’m probably one of the most special omegas you’ll ever meet in your life, other than your brother’s mate, of course.
” When I said that, I shot a grin Mercedes’s way.
All Mercedes does was laugh and shake her head at me.
“So, say I said I wanted you. How would you keep me safe from everything I’m so frightened of?” I said that word in a feminine, breathy way, like I really was scared of the world outside of this skyscraper.
He detected my mockery instantly, and he chuckled softly.
I hated how pulled in by the sound I was.
“Call me crazy, but I have the feeling protecting you would be a full-time gig. For one or two outings, sure, but I’m not up for a full-time bodyguard position.
We have lots of more suitable alphas that are more your style, I’m sure.
” The venom in his tone was undeniable, even Mercedes noticed it.
“Pax, be nice,” she said.
“You’re not my mate,” he snapped back. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“No,” she said, “but I’m sure Darius won’t be too happy to hear how you messed up this interview on purpose so you wouldn’t get chosen for the job. Should I call him in here now? He’s right out there in the hall.”
He scoffed, and then he leveled a hard glare at me.
“I’m not a fucking bodyguard. That’s grunt work, no matter who you are.
If you pick me, I’ll do the job, but I sure as shit won’t pretend to be happy about it.
Now, can we finish this up? Unlike some of us in the room, I have other duties to attend to while you waffle around as you decide. ”
I forced out a smile, even though it was more like me baring my teeth at him. “Sure. Go. Don’t you worry your pretty alpha head. I won’t be picking you, anyway.”
Pax flashed me his pearly whites, and I noted the sharpness of his canines. Almost animalistic in their points. “Great. Thanks so much for wasting my goddamn time.” Without saying another word more, he got up and stormed out of the room.
Mercedes watched him go, but I resisted the urge—and the urge to keep my eyes on him was pretty damn strong. Even through the scent-dampening, I got whiffs of something woodsy, his alpha musk strong enough to still penetrate my senses and make my inner omega whine with need.
Oh, no. Even if he wasn’t an asshole of epic proportions, I couldn’t choose him. I didn’t want to deal with his general asshole-iness or wrestle with that horny bitch inside more than I had to. It’d probably be better if I chose that Cunningham alpha or any of the others I interviewed in between.
“Sorry about him,” Mercedes broke the silence of the room, bringing her eyes to me. “I can have Darius talk to him, if you want—”
“No,” I cut in with a shake of my head. “He doesn’t want to play bodyguard? That’s fine. I don’t need him or his superiority anyway. I liked that Rourke guy. He seemed fine. What’d you think of them?”
Her thin shoulders rose and fell once. “Rourke was cool. They were all… fine, except Pax. Definitely reminds me of Darius. In the beginning, I thought Darius hated me. He had this stick so far up his ass that I really thought he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as me.”
I laughed. “And look at you two now. All that’s just water under the bridge.”
“Well, he couldn’t fake it for long. Turned out he was just being so mean because he thought I was going to hurt his pack. Besides, when scent matches are involved, you can’t deny things forever.”
Scent matches. I remembered Mercedes telling me about it before, how Darius was basically her fated mate.
Good for her for stumbling upon a pack that had her scent match in it, but most omegas weren’t so fortunate.
Scent matches were something of a fairytale; we heard about it happening every once in a while, but it was just that: a fairytale.
As she went to bring in Darius so we could discuss me hiring that Rourke Cunningham, what she said echoed in my head: you can’t deny things forever.
Was that what I was doing? Was I denying things by trying to remain packless?
There were omegas out there who weren’t claimed by a pack, but they went to heat houses, forced to hire themselves out to make a living.
Basically selling their bodies, whether it was just during their heats or being surrogates to packs and popping out babies for them.
No omega of my stature, as far as I knew, had ever made it through life without finding herself a pack.
I wasn’t some low-born omega. My family would rather lock me up than let me go to a heat house. Besides, as someone who liked the finer things in life, there was no way in hell I’d ever be caught dead in one of those places. Your girl had expensive taste, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
That said, those words of hers stuck with me, constantly bouncing around in my head, even as I laid in my bed that night.