Chapter 4 Lilac
Lilac
Locke
The alpha in me demands I take. It wants her. It’s the most uncivilized I’ve ever felt in my life.
She’s wearing the fuck out of a little purple cocktail dress. I want to rip it off of her and claim her in the mud of the pond.
Her hair is black like a raven’s feathers. She’s not as short as most omegas. Thank fuck. I hate when they are too tiny.
What am I saying?! I’m already acting like she’s mine.
I do not behave this way.
Just go up and introduce yourself. Just walk a few steps and say something.
I lift my foot to try to obey, but instead I take off in the opposite direction.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
No, not stupid! I need my pack. I can’t do this without them.
There’s an omega out here who is my scent match!
She’s probably all our scent matches! She has to meet us at once.
I don’t want her to favor me over them. If I meet her first, she may!
What if it’s only me that’s her scent match?
What if Oscar doesn’t like her? I can’t leave Oscar.
He’s so particular. He doesn’t accept just anyone into his life. But I love him. He’s mine.
They have to accept each other.
And Kol. What if she doesn’t like him? He’s lived a long life. He has a lot of skeletons most younger men might not have. What if she can’t accept him? The alpha in me roars in anger that I’ve left her.
I bust into the gallery, sweating through my suit entirely. My hands are red from holding them in tight fists with the stone still clutched inside.
I run up to my pack, my eyes wild, but my voice is completely gone.
“Locke! Are you ok? What’s going on?” Kol is worried, but I can’t seem to form words to explain myself. His hands are on my shoulders, and he’s trying to get me to look him in the eyes.
I can’t. If I do, then I’ll see how fucked everything is.
A scent match! I have a scent match! This can only be bad. Why would it be good?
Kol grabs me and leads us to the garden. Once out of the gallery, he pulls me to him and slaps my face.
“Owe, fuck that hurt!” I wince and hold my smarted cheek. The stone pressing into my face.
“You were freaking out. What happened?”
I take a few calming breaths before I answer. “I found a girl by the pond.”
“You know we are here to meet a girl, yes?” Oscar points out. I narrow my eyes at him. English isn’t his first language, and sometimes he likes to wield that against me.
“An omega. And I think she’s my scent match. My scent match. Tell me I’m going insane, Oscar!” I’m freaking out again and he goes to slap me, but I throw up my hands to stop him.
“Kol, stop hitting Locke. Where is this pond? Let’s go find her? Are you sure she’s your scent match?”
I turn to the garden, but it suddenly looks dark and looming. I shudder.
Kol sees my hesitation, my fear, and he takes some pity on me. He takes my hand and pulls me away from the gallery.
“Where’s the pond, Locke? We’ll handle everything else. Just take us to the omega.”
He gives me a reassuring look. Oscar takes me by the arm on the other side, and they both pull me forward. I don’t resist, but I don’t exactly lead the way. We eventually find the pond, but the girl is gone. I’m both relieved and disappointed.
Less afraid now, I walk up to the spot on the shoreline where she stood. Her warm lilac scent is still here.
Oscar and Kol go searching around for signs of her.
“What did she look like?” Kol asks.
“Like a dream.”
“Locke, please answer the question,” Oscar barks at me. It’s not an alpha bark. He would never do that to me. I’m sensitive to them. But I can tell he needs me to give him the answer, clearly.
“She was about 5’9”. Violet-colored silk dress, with an open back and ruffles on the bottom. Short black hair. Pale white skin. She seemed worried. She was lost in thought.”
“Chinese?” Oscar asks. There’s a large population of Chinese people in the city, so it’s not a strange question. They just want to get an idea of who they are looking for.
“I think she was white. American. I didn’t see her face too well. She was turned away from me. And it’s dark out here, as you can see.”
I rip off my suit jacket since that warm breeze is back and I’m still sweating like a madman.
“Why didn’t you…” Oscar starts to say, but cuts himself off when he sees me bend over my knees and drop my head, trying to breathe through my mini panic attack. “Ok, Locke, you need to calm down.”
“What do you think I’m trying to do?”
“I could always slap him again,” Kol says while gesturing at me. I’d give him the finger, but I need my hands to keep steady. He chuckles at me.
Oscar walks all over and around the pond. He looks contemplative and focused, but doesn’t say anything.
A scent match.
How is this even possible?
We make it back to the party and my pack mates fan out looking for her. I don’t look for her. I’m petrified we may actually find her.
I go to the bar and stare at the options. Wine? That’ll give me a headache. White wine? That’s too sweet and it will make my tummy hurt. Whiskey? That’s Kol’s drink. I can’t take Kol’s drink. Tequila? What am I, underage?
“Can I have a vodka cranberry, please?”
I throw a fiver in the tip jar and walk away with my drink. Oscar and Kol come back to me.
“I’ve left a voicemail with our case worker, Angeline. I told her to call me back.”
I shake my head, about to keel over.
“You didn’t…”
Oscar cuts me off. “No, I didn’t say anything about a scent match. Until we know for sure, I’m not saying anything. We’d get kicked out of the Institute for falsely claiming a scent match with one of their omegas.”
I nod my head, happy we are on the same page.
We stay until we are ushered out and I’m drunk off vodka crans. Kol has to practically carry me to Oscar’s Lincoln. He tosses me in the back and I lie on the seats, aghast at the events of the evening.