Chapter 39 The Scent of Her
The Scent of Her
Oscar
My pack is sitting in the dark in the parked car. I knock on the driver’s side window, and Kol lowers it to look at me.
“Whatever you’re selling, I’m buying, handsome.”
I roll my eyes.
“Sorry to have you wait here all day,” I say.
“We went out for lunch. Then went to Mads’s apartment for a bit to talk to his mom. It’s fine.”
My chest relaxes being closer to them again, but there’s a pinch of dissatisfaction from leaving Acadia. My lips are swollen from our kisses. I just want to return to her as soon as possible.
“I have something important to tell you all. I’d like to wait until we get to the apartment. So, try not to lose your minds when I get into the car.”
Kol looks confused. I get into the back seat with Locke. As soon as I shut the door Locke and Kol stiffen up.
“Oh my god,” they both say, their voices strained and cracking. Loud and accusatory.
“What?” Mads asks.
“What the fuck is happening right now?” Locke asks with deep, heavy breaths, like he’s about to lose it. He’s pushed against the door as far away from me as possible. His eyes are the size of moons.
“Why is everyone freaking out?” Mads asks again.
I put my hand on his shoulder to calm him, even though it’s my other two pack mates who need it the most.
“I met Acadia. She was running the event.”
“Did you fuck her?” Locke asks.
“No. But we were intimate.”
“I don’t smell Acadia,” Kol says. He turns around as much as he can in the front seat. “You don’t smell like Acadia. You smell like Mads’s omega girlfriend, Cadi.”
A heavy silence falls in the car.
“Yes, I sorted that out as well when the staff called her Cadi. I suspected she was the same omega. And your reaction to her scent confirms it. Mads, you’ve been dating the omega we’ve been seeking. Locke’s scent match. And my soulmate.”
Kol opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Locke unpeels himself from the car door and inches his way closer to me, to get a better sniff.
“When I went to the club last week, Locke, to find relief, I was with an omega. She was so perfect. I wanted her more than anyone. Mads and I were together when Cadi, his girlfriend, came to see him. She was the same girl from the night at the club.”
The omega from the soirée at the Institute. The girl from the club. Mads’s omega girlfriend. And the woman who needed me at her event at the Omega Shelter—all Acadia.
“Do we believe in god?” Mads asks. Using “we” like he’s now part of something new.
“My clan believed in Fate,” Locke says. He doesn’t talk much about the clan who gave him up.
“Fate has her hands in the destiny of alphas and omegas,” Kol says. “I don’t know about betas. I was a kid when I left them. You’ll have to Google it.”
“So wait,” Locke says, “Do we know why she had a preference for betas?”
We all try to think.
“She met me on a beta only dating app. She didn’t bring up why she was on the app, and I didn’t ask. I know she’d never dated or been with a beta before.”
“She told me she’d been courted and under contract with a pack until recently,” I add.
Locke growls. Aggressively.
“I made an offer to court her. She said she is willing. She kissed me. Held my hand. She said we will meet tomorrow. I didn’t tell her about you three. She didn’t want to talk. She said she wanted to kiss now, and talk tomorrow.”
Kol and Locke both love that. They are impressed.
“How was your first kiss?”
Mads’s shock gets through the bond.
“She’s wonderful. Fiery, but kind. And so beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful. She took the breath out of me. Locke, we found her.”
Locke is feeling a lot of feelings.
I’ll let him cycle through them for now.
“Kol, let’s get home. It’s been a long day.”
We drive home. On the way, Kol keeps bringing up how insane this is. He uses words like serendipitous, chance, fate, and destiny. Locke is silent. Mads is making noises instead of words. He’s too shocked.
I don’t blame him.
He gets to keep his girlfriend.
Kol gets to keep his mystery omega.
Locke gets his scent match.
I get the girl of my dreams.
We just have to play this right. I need to write this out on the whiteboard when we get home.
It’s Tuesday now. Tomorrow, Acadia will go to the Institute in the morning and be presented with our file.
She’ll see that we are who we are. She’ll be able to process it without us breathing down her neck.
Then she will meet us after. We will explain our situation.
She needs to bond with us by Friday. Locke’s birthday is Friday.
I’ll go to Salt Port and tell Legs that we reached his deadline. Locke is ours.
He will have to find a new alpha to bed his spoiled daughter.
If he won’t let us go, then I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. I’ll have to show them why I’m Pack Soto’s lead alpha.
I want my pack together. Alive. Healthy. Happy. Unconnected with Legs and his people.
We arrive at the apartment, and Locke starts making us sandwiches. Kol pours us each a beer. We sit at the table, and I start writing the timeline on the board.
“Kol, while I’m in Salt Port, you’ll be here with Acadia. I’m hoping she can help with your rutting. Locke, I’m not sure you can be away from your scent match after bonding. I know you. I think you should stay with them.”
He doesn’t react. He’s deep in thought.
“Can I go with you?” Mads offers.
I consider it. It would make the most sense. Mads is clever. He can be violent. He wears my mark prominently on his neck, which will show the Salt Port alphas how much influence I have. It will only give evidence of my reputation. I got the omega I said I would get, and now also have a loyal beta.
“You know there will be lots of alphas there, yes?”
Mads sucks in his lips. He thinks about it. Finally, he says, “I’ll manage.”
“Ok, you should come. I would like you there with me.”
I go over the timeline again. It’s tight. Real tight.
“I need everyone together this whole week. Kol, no working. Locke, you’re a house alpha this week. I want you glued to our sides. Mads, is that going to be a problem?”
He shakes his head.
We eat our sandwiches and drink our beers. I type up our letter to Acadia, and everyone reads through it and adds their own lines.
I take the couch. Mads sleeps in my bed. Locke and Kol go to their room. I can hear them whispering inside.
Everything is going to be ok.