Chapter 6 Riven
SIX
Riven
It’ll happen any minute now…
I calculated the best possible time and altitude to view the meteor shower.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that can’t be missed.
I’d have preferred to go up into the mountains, but with a potential storm rolling in, Hale ordered me not to, meaning the SVU campus is the closest I’ll get.
If we were back in Rose Harbor, I’d have the perfect vantage point from my special spot near our cabin, but sitting atop a branch in this tree will have to do.
Sadly, my best telescope is too big to carry, so I couldn’t bring it. However, I have my portable one, and with the size of the shower, I’ll be able to see it just fine unless thick clouds obstruct my view.
Besides, after the afternoon I’ve had, the thought of lugging that heavy object makes my head want to explode.
I spent the best part of the day getting my room set up exactly how I like it.
Even though everything now has its special place, acclimatizing to a new space isn’t easy.
I still have to fine-tune and make some tweaks to get it to look the same as my last room but better.
I almost didn’t make it up to this spot on time after a mishap with my keyboard.
Checking my watch, I see it’s just past midnight. I pull the collar of my raincoat up around my neck, tugging on the string to tighten it under my chin to keep the cold at bay.
I forgot it was Halloween until I saw other students heading to Club Knotty dressed in costumes. I rub my gloved hands together. I’ll take bad weather over socializing and going to Halloween parties any day.
My packmates are better at social events than I am. I’ve only ever been to parties when the others dragged me along. They’re overwhelming. Too much. The scents, the sounds, the people… Although I can force myself, it’s draining.
Honestly, I don’t know how I even survived growing up in the household I did. I have five siblings who are all total agents of chaos. Them, coupled with my two dads and Mom, meant my house was always loud.
For much of my childhood, I found refuge in my bedroom, rejoicing in the quiet stillness.
Mom tried to give me the space I needed while coaxing me out for meals, but everyone else didn’t understand.
They couldn’t get why I didn’t want to come out on family vacations or join them on day trips.
My brothers, not so fondly, referred to me as “the brain,” “the human calculator,” or, when they were in a really bad mood, “the freak.” They’d spend hours—until they got bored—firing out math equations at me that I’d be able to answer in seconds.
Mom wanted to take me to a specialist to get me help or treatment.
I think she thought that having a label for whatever was “wrong” with me would help to excuse some of my anti-socialness—or what my dads perceived as rudeness—but I always refused.
What would having a diagnosis change anyway?
I know who I am. My brain is wired a little differently. That’s all.
When she learned I joined a pack, Mom cried.
I’d like to think it was because she was pleased for me, but I also think it was from the relief of knowing that I wouldn’t be alone forever.
I’m lucky to have found the Valen Pack. They accept me for who I am and let me just be.
Hale has never forced me to do anything I’m uncomfortable with.
The guys may tease me for being a human calculator sometimes, but it’s never cruel or taunting like my brothers.
They accept me, which is more than I ever thought I’d have.
“Damn.” The wind blows a branch into my line of vision. I reposition myself, getting the telescope back into the right spot, then freeze.
Suddenly, a scent carries on the breeze. Someone is running. I pull in a deep inhale through my nose. Her scent reminds me of frost-tipped branches, crisp and fresh, but there’s also a warmth to it. What the…?
Across the lawn, a woman with silky blonde hair that flows behind her races toward me.
My alpha instincts instantly kick in. Is she okay?
What is she running from? Then I frown, watching her heels sink into the mud.
Why didn’t she take the path instead of cutting through the park? It would be a more practical choice.
Still, she trudges on with a relentlessness I have to admire, pushing her willowy limbs as she continues.
Judging by her skeleton-themed dress, I’m guessing that she came from the Monster Masquerade.
However, why would an omega leave alone?
Even though SVU is a safe place, it’s still unwise for an omega to be walking around at night.
All it takes is an alpha to have a few too many drinks and lose control. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.
She pauses close by, next to the pumpkin patch beneath me, pulling off her tiara, hurling it into a nearby bush. Her shoulders rise and fall with her heavy breaths as she shakes her long hair free.
Wow.
My heart jumps in my chest as the moonlight hits her face, her skin practically glowing. She’s perfect. Almost like a doll. She’s tall for an omega, yet her movements are slow and elegant, regal. Her scent seems to suit her.
I lean forward to get a better look. Her scent becomes even more potent, clouding all my senses and making the rest of the world fade away.
I’m not around omegas often. There are few in my classes, but honestly, I don’t pay them much attention.
I’m too busy lost in strings of code to be distracted by them.
Yet her scent draws me in, like a magnet, to the point that I no longer care about the meteor shower that I’ve been waiting months to see.
Learning more about her seems vastly more interesting.
Suddenly, a sharp snap sounds from beneath me.
Oh no…
I wobble, trying to redistribute my weight, but it’s too late.
I know what will happen before it does.
I manage to grab my telescope and hug it to my chest as the branch I’m perched on breaks, causing me to tumble to the ground and almost crush the fascinating omega below me.