Chapter 20 The Scent Test
The Scent Test
Ondine
I toast Geoffrey back with my glass in hand. A man next to him turns him away and squeezes his butt.
Jake asked me to be with him. Make him my alpha.
Of course, I’m preening. And I’m considering it.
He has everything that satisfies my omega side.
He’s so strong and powerful. He protects me and stands up for me.
He’s focused on me. He fucks me as much as I need.
He says I don’t have to be with his other pack mates.
It, honestly, isn’t a bad idea.
And he’s so handsome, like a movie star.
I drain my drink and turn around for another one.
I haven’t even left the bar. Jake has though.
Sabbies came up from downstairs with a security issue.
I guess he’s been with the valet this whole time.
He caught my eye, but just stared at my dress like he’d never seen anything sexier.
I didn’t mind. He and Jake went downstairs to the front to do whatever they do.
Jake said, on his way out, that Shadow has “eyes on you.” And then tilted his head to the corner of the room. So, I guess Shadow is here.
A man sidles up to me, but leaves an appropriate distance between us. He’s older. His neck is ungodly in size. He’s got a goatee. He’s Chinese. He smiles at me, and I give him a half-effort smile back. “You like sparkling wine?”
“Champagne,” I correct, and take a sip.
“But California has good options.”
I look around to see if someone else notices this strange man next to me.
“Ok.”
I turn away, but he just moves to be back in front of me. “My name is Lee. It’s nice to meet you.”
I blow out all my breath and then give him my attention.
“Hi Lee. I’m Ondine. Are you enjoying the whiskey? Which one did you bring?”
Lee doesn’t have anything in his hands. They are in his pockets. “Well, Ondine. I’m not here for the whiskey.”
Wow. I do not care for this weird ass conversation. My head is spinning. I don’t have Jake with me. I think I need something to eat. In the main room, there are cheese platters.
“Well, ok. Um, have fun or whatever. I’ll see you around.” I don’t wait for his reply before I step away, on my way to cheese. He grabs my arm. Hard.
“Don’t walk away from me.“ His words are laced with alpha bark. I grit my teeth. Fear and anger rip through me, sobering me up. Who the fuck does this man think he is? Just because an alpha can control an omega doesn’t mean they ever fucking should.
And for what? So I can have a stupid ass conversation?
I dart my eyes to the corner of the room Jake referenced earlier, and there stands Shadow. He’s talking with Freddie. They both have their heads bowed toward each other and very aggressively talking. They don’t look at me.
I turn to my assailant. “Fuck all the way off.”
“Awe, it’s like a kitten spitting at a wolf.”
God, this guy is weird.
Someone with a headset on the other end of the room addresses the party. “Everyone, we are about ready to have our blind taste test contest. If you’re participating, come see me.”
It’s enough of a distraction. Lee yanks on my arm and pulls me off through a doorway into a small hall, lined with offices.
He practically lifts me off my feet to take me to the end and down some stairs.
It’s the staff offices. I’m honestly a little curious what the fuck is going on, so I’m not screaming, but I am getting really fucking pissed off.
He pulls me into a room and shuts the door. Thank god we didn’t go outside. We are in some sort of classroom thing. There’s a board and boardroom style table with chairs. There are men here. Lots of men. All alphas. They are all giving me intense stares.
“Ondine, sit down.” Lee throws me into a chair at the head of the table.
“She smells…” one alpha says and slaps his hand over his face. Well, fuck you too.
“Yes,” Lee says, “Jake Meier fucked her in the gallery ten minutes ago. It wasn’t my plan to bring her in here smelling like him, but you are all just going to have to keep it together.”
Guess there are no de-scenters in this room. Tragic because all these male pheromones are egregious.
“Why did you bring me in here? Who are you people?” I ask, and some alphas gasp.
“Her voice!”
Fuck me. Yes, I have a sweet voice.
“Are we going to have a problem?” Lee asks.
“You brought an omega into a room with feral, unbonded alphas. Probably.”
My eyes go wide as moons. I’m in danger. Why did it take me this fucking long to realize that?
Oh, I don’t want to be here.
And I’m definitely still drunk.
“I’m so glad you all understand what’s happening here.”
I raise my hand.
Lee looks at me with no humor.
I lower my hand and say, “I don’t understand what’s happening here.”
“We’re here, sweet Ondine, to find your scent match.
My alphas have been denied access to the Institute.
They’ve been denied omega placement. Their registration for omega Heat Clinics has also been denied.
All by Senator Wong. Not one former student of the Man-ho School has been granted placement status at the Cash City Institute.
Now, do you find that fair, sweet Ondine? ”
This is when my brain catches up. Lee. This man is Lee Man-ho. And these are some of his former students. Or whatever. His men. I don’t know how I factor into any of this or why I’m here.
“You’re all feral?” I ask before I can stop myself. A feral alpha is basically an animal. It means he can lose his mind and become his base self. Violent, possessive, and driven by his need to feed, fuck, and destroy. They are always teetering on the edge of complete darkness.
“Don’t act surprised. You’ve been around Freddie. He’s feral. Are you afraid of him?”
Freddie is. I knew that. That’s why he’s at the monastery. His chain, I think of. His chain is silver. It keeps him from beasting the fuck out. He’s teasing me. And messed with me. But he’s never done anything to worry me.
But a room full of feral alphas is different.
“What am I doing here? What does this have to do with scent matches?”
A scent-match is a rare thing. Practically a myth. An omega and a pack of alphas can scent match. It makes them uniquely paired. It’s like fate or magic. Scent matches are a supreme match. Like a soulmate.
I actually don’t fully understand it.
“It’s our workaround. I’ve found two of my former students’ scent matches. I intend to find them all.”
There are maybe twelve men in this room besides Man-ho. They all look at me with such craving hope. “So, I’m not being kidnapped?”
Man-ho laughs. Like I’m being silly. “No, not yet anyway. We were all up in the tasting room, but the club has scent blockers. I needed you in here to properly test.”
“Why me?”
“To piss off the Wongs, mostly. A scent match would supersede any contract you currently have with them.”
I mutter under my breath, “I don’t have a fucking contract with the Wongs.” My contract is with Jake Meier and his pack.
Man-ho pulls my chair into a more open space in the room and asks each of his men to take a turn, leaning into my neck and smelling me.
They all say something about Jake’s scent all over me.
Which Man-ho barks out why it shouldn’t matter.
And if they were a scent match, it would make them so insane their feral side would rip out of them, and they’d rush to go kill Jake right now.
He says something more graphic about how they’d rip his head off his shoulders, which makes me growl in my pitiful, sweet voice. I get a couple “awes” for that.
I groan in agitation as each man places his hands on the armrests of my chair and leans their head in. Their breath puffs around my ear. It makes it so I have to smell each one. I’m upset when some of them smell kind of nice.
“How do you know we are a scent match?” I ask Man-ho just to break up the silence.
“Sometimes it’s obvious. Other times, not as much.”
This guy is a really bad communicator. How is it that he has a school?
“What do you mean?”
“Scent matches can be individual. Or they can be for a pack. If the pack is a scent match, it’s the pack lead that notices first. Once the omega is bonded, the match is more obvious to everyone.
But that doesn’t mean the unbonded alphas don’t have some sort of reaction.
It’s an abnormal reaction. Like they can scent you more with more depth.
They can feel a cord, as if tied from their heart to yours.
They become unnaturally possessive or jealous. ”
Sounds like hocus pocus to me. Honestly. Another male smells, but this time he rubs his nose across my cheek. Absolutely not. I shove him away, and he laughs. This is gross.
“I’ve been training alphas to harness their inner beast, give in to the goodness of their wild side, and take their feral natures to the ends of it—but they need an omega.
All alphas do. To deny my sons an omega is cruel.
It’s unnatural. And I will stop at nothing to put a bullet through Senator Wong’s head and end his policies. ”
Ok, so glad I asked. I’m trapped in a room with a would-be murderer. I mean, I suppose I already knew he was pure evil, considering the child abuse Freddie told me about. Had he hurt all these men when they were younger, too? Is that why they’re feral? Or why they could never tame their feral side?
But this will be over soon. The last of the men have finished assaulting me with their proximity and breath.
The men surround the table, standing behind the chairs.
They chat to each other about my scent. Everyone’s a little unsure if we are scent matches, and scarily, everyone is trying to say that they could be.
“I don’t know, but it is really nice, so she could be.
Her voice and that scent?” I start to shift in my seat, realizing the problem here.
Any of these men can just say I’m a scent match. Most alphas are already possessive, jealous. Hell, Man-ho’s definition could prove Jake has a scent match with me. It’s too vague.
I’m panicking.