Chapter 19
Yes, there is pain, but it is an undercurrent of suffering layered with sweetness.
And oh, it’s sweet. Rich and chocolatey, with hints of cherries and cream, overwhelming my senses. Like a decadent dessert at a way too expensive restaurant.
It both hardens my cock and relieves some of the ache in my head.
I can feel the weight of a cloth over my mouth, and I grasp it, quickly realizing it’s where the scent is coming from. I shove it against my nose, trying to get it as close as possible, inhaling deeply. A purr rattles my chest reflexively.
This is what all those romance movies were talking about. I never quite believed it until now.
They said all you’d need is a single moment, and you’d know. Deep in your bones, in the genetic code that makes you an Alpha, you’d know the Omega that was supposed to be by your side.
And this one is mine. Not a single part of me doubts it. I have no hesitation .
This Omega, this chocolate cake scented dream, is my Omega, and I will do whatever it takes to stay by her side and make her happy.
“Quinton?”
My Beta sounds scared. Scent matching with him was different, but no less intense. Instead of the desire to nurture and spoil, I wanted to possess him. To staple his body to my own and ensure he could never stray from me.
It sounds codependent, and maybe it is, but it works for us. Matteo is the other half of my soul, and now our spirit has joined us in the form of our Omega.
How can he sound so scared when the most incredible smell in the world is surrounding us? Our Omega is within our reach.
Finally.
“Q, baby, please. Please wake up.”
“M’wake,” I mumble, unwilling to move the cloth from my face.
I’m afraid that if I pull this away, I’m going to find out the sweet smell is a dream.
I don’t think it’s a dream, but I feel a little like my eyes are bugging out of my head with hearts as pupils, so I don’t think I’m the most reliable narrator at the moment.
However, the chocolate cake scent intensifies, except this time it smells bitter, as if it had been left in the oven for too long. I want to snarl, to attack whatever it is that is upsetting my Omega.
She should never smell like that. Never. She’s supposed to be sweet and thick and happy. Decadent and rich.
Not like this.
“Quinton?” comes the soft voice of Dr. Alex Shields.
The Omega doctor.
I sit up so fast she startles backwards, and my eyes strain to adjust to the light filling the room.
Matteo is beside me, eyes watery and swollen, but a happy smile on his face. Jude and Dario are in the doorway, both breathing out of their mouths and staring at the Omega in front of me.
I lunge, grabbing her and pulling her against me, burying my face in her neck. The scent from the cloth fills my senses, making every muscle in my body relax and my cock start to thicken.
My Omega. My Omega.
I knew it. I knew it in my soul from the moment she chose the pillows I liked for her nest.
And look at us now.
But my head hurts. It’s loud, and I’m having trouble holding onto my Omega. She’s screaming and thrashing in my arms.
Why is she doing that? Isn’t she happy? I have her now. We’re safe. We’re together.
“Quinton!” Jude barks, the command of a more dominant Alpha breaks through the fog in my mind, and has me letting go of my Omega.
Alex crab crawls backward into the corner of Matteo’s trailer, panting, tears streaming down her face. A near-constant whine is in her throat, and it feels like ice picks to my brain. Her whole body is vibrating like she’s being held together by tightly wound twine.
That’s my Omega, and she’s distressed. I can make it better.
“Stop!” Jude barks again, rooting me in place. Goddamn his dominance. His Alpha presence is fucking strong as hell, and I’m just trying to get to my Omega, to make her feel better. “You’ve terrified her, Quinton. Back away from the Omega.”
The big Alpha’s hands are clutched in tight fists as he stares at the trembling Omega. He looks like he’s about to crawl out of his skin. Or maybe rip my head off my shoulders.
Would he throw it closer to her? I’m willing to let him rip my head off it gets me nearer to her scent.
Matteo grabs one of my hands in his. “You’re okay. You’re okay,” he whispers, rubbing my palm on his cheek. “You’re okay. Just breathe, calm down for a moment.”
“I was right,” I tell him, unable to take my eyes off Alex. “I told you she’s ours.”
“You were right,” he repeats, and she whines louder, tears running down her face in a deluge. “But your Alpha instincts triggered her, and she’s not doing well now. You have a responsibility to take care of her, and you’re not doing that right now. You need to calm down and give her space.”
Even though her scent is bitter and cloying, clearly distressed, being exposed to her pheromones has me feeling better already. My head is clearer than normal, and my bones don’t ache like they usually do this late in the evening.
It’s like I’ve smoked three joints, but without the lazy way my brain moves afterward.
Even snotty, with tears running down her face, and heavy, dark circles under her eyes, she’s gorgeous. Despite the hollowness of her cheekbones, a clear sign she’s ill, and rats nest of hair on the top of her head, she’s sexy.
She’s simply spectacular. A more perfect Omega has never existed.
I want to hold her, to mark her with my scent so every fucking man in this circus knows she’s mine.
Once they get a whiff of her scent, they’re all going to want her.
Well, they can’t fucking have her.
A growl rumbles in my chest at the thought .
She’s mine! They can’t take her away from me. I’ve just found her, and she needs me.
“I need to…” she whimpers, wrapping her arms around her knees. She’s wearing one of my shirts that Matteo likes to steal, and I have to beg my cock to lie down for a minute and let me get my wits about me at the sight of her in my clothes.
“Do you need me to take you home, Doc?” Dario asks with a shaky voice. His pupils are wide, his face flushed, and I think he may be closer to a rut than I am.
Oh. That’s interesting.
Is Dario also a scent match? That would also mean his gloomy brother would be along for the ride. Honestly, I could think of worse people to form a pack with.
“I don’t trust any of you with her right now,” Matteo snaps.
“You’re not much better!” Dario points at Matteo’s crotch, where his cock is straining his sweatpants.
Huh. Are we all just standing around with our cocks pointed at Alex like she’s our true north?
It’s not unheard of for a Beta to scent match an Omega, but it is pretty rare. Not all Betas have strong enough pheromones to be compatible with Omegas. Maybe they’re a match, since I am? Wouldn’t that be lucky?
“Dexter,” she says through gasping tears. “Dexter can take me back.”
Rejection stings my eyes. Why would she want the one Alpha who wants nothing to do with Omegas over me? Her scent match?
Jude takes a step into the trailer, his massive body taking up way too much space. His dominance is off the charts right now, and I don’t appreciate him being so unleashed around my Omega. He’ll scare her off .
Maybe this is a pot calling the kettle black situation, but I need him to tone it back several levels before he scares her away.
“Not a good idea, Omega,” he rumbles, and she whimpers. “He doesn’t trust Omegas on a good day, and right now, you’re too potent. He won’t be able to be around you.”
“Besides.” Dario clears his throat and enters the trailer as well, pulling the door shut behind him. He’s wearing a pair of superhero pajama pants and a black tank top, all of his colorful tattoos on display. “I think you’re my scent match, which means you’re his too.”
Identical twins have identical DNA, which means that the differences in their pheromones are likely to be minimal. It must be weird growing up knowing you’ll share an Omega with your brother.
Scent matching is a biological chemical reaction that means our genetic compositions are so compatible that it’s almost impossible to resist being together, almost like soul mates, but on a chemical level.
Or some sciencey shit like that. I slept through most of biology class. My Omega can tutor me now.
Scent matches can help calm illnesses like what I have, Alpha Rot, but they also can be part of the cure for Foresaken Omega Syndrome, a degenerative Omega disease, and they can break an Omega out of Storm if needed. It’s magical, it’s scientific, and it’s undeniable.
So why is she trying to deny me?
She whines again, and all of us whimper in response, our instincts riding us to take care of her and fix whatever it is that is upsetting her.
However, how do we fix her when it’s our very presence that’s upsetting her?
“I’m not your scent match,” she says quietly. The place goes so quiet, I think all of us are holding our breath. “I can’t be.”
Matteo, the gentle Beta that he is, knows that we’re about to overwhelm her with a shit ton of distressed Alpha pheromones at being denied, so he drops to the ground and crawls a little closer to her. He stops before he’s in touching distance, and she doesn’t back away from him.
Based on her lack of reaction to his proximity, I would wager that her trauma is isolated to Alphas. It upsets me that I’m not the one soothing her, but I’m happy to know our Beta can help calm her when I cannot.
What would I do without Matteo?
“Why not, Alex?” he asks her, keeping his voice gentle.
When he looks over his shoulder at the three of us, shooting daggers that demand we keep our mouths shut, I back up a few paces and sit down at his dining table.
I’ve sat here hundreds of times, but never have I felt so heavy in this chair.
Jude joins me, gripping the edge of it like he wants to rip it to pieces.
“I…” she hiccups around tears, and it takes every fucking ounce of self-control I have not to run towards her. “I can’t be your scent match.”
She’s not addressing anyone in particular. I think it’s all of us. Though Jude hasn’t said it outright, it’s pretty apparent he’s affected by her scent more than he would be if she were just another Omega.
Matteo hums softly, and Dario opens the door to the trailer, silently slipping out.
He’s back in just a few moments, dragging a shaking and panting Dexter, who looks rough.
His hair is sticking up at odd angles, and he reminds me of that feeling you get in the moment before a jack-in-the-box pops up.
Dexter shakes his head. “I can’t be here,” he says quietly, pleading with Dario as Matteo whispers to Alex in soothing tones. “I can’t, Dario, please don’t make me.”
Dario pulls his brother to his chest, rubbing his back. “I know, I know, but look at her, Dex. Something happened to her, just like something happened to us.” He looks at me, Jude, and Matteo and gives a weak smile. “Like all of us. I think you need to hear it. She deserves that much from you.”
A loud whine from the corner has all of us staring at Alex, whose eyes are locked on Dexter. He’s glaring back at her with a fierce intensity, and it makes my breath catch in my throat.
For some reason, Alex must feel the most comfortable talking to Dexter in this situation, because she doesn’t take her eyes off of him as she speaks. He’s frozen in place under her attention, hands clenched in tight fists.
“I can’t be your scent match, because I am going back on heavy suppressants and will never scent anyone else again.”
“Why?” I ask, hoping that she’ll give me an answer I can work with.
“Because I have already met my scent match, and he tried to kill me.”