Chapter 13
13
brIAR
“Are you aware that phones exist, Bee? I’m this close to taking back your best friend status at this point,” Clover threatens, pinching her thumb and pointer finger together but keeping them from sealing completely.
“This is the second time you’ve left me hanging.”
“I didn’t think that a phone call would have done what I need to tell you justice.”
“Well, you’re right. But I still would have liked to know sooner.”
“The morning after isn’t good enough?” I tease between sips of the green smoothie she handed me a few minutes ago.
It tastes like ginger and grass and not like anything I’d prefer to ingest at eight in the morning.
Clover is nothing if not overly considerate when it comes to those she loves, though.
At least she’s stopped “accidentally” buying too many groceries every week and filling my fridge when I’m capable of doing that myself.
I shouldn’t complain about a green smoothie.
The small café we’ve met at today is only a block from the office, and with back-to-back deliveries today, I know this is the only chance we’re going to have to talk about more than placentas and breathing exercises.
And I really, really want to talk about the men from last night.
So, I do, and the details of my meeting last night come spilling out.
Clover stares at me blankly, ripping off a piece of her gluten-free muffin.
“How are you even here today? You’re seriously telling me that you met your scent match last night and you’re not at his place banging his brains out already?”
My face flames as I keep my immediate reaction to that suggestion subdued.
Considering that I’ve gone through all of my clean pairs of thick panties already and there weren’t any available to wear today, I doubt the old couple a few tables away from us wants to smell just how much I wish I could be with Ronan right now.
“It’s more complicated than that,” I say.
She frowns. “Scent matches are supposed to be the least complicated thing in the universe. You smell each other, you realize that you’re all but fated to be together, and then you fuck until you can’t fuck anymore.”
“Do you have to say it like that? And so loudly too?”
“It’s true, though, isn’t it? Tell me that you didn’t want to climb the guy’s body like a squirrel up a tree. This is monumental news, Bee. You’re being too calm about it.”
“Ronan, Clover. His name is Ronan.”
Even just simply saying his name has an effect on me.
In a blink, I have my cardigan off and hanging over the back of my chair to try and cool my spiking temperature.
“Ooh, that’s a sexy name,” she coos.
It’s an innocent comment, but in a matter of seconds, I’ve got my eyes narrowed and a tension in my muscles that’s completely unnecessary.
Noticing all of this, Clover smirks.
“See? I bet this wouldn’t have happened if you’d slept with him and got those first-meeting jitters out of your system.”
“Really? I’d have thought it would have made it worse.”
“Maybe. I’m probably not the best omega to be giving you advice on this, though. I don’t know shit about scent matches outside of what we’ve learned at work. Have you told your mom? I bet she’d know what to do.”
I wince, shaking my head as I relax into my chair again.
“No. Not yet. There’s more to this story than you know.”
“Do you want me to beg for more details? Because I will.”
“As entertaining as that would be,” I start, glancing around the café as it fills table by table, “I don’t think everyone around us needs to hear about my love life.”
“Fair enough. So, what’s wrong with him?”
I huff a laugh.
“There’s nothing wrong with him, Clo.”
“Then what’s the problem? It’s not his smell, clearly. Does he have a super-small head and a massive body or something?”
“He has a pack.”
There’s a moment of heavy silence while she swallows and readjusts in her seat.
“I still don’t see what’s wrong. You’ve always wanted a pack.”
“I do. I really, really do. It’s not that I’m upset about it. I’m mildly freaking out—in a good way! There’s a beta?—”
“A beta?”
“Yeah. Dash. I thought . . .” I spin my plastic cup, swishing around the melting smoothie as I force the rest of the sentence up my throat.
“I thought he could have also been a scent match.”
Clover leans over the table, confusion swirling in her eyes.
“He wasn’t? I didn’t think that was possible. Have you heard of that before? Just one pack member not sharing a scent match compatibility with an omega?”
“I don’t know enough about it. He smelled amazing to me, and I know I was busy trying not to lose it over Ronan, but there was a pull between us too. Or I thought there was. He didn’t seem to think so.”
“How did Ronan react to that?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t show a reaction.”
“Well, it’s unusual in the first place to have a pack with only two alphas, but considering one is a beta, maybe that’s just how it is,” she offers, putting a considerate amount of effort into reassuring me.
It’s not that simple.
“There are two others,” I blurt out.
“Alphas.”
Her mouth falls open.
“Four?”
“Four,” I confirm.
It’s almost . . . exciting being able to say that.
But I hold off on getting too worked up over it.
There’s no telling what could happen with the other two men.
If they’re like Dash, I’m almost too terrified to think about what that would mean.
Scent matches are so easy that they’re complicated.
Sure, if we allow biology to take the driver’s seat in situations like this, there wouldn’t even be a second to doubt or worry.
Unfortunately, I’m not that type of person.
I think too much to simply hand over control to the omega inside of me and present for a stranger at the drop of a hat, scent match or not.
And knowing that I could potentially have three alphas as mine, along with a beta who didn’t seem all that impressed with that idea, completely freaks me out.
Suddenly, dreaming and yearning for a pack of my own has gotten a lot more complicated.
“And? Tell me about them, Briar. What are their names? Are they hot? Who am I kidding? They obviously are,” Clover states boldly.
Pain spreads in my chest. Last night, it kept me up for hours.
It’s sharp enough to steal my breath as I swallow a hiss.
I work past it, hiding as much of it as possible.
This is another complication that I’m learning comes with finding a scent match.
After meeting the strange alpha in the restaurant, I’ve gotten weird phantom aches, but nothing quite like these.
I push those ones aside, knowing they’re probably unrelated due to their lack of severity.
It turns out there was nothing there, even if for a moment, I wondered.
Now, the initial connection I’ve made with Ronan is trying to bring us back together.
My body craves him, even if my mind hasn’t quite caught up yet.
Every hour that we’re apart becomes more draining on me.
“I know their names, but they’re strangers,” I admit, my voice cracking on the last word.
The emotion that rolls over me is alarming but not even unexpected at this point.
I sniffle past the burn in my nose and take an angry sip from my smoothie.
“I’m so confused right now,” Clover admits.
“That makes two of us. I didn’t have much time to ask anyone anything before Dash was pulling Ronan away from me. He barely managed to give me his number first,” I snip, my sadness morphing into anger.
Clover watches me closely, elbows on the pastel blue table.
“Have you texted him yet? Maybe he could help with your confusion.”
“I don’t even know what to say,” I admit.
“You could start with hello.”
I twist my lips before sighing.
“Help me, Clo.”
“I know you’re nervous, sweetheart, but this is literally something all omegas dream of. You’ve got this, and I’ll be here to help anytime you need me.”
Half my mouth lifts into a thankful smile as I hand her my phone and watch anxiously as she types my password in.
“I’m honestly a little surprised that he didn’t demand your number before he left. That seems like a very un-alpha thing to do,” she says while her finger swipes down my screen.
“I think we were both too overwhelmed to think of much more than what we were feeling. It was a lot.”
Her eyes lift from the phone, finding mine.
“But amazing, right? Everything you’d dreamed of?”
“He was everything and then some,” I murmur, letting my emotions free for a moment.
The disbelief and awe when I saw him and the utter obsession that followed the first whiff of caramel.
His intense eyes and the way they fell upon me so gently, like a caress of fingertips.
Being in his arms was the safest I’ve ever felt.
One moment with them around me and I knew he’d take care of me forever.
Maybe that’s why I’m so scared.
Once I send this first message, I’m accepting what fate has handed me.
My life won’t ever be the same again.
But . . . hasn’t it already changed?
It would be a waste to continue pretending that it’s the same as it was before last night.
Darting my eyes to the window, I gaze out at the busy street and roll my thoughts around in my mind.
A tall, ruggedly built man is standing across the road, startling me.
Brown hair buzzed short, he’s wearing a similar leather jacket to the one Ronan had on last night, but surely that isn’t him.
I blink, keeping my eyes shut for a second longer than normal before opening them again.
The man is gone, if he was ever there in the first place.
Another pang explodes in my chest as I look back at Clover.
“I can see it on your face, Bri. He must have been something special,” Clover agrees, her voice a soft hum.
I tuck my hair behind my ear and prop my arm up on the table.
“It doesn’t feel real.”
“Well, it is. And the quicker you text this alpha, the sooner you’ll get to see him again. After we’re done with today, you’ll need a break. I can’t think of a better way to spend it than with your scent match.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I say, rolling my lips to hide a smile.
“Oh, I’m not. It’s called being realistic, sweetie. Now, what do you think about a simple ‘hey, hottie’?”
I all but lunge over the table to try and snatch my phone from her.
She pushes her chair back with a laugh, holding the phone in the air and out of my reach.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” she says through a laugh.
“You better be. Don’t embarrass me with this.”
“Me? I’d never. Even though it’s probably impossible to embarrass yourself in front of a man who would quite literally do anything for you.”
“We hardly know each other. Let’s try to keep things the tiniest bit realistic here for now.”
She narrows her eyes.
“I don’t like seeing you so self-conscious. Is this because of that asshole alpha at the restaurant?”
I might as well be standing directly in the sun with how quickly I heat up.
Only this time, the red on my cheeks is for an entirely different reason.
“How am I supposed to forget that happened? It wasn’t that long ago.”
“Briar, that guy was a goddamn fool, okay? Honestly, he probably knew he couldn’t handle you. One look at you and he was hit with the realization that he’s a total loser and would forever suffer with feeling inadequate.”
“It doesn’t matter the reason. His reaction to me is branded into my brain. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be having nightmares about it for months still.”
“No, you won’t because you’ll be too busy getting railed by your pack. Trust me, in a few days, you won’t even remember that douchebag.”
Clearing my throat, I nod.
The only thing that will come from me continuing to pout about what happened is a lingering sense of shame.
Clover’s right. I have better things to focus on, even if they share the hell out of me.
“Hand me my phone,” I say.
She does immediately.
My palm is sweaty as I grip it tight and bring it in close.
Ronan’s name is simple on the screen but still makes me shiver.
“Just be yourself. You’re amazing that way.”
My head swims as I type out a simple message and send it before I can delete it.
Hi, Ronan. It’s Briar.
Do you have time to talk sometime?