Chapter 10
Madi
Istart to shake, my eyes burning with tears.
Rich bergamot, dark chocolate, and tempting orange blossom reaches me, followed by decadent caramel apples. Sweet and savory with swirls of sugar, mixed with a glazed donut and creamy coffee scent.
I don’t know what scent belongs to whom, but my mouth waters. They smell like heaven, but this feels like hell.
My omega side screams to go to them. It wants me to beg them to scent mark me. To bite me. To bond me. To let me rub my body all over theirs so we don’t know where their essence begins and mine ends.
No, this can’t be happening.
Sugar baby rule number two. Always wear scent blockers.
My scent was only ever meant to be mine. I never wanted any alpha to ever know it, kept it like a secret.
“Do any of you have kids?” I blurt out. I knew firsthand how easy it was for alphas to shrug off the people who relied on them when a scent match came along. “A partner? Anyone?”
I don’t want anyone to feel the way my mom did when I was twelve, when my dads kicked us out after they found their scent match. The pain of that rejection led my mother down the path that killed her. I can’t be responsible for that happening to anyone else.
They all look deeply confused, but we didn’t share intimate details of our lives. They could’ve had whole secret families that were none of my business.
“No,” they all say in unison.
Panic swallows me whole and I turn on my heel, running outside.
The rain pours on me and I can hear the guys following me, but I don’t care.
I can’t believe I forgot to take my scent blockers with the time change and travel.
I should have taken them this morning but I was so tired and forgot the alarm had gone off.
The storm pounds into me, but it does exactly what I need it to do. Wash away my essence.
I’ve been so careful all of these years to ensure no alpha knows my scent. It’s been my greatest protection from any alpha who would want to make me theirs. These scent matches will ruin everything. It only leads to bonding. Alpha scent matches means control, a claim I’m unwilling to receive.
Once an alpha finds their scent match, there’s no getting rid of them.
It’s not like being a sugar baby, I can’t end the relationship and never see them again.
There’s a permanent, lifelong connection with biological consequences if we’re not near each other.
We’ll become ill if we are separated for long periods of time, even driving alphas to madness if parted for years.
My heats will become so much worse if they’re not around.
The way they all looked at me when they breathed in my scent…They know what I am to them now. It’s like they were experiencing sunshine for the first time, their faces full of adoration and wonderment. They whispered my scent like a prayer, a hymn of salvation.
It’s too much.
I collapse into the soaked grass, cupping my hands in my face, and let the tears flow. I didn’t want to be anyone’s anything. I just wanted to save enough money to live my life on my own terms. I was so close, too, only a few years away from leaving the sugar baby lifestyle behind me.
A whimper slips out of me and all three of my names are said above me in panicked tones.
All I’ve ever wanted was a life free of alphas. Now I have three scent matches, and I’m trapped thousands of miles from home, on a private island whose location I don’t even know, owned by an alpha I was never planning on seeing again.
Their scents wrap around my head, still inside my nose, igniting a physical reaction within me. My faux heat flares, soreness spreading to my hips. My body is making it horrible for me so I’ll seek out an alpha.
Slick soaks the lace panties I was going to tease Hunter with tonight. Lust I don’t want toys with me, demanding I give into the sexual craving. I wish I were anywhere but here.
Strong arms wrap around me. I’m hauled against a firm chest, bridal style. “Put me down!”
“No,” is all Alric says before he carries me inside.
I want to keep fighting, kicking and screaming till he releases me, but his chocolate, bergamot, and orange blossom scent overwhelms me. My feral omega side wants to inhale it forever like some sort of drug, my entire body relaxing against him no matter how much I snap at him.
Stupid traitorous body.
We drip water all over the hand-painted tile flooring and he marches us into his bedroom, a place I plan to spend a lot of time hiding in. He can sleep on the fucking couch.
Once in the bathroom, he sets me down on the lid of the toilet, kneeling before me. We stare at each other like we have every Friday night across the table on our restaurant dates. Those gray eyes are so familiar, urging me to get lost in them.
He pushes some of my wet hair off my face and cups my flushed cheek. “An omega’s immune system is weaker on suppressants, and if you get sick running around in the rain, we have no doctor on this island.”
Oh.
Well, that’s actually incredibly considerate of him.
Alric stands, any softness to him gone. Cold eyes stare down at me and my chest tightens.
“I’m sorry Hunter brought you here. This is clearly a devastating turn of events for you, but this is out of our control, too.
Try to keep your feelings on this catastrophe to yourself.
Zachary will take it personally and Hunter is too soft for this type of rejection.
There is scent-neutralizing body wash under the sink if you don’t already have some.
Dinner is almost ready and there is much to discuss. ”
My stomach takes that moment to announce its hollowness with a gurgle.
He turns before I can say anything, shutting the door a little harder than necessary, leaving me in stunned silence. He’s right. None of us chose this. All our lives are forever altered by biology and designation.
If I’d never come here, would I ever have known? My life could have gone on the same as it always has, unaltered by fate.
Where does this leave us now?
I’ve never known anyone to not want a scent match.
This should have happened to Harper, she’s been dreaming of this since she was a little girl.
She doesn’t even use scent blockers. She wants to find her fated mates, the perfect pack that will take care of her and love her forever.
She deserves it, just like I deserve the life I’ve always wanted.
The cruelty of it all—for me to get everything she’s ever wanted, while I’m desperate to reject it, hide from it, forget it ever happened.
The floor is still sopping wet. Half the items from my purse are still strewn about from when I was looking for my wallet. The pill case with my scent blockers is gone, lost in the waves. I guess they’re nothing to me now anyway.
I stand on shaking legs, pain grips my head, and make my way to the shower, throwing my wet clothing on the floor.
Cold water runs down my body, extinguishing the heat trapped under my skin.
The bathroom is stocked and I scrub at my skin with the neutralizing gel.
I’d been on scent blockers for so long, I had forgotten how sweet my scent was as it fades away, leaving behind a clean and unremarkably bland scent.
When my starving stomach demands I eat something, I leave the shower.
All of Alric’s stuff is still in the room, but my suitcase has been placed on the foot of the bed. I unzip it and let out a humorless laugh at the reminder that it’s mostly bathing suits that cover very little skin.
Useless suitcase.
I change into Hunter’s favorite workout set and put on the only jacket that I brought for the plane ride, a white fleece jacket with red maple leaves on the sides.
This pack deserves so much more. They deserve better than me. Finding a scent match is an incredible thing. It’s rare and precious.
A literal fated mate.
They deserve an omega who’s excited to be connected to them forever. They deserved a scent match orgy under the stars and for Alric to pop the most expensive champagne this side of France. But I can’t give them something I don’t have to offer. I just need to get through the next twenty-four hours.
I step into the kitchen. Whatever Alric is cooking, the garlic and the roasted aroma makes my mouth water. “Can I help with anything?”
They all turn in my direction. I shrink under their intense gazes. I really did like them, and maybe could’ve loved them in a different life.
Alric simply turns his back to me and grumbles a refusal.
Hunter follows Alric’s direction and becomes very focused on putting the silverware on the table, shame still clinging to him.
“Would you like some wine?” Zachary uncorks a bottle that’s probably worth more than my rent.
“That’s okay,” I say.
It’s not true. I’d love a glass of wine, and that’s a vintage I’ve always wanted to try, but it feels wrong to enjoy anything here. This twisted need within me to punish myself for hurting these men grows and grows. I know that I’m devastating this pack, but I have nowhere to go.
I broke off what Alric and I had on Friday. Zachary now knows I was never going to see him again, and Hunter probably picked up on the fact that after this trip, I had no plans on seeing him either.
So yeah, it feels wrong taking anything. If I wasn’t so hungry, I’d decline the meal, too.
The worst part is how good they smell. I could now find each of them in a crowded room by their scent alone. It calls to me. Like every cell in my body is reaching out to them. My omega side is livid that they haven’t touched or fucked me.
I pull out a chair and sit at the beautiful driftwood dining room table, gulping down a glass of water. My whole body is aching and warm. My face is heated and I discreetly dab at my forehead with my napkin when no one is looking at me. The sooner I can go to sleep, the better.
My mind and body are battling inside of me, demanding different desires, and tearing me apart.
“Due to the storm, we’ll be on our own until it passes.
” Alric tilts his head in my direction. “Typically, the house is fully staffed. Euclid, Yiannis, and Nikolai went back to the main island for some last-minute items and the storm has kept them there. I don’t know when they’ll be back and they have the boat that will take us back to Santorini for the airport. ”
My shoulders slump, but he continues. “My jet is scheduled to return this weekend and that’s when we’ll be leaving.
I understand you have a flight booked. I don’t know if it will be possible, but I’ll make every effort to try to get you there if the weather clears tomorrow, but the latest weather report has the storm lasting until later in the week.
It may be almost summer here, but there has never been a storm like this so late in the year on record.
The three of us have work to do, but you’re welcome to use any part of the house. If you need anything, just ask.”
Zachary plates his dinner in the kitchen. “There’s a media room, library, and indoor pool.”
Hunter jumps in and adds, “We understand this is a unique situation, but we do want you to feel as comfortable as possible.”
“That’s very kind. Thank you,” I say, trying to sound genuine.
I need to finish as soon as possible and then go back to my room. It would have been nice to eat alone, but that seems like it would make everything worse.
Alric appears at my side, standing above me with a steaming pile of food.
I expect him to slam the plate down, but he places it in front of me with surprising gentleness.
“This isn’t about kindness. We’re alphas and you’re our scent match.
We’re biologically designed to ensure that you’re happy, cared for, and safe. ”
If I ever feel any of that ever again.
The plate looks like something out of an esteemed restaurant.
A glossy side salad with crumbled feta cheese, walnuts, and pomegranate seeds that shine like rubies.
Grilled eggplant and flaky bread that looks freshly baked.
Thick slices of roasted, herb-covered lamb with buttery potatoes sprinkled with rosemary.
Next to it, he sets down a large glass of the wine.
He knew I’d want some. I wish I could yell at them to be mean to me, to hate me like they should because I’m about to crush their dreams of ever having an omega or a scent match. But that wouldn’t change anything, so I take a bite of the lamb and potatoes. I’ll feel better with a full stomach.
I close my eyes to properly savor it. It tastes incredible and a little moan slips out. My eyes snap open and I realize the mistake I’ve made.
The alphas stare at me hungrily.