Chapter 10
JASPER
I’ve been thinking about Anita nonstop since I met her at the apartment yesterday.
That’s not normal for me. I don’t do obsession. I don’t lie awake replaying conversations or imagining how someone would look in my bed. But Anita? She got under my skin from day one, and it’s only gotten worse since.
Now I’m walking her home through snow-dusted streets, just the two of us, and it’s taking every ounce of control I have not to pin her against the nearest wall and taste the grin on her mouth.
She’s shivering beside me, arms wrapped tightly around herself like she’s trying to hold herself together.
“Here.” I’m already peeling off my coat, like instinct made the decision for me.
“I’m fine—”
“You’re freezing,” I snap, gruffer than I meant, and drape it over her shoulders.
The damn thing swallows her whole. She looks small in it, but not fragile, never fragile.
Just mine. The sleeves hang past her hands, the hem hits her knees, and the sight of her wrapped in my scent punches straight through my chest like a fist.
She pauses. Then pulls the coat tighter and breathes in.
Deliberately.
I see it.
She wants it. My scent. Me.
Fuck me.
“Thanks,” she whispers, almost dismissive, but there’s something under it. A hum of satisfaction.
“Can’t have you getting sick.” My own response is rough. I sound like I have gravel stuck in my throat.
We walk in silence for a bit. Her shoe scuffs echo in the quiet street. The streetlamps cast gold over the snow, and every time she shifts under my coat, I get smothered with another wave of her faint scent mixed with mine.
I can’t stop stealing stares. The line of her jaw. The way her breath fogs the air. The tension in her shoulders. The pink at the tip of her nose.
She keeps glancing at me too. Thinks I don’t notice, but I see every damn flick of her gaze.
I’ve been studying her like a blueprint all night.
“So. Four unmated Alphas, no Omega, no girlfriends, and you all live together? What’s the catch?”
I blink. Then look at her.
She’s watching me now. Chin up, eyes sharp, like she already knows the answer and wants to see if I’ll lie.
Goddamn.
“We’ve all got baggage,” I say, watching her like a damn hawk. “And we found each other… I think we’ve gotten so comfortable that it’s been hard to find someone to mesh with us.”
She lifts an eyebrow, curious. Unbothered. That mouth of hers tilts into a smirk.
“Everyone has baggage.”
“Yeah,” I nod, taking a slow step closer, “but we want a particular kind of Omega. One who doesn’t flinch when things get hard. Or messy.”
I pause. Let it sink in. “She’d have to take all four of us. No sides. No weak links. Just one Omega who can handle the heat.”
Her mouth parts slightly. No fear. Just that same intrigued glint in her eyes, like she’s picturing it. Living it.
“Oh,” she says slowly, “so you’re only looking for an Omega you can all share?”
No judgment. Just curiosity. She’s smart like that, asks without shame, listens without retreating. I adore that.
“Ideally, yeah.”
I stop walking. Turn. Face her fully. “That scares you?”
She shakes her head, brown hair bouncing slightly on her shoulders. “It… intrigues me. The idea of one Omega… trying to satisfy four big Alphas…”
Her voice trails off, breath catching like she’s just now imagining it. And fuck me, but I’m imagining it too. Her, wrecked. Whimpering. Marked by every one of us.
I step into her space, slow and sure. I want her to feel it. My size. My interest. My control.
“Or maybe,” I murmur, voice dipped low, “it’s four Alphas who’d do anything for her. Devoted. Possessive. Willing to burn the world down if she asked.”
My gaze drops to her lips. “We’d give her everything she wanted. Everything she didn’t even know she needed. Protect her. Ruin her for anyone else.”
She’s staring up at me like I just handed her a loaded fantasy. Her pulse flutters in her neck, and her lips are parted like she’s already imagining one of us between her thighs. Or maybe I’m just losing my mind.
“Well,” she whispers, a little breathless, “when you put it like that… why are you single, again?”
I huff out a laugh, rough and low. “Fuck if I know.”
But as I study her, I think I might’ve just found the reason to stop being alone.
She bumps into me playfully, and the contact sends electricity racing through my body.
I want to grab her. Pull her against me. Show her exactly what four Alphas could do for her.
But I hold back. Barely.
We keep strolling, and the snow starts falling again. Small flakes catching in her hair, on her eyelashes, on the shoulders of my coat.
She’s walking beside me when suddenly her foot goes out from under her.
One second she’s upright, and the next she’s falling, arms flailing, a startled gasp escaping her lips.
She desperately grabs for my arm, and I catch her instantly, one hand gripping her elbow while my other arm wraps around her back, hauling her against my chest.
“Shit,” she breathes, her hands fisting my shirt.
“I’ve got you.” She’s soft and warm against me, her body molding to mine like she belongs there. Like the world finally made something that fits just right.
She’s trembling. I sense her heart pounding against my chest.
“Might need to carry you home at this rate,” I murmur, my lips brushing the shell of her ear.
She shivers again.
Her laugh becomes breathy. “I can walk. Usually. When the ice isn’t trying to murder me.”
She still hasn’t moved. Neither have I.
I shouldn’t hold her this long. Shouldn’t breathe her in like that scent was made for me.
But fuck, I can’t help feeling like it’s bonding to me as though she might be my scent match.
Except, something’s not fully right with it either…
Still too faint and barely there. Not to mention, she has a waft of Ash’s scent, which must be from being siblings and living together.
Then she glances up at me and says, “I love your muscles.”
Her hands still linger on my chest. Her cheeks are flushed, eyes wide.
A second later, she laughs. Nervous. Embarrassed, maybe. “Sorry. That might be the beer talking.”
“Don’t apologize,” I say, letting my hand slide down her back as I slowly, reluctantly let her go. My fingers remain just a second longer than they should. “I like bold.”
She wobbles slightly on her feet, and I catch her again without thinking. This time my hand settles lower on her waist.
She doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t pull away.
Fuck, she’s going to break me.
We start walking again, shoes crunching over snow. But something is different now. The air is heavier. Buzzing. Like the moment is still holding its breath, waiting for one of us to cross a line we can’t uncross.
“It’s nice having you in town,” I say, keeping my tone casual, even though I can’t stop watching her from the corner of my eye. “New energy. New… everything.”
She stares up at me, a spark in her expression. “Is that the only reason I’ve got your attention? Just the shiny new thing?”
I smirk. “No,” I say. “You’ve got my attention because I can’t stop thinking about you.”
She stumbles again, just slightly.
“Maybe you should carry me home,” she teases, not even trying to hide the heat in her voice this time.
I stop walking. Turn fully. She’s smiling, but there’s a challenge in her eyes. A dare.
“No, I’m only joking,” she adds quickly, like maybe she’s worried I’ll take her up on it.
She should be worried.
I let the silence stretch a beat longer than it needs to. Watching her. Letting her feel the weight of my attention.
Then I take a slow step closer.
“You really think I’d say no to that?” My voice drops, heat curling around the words. “There’s something about you I haven’t found in anyone else. Something that makes me want to know everything. Every thought. Every secret.”
Her breath catches, and I close the distance between us. Not touching her. Not yet. Just letting the tension rise like smoke between us.
“And your scent…” I drag in a breath, tasting it. “It’s faint. Too faint. And it’s driving me out of my fucking mind trying to figure out why. Because what I can smell? It’s fucking perfect and calling to me.”
She swallows, eyes flicking down to my mouth for half a second too long. “Yeah. Strange, isn’t it?”
Strange. That’s one word for it. But there’s something in her voice that’s off. Guarded. Like she’s deflecting. Hiding something.
I clock it. Store it away. I’ll dig it out later. For now, I’m too busy watching the way she walks beside me again, as if she doesn’t realize every little move she makes is rewiring my self-control.
We reach her apartment building, and I guide her under the blue awning with a hand on her lower back. The contact burns hotter than it should.
She fishes for her keys, slipping her hand into the top of her dress, and my gaze follows instinctively. I’m close enough that she backs up against the door.
She looks up, keys clenched in her hand. I lean in, planting my palm on the door beside her head. Not trapping her. Just… claiming the moment and her attention.
She doesn’t move.
Good. Because I’m not sure I’d let her.
The streetlights cast a warm golden haze over the snow, and for a second, she doesn’t look real. Too pretty. Too close. Too fucking tempting.
“You always stare at people like that?” I ask, voice low, rougher than I intended.
“How’s that?” she murmurs, head tilting, breath fogging the air between us.
“Like you’re making me decide if I should do something I shouldn’t.”
She smiles, sharp and sweet. “Maybe I haven’t decided yet.”
My chest tightens. God, she’s dangerous.
I take a step closer, just enough to watch her breath hitch.
“You really want to play this game with an Alpha who’s been thinking about tasting you since first meeting you?”
She gasps, and I adore her reaction.
“Maybe I’ve been thinking about it too,” she says, chin tilted like she’s not the least bit intimidated. But I hear the way her voice trembles.