5. Chapter 5
Hunter
“That went well,” Ronan said gruffly as we finished giving our regards to the last of the guests. The gala was over, and soon we could head home and relax. Ronan was a man of few words, but when he did speak, he meant it.
“Agreed. Arabella will be an asset for the launch, and her family seems reasonable enough to work with.” I agreed. Yes, the family was a bit over the top with their praise of us, but that was normal. Social climbing was rampant and expected in our circles.
“And two omegas in one family, that’s rare,” Elias said as he joined us, one hand in his pocket and one holding the last of his drink.
He was the most easy-going of our pack, the social glue that helped balance Ronan and my personalities.
Alphas of our nature could sometimes be off-putting, but we had a good time with everyone tonight.
“Yes, I can’t imagine it’s easy. Especially with them being so close in age.
” I murmured, thinking back to the two young unbonded omegas.
Arabella was the very picture of an ideal omega - put together, ultra feminine, and fawned easily over anything we did.
With her personality and social media presence, she was a shoo-in for our ambassador role.
Ivy, on the other hand, was a surprise. She hadn’t RSVP’d initially, but her family requested a spot for her at the last minute.
“Oh yes, two omegas like that are bound to have conflict. They managed it well at the table, but there was some tension,” Elias commented.
He was a better resource for understanding omegas - he’d done his research on genetics and designations in school.
“Furthermore, they aren’t related. Arabella and her mother joined the pack years ago, so there’s that complication as well. ” Elias explained.
Interesting. My mind flashed back to the pack across from us, looking like they’d been together forever.
Ivy was the daughter of one of the male members, then.
That would explain why she looked so different.
Her features didn’t resemble Arabella at all.
While Arabella was blonde and blue-eyed, Ivy was dark-haired and had the most intriguing brown eyes I’d ever seen.
She was hard to read - she’d been quiet most of the night, and I could tell that between the two of them, Arabella was the more dominant omega.
Conflicts usually arose when two omegas were forced to be near each other.
But they’d handled it well, at least until the one omega had exited without explanation at dessert.
I’d wanted so badly to feed her, to share in our mutual success.
It was natural for an unbonded alpha like me to instinctively want to protect and feed an omega.
And after I saw her being led away from the table, instinct had taken over.
She looked so small and dejected; I just had to bring her back.
Having her next to me at the table felt right - I didn’t normally have an omega at my side for these events, but Ivy felt like a balm to the sharp edges of my personality.
She was easy to be around, too. She seemed appreciative of my gesture and let me share my dessert, which pleased me more than I would have thought.
My gut instinct about her was right - I could tell she enjoyed the meal, and she’d even opened up a little when we talked.
There was more to her than met the eye. But overall, she seemed to hide her qualities, which I figured might be part of her personality.
As luck would have it, I happen to like shy omegas.
“Now I know this night was all about Arabella, but Ivy just came out of nowhere,” Elias added, a smile on his face. I knew he was interested in her - he’d been at her side almost the whole night.
“You like her, don’t you?” I asked, and he nodded. We hadn’t courted an omega seriously for some time.
“You sure it wasn’t just that we were surrounded by dozens of omegas tonight?” Ronan said, running a hand over his dark black hair to set a loose curl back into place. “That many damn omegas are bound to make even the strongest of us feel things.” He said, and Elias laughed.
“True. But I’m a beta, I’m not as affected by them as you are. And yet,” he said, turning to us. “Ivy is the most intriguing person I’ve met in a long time. There’s something about her.” He stated, and I nodded.
“She hasn’t opened up yet. But she seems like a good girl.
Intelligent, too.” I mused. It would be fun watching Elias work with Ivy - he hadn’t been interested in someone in ages.
None of us had. Work and obligations kept us busy, but there was another reason, too.
Our lab was perfecting a genetic test that could potentially save people years in finding their match.
And I wanted to make sure we found the best possible option for our pack.
“Done with your drink?” Ronan asked, and Elias sighed and set it down on a nearby table.
“In such a hurry to get home? You're no fun, Ronan.” He said, following as Ronan headed out of the ballroom.
“Of course not. Being fun wouldn’t make me very effective at my job.” Ronan said brusquely, not bothering to turn around. I walked with them, satisfied with how the night went. We were almost at the door when something tingled in my brain, triggering something in me.
“Wait.” I barked, not even realizing I’d given a command.
I froze, my arm out as silence fell around us.
Something was calling to me, something important.
I breathed in deeply, closing my eyes. There was a hint of something in the air - something faint, almost impossible to detect beneath the scents of catered food.
But it was there, soft and intoxicating.
“What is it?” Elias asked, and I held up a hand.
“Do you smell that?” I asked, my voice suddenly low and dangerous as I felt my instincts rise up in me, my body moving without thinking as I stalked down the hall, smelling the air.
I wanted more - I needed more. My pulse slammed hard against my ribs.
I needed to find the source before the scent disappeared completely.
Behind me, I heard the others inhale sharply.
“Hunter…” Ronan’s voice was tight. He smelled it, too. They both did.
The atmosphere shifted instantly. The easy composure that I normally kept was shattered beneath something far more primal.
Ronan straightened beside me, eyes darkening as his own instincts surged to the surface.
Elias swore softly under his breath. We were hit with another wave of it as I reached the end of the hall, and my entire body tensed violently. Fuck. It was incredible.
It was soft enough that it should have disappeared into the air completely, yet somehow every trace of it dug deeper into my system with each breath.
My alpha side reacted immediately, possessiveness roaring through me so hard it almost made me dizzy.
Find her. The thought wasn’t even fully my own anymore. Mine.
I reached the supply closet door first, stopping abruptly as the scent poured through the cracks like smoke. My hand was flat against the wood, my jaw tight.
“She might be in there,” Elias said hoarsely. “Be careful, Hunter. Don’t lose yourself! She’s not ours!” He warned. He was right - not ours. Not yet. If I found her, I’d do everything in the world to convince her that she belonged with us. With a scent this good, I couldn't let her get away.
Ronan moved closer behind me, unusually tense. For someone normally so controlled, the look in his eyes was almost alarming.
“That scent…” Ronan muttered. “Jesus Christ.”
No omega should smell this good. But it triggered every protective, territorial instinct in our pack simultaneously. And yet somehow, whoever’s scent was behind that door had every single one of us nearly feral with the need to get closer. To soothe her, to protect her. To claim her.
I tried breathing through my mouth and got a grip on myself. The smell was still faint, and it was unlikely someone was behind the door. I opened it gently, hoping beyond hope to see who had emanated that glorious scent. But there was no one here.
I let out a breath, disappointment flooding my system. She was long gone, and part of me knew that when I smelled the barely there, halfway evaporated scent in the hall. But still. I turned and faced my pack.
“We need to find out whose scent this is. It had to be one of the omegas at the gala tonight.” I said, and Ronan nodded in agreement.
“I haven’t smelled a scent like that ever.” He muttered. Even Elias was affected, his pupils large.
“We can look at the guest list and figure out who attended.” He agreed.
“We can’t force anyone to share their scent, though.
” He added. Fuck. That was right. In all my desire to find this omega, I skipped over something important.
We couldn’t just go around asking omegas to perfume for us.
Not if we weren’t officially courting them.
“What if…” Elias said, his eyes lighting up with an idea.
“What if we said we smelled a potential match and asked anyone interested to see if they could do a Bond match profile?” He offered.
“It would be voluntary, and we wouldn’t even need to smell them.
We’d know if they were meant for us. And if they weren’t, well.
We can forget the scent and focus on finding our real match. ”
I considered it. The idea made sense - our technology could theoretically find out if an omega here was a match for us or not.
That is, if they decided to submit for testing.
“Alright,” I said, my senses somewhat back in control.
“Tomorrow, let’s send out a notice to everyone here.
Some way or other, we will find out who this was.
” I said. But test or not, I already knew that this omega had to be perfect for us.