Chapter Five – Dulcie #2
Oh. That’s… that’s definitely an interesting dynamic, but hey, if she’s up for it, then I’m behind her. I’m going to be sad to see her go, but if that’s what she wants, then she should have her happiness.
“I’m happy for you,” I eventually say.
“I wish your night went better.” She gives me a soft frown, and then she sits up. “Come on, it’s almost time for breakfast. We should get ready and head downstairs.”
Frankly, I’m ready to roll over and go back to bed, but I suppose she’s right.
Might as well start this day and watch every other omega here get a Valentine’s card with an offer.
Maybe even multiple. There were plenty more alphas there last night than there were us, so odds are some omegas had more than one pack sniffing around them.
I manage to get myself up, and soon enough we’re both dressed and walking side by side down the hall, to the main stairwell.
We make it to the dining hall, and we find we aren’t the only ones there.
There’s no set time for breakfast; N.O.A.
now has a chef. Breakfast is a buffet served between six and eight in the morning.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many omegas up this early. No one, I notice, has gone for the food. They all stand around, chatting, grinning, laughing—too excited about those cards to eat anything.
“Wow,” Casey mutters beside me. “Guess I’m not the only one who can’t wait to get her offer.”
N.O.A. is going to feel so empty once everyone leaves. I wonder if I’ll ever see Casey again, or if she’ll forget all about me once she moves in with her pack. The thought is sad enough to make me want to freeze time.
The chatter quiets down the moment Delilah strolls into the dining hall, holding a stack of small cards in her hands. She surveys the room, and because she stands taller than the rest, it’s easy to see her regardless of where we are in the room.
“I assume you’re all awake so early because you’re eager to see if you got any cards from the alphas you met last night.
Some of you have multiple, so you’ll need to sit down and decide who you’d like to get to know more.
Of course, if you changed your mind and don’t want to pursue any of the alphas, that’s more than fine, too.
When I call your name, come get your card. ”
Names are called after that. Other than those who received multiple cards from different alpha packs, they’re in no particular order. Casey gets hers toward the middle of the name-calling, and she practically bounces on her way to Delilah.
Some of the others disappear the moment they get their cards, but others simply couldn’t wait to read them. They had to open them right here and now, their eyes scanning the cards as quickly as humanly possible. Casey being one of them.
I tune Delilah out and lean closer to my friend, reading the card along with her. As my eyes scan the small pink card, a heaviness settles upon my shoulders.
I really don’t want to say goodbye to her. I don’t want things to change. But time is unrelenting, and it refuses to take my wants and needs into consideration. Based on the huge smile that grows on Casey’s face as she reads the letter, I can tell she’s ready to move on from this place.
Of course I’m happy for her. I’m not that selfish. But two things can be true at the same time. I can be happy for my friend and her future pack while also being sad for myself. Change is scary, and anyone who says it isn’t is a liar.
Once she finishes reading it, she inhales sharply and holds the card against her chest, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, man. I feel… so weird. A good weird, but weird.” She turns to me. “I think I’m giddy, Dulcie.”
I give her a soft smile. “I think you are.”
My friend opens her mouth to say something more, but right then Delilah walks over to us and hands me a card. “For you,” she says.
“For… me?” My heart pounds in my chest. I wasn’t expecting a card from anyone. I didn’t talk to a single alpha last night. For all intents and purposes, last night was a complete bust for me.
“I have it on good authority that your scent match would like another chance,” she tells me, and beside us, Casey sucks in another hard breath—this time, in shock over the sudden turn of events.
“For what it’s worth, he and his pack seemed nice.
I think he was as shocked at seeing his scent match as you were. ”
I’m clammy, just like that. I stand there, not saying a word, mostly because I’m confused.
“Of course, like I said, the decision is ultimately up to you. If you’d rather not see him or meet his pack, you don’t have to,” she tells me with a sagely nod.
“But when it comes to scent matches, sometimes it’s good to give things another go.
” With one final acknowledgement, she leaves Casey and me to discuss what I should do.
Casey has her own thoughts on the subject, and she voices those thoughts instantly: “What are you waiting for? Open it.”
Just like last night before the mixer, that feeling of wanting to be sick is back. I can’t move, can’t respond. The only thing I can do is stand there, tense, and wonder what kind of alternate reality I stepped into when I wasn’t looking.
My friend sighs. “Look, if you don’t want to open it, I can. I’ll read it and judge it for you. How about that?”
There’s no way she’ll let me drop it in the trash, so might as well get it over with. I hand her the small card, and she tears into it, moving so that I can’t read what’s written inside it. Her eyes furiously read line after line, and it’s a long few moments before she meets my gaze.
She doesn’t look mad, and that tells me what she’s going to say before she says it. “It’s sweet. He really does sound sorry. Here, you should read it.” She offers the card back to me, and I’m hesitant to take it and read it.
Dear Omega, first, I want to say how sorry I am about what happened.
I never expected to run into my scent match.
I should have reacted differently, come over to you and talked to you.
Gotten to know you instead of running away.
All of the alpha musks and the omega scents were too much for me.
I was overwhelmed. Overstimulated. Whatever word you want to use, but I know it’s no excuse for acting like you didn’t exist.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m running out of card space here, but I’ll understand if you never want to see me again.
But I don’t want that. I’m hoping that you can give me another chance, that you’ll want to meet me and my pack. I won’t run from you again, I promise you. Redd.
My mouth gets dry as I read the card, and all the while Casey watches me, waiting for my reaction. She lets me have a few moments to myself after I finish reading, to wrestle with my thoughts, but then she questions me, “What are you going to do?”
It hurt so bad when he walked away from me, like he was personally rejecting me and everything I am—but based on the card’s contents, that’s not what happened.
He wasn’t thinking straight, if he’s anything like me when I’m overwhelmed by things.
I couldn’t really fault him for that, could I? The alpha was like me, in that respect.
“Earth to Dulcie,” Casey says, snapping the fingers on her card-free hand.
“I don’t know. I mean… what if I give him and his pack a chance and it blows up in my face?
” Even as I say it, what Mercedes told me last night jumps to the forefront of my mind.
It sounds like this alpha, Redd, wants to make it up to me, like he regrets it.
Her mate, her scent match, took longer to come around.
I can’t imagine how much that hurt her at the time, but she was able to get over it, forgive him. If Mercedes could do it, so can I. I might not be as confident or as strong as her, but if I fake it, will anyone know the difference?
If scent matches are so rare, I can’t just throw it away and never look back. No. I have to do something I’m absolutely terrified of, but it’s my only option.
I have to meet them.