MACKENZIE
Mackenzie
I wrapped a towel around my shoulders and watched Theo make his way to the bar. His butt was so cute with his shorts sticking to him like that. The sun had shifted, casting long shadows across the deck, but the air was still thick with the mingled scents of sunscreen and chlorine. I wrinkled my nose. Sunscreen was the only product that was always scented. And it never paired well with omega scents. Even on Theo, with his coconut scent, it smelled fake and overpowering.
“Well, hello beautiful.”
The words slurred together, and I turned to find an alpha swaying slightly as he approached. He was young, probably around my age or a little older, wearing a watch that was as big as my fist, and little else. But no thigh tattoo.
“Well, hello beautiful.” He repeated, leaning in when I didn’t answer right away.
My heart started racing. I turned to look for… my alpha. Daryl had always handled alphas like this, bullying away any unwanted attention. Well, any attention, wanted or not. He’d wrap an arm around me, flash his teeth, maybe flex his aura a bit. I’d never had to deal with this on my own.
“Hi,” I said quietly, keeping my voice pleasant but distant. “I’m actually waiting for someone.”
“Don’t be like that.” He moved closer, his alcohol-soaked scent making my nose burn. “Come sit by me.”
I took another step back, bumping into a deck chair. “That’s very kind, but no thank you.”
“Come on, sweetheart.” His hand shot out, grabbing my wrist. “Just one drink. You’re too pretty to play hard to get.”
His aura pressed against mine, heavy and demanding. My knees went weak. I’d forgotten how overwhelming an alpha’s aura could be when you were alone.
“I really need to go,” I tried again, my voice barely loud enough to hear. My mind was blank with panic.
“One drink won’t kill you.” He yanked me to him, his other hand landing on my hip. “Unless you’re one of those stuck-up bitches who think they’re too good for…”
“There you are!” Theo’s cheerful voice cut through my rising panic. He appeared beside us, two fruity drinks in his hands and a bright smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sorry it took so long. The bartender was absolutely fascinated by my theory about male omegas and knot psychology.”
The alpha’s grip loosened slightly as he blinked at Theo in confusion. “What?”
“Oh, you know.” Theo’s smile went sharp. “How some alphas are so obsessed with knots because they’re compensating for other… shortcomings.” His eyes dropped pointedly to the alpha’s swim trunks. “But I’m sure that’s not your problem.”
The alpha’s face went red. “Listen here, you little…”
“Though the aggressive overcompensation is a bit concerning.” Theo handed me one of the drinks. “Have you considered therapy? I hear they’re doing wonderful things with alpha rage these days. Very discreet.”
The alpha released my wrist like it burned him. “Fucking omega bitch, desperate for a knot because you don’t have one,” he snarled, but he backed away, his cologne-heavy scent soured with humiliation.
“Proving the point,” Theo muttered.
The moment he was gone, my knees gave out. Theo caught me before I could collapse, guiding me to sit on the deck chair.
“Hey, breathe. You’re okay.”
“I didn’t know what to do,” I whispered. “I’ve never… Daryl always…”
“I know.” He pressed the cold drink into my hands. “But you handled it perfectly. You stayed calm, you were polite but firm. The rest just takes practice.”
“Practice being harassed by drunk alphas?”
“Practice standing up for yourself.” He bumped my shoulder gently. “Though I have to admit, that was kind of fun. Did you see his face?”
I laughed. It came out a bit shaky. I scanned the pool area. There were giggling groups of omegas, tight circles of pack mates. It was the lone alphas that stuck out. Unconsciously, I looked over my shoulder again for my alpha. I suddenly felt very exposed.
“Ice cream.” Theo said simply, like it was the answer to the universe. “There’s a 24-hour unlimited ice cream bar. Let’s go get some.” He held out a hand for me. Okay, ice cream was the answer to almost everything.
I took his hand and stood, and he snagged our bags with the other. He nodded his head in the direction we had to go. I pulled the door open for us. The air conditioning hit hard. I dropped Theo’s hand to wrap the towel around me tighter. The last thing I needed was strange alphas staring at my nipples that got hard in the cold.
Theo was juggling our bags as we walked. I jogged a few steps to catch up to him to point out our sexy thigh tattoo alpha, but slowed. He was sprawled in a chair, looking like he didn’t give a fuck about the firing squad of alphas he was facing down. He was just sitting at a table, with three other alphas on the other side, but it felt dangerous somehow. A tall female alpha played with a chain around her neck. She was trying to be sexy, but even from the other side of the room, it felt menacing. There was a young alpha at the table, too. He might have even been younger than me. He had the same look that Daryl did that one time he took me to a fight, like he was enjoying watching people get hurt.
“Chocolate or Vanilla?”
Theo had stopped and was waiting for me to catch up. I shook off the creepy feeling.
“Vanilla. I hate chocolate ice cream.”
Theo stared at me like I had just kicked a puppy. “I don’t know that we can be friends.”
“Chocolate ice cream doesn’t actually taste like chocolate.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, like I knew where I was going. He tugged me to the right. “And chocolate shouldn’t be cold.”
“Okay, I’ll let you have that one.”