Chapter 5
OHMYGOODNESSGOSH!
I know I know I know!
It’s happening!
It’s REALLY happening!
In Jude's mind, he and his alpha were high fiving just as he, Felix, Kai, and Zayden made their way into a different room where Maddox’s assistants were freaking out, the stage managers were struggling to control the crowd, and Kai was breaking shit.
Literally. The first thing he did in the room was throw a coffee table onto its side.
Am I the only one who's happy?
The other dudes must be stoned because how the hell are they not screaming for joy right now?
Exactly!
Jude couldn’t stop his shit-eating grin as he inhaled deeply, soaking in every ounce of her scent he could. Sweet cream, vanilla bean, powdered sugar, and freshly pureed strawberries were pouring through every room like a flood.
“Smells like strawberry shortcake,” he sighed.
Kai growled and chucked a plastic cup at his head. “Shut up. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear any of this. This is a complete shit show.”
“A shit show?” Jude looked away from Kai’s tantrum over to Zayden and Felix, who looked hungover.
“What the hell, guys? I’m pretty sure this is not how a regular alpha pack reacts to finding their fated mate.
Am I honestly the only one who’s going to shit bricks out of pure excitement?
We found her! Well, she kind of found us.
No, no. Even better. We found each other! ”
“Oh god,” Kai groaned. “I’m going to throw up.”
Just then, another wave of their omega’s sweet scent washed into their room.
She really did smell like strawberry shortcake, like a perfect July evening, the night crisp and warm, the stars taking over the night sky.
She smelled like every happiest moment of his childhood; all baked into the perfect dessert.
I want a taste.
He licked his lips, and his eyes darted towards the door.
Where did Maddox hide her? Is she safe while she endures this heat spike?
There were a lot of people in that crowd. A lot of unbonded alphas, if he had to guess. Alphas who had the privilege to look at her and smell her—his omega—while she was caught in the middle of a vulnerable situation.
Screw a taste. I just need to see her.
Jude hurried towards the door faster than he could finish his thoughts.
Maybe I could order flowers from DoorDash. Maybe—
Zayden growled, a low, quick warning, but enough to stop him in his tracks. His eyes were firm and powerful. For the first time in months, he looked like the lead alpha.
“We’ll stay here until her heat spike passes,” he barked, the tone dripping with dominance.
“And then?”
He didn’t answer. He looked at Felix, and they both started fixing their hair and taking off their jewelry.
They were so obnoxiously calm about this moment that Jude was beginning to appreciate Kai’s tantrum, because even if his emotions were pessimistic, at least he had emotions. Where were Felix and Zayden’s feelings?
“And then?” Jude asked again.
For a quick second, there was a flash of hope in Zayden’s black eyes, but they swallowed it up like a devastating void. He sighed and began to pinch the bridge of his nose.
What was it that he always said? Everyone was picking away at his mind with sledgehammers?
“She needs to be tested,” Kai snapped, and Jude could relate to the feeling of a sledgehammer because what the hell was he talking about?
Felix was brushing back his dirty blond hair, trying to comb the hairspray out of it. “Great,” he chuckled, the sound humorless. “That’s one way to introduce ourselves to our mate.”
“Aha! You admit she’s our mate!”
“Come on, Jude.” Felix waved his hairbrush around matter-of-factly. “No omega could smell like that to us without being our mate. Not just smell, either. We can all feel it.”
“I feel like the last time we had an omega, we got screwed, and this could be the same situation.” Kai stomped over to Zayden, each step a roar of childish thunder. “Text Maddox. Tell him we need that crazy fan to be tested.”
I know we’re against violence, but—
I’m going to kill him.
A low, irritated growl rumbled deep inside Jude’s throat. “Don’t talk about her like that. She’s not just some crazy fan.”
“You’re right. She’s a plague, and her scent makes me sick.”
“What is your problem? You’re the one who wanted a mate more than the rest of us, and now that she’s here, a fated mate, you’re going to be a dick about it?
” Kai’s nostrils flared, and the jerk tried sizing Jude up as if they didn’t have an obvious size difference.
He wanted to go toe-to-toe with him? The only guy in this room gave a damn about him?
“If you want to run away from her with your tail tucked between your legs, that’s on you.
But don’t you dare talk badly about her in front of me.
I don’t care how long we’ve been friends.
I’ll knock your teeth out so you’ll never be able to go solo. ”
“You really want to threaten me like that?” Kai growled, his scent burning the air.
“Enough!” Zayden snapped, chucking both his shoes at each of them. “Check yourselves, now. Both your scents are burning so strongly that it’s making my eyes water.”
“If we could smell her, she could smell us,” Felix added, nodding towards the wall they shared with her. “She’s vulnerable right now and probably just as confused and emotional. The last thing she needs from us is an overload of our toxic scents.”
Guilt punched Jude in the stomach hard enough that he fell back into a chair. If he ever found out he caused their little omega any distress, he’d die.
Felix cleared his throat and grabbed his glasses from a nearby stand. Once they were cushioned on his nose, Jude knew he meant business. It was like a shift from Superman to Clark Kent, only for Felix, from popular rock star to Mr. Know-It-All.
“Someone needs to go to her. An omega’s instincts can be put in emotional chaos upon meeting a potential match, much less a fated one.
And in a situation like this? She needs one of us.
Someone who can keep their urges in check.
” Felix’s cheeks flushed a slight red as he cleared his throat for the second time. “Not me.”
“Oh, come on!” Jude hung his head over the chair. “Not me, either. And not that ass wipe!”
“Real mature,” Kai growled.
The room fell silent as they all turned to Zayden, who really looked like he was in the middle of recovering from the world’s worst hangover.
Poor champ. I almost feel bad for him.
Almost being the keyword.
Zayden finally stopped pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyes widened and realization struck.
“No.”
“You’re the lead alpha,” Felix reminded him. “You’re biologically wired to better control your instincts than the rest of us.”
“But I can’t—”
“You have to, Zayden. I’m not lying when I say she needs this.”
Felix’s push back was clear as day. The longer Sonnet went without being near one of them, the more complications she could have, like a longer heat spike, emotional distress, and a negative response to them later.
As Felix convinced Zayden to man up, Jude tore off his shirt and rubbed it around his sweaty face before handing it to Zayden. “I want her to have my scent. It might help her. Please.”
Zayden growled. “Fine.”
“YES!”
If Jude had a tail, it’d be wagging.