9. Calliope #2
They lead me from the entryway to a study with a fireplace and tall, built-in bookshelves. A thick leather couch sits in front of one large window, and a matching reclining leather chair sits in front of another.
They gesture for me to choose a seat, and I choose the recliner to get a little room to breathe and think.
I'm in a house with three alphas, and though I don't think they'll hurt me, I don't actually know them, and no one knows I'm here.
I'm very aware that, as an omega, this is not an exceptionally safe position.
But I can't bring myself to be afraid of these alphas either.
I remove my wet coat, and Bax gently takes it to a hook on the wall. Seth brings me a blanket.
"May I?" he asks.
This is silly. I can cover myself up, but I can't say no. The look in his eyes is so hopeful. Is that look for me?
So, I nod. Seth lays the blanket across my lap and carefully tucks it around my legs. All the while, he makes eye contact with me. He tucks a stray wet hair behind my ear. The brush of his fingertips sends a molten flood from my core to the apex of my thighs.
"Tea, coffee, apple cider, or hot chocolate?" Connor asks. A second door in the room leads to a beautiful kitchen I can just glimpse, with tall ceilings and an island.
"Oh, it's okay. I don't need anything," I assure him. I've always done everything myself, and the thought of someone doing things for me has always made me uncomfortable. To my surprise, he crosses the room. Seth moves out of the way to allow him to kneel before me.
"You're still shivering." Connor's voice is deep, and kind, and insistent. "Please let me bring you something." His expression is concerned and just a little bit desperate.
"Hot chocolate?" I whisper. He nods and heads back to the kitchen.
When he returns, it's with the biggest mug of hot chocolate I've ever seen.
It's topped with whipped cream, little marshmallows, and sparkly sprinkles.
I'm surprised until I remember they're the owners of the same café where I've been buying my giant, specialty coffees for weeks.
Once the drink warms my hands and insides, Bax and Connor flank the fireplace. Seth sits on the leather couch and is as close as he can be to the chair I'm sitting in.
"Are you all right?" Seth asks in a soft tone.
I nod, but don't trust myself to speak. Connor's piercing gaze watches me. For a while, the only sound is the crackling fireplace. I'm engulfed in the smells of smoke, leather, and books, along with the scents of the alphas. My muscles slowly start to relax.
The men exchange looks as we sit in silence.
"My car got stuck back there, and I didn't think I could make it to my cottage," I finally explain.
Seth growls, and I shrink back a little.
He stops when he realizes he's spooked me. "I'm glad you didn't try." That's all he says as an explanation, and I realize he's growling at the idea of me trying to fight my way through the snow to get home, not at me as a person.
"We're glad you're safe," says Connor. They exchange looks again.
Finally, Bax rolls his eyes at the other two and stands before me. A squeak escapes me when he bends to one knee, so we're almost at eye level. He's still taller than me, even in this position.
"Can I touch you?" he asks. My omega yearns for his touch. To bury herself deeper in his scent. She won't let me say no. I nod again. I seem to have completely lost my voice in this house. The alpha scents are so overwhelming.
Bax gently touches my knee and strokes his thumb in lazy circles. With each swipe of his thumb my emotions slowly come down from their anxious heights. I've never found physical contact with anyone this deeply comforting. "Have you ever had any experience with scent match, or scent sensitivity?"
My mind stutters. Scent sensitive? Is that what this overwhelming reaction to this scent is? My parents are betas, and they were so confused when they found out their child was an omega. They hadn't helped me at all, and everything I knew I'd learned from books and one omega roommate in college.
As if sensing my thoughts, Connor adds, "I think it would just help us get a sense of our situation before we move forward. It's important," he assures me.
I bite my lip and take a deep breath. "No," I admit in a small voice. "I've been in relationships. Before I moved here, I was engaged with a beta, but… it didn't work out." I glance between them. "Have you?"
"I think I speak for the pack when I say that, though we've found some omega scents attractive individually, and had relationships, we've never experienced anything close to what we're experiencing with you now.
" Bax reaches forward to tilt my chin with the crook of his fingers.
I perfume again, and the scent overtakes the room.
"Sorry," I mumble, closing my eyes, hoping I'll disappear when I open them. When I do, Bax and Seth look at me with confusion, and Connor with concern and a level of understanding I'm unsure I want to face.
Bax's answering purr is so loud that it rumbles through his chest and up his arms, where his hands rest on the arms of the chair.
I can feel it vibrating through the leather.
Seth's and Connor's ramp up a moment later, engulfing the room.
Getting Nick, my ex-fiance, to purr for me had always felt like I was inconveniencing him.
He made it very clear that he only ever did it because I asked, and never because he wanted to.
The fact that these alphas, whom I've just met, purr without me saying anything cracks something in my chest, and I find it hard to keep it together. I breathe deeply to avoid crying.
Bax begins to explain, "When an alpha and an omega are scent matched, there is a certain attraction between them, and entering into a relationship is possible and may result in a long and happy relationship, but it's not a guarantee.
" I know this, but I still let him explain.
I don't know where this is going. "The scent match has some bearing on compatibility, but it's not definitive.
A scent-sensitive match, however, is about more than just smell.
It's so rare that only one in every twenty packs finds it.
It's been proven that scent-sensitive matches match in blind studies on all levels.
They almost always result in happily bonded packs.
It's virtually unheard of for scent-sensitive matches to result in a bad bond.
Because of this inevitable bonding, many refer to scent-sensitive packs as mates, or fated. "
My eyes widen. "You think I might be your mate?" They exchange glances.
"We don't want to overwhelm you," Bax continues. "But we've never experienced a scent match like this. Have you?"
I don't have to think about the question at all.
I've never had an alpha, so I have little experience with it.
I've met alphas, of course. Some scents have been repulsive to my omega.
Others have been fine. Obviously, the answer is no.
I've never connected to any alpha scents like I am to theirs now.
But mates? That happens in storybooks, not to the librarian who shelves them.
Bax moves to allow Connor to kneel in front of me next. The wood smoke scent is replaced by cinnamon and sandalwood.
"I don't know all the details of your life, and I don't exactly know what you've gone through. But I hope you know you're safe here." I search his eyes, wanting to believe him.
"We're not here to pressure you, and you don't need to make a decision today, but I know we'd like a chance to prove that we can be a good pack for you.
Scent sensitivity is so precious, but we also want to make sure that you're comfortable, and that we are what you want, too.
We don't need you to answer now, but we've all discussed it, and we'd be so honored to court you. "
I look from his eyes to Bax to Seth. One man that I barely know, and two that I've just met.
They look back at me with such unabashed hope in their eyes.
I can't let this go on. I know they'll see me for what I really am the moment they get to know me.
Nick had been a jerk, but that didn't mean he was completely wrong about everything.
Dumb, boring, useless. The words echo in my head in his voice.
"You don't want to court me," I say. There's no point in beating around the bush. Connor simply cocks his head and brushes the top of my hand with his thumb, tracing lazy, soothing circles.
"Why's that, Baby?" he asks. Again, zero judgment in his question.
"I just…" I trail off. "I'm not a very fun person to be around.
I don't really know how to be a good mate," I admit.
It's the least of what Nick had told me, and the most of what I'm willing to say in front of three alphas.
I stare at the arm of the chair instead of looking at any of them. So much for courage.
"I'll tell you how," says Seth from the couch. "You let us spoil the shit out of you." This got him a small smile.
"I don't know who told you that you don't know how to be a good mate, Raindrop, but I doubt that's true," Bax says.
"You don't know me," I remind them. How did I even get into this situation? Sitting in a beautiful room full of books with three sexy alphas telling me that they want to court me.
"We don't," Connor concedes. "We all have history, and we all have preconceived notions of how this should go.
My only request is that you let us try for you.
I think I speak for the whole pack when I say that we would never want to make you, or anyone else, do something they weren't one hundred percent comfortable with.
So, if you want to try and decide you want us, we would be honored and happy.
But if you decide this isn't something you want, we'd be devastated and want to talk about it, but we would never force you. "
I won't need to walk away. Once they get to know me, they'll get frustrated and bored. It's happened before, after all.
But my omega is insistent, and she won't allow me to say no.
She'd never been like this with Nick. She'd been basically silent for our entire relationship.
Hence the no perfuming problem. What Connor's saying doesn't sound terrible.
It sounds like something I'd like to try, in fact.
I don't allow the hope in my chest to bloom too far. I've been disappointed before. Badly.
"Like I said, though, it's not something I want you to say yes or no to tonight. Think about it, please." He looks at me like I'm deciding his fate. I nod, and his smile is electric.
"Now, about sleeping arrangements for tonight," Bax says as Connor gives my hand one final squeeze and stands.
"Sleeping arrangements?" I ask. They all stare at me. "I just need help getting my car unstuck." They glance at each other and then back at me.
"Raindrop," Bax says, "will you come here for a moment?
" He holds a hand out to me, and I hesitate for a second before taking it.
He leads me to the front door and flips on the porch light before pulling a curtain back from the glass door.
I face the glass inset in the door while he stands a hair's breadth behind me with his hands on my hips.
The warmth of his chest lightly grazes my back.
I can see the porch and front walk I'd just come up about twenty minutes ago. It's amazing how much twenty minutes can change your life.
"I'd like you to tell me what you see," Bax says.
I look more closely. "Snow?" I reply, not getting his point.
"Mmhm. Anything in the snow?" What I should be seeing that isn't there suddenly occurs to me. I'd walked up to the door less than twenty minutes ago.
"No tracks," I whisper. The snow fall has completely covered the tracks I'd made earlier, and in such a short time.
"Now, we could try to get your car out of the snow, and we could do it, but unless we cleared the whole road, which we can't do without a plow, there's no way you'll make it home.
"So…?" I ask, allowing the question to linger.
"So, you're staying here," supplies Bax.