7. Enzo
Enzo
I don't understand. Hannah…Hannah is my true scent match.
But how can that be possible? I thought Lizzie…
she was my match. My packmates and I all felt the pull.
But…what I felt for Lizzie is nothing compared to the pull I feel towards Hannah.
Peaches and brown sugar. Warm and inviting, and so fucking mine .
And what of my old pack? Is Hannah scent matched with them too?
There's something off about this whole situation, I just don't know what it is.
The ginger alpha behind me stares after the omega as she disappears around the corner, and then, as if shaking himself out of a daze, he makes a move to go after her.
Don't get me wrong, I'm itching to go after her too, but more than that, my protective nature is surging for the little omega. It's obvious she's more than a little overwhelmed and chasing her in this state may only push her away.
I can't let him go after her. There's something bigger at play here than either of us realize.
So even though I'm probably a good ten years older, it's not hard for me to put out an arm, stopping him in his tracks as he steps forward.
His scent floods my senses—lemon and mint.
A scent that feels familiar, somehow. Shit. Could he be her scent match too?
"What're you doin'?" he asks incredulously, his Southern accent thickening. "That's…that's my omega! I can't just—"
Well, I suppose that answers that question. " Our omega," I rumble, cutting him off.
"Yours too?" His eyes widen as he seems to really look at me for the first time. "So you should understand that we—"
"I want to go after her too, but she's clearly overwhelmed at the moment, pup." His cheeks redden at the term older alphas reserve for younger ones, but he doesn't try to argue. "We need to come to her on her terms—"
"Wait a minute." The other alpha my brother's packmate brought out with him approaches us.
I had nearly forgotten they were out here.
Him being so close to my omega's scent should send me into a protective alpha rage, but…
instead I feel calmer with him near, his coconut and sandalwood scent making me settle.
"Mags—I mean, Hannah is…yours? She's an omega? "
Ollie's eyes are widening with apparent glee as he takes in the conversation.
"It would seem that way," the ginger alpha furrows his brows, looking to the other alpha, "I apologize, what was your name again?"
"Charlie," the alpha says, taking his hand. "Charlie Williams."
"Austin Sullivan." He nods as he shakes his hand.
That's why he looks familiar. "Didn't you just get traded to the Starbrook City Meteors?" I ask, holding out my own hand. "I'm Enzo."
"Yes, I—" His pupils blow as he takes my hand, bringing it up to his nose and inhaling deeply .
"Well that's not weird," Ollie mutters, but Charlie ignores him.
"I knew it!" His head falls back as he releases me. "I fucking knew it! It's like…peach cobbler or something." He looks between Austin and me, a damn cheesy smile on his face. "Welp, looks like we're pack, brothers. True fucking scent match."
Before I can answer, Ollie's laugh echoes in the backyard, and he shakes his head, walking back towards the sliding glass door. "Oh man, the guys will get a kick out of this."
Which just leaves the three of us staring at each other, and Austin lets out a heavy sigh. "That explains why my alpha isn't threatened by you." He shakes his head. "So…you know her already?"
Charlie gives a grim nod, all previous levity gone.
"We went to high school together, and we were in a relationship for a year before she just…
disappeared one day. Nobody would tell me why.
I only got myself traded to the Meteors because I saw a picture of Cady on Instagram and Hannah was in the background. "
"Woah there, stalker much?" A new voice rings out, another alpha we didn't even hear approach.
Again, my alpha perks up in interest, but that possessive flair isn't present.
He's walking towards us with a bit of a swagger, his shoulder-length hair and spiderweb tattoos reminding me of a cousin that I have. All angst, no real bite.
"Noah!" Austin exclaims, rushing to the other alpha. "Smell Enzo's hand!"
"What the fuck? No, I'm not smelling a stranger's hand." Noah looks at Austin like he's crazy, which, I'm inclined to agree with him at the moment.
"This is my brother," Austin explains over his shoulder, grabbing Noah by the arm and dragging him over to me. "He's pack. I've known it since high school."
Rolling my eyes, I hold my hand out as they get closer.
Fucking pups.
"Pack? Austin what are you talking about—" His words cut off when he gets about a foot away from me, and pupils blow wide. Less than a second later, he's grabbing my hand and holding it up to his nose like a druggie trying to get a hit.
"Holy fuck, who is that?" Noah asks in awe, his cinnamon and clove scent swirling around us. "Peach…brown sugar…"
"It's Hannah," I tell him, gently pulling my hand away. Alpha number four for Hannah's new pack…or more, depending on my old pack.
His eyes widen. "Hannah?! Fuck, Aust. I bet that's why you were obsessed with her, your alpha must've recognized her even with all the scent blocking. Shit, you were right, we really are pack. Where is she?"
"She…um…got overwhelmed." Charlie looks at us sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Charlie was just in the middle of telling us how he knows her," I supply, giving him a pointed look. He's a bit older than my typical student nowadays, but it still works.
"I haven't seen her in twelve years. I went to Ollie for a tattoo, and I didn't realize he had any possible connection to Hannah until we were talking about his omega, and he invited me to the party tonight."
"Tattoo?" Noah's eyes light up with interest. Of course.
Charlie answers by unbuttoning the top five buttons and pulling his shirt to the side, revealing a fresh tattoo with the plastic-wrap still on it.
"Is that a bird?" Austin squints, moving closer.
Then it hits me.
"It's a magpie," I state, my mind piecing everything together. "You called her 'mags'."
"Yeah," he lets his shirt fall closed, "We were together before she presented, but I always knew she was mine, whether she presented as an omega, a beta, or even an alpha.
She used to steal my shirts all the time, one time she pulled a ring right off my finger to play with.
When I told her she could keep it, she got all flustered and said she was going to give it back before she left, but I could see how happy it made her. Like a magpie."
"So fuck, I really wasn't off on the stalker comment." Noah smirks.
Austin just looks lost as he looks at all of us. "Three hours ago, I was hoping to charm her with a pink frosted cupcake, and now I have a pack and a true scent match. This is…a lot to take in."
"That's an understatement," Charlie mutters. "I'm going to be honest with you guys, I have no idea what happened to make her leave, so I don't even know how to fix it."
"We'll figure it out together," I tell him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
"Fuck, this is some kumbaya shit, huh?" Noah looks between the three of us. "Magic of the damn true scent match. Is that why I don't want to murder all of you for being near her scent? Austin, I get, but I just met you two—the long-lost love and the professor."
My brows shoot up. "How do you know I'm a professor?"
"It's my job to know things, Lorenzo Mendez, especially when I work for your brother."
Ah, it all makes sense now. Though I haven't heard of my brother employing anyone named Noah. "He hasn't mentioned you."
"When he first hired me, he thought my last name was my first name, so now he still calls me Jameson. I'm the one who tracked down the dirtbags who were harassing his omega."
So this is the alpha I'll need to look up Lizzie. Good thing we have a common interest now.
"Shit, so you must be in his good graces then?" Charlie asks, and Noah shrugs.
"As good as they can be. He's a great boss, but a grumpy fucker." He shoots me a shrug. "No offense."
"I'm pretty sure it's universal knowledge at this point." I let out a wry chuckle. "Wait a minute, if you two are brothers, why do you have different last names?"
"Foster brothers," Noah clarifies, "I came to live with Austin's family right after I turned fourteen. They pretty much adopted me even though it never legally went through. My birth parents are in jail and wouldn't sign the damn paperwork."
Austin lets out a breath. "You know Mama and Pa never cared about that."
Noah chuckles and shakes his head. "The way she berates me about each tattoo and piercing I have every time I see her makes me feel like family enough."
"So…" Charlie trails off, looking at me. "What now? You saw how she ran off. And I don't think she even scented me."
"I've been getting my haircut by her for a while now…
" I trail off, feeling a little embarrassed about my crush despite the fact we're scent matched.
It's not lost on me that the other alphas in this forming pack are much younger than me.
"The salon has a strict 'no-scents' policy, which is why I never scented her before now.
I can go again tomorrow, try to talk to her. "
"When did you go last?" Noah asks skeptically. "Would it make more sense for one of us to go instead?"
Shaking my head, I run a hand through my hair. "It's familiar territory for us. I think I'll get her to listen better if we're in a familiar routine." No, they don't need to know that my last appointment was earlier today.
"Okay. So you go to the salon tomorrow, and then what?" Austin asks, crossing his arms.
"We exchange numbers tonight, and I'll reach out with more news tomorrow. You guys will just have to be patient until then."
"Easy for you to say," Noah mutters. "I haven't even seen her in person yet."
"I haven't seen her for twelve years," Charlie reminds him. "You'll live."
Noah just rolls his eyes, and I can't help but wonder if I'm in over my head with this still-forming pack.
"There's something else," I say hesitantly. "Hannah…well she might have four other scent matches."
"Your old pack?" Noah asks, and before I can ask how he knew, I remember. He already looked me up.
"What do you mean, your old pack?" Charlie looks rightfully cautious.
"I…we had a scent match. Which is why this whole thing with Hannah is throwing me for a loop. Though what I feel for Hannah blows everything I felt for Lizzie out of the water."
"How is that possible?" Austin gapes.
"I don't know…" I rub the back of my neck. "But it's a stark possibility that all my old packmates are matches as well. I'll have to reach out. I was actually going to ask you, Noah, if you could look into Lizzie Collins? She’d be about thirty-eight now."
"Got it." Noah nods once. "Whatever there is to find on her, I'll uncover it. Are you thinking…I mean, I know hormone sprays exist, but are you thinking she tricked you guys somehow?"
"I don't know." I tell him honestly. "Scenting Lizzie…she smelled good, and she definitely drew a…um…pretty instantaneous reaction from me. From all of us. But Hannah? That was…"
"We'll figure it out," Noah says, cracking his fingers.
We all exchange numbers, and go over the plan again for my meeting with Hannah tomorrow.
But I can't help wondering…what will we do if she doesn't want to be with us?
Hopefully Noah can come up with some answers for what the hell is going on.
Hannah feels like the real deal in comparison to what I felt for Lizzie.
I'm going to have to reach out to my old pack and tell them they might have a new scent match.