9. Chloe
CHAPTER 9
CHLOE
“I only let you rescue me because that guy is something else.” I muttered.
“A tough little darling like you doesn’t need rescue,” Kain agreed easily. “But that alpha was getting hostile, and there was no reason for you to have to deal with that.”
I sighed. Kain was right. I suppose I was being a little ungrateful. If it wasn’t for Kain showing up when he did, it would have been rather obnoxious to extricate myself from an alpha who was being rather clingy and unnecessarily aggressive. Or worse, I might have ended up getting to class late.
Some alphas just couldn’t handle it when a little-bitty omega like me wasn’t basically drooling over his every word, desperately lapping up his affection. Not only that, I had apparently committed the unspeakable crime of eating instead. I’m sure that if I had spoken to Emmanuel with a dazed expression of rapture, hanging on to his every word like a dumb bimbo, he wouldn’t have seen anything wrong with it. He’d probably just taken that attention as his due.
Comparing Kain to that was setting the bar too low. Honestly, the bar was all the way on the ground when it came to alpha-holes. But I guess that Kain wasn’t that bad.
Since we had scent matched last week, Kain had been around. He’d seen me interviewing the other alphas and never bothered me before. He must have been checking in on me, and noticed that there was something off today.
To be totally honest, I never thought that I would want to be rescued. Every single fairy tale about princesses in towers, rescued from the dragons and witches or whatever was just not my thing. I thought it was all dumb until I was rescued from the humiliation that came from awkward social situations.
“Thank you for getting me out of there.”
“If you want to thank me, let me take you out on a date.” The smile was back on Kain’s face.
Ughh. I was too freaking busy to go out on a date. I had that chapter to read on flavored lubes tonight, and I had to get started on an essay if I wanted to get ahead on my online classes. But I also didn’t have time to argue with him. Not if I wanted to get to my favorite spot in the front.
Besides, I did agree to give my scent matches a chance. I guess saving me from a psychopath earned him a date. Maybe just a short one. I could always get ahead on my coursework tomorrow.
“Fine,” I agreed, mostly to get him out of my hair.
“You free tonight at seven?”
“Sure,” I said, waving him off so I could get to class.
Kain scurried away as if he was leaving before I could change my mind, taking that luxurious dark scent of chocolate away with him.
As soon as I was front and center in the classroom, I took my seat with a sigh. I was the first omega to arrive, getting here even before our professor.
Angling my phone, so that it was hidden behind my mini tower of text-books, I texted my brother.
Me: Emmanuel is a psychopath.
I saw the three dots pop up immediately. He was probably still at lunch.
Titus: Oh, I was worried when you hadn’t mentioned any, that you were going to let one sneak into my new pack.
Seriously? I went through all these interviews and he wasn’t even going to listen to my warning? Maybe he just thought that I was exaggerating.
Me: Emmanuel is the worst. Literally the worst. Pick anyone but him.
Titus: That’s what you said about like every single guy
I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen of my phone. The message was getting blurred around the edges as tears got in the way.
Stupid tears. They were probably just stress tears. This was just more stupid shit that I didn’t need to deal with. Having my lunch time invaded by alphas. All the homework for my classes at the Institute, and then the college classes I was taking on top of that… It was a lot.
I was literally putting my own dreams for my future at stake to make sure that my stupid-ass brother didn’t end up heart-broken with his choice of pack mates, and for what?
My fingers were tapping across the screen and sent a message before I was fully aware of what I’d sent.
Me: You’re a douche canoe
I stared at the message. It was a little harsh, but was it wrong? I kinda half wished that there was a way to unsend it. But at the same time, all of this was my brother’s fault for being a douche canoe. Three little dots had already bubbled up on the bottom of the screen. Titus had already seen my accusation of his douchee-ness.
Titus: Wait. Did that fucker do something to hurt you?
Shit. I typed fast, before my hot-headed brother forwarded the message to my dads and started a riot.
Me: No
Me: Just was rude, and aggressive for no reason
Should I tell him about Emmanuel threatening to make me his? Was that even a valid concern? Like I just needed to say no, and that was going to be the end of it.
Titus: Wait, what about the alpha you met before them? You never said anything about Kain?
Oh, shit.
I hadn’t said anything about the guys that I’d scent matched with had I? Originally I was going to give them a stellar report, and make sure that Titus took them into his pack. But, I’d already told them that I’d give them a chance.
Why the fuck did I give them a second chance? It was something about the very confident way that Kain said no, as he tried to hide a look of absolute panic that made me reevaluate. Yes, I might not want to deal with a scent match. But I knew the numbers. I’d heard all about the low probabilities directly from a scientist at the Institute. His lecture kind of felt like a sales pitch to me, since he worked at the Valentine’s Division. Anyway, the important thing was that even though I didn’t want a scent match right now, these alphas might not get another chance. Ever.
It wasn’t like there was anything visibly wrong with Kain. He was drop-dead gorgeous, nice enough and didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would get all weirdly possessive and run off with me into his man-cave or some toxic shit like that. Assuming I wanted to get into a relationship at some point, I guess a scent match wasn’t a bad option? It was like the universe creating a giant billboard from the heavens, telling me via scent that these guys would be a compatible match for me. Should I throw that all away for a chance at a quiet desk job?
Damn, I still hadn’t answered my brother.
Me: he’s okay.
I tried to play it off casually.
I guess that it worked because I didn’t hear anything back from him. Not a single peep during the entire lecture on the biology of alpha ruts. I took notes diligently, making sure to get the exact names of the chemical reactions—the epinephrine and cortisol in the adrenal gland. Something about excitatory amino acids that I missed because I was busy googling the correct spelling.
I was jotting down the last few sentences just as class was ending, when I heard the uproar. There were audible gasps coming from my classmates.
I was vaguely worried that there was something serious happening—like a fire, or maybe one of the Beta-terrorist organizations like the Reset.
It was a legitimate concern, as that group did target omegas in their teens and early twenties. For some reason they believed that young omegas would bring about societal collapse… by being sexy or putting on too much lipstick or something.
But then I heard one of my classmates whisper, in a voice totally loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “I want to have all of his babies.”
What the fuck? Why say that?
My gaze snapped up to see the very last person I needed to see right now.
Titus, leaning against the wall, staring right at me.
After weeks of showing my academic potential, I could feel all my effort getting thrown out the window. I was about to be known as the obnoxiously hot alpha’s sister.
Great. Just great.