29. Chloe
CHAPTER 29
CHLOE
Graduation was on the horizon.
The thought of graduating from the Institute had been my own little ray of hope, promising that I wasn’t going to be drowning in quizzes and studying forever. In just a few weeks, I was going to get the instructions for my final exam. I didn’t know when the countdown to the end of my classes had started weighing me down with its never-ending ticking and tocking like the countdown to a bomb.
I hadn’t expected to like my scent matches.
Meeting all of them and realizing that I liked them, maybe even loved them, threw even more of a wrench in my plans. It was more emotionally devastating than if it turned out that we just weren’t compatible at all. I had been emotionally prepared for a bit of heartbreak and to live my life alone in a studio apartment, living on my modest salary from my receptionist job—not to fall for my alphas.
Relationships made everything so much more complicated.
Brutus had spoken to me matter-of-factly about how things would be if I moved in with them, and about his plans for remodeling and personalizing my nest.
The whole concept of nesting was still weird to me. Yes, I’d been an omega for a while now. Yes, I knew that my moms and sisters had nests. But this was me, and I wasn’t a fucking bird. I couldn’t get the association of a bunch of little sticks surrounding a batch of eggs out of my head.
But that wasn’t the point.
Moving in with my scent matches was a huge fucking deal.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with them—I did.
The thought of a future without them made my limbs feel weak, as painful pressure built up in my chest—No.
I wasn’t going to give up my alphas. But did that mean that I had to give up on my dream? After doubling my academic load at the Institute with my online classes, and nearly being done with them both, was I going to throw it all away? And to do what exactly? From what I’d seen with my sister, Rebel, it looked like all she did all day was her alphas… in various positions and pairings.
Wait. Honestly, that didn’t sound awful…
But no. As much as I wanted to be with them, how could I give myself up in the process?
My mind was a dumpster fire, and nothing was helping. I wouldn’t even mind an alpha interview during lunch right now, because it would take my mind off things. But even that had started to slow down. Titus hadn’t texted me the contact of any new alphas in an entire week. Which was odd, because from the moment he’d come up with his hair-brained alpha interview scheme, he’d sent at least one, sometimes two or three alphas for me to interview a week.
Figures as soon as I actually wanted to do it, the interviews would dry up.
I got to class early.
I had all the space I needed to focus.
A few months back, I thought my academic year would be fucked after everyone realized I was related to the Stryker pack, but I’d used the incident to my advantage. Maybe I could have lied and said that there wasn’t any connection to Titus, but it turned out that glaring at the other girls and hinting that I could ruin any chance they had with my brother worked just as well. The other omegas not only kept their distance, but treated me with a whispered reverence.
Which would have been perfect, except that I had already finished my assignments for the week. Now it was too much space.
I tapped my finger against my notebook, needing something to take my mind off everything. I looked behind me, to another omega seated a row behind me, who had also come in early.
“Good afternoon,” I waved to her.
She turned bright pink and mumbled a tiny word, like a strangled and bastardized hello. Then the girl buried her head in her text book, blushing like it was her job.
Maybe I’d gone overboard with intimidating the other omegas. Was the threat of not being able to get with my brother really that scary? It’s not like they could all get with him, anyway.
What-the fuck-ever. I was about to finish out my time at the Institute. It was a bit late for me to start thinking about friendships now. Besides, I had to keep my eyes on the prize. There was no doubt in my mind that if I failed my classes now, after I’d worked so hard at everything that I would have no other options but to simply die of embarrassment.
I just needed to find something else to take my mind off things.
Mindlessly, I grabbed my phone, tapping out a text to Titus.
Me: Are you even alive?
Titus: Hey! I’m at the Institute. Meet me at our usual for lunch?
Oh?
So he was at the Institute right now? Titus wouldn’t come by this way unless he had paperwork, or he was here to meet alphas.
I opened up my textbook to a chapter on condom textures, hiding my smile behind it. So which alpha was my brother meeting? Were things getting serious? There was nothing better than other people’s love lives and drama, to take my mind off my own real-life problems.
An hour and a half later, I loaded down my lunch tray with a supreme steak burrito and a side of nachos with salsa. It looked amazing, and I was starving, having been in too much of a rush to make it to the cafeteria in time for breakfast.
To be completely honest, I was a little distracted as I walked out to my favorite lunch table. I had to keep looking at my lovely little burrito, promising it that I’d give it a good home—in my belly.
When I got to the table, I looked up to see Titus, happier than I’d ever seen him—and he wasn’t alone. He was surrounded by three other alphas, standing close together… staring at each other with hearts in their eyes.
Wait… wait.
Wait one damn minute.
Did this mean that he’d actually chosen his pack?
My brother had his arms around a handsome alpha with dark wavy hair, and thick lashes framing emerald-green eyes—it was Nyle, the one alpha that I’d recommended to Titus. The only man out of the dozens I’d interviewed that actually passed my red flag checklist and earned a glowing recommendation.
Titus had actually called me and asked me if I was being serious, after I’d texted him that he needed to snatch Nyle up, bond him and put a ring on it.
Huh. Titus actually took my recommendations seriously. Honestly, I suspected that Titus was using the alpha interviews as an excuse for me to go out and maybe get laid… but that didn’t completely make sense, because the interviews didn’t stop when I’d found my scent matches.
It was one thing to suspect that my brother cared about my opinion on which of the alphas at the Institute were decent and which ones were the human equivalent of diarrhea on a toilet seat, and it was another to realize that he’d actually taken my advice.
Nyle wasn’t the only alpha I recognized.
Was that Simon?
I mean, alright. The heart wanted what the heart wanted. Who was I to be the judge of all that? Besides, from what I could tell, Simon was determined and earnest. He wasn’t the sharpest crayon in the box, but he was emotionally regulated and definitely not a psycho.
Simon stood with his chest puffed out and chin held high.
Okay.
Good for you, Simon.
“Ah, there she is!” Simon exclaimed as soon as he spotted me. He held out his hand for me to shake, and I had to hurriedly lower my tray to the table. Simon took my hand in both of his, shaking it with enthusiasm, “I’ve got to thank you for your support in the pack interview process.”
My mind drew a complete blank. What had the two of us even spoken about? All the interviews blurred together a bit.
Oh, shit.
Simon wasn’t the alpha who’d gone army crawling through the Institute cafeteria to get me a sandwich, was he?
Whatever. If it got him noticed and a part of Titus’ pack, no harm done.
“You’re welcome.” I smiled in reply, my gaze darting over to my brother in question.
Titus glanced pointedly to the alpha next to him.
Got it. Whoever was at my brother’s side had the hots for Simon.
“Chloe, I’d like you to meet Arrow.” Titus reached down and took Arrow’s hand, “he’s a good friend of mine.”
A good friend, huh?
Fuck yeah.
Now, I remembered how I’d practically text screamed at Titus to man up and talk to this “friend” that he’d been clearly interested in.
I could immediately see why Titus liked him. Arrow was handsome, like all of the other alphas Titus had me interview… but there was something alluring about Arrow.
Maybe it was the buzz cut that drew attention to his doe-like brown eyes. They were soulful and deep, framed by exquisite long lashes. He had high cheekbones and thick and delicate lips, that were a dusky rose against his dark complexion.
Well… fuck. If I didn’t have my scent matches, I would be tempted to go for Arrow as well.
Was there a way for me to give my brother a high-five and tell him “ nice ” without seeming disrespectful? There should be. Titus did good.
Even meeting him for just a brief while, I had a good feeling about Arrow. He seemed sweet, and he couldn’t take his eyes off my brother for a second. I don’t even understand why Titus would even have me do all of these interviews in the first place, the way that he was looking at Arrow with a dumb grin on his face.
Boys were just fucking dumbasses sometimes.
“Hey, I’ll walk you back to class.” Titus said, as I got up to throw the crumpled tin-foil (all that was left after a truly decadent burrito. Ten out of ten) in the trash and scurry back to my evening lectures.
Titus turned to Arrow, cradling that strong jaw in his hands. “I’ll see you in a minute,” he murmured before leaning down to give him a quick kiss, full on the lips.
Arrow nodded as he broke away from the kiss looking a little bit breathless. His eyes were wide, as he stared at Titus as if my brother was the best damn sight in the world.
Awwww!
I was so happy that my brother was happy.
Even if Titus was my brother, and I could remember all of his awful teenage years… all those gross sweaty hugs, the fermenting clothes that were always near but not in the laundry basket and the general rebellion against deodorant—I had to admit, my brother was an okay dude.
Once the two of us were around the corner and out of sight, I threw my arms around my brother. “I love your pack and I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Titus wrapped his arms around me, squeezing tight.
“Thank you, Chloe.” Titus let me go, clearing his throat as if that could distract me from the way that his eyes were welling up with emotion, and that he was right on the brink of crying happy tears. “I don’t know what I was even thinking with Arrow… if you hadn’t started bitching at me to talk to him…”
Bitching?
No. I was saving him from a lifetime of regret.
“Hey, I get it.” I nodded at him.
There must have been some onions around here, because now my eyes were starting to get a little bit teary.
“Love makes everyone stupid.” I shrugged. “Maybe because love itself is stupid. But as long as you are happy, and you get there eventually, who gives a shit?”