4. Kallis
Kallis
“Are you okay?” It’s only when Aspen wraps her jacket over my shoulder that I realize I’m staring at the spot where the ambulance disappeared. “Why do you look like that?”
Holding my left wrist, I hide the bite from her, my face whiter than the ice of the rink behind us.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel. Elated because I’m an omega who’s received a mating bite? Shocked because he’s my scent match? Furious at the audacity of an alpha to bite me when we just met?
I reacted quickly enough, but the side of my wrist pulses, and his wonderful clover scent still clings to my clothes, breaking through my suppressants. The bite was so strong that it felt like Orso had buried himself into my heart in seconds. Thankfully, he bit me on the ulna and missed my artery.
I want to collapse. I’m nearly shaking, suddenly feeling so weak, my omega side howling because I had thrust him away so easily.
No matter how beautiful he looked when I held him, I’ll never let myself be claimed, especially not like that.
My mouth waters from the deep breaths I take. I couldn’t deny the raw desire to climb on top of him and scent mark him before they whisked him away to the ER.
Have I ever met a floral alpha that smells so sweet? Because his scent is fresh on my clothes that I feel like I’m floating.
And these feelings are far too dangerous when I need to preserve my future.
I fold my arms, my hand on my chest, splaying my fingers as if that could somehow slow my speeding heart. I’m so grateful that my suppressants held. If my body had grown any hotter, they would have failed, and my perfume would be spread around us.
“How was your first taste of Orso Williams?” Aspen hums.
“Excuse me?” My gaze snaps to hers as I glare, but she just keeps grinning.
“He’s a lot, isn’t he?”
“If you mean the fact that his muscles are so hard that I could barely feel his semispinalis capitis, then, yes, I agree.”
“Uh-huh. I saw that look, Bee. You can’t fool me. A hockey player might be the answer to all your problems.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re suggesting that I mate with a hockey player simply to secure the Chief Neurosurgeon role. I’m disappointed in you. You were offered your role without your husband’s influence; why should I be any different?”
“I didn’t mean for work. It’s more that I know you don’t have a social life, and he might help you loosen up.”
“I’m loose enough already, thank you,” I say flatly, my entire body tense as Aspen bursts out laughing.
“Sure you are, Bee,” she says when she finally catches her breath.
“Just because I’m an omega doesn’t mean I need an alpha to succeed,” I say defensively.
Which is exactly the opposite of what my parents told me. They still make me attend events to introduce me to alphas once a month, with the hope that I’d make a match and become a successful, well-known couple like them.
“How about three? He has two mates, you know. You should come in and meet them.”
“No, thank you,” I say coldly. “I won’t let my work be undermined by who I fuck.” I prefer using heat services so that everything remains anonymous.
But my body says differently. And my desire to either run home to my nest to take care of this intense need or chase the ambulance to follow up with Orso is too much. I already feel overwhelmed, and I haven’t even been in Aurum for a day.
“But you’ll take the job?” Aspen asks.
I keep glaring at her, but she knows me so well that she’s unfazed.
“I’ll think about it.”
“So, you’re not saying no!?” she mock-gasps as if she doesn’t know how good the offer is.
“I’m not saying yes, either. I need to consider my options.”
If it’s a choice between advancing my career through five years of proving myself repeatedly alongside colleagues who respected me and performing surgeries that pushed me to my limits, or a year with alphas who might touch me at every opportunity they get, which would I prefer?
Am I shameless enough to say yes to a shortcut, especially when Orso smelled so delicious that I’m still shivering?
My pride tells me to resist it. But I want to advance quicker than my parents, and the opportunity is being presented to me on a plate.
Cheers echo out from around the stadium, and the announcer’s voice booms behind us.
“And that’s another win for the Golden Bears!”
Screams and cheers erupt as the crowd goes wild, and Aspen beams as she spins around.
“Come back to the rink and hang out with the team. See how they celebrate; I’m sure it will convince you.”
I’m too shaken to move. I feel like I have to stay glued to the spot, but it’s just my omega side telling me to wait so Orso can come and find me.
“I’m going to drive home. I’ll see you at the hospital on Monday,” I say coolly, and she shrugs.
“I’ll bring the forms. I’m not letting you get away now that you’ve agreed to work for us!”
“I said I’ll think about it.”
“Sure, take your time. But my hubby will be so pleased.” She hugs herself instead of me. “Keep the jacket; you can return it to me later.”
I nod as she speeds off toward the team, and the crowd pours from the stands and surges around me.
My curiosity is telling me to seek out the mates Aspen mentioned, and my common sense, which is entirely aware of my pulsing wrist, is telling me to get back to my car.
The doors that Orso left through, the spot where I jumped over the railing and hit the ground hard enough that my feet still tingle, is suddenly filled by two alphas. They both stand still in the wave of fans, staring directly at me.
One is so big that he lives up to the name of ‘Bear’, and the other is at least half a foot shorter than him, with an impish grin on his face.
Their presence floors me, and I’m dragging in a gasping breath filled with hints of freshly cut grass and wildflowers that are clear among the chaos.
The bite on my left wrist thumps in time with my heart, and shock burns through me as I recognize the same feeling I had with Orso. Temptation reignites, and I refuse to let it blaze.
I’m already racing to my car before they can even think of pushing through the crowd.
There’s no chance for them to even exit the rink, because I’m pulling out of the lot, my mind battling with the question of whether I could maintain a professional boundary with the three of them when heavy slick builds between my legs and desire trembles in my core.