Chapter 4 Mateo
Chapter four
Mateo
After meeting August, I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love at first sight again. I thought I’d used up my fate allotments, and if by chance we found an Omega that fulfilled our pack, it would be the kind of love that was nurtured and grew like a flower in spring.
Mierda. Augie is never going to let me hear the end of it when I tell him.
I was just teasing him about crushing on this Omega for so many years through a screen, but now that I’ve met her, felt her presence near me, I know I’m going to be as equally obsessed with her as he is.
It makes me wonder if my mate’s instincts somehow knew what she could be to us, even through a TV screen.
My gaze finds Augie’s as I walk through the set door behind Iris.
He’s standing next to Jett, his green eyes locked on the Omega and skin already flushed with nerves.
I can’t wait to see how he reacts when they shake hands.
I wonder if he’ll feel the same way I do right now, even if I know he already will.
Then there’s my other pack members. They tend to be more guarded in their feelings and a bit dense. Without her scent I don’t know if they’ll have the reaction I just did to her.
Wilder stands next to Augie with Jett on the other side of him.
He doesn’t look at me, but to the Omega, an annoyed pulse coming through our bond, no doubt from our tardiness.
My Alpha almost growled when he interrupted us, but it’s good that he did.
Regardless of if my instincts want to pick Iris up and throw her over my shoulder, taking us to a private spot where I can fuck her seven ways to Sunday, that would be highly inadvisable.
A lawsuit waiting to happen. And my pack would kill me without talking to them about my discovery first. Or what I hope I discovered.
I don’t like that Iris didn’t seem to react to my scent. There’s some de-scenter the crew sprays in the air that dampens the many scents here so it’s not overwhelming to everyone working, but she should have been able to pick mine up with how close we were.
The image of mi conejita scrunching her nose consumes my thoughts.
She did look like a cute little bunny every time she made the action, but now I’m wondering if her Omega didn’t care for my honey scent.
It would be odd considering I attract enough bees to pollinate my hive on the regular if I so choose.
“I see you met Mateo, our cinematographer,” Wilder addresses Iris as we come to a stop in front of the three of them.
I shake my inappropriate thoughts away as Iris holds her hands in front of her, fingers gripped together with what I can only guess are nerves. I want to take her hand and assure her she has nothing to be nervous about, but I don’t blame her with the way Wilder is coming across.
He’s an intimidating Alpha at six foot five and covered in tattoos.
I’ve joked before that he looks like a biker and a rockstar had a baby, much to his annoyance.
But once you get to know him, and if you’re lucky enough that he lets you in, he’s a teddy bear at heart.
He’s also a damn good director and the best Prime our pack could ask for.
“Yes,” her answer comes out a bit shaky so she clears her throat and tries again. “Yes, I did.”
“Good,” Wilder replies. I try to read him or see if I can feel a spike of any sort of emotion through the bond other than the fading annoyance, but he stays level. But that’s not unusual for him. He’s good at remaining professional no matter the circumstance.
“We’re running a tight ship as you may know,” he continues.
“This isn’t how I normally like to do things, but we really have to jump right in or we’ll fall behind.
That means we don’t have much time for pleasantries.
Hopefully we’ll get to know each other as the shoot goes on and during meal breaks. ”
What Wilder doesn’t know is I very much plan for our pack to get to know her, but I keep that to myself for now. I don’t need my Alpha going wild and making things awkward. I need to remain calm while we work and figure the rest out later. Thank the gods I’m good at restraint.
Iris dips her chin and I notice she’s relieved by his rushing and lack of niceties, because the grip she has on her hands is easing.
“I understand, sorry I came in late.”
“That was my doing,” I cut in. Their eyes turn on me, including Iris’s. “I scared her and sent her into a coughing fit then offered her regular coffee like an asshole.”
That’s not exactly what happened but I don’t want my pack to think she took too much time to show up on her first day of shooting. She was right outside when I ran into her.
“Here,” Augie’s warm voice cuts in. He holds out a water bottle I didn’t see in his hand and she looks down at it. “It’s unopened.”
“It’s okay—”
“Please, it’s yours now.”
“Thanks,” she says softly, her hand reaching out to take the offered drink. My eyes fall to the bottle and I see the moment her fingers brush my Beta’s. Iris gasps and he pulls back without thinking, the actions causing the water bottle to drop to the floor.
“Shoot,” Iris proclaims, and I know what’s about to happen before it does.
She bends down to grab the dropped plastic bottle at the same time my mate does.
Their foreheads collide and they both curse, yet they go back in for the bottle like kittens over a ball of yarn.
Just before their heads whack again, Wilder’s tattooed hand strikes out like a snake and grabs Augie’s shoulder, stopping him from hitting her again.
There’s even a brief second where I think he growls, and not in a normal angry way but in a way that an Alpha protects his Omega.
My eyes lift to his but he’s not looking at me.
His narrowed gaze is on Iris as she stands with the water bottle in her hand and her other hand rubbing her forehead under her dark bangs.
Meanwhile Jett stands on the other side of Wilder with his arms over his chest, brow knitted in confusion as he stares at our Prime, obviously having heard the growl.
Hmm, that was interesting, now wasn’t it?
Augie’s reaction I can understand, and Iris clearly felt something when she touched my mate.
And Wilder…
I tap further into our pack bond. There's no denying he’s confused by what he just did. I can feel Augie’s embarrassment, Jett’s curiosity, and an undercurrent of attraction that I believe to be coming from all of us.
Could these reactions to Iris simply be because not only is she a very attractive Omega and exactly our type with her generous curves and dark hair, but she’s unbonded?
Many of the Omegas we’ve worked with, Molly included, had packs and bond marks that makeup had to cover up for shoots—but not Iris.
Mine.
My spine straightens. I guess my Alpha disagrees with me on that.
I feel his anger at just the idea she’s only a random unbonded Omega.
I can understand why too, because our pack has worked with them before, and of course many cross our paths outside of work, and I’ve never felt like this.
And I’ve never heard Wilder growl like that over something as simple as a clumsy head collision.
Jett hasn’t given much of an outward reaction, but the way he’s looking at her now, eyes focused, and the attraction in the bond, he’s feeling something too.
“I’m so sorry,” Augie mutters, snapping my attention back to him. He’s standing at his full height, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Are you okay, Iris?”
His eyes draw to the Omega’s hand rubbing her forehead and she immediately drops it. I force my hands to stay at my sides to stop myself from taking her in my arms and checking her over.
“I’m fine,” she exhales, holding the water bottle in both hands now. “I swear I’m usually not this clumsy. Sorry.”
“Don’t be, it was my fault,” Augie adds.
Iris opens her mouth as if she wants to debate but Jett clears his throat. “We should get started before Augie ends up apologizing ten more times.”
The light southern twang of his accent is more prominent than normal, and there’s a pulse of curiosity through the bond. This time from not only me but from Augie and Wilder.
Jett’s lived in California since he was seventeen and is thirty now like the rest of our pack.
He did a lot of work to get rid of his accent for roles unless it’s needed, and it tends to only come out when he’s stressed or laying it on thick for women he’s trying to bed if they think it’s charming.
But I don’t think it’s either of those things at the moment.
The slip felt natural, like a wall came down that made him feel at ease with her to show the real him only our pack sees.
Mierda, mierda, mierda! I think Iris really could be our Omega!
My heart pounds in my chest and I wish more than anything I could take my pack and Iris into a room, explain what’s going on, and ask to court her, but that would all be insane.
There’s also the fact we’re surrounded by a crew and have responsibilities that trump my Alpha instincts right now.
“That sounds good,” Iris says with a small smile, silver eyes alight.
There’s an awkward pause before Wilder claps his hands, making both her and Augie jump slightly at its suddenness.
“I’ll restart us.” His gruff tone is laced with enough of his Alpha bark that we all stand at attention.
“I think we know each other’s names at this point but I’m Wilder, this is August, he’s the brilliant writer behind Knotting Hill, and he’ll be on set with us for the next month.
I’m not sure if I’d mentioned it on our call, but he’ll also be my assistant director for this shoot. ”
Iris’s silver gaze travels to my mate’s; he’s rubbing the back of his neck in the way he does when he feels shy and nervous. He’d probably be gripping the water bottle between his hands like she is had he not given it to her.
“That’s me,” he says, his voice a tad squeaky. It’s fucking adorable and I feel my amusement along with my fellow packmates flow through the bond.
Iris dips her chin. “It’s nice to meet you, August.”
“You can call me Augie if you like.”
“Augie,” she says, eyelids fluttering and skin pinkening. “You can call me Iris.”
He chuckles and my gaze catches Wilder and Jett’s.
I know they see her flush and the way she already appears starry eyed for Augie.
I think mi conejita has a bit of a crush on our Beta, one that pre-dates their meeting like his does for her.
I store that information away alongside everything else I’ve learned in these last minutes.
“Then of course you met Mateo, our cinematographer. You’ll get to know his crew as we go,” Wilder says.
“Mateo is fine.” I smile at her when her attention turns to me. Though I want to say she can call me Alpha too if she wants. Or anything, really.
Iris grins softly and her nostrils flare on an inhale at the same time mine do.
Once again I only get the smells of my pack and the de-scenting agents she has on, but her nose scrunches like before.
She covers it by turning away and bringing the back of her finger up to rub it daintily like she has an itch.
Augie stares into the side of my head and I look over at him.
His face is confused and I know he saw whatever that was, but I don’t have an answer for him.
“Lastly,” Wilder continues. “We have Jett, your leading man. Your other costars should be around at lunch and Jett or one of the PAs can introduce you.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Iris.” Jett steps toward her a miniscule amount so as to not come off threatening, his natural charm of an A-list celebrity and Alpha radiating off him like a magical aura. His accent is nowhere to be found now.
“You too, Jett.” She smiles—one that forms dimples on her cheeks that I didn’t realize she had. She’s captivating, and I’m seriously wondering why we didn’t fight the investors harder to hire her over Molly in the first place. And by the look on Jett’s face, I think he agrees.
His blue eyes have dropped to Iris’s lips, his gaze zeroed in on them like her saying his name was the best thing he’s ever heard. A pulse of deep attraction comes from his end of the pack bond and the air pulls tight around us.
Something interesting is definitely happening between my pack and Iris. And I know that if I don’t move us from the spot we’ll all stand here until one of us drags Iris away and to the nearest private room.
I rub my hands together. “Now that we all know each other, should we block and test the lighting?”
“Yes,” Wilder agrees, his voice strained rather than his normal director-like tone. “Let’s get started.”