Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
There was no mistaking this feeling.
Roman
It was the day before Rosie's ‘disappearance’ when everything changed.
I remember the hallway that day being too loud. Lockers slamming. People shouting. The usual chaos from an end-of-school day. I was leaning against the wall, half-listening to one of my buddies argue with someone about a video game that didn’t matter, when she walked past me.
It was hard to miss her. I shared multiple classes with her, on top of her having a vivid red hair coloring that made her stand out.
Rosie Evans. She was one of the smartest girls in school and would one day be a doctor or something.
She didn’t exactly have a friend group, so I wasn’t surprised to see her with her eyes focused on the ground, not looking at anyone.
Rosie just walked by like she always did, braid swinging down her back, books clutched to her chest. But as she passed, her scent lingered.
Slowly wrapping around me and filling my senses.
Wild roses and something sweeter. It was faint, but it hit me so hard my lungs forgot how to work for a second. My eyes darted around seeing if anyone else was smelling this intoxicating scent, but when no one else seemed to react, my pulse went feral.
I’d learned about scent matches my whole life.
My mother made sure I knew the signs and taught me that a scent match was an incredible gift.
So I knew the way it’s supposed to feel.
The pull toward the person who fast becomes the center of your universe.
The instinct that tells you that one is yours to keep, cherish, and protect for the rest of your life.
I’d never believed in it fully. Not when you don’t hear about them often. Especially not finding yours so young, but there was no mistaking this feeling.
Until that moment.
Every cell in my body wanted to follow her.
Track her down the hall. Memorize the rhythm of her breathing.
I had to physically dig my nails into my palm to keep from moving because she didn’t notice me.
Which means she hasn’t manifested. She would think I was crazy if I went after her right now. But I knew tomorrow was her birthday.
I just had to wait a little longer.
If she presented as an Omega… If that scent deepened… If she locked onto me the way I felt it trying to—
God.
I barely slept that night. I kept imagining walking into school first thing that morning and finding her.
So that it would be undeniable. I imagined her looking up at me with those big green eyes and knowing that I was hers for the rest of our lives.
That I would support her, protect her, and love her with every breath I could.
I knew it sounded batshit crazy, but it was ingrained in us.
So, I knew once she caught my scent, she would feel the same exact way.
Except the next day, she didn’t show up.
At first, I thought she was sick. I didn’t know much about how Omegas manifested.
When Alphas came of age, it was like we instantly got stronger and more dominant.
So maybe since Omegas were born to be nurturers, they went through a different process.
It was a Friday, and I didn't think I could go the whole weekend without seeing her or confirming what my instincts were telling me, so I went to her house after school, but no one was home. I didn’t have much choice but to wait till Monday now.
That weekend was the longest forty-eight hours of my life.
So when Monday finally arrived, I was up and at school a whole two hours early.
I waited out front until the first bell rang, but Rosie still didn’t show up.
By third period the teachers were whispering.
By lunch the principal called an assembly.
They said she’d presented.
But not as an Omega. A Beta.
I remember the silence in the auditorium when they said she’d taken her own life on Friday.
The moment they announced it, it was like the air had been sucked out of the room.
I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I lost a piece of myself that I never knew I needed.
But it didn’t make sense. None of it did.
I smelled her. I knew my reaction was real and what it meant.
There was no way she was presenting as a Beta.
I couldn’t process it.
All I could think about was that scent in the hallway just days before.
The way it had wrapped around my soul and told me I was hers.
I kept replaying it, trying to figure out how I’d gotten it so wrong.
For weeks after, I swore I could still smell her.
In the halls. In my house. I would imagine seeing glimpses of her fiery red hair turning corners, but it was never her.
I told no one.
Because if she had been my scent match… If I had felt it first… and known what it meant. I should have followed her down that hallway, sounding crazy or not. And maybe—just maybe—she wouldn’t have been alone the next morning, and I wouldn’t have lost what could only be the other piece of my soul.