16. Chapter 16
Ronan
We found her. We finally found our match - that delicious hint of a scent at the gala was Arabella the whole time.
And not only that, but it turns out that she was our true match in almost every way possible.
She ranked nearly perfect for our pack, and that meant that long-term, courting her would only get better over time.
Our match would be lifelong and perfect.
I could already imagine it, and in response, my alpha hormones were begging me to seduce her, get her to let out some of that perfume that made me an insatiable feral beast, and ultimately claim her.
My body knew from the first hint of that scent that the woman it belonged to was perfect for me.
But I’d be a gentleman. We’d court her properly, and when she was ready, only then would I do all the things I wanted to make her feel incredible.
The problem was, I’d already been imagining those things with someone else.
But Ivy was just a sweet omega who I happened to be drawn to. Maybe because she was around Arabella, I’d confused the two. At least, that's what I told myself as our SUV pulled into the driveway.
The match report had been reviewed a dozen times.
The compatibility scores were nearly unprecedented.
Vale Labs, under Hunter’s guidance, had spent years building the most advanced matching system in the country.
Now it found our omega, the one we’d been looking for since the gala.
I looked at the massive house that belonged to the Carrington pack.
The woman waiting inside that house was our mate.
And eventually, the instincts would catch up to the data.
That was what Hunter kept saying. Anyway, not every bond begins with lightning bolts and destiny. Before our matching system, packs and omegas would still have to go through courtship to determine whether they were a good fit. This system just helped save time by skipping to the results.
“Ready?” Hunter asked, and I nodded. I was ready - so ready to finally be with the one who was right for me, the one who would fit in with our pack like she’d always been a part of it.
The one who I scented that night, who I could protect and love with all the feelings I kept locked away.
I just didn’t feel the emotions come rushing out like Hunter and Elias did.
As the largest and most protective member of the pack, I'd always been the slowest to trust. It made sense that I'd need more time than the others.
But the moment we stepped inside the house, however, I relaxed.
The tension I'd been carrying all day seemed to ease from my shoulders almost immediately. This wasn’t my home, yet every time we came here, I felt calmer.
“Welcome, Pack Vale. We’re so excited to have you here, for an entirely new reason now.
” Phillip, the head of Pack Carrington, said as the rest of the family waited in anticipation.
In the center of all of them, Arabella practically glowed.
I looked at her - my perfect match. She certainly looked perfect.
Today she wore a dress that highlighted her curves, and her hair was professionally blown out into a perfect style.
The smile she gave us was exciting, exactly what you'd expect from an omega meeting her future pack.
I should have made a beeline toward her.
But my attention swept the room automatically, the years of military security training ingrained in me. It wasn’t all of their family - someone was missing. Then I spotted Ivy. She stood near the back of the room, slightly behind the group, one arm holding the other and her head down.
The sight of her made a pang of pain course through me. I frowned. That feeling shouldn’t happen. I already have a mate, one who I’d been getting to know better these past weeks. The report confirmed it. Yet Ivy looked devastated, and the realization hurt worse than I could imagine.
Ivy cared about us. She had to have - I knew we’d connected, but she didn’t match with us for long-term compatibility, or at all.
Now she was going to lose us, permanently.
For weeks, we spent time working alongside her.
Elias would spend almost all his time in the research wing with her when we were over.
Hunter had been secretly spoiling her, and I’d become quite protective of her.
But no matter how drawn we were to her, it would never be a true match if we courted her.
It would never have worked - if she’d submitted her data to the matching base, as I suspected she had, then she didn’t even meet a 70% match to us.
Despite this knowledge, it still hurt me more than it should have to see her there, looking so lost.
“Pack Vale,” Arabella said as she stepped forward, breaking me from my thoughts, “I’m so honored to have you here.
Finding out you were my match - well, I can honestly say it was the best moment of my life.
” Arabella’s words were so meaningful that I felt another wave of guilt course through me.
She had been through more than we realized, according to her file.
She wanted us, and I needed to leave behind any feelings toward other omegas and focus on the one meant for me.
Arabella took another step forward, tilting her head slightly to show her neck.
The movement stirred the possessive alpha nature in me and pulled all my attention toward her.
“I always felt like you were the ones for me. I mean, I couldn’t say it out loud, but from our time together, I just felt something that I knew was deeper.
” She said, tucking her hair behind her ear as she looked down bashfully.
So, she did know - I felt like I really messed up not noticing her as much as I should have.
But apparently, she was our diamond in the rough.
Hunter stepped forward, looking every bit the dashing alpha leader that he was.
“Thank you, omega.” His words sent out a calming finality to the room as he addressed her, and I could see her fawn as she heard him call her out by her designation.
“I have to admit we’ve had our suspicions that we’d find our match after the gala, and when we saw it was you, everything was confirmed.
” Her face lit up like a light bulb. I saw Ivy’s lip tremble, even from where I was.
“We’d like to officially ask to court you, Arabella Carrington.”
Arabella let out a squeal, hopping up and down and clapping before running toward us.
She practically leaped into our arms, and the sudden feeling of an omega on me should have felt like home.
I should have felt like wrapping my arms around her tightly, caring for her, sniffing her neck in search of that incredible perfume, and never letting go.
Instead, I had the strangest gut instinct to push her away.
The feeling jolted in me, and I shook myself out of it.
Arabella was my mate - it was confirmed.
Over time, everything would work out. It was destined to.
She was the one we scented at the gala. She was ours, by all metrics.
Yet I glanced over toward the other omega, the enigma that stood in the corner, I could almost feel the aching rejection that she was feeling, seemingly invisible to everyone in the room but me.
Her body let out a shudder, and in a moment, I’d moved away from Arabella and my pack.
“One moment,” I said, crossing the room without thinking. The family looked puzzled as I pushed past them, and I heard Elias call for me. I didn’t turn around. Ivy’s eyes caught mine, and she looked up, plastering on a smile. I stopped one foot from her.
"Are you alright?" I asked quietly, the question came forward without thinking.
She trembled, her eyes wide as she looked around, no doubt taking in the faces of everyone behind us. She nodded.
"Of course." Her answer came instantly, too quick to be honest. “I’m… I’m so happy that you found each other.” She said, and each word came out like her mouth was sandpaper. It didn’t take years of security work to know she was lying.
"I am, too," I said. Her smile widened, almost like she was in pain. “And I’m glad that I met you, as well,” I said. It was the truth.
Then Arabella laughed from across the room, drawing everyone's attention. “Ivy’s fine. She hates attention and big emotional outbursts. Makes her uncomfortable, doesn’t it, Ivy?
” Arabella asked, and I turned to see Arbaella standing next to Hunter, his arm around her shoulder as her hands grasped him, like he had always been hers.
I should be there with her in this moment.
But I couldn't move. Not until I knew Ivy would be alright.
“Ivy, you can go to your room if it’s too much.
Go on,” Arabella said, her voice sweet and suggestive.
Ivy didn’t look up from the floor. She just nodded, biting her lip before she turned and practically fled the room.
I stared after her, everything in my body urging me to go after her - yet my mind knew that doing so would be an act of betrayal to my future mate.
“You’ll have to excuse her,” Clara said, breaking the awkward tension.
“Two unbonded omegas in one household is already challenging, but when pack dynamics come into play, well. Ivy will get over it. It’s just overwhelming for an omega to see her sister move on in life.
” Clara clasped her hands and shrugged, her own pack surrounding her.
I turned toward my pack. Arabella was our mate.
And according to her file, she'd spent years overcoming significant emotional trauma - I had to be careful not to traumatize her further or cause any trust issues.
I walked back toward my pack, Arabella watching me like a hawk.
Once I reached her, I knelt down on my knees, reaching for her hand as her eyes widened.
“Omega, forgive me if I stepped out of line. I know how important your family is to you. I want to make sure we all have a smooth transition during this next step.” I said, my voice low as I looked into her eyes.
She nodded, and I could feel her pulse racing as I held her hand.
She was small, soft, and vulnerable. It was my job as an alpha, and her match, to never let her doubt my loyalty to her.
“From here on out, your happiness is paramount.” I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed it.
Arabella’s cheeks turned pink and she looked at me in shock.
“Thank you, alpha,” She answered, her voice a soft purr of happiness. I stood, reaching my arms out in an offer. I rarely hugged people - but I’d seen that Arabella had run toward us, almost instinctually. She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around me in acceptance.
The compatibility report had painted a picture of an omega who hid her struggles behind a brave face. Our match was resilient - and someone who hid their trauma well. Maybe that was what I was seeing now - maybe I had simply projected those concerns onto the wrong sister.
I glanced down at Arabella. She smiled brightly when our eyes met - she was the picture of beauty and perfection. She was my mate - the instinct, the feelings, all the rest would come later. It had to.