Chapter 2
Alec
At first, I don’t understand what’s pulling me from my regular route home.
My instincts prickle when I go to take my usual turn, and I find myself heading the entirely wrong way. It’s only when I see the woman stumbling, not even noticing the two alphas who are quickly inching closer to her, that I realise I’ve been unconsciously following a trail.
I breathe in sharply, sucking in the sweet, alluring scent of an unmated omega from all the way down the street. They’re not just preheat pheromones being let off either; they can’t possibly be when they’re this potent. When they’re this sweet and enticing, even from a distance.
Fuck.
I barely hold back a growl, and it takes more effort than I’d like to admit to remain calm while I process the situation. My eyes flick between her, the alphas following, and the rest of the dark, empty street, before settling back on her.
What the hell is this crazy omega doing, wandering the city at this hour while in the middle of her heat?
If she doesn’t have a mate to care for her, where are her family or friends? She shouldn’t be left alone and vulnerable like this, exposed to the danger of weaker alphas, those unable or unwilling to control themselves.
If she doesn’t have—Fuck.
I bite back another frustrated growl as I realise that the nearest heat clinic is only minutes away. That must be where she’s headed. Being registered as a clinic-approved alpha, unlike most other alphas in the city, I actually know where they’re located.
Nath and I have helped with enough omegas over the last ten years that we’ve been to all of them by now. It’s difficult to get onto their lists, for good reason, and so despite being an alpha-alpha pair, we get the call more than most people would probably expect.
I speed up, still not outright running, as I would rather not tip off the other two alphas that their night isn’t going to go how they’re thinking it will.
Not when they’re so close to her. Close enough that they could easily grab and threaten to harm her if I were to attempt to intervene.
Not that it would prevent me from stopping them, but the added stress wouldn’t be good for the omega—not in her current heat-addled state.
Thankfully, the two alphas are so distracted by the sweet omega they’re closing in on like prey, they don’t notice me until it’s too late.
The element of surprise works wonders against them as I grab both of their shoulders, yanking them back to immediately put some distance between them and the omega.
I release my grip on the one who’d stumbled further back, almost tripping over his own feet—definitely weaker, less of an immediate danger—and focus on the other.
A few sharp, well-placed hits, followed by a hard kick down onto his kneecap, which connects with a brutal snap, send him to the floor with an agonised wail.
Despite the volume, the piercing howl of pain he makes is drowned out to me by the quieter, startled sound coming from the omega as she turns around to stare at us.
Ignoring my instinct to comfort her, I tackle the second alpha, who’d stupidly taken a step back towards the omega, an unhinged look in his beady little eyes.
The stupid fucking creep. We smack into the side of the building, his body taking the full brunt of the collision.
His head knocks back against the brick, and he’s out as easily as that, going completely limp.
I step back, letting him fall to the floor, unconscious, feeling like that had honestly been a little anticlimactic.
“I…what—what did… I don’t…”
I look up at the confused, mumbled words, finally meeting the omega’s eyes.
Her pupils are blown wide, and her hazel gaze flickers between me and the two alphas on the floor unsurely for a moment before finally settling on my face.
She tilts her head slightly as she breathes in, probably instinctively trying to read my intentions from my scent.
I step forward, planting myself between the two undisciplined, predatory alphas and her.
With one unconscious and the other still wincing and clutching himself in pain, I doubt he’ll be stupid enough to try anything.
Still, I keep a little of my attention on him, just in case.
Plenty of alphas have been known to make stupid decisions when breathing in the smell of a pretty omega in heat.
Stepping closer has the unfortunate side effect of allowing me to truly take in her scent too.
She smelt good from a distance, but up close, it’s easy to see why weaker alphas wouldn't be able to keep control of themselves. It unfortunately explains why they’d looked half-feral at the prospect of her.
She smells like honey and jasmine—sweet yet floral, with an intoxicating quality that makes me want to bury my nose in her neck.
It takes every bit of self-control I possess to remain focused, to ignore my own instinctual desire to pin the pretty omega beneath me. They don’t hand over approval status to just any alpha, though. I restrain myself, even if this is the hardest it’s ever been to do so.
“Are you trying to get to the heat clinic?” I ask, keeping my tone as soft and non-threatening as I can manage.
“Alpha?” she replies, her lilting voice half-delirious. She steps forward and stumbles right into my chest.
“Fuuuck,” I hiss as I automatically catch the omega, my arms encircling her body and holding her close.
She makes a content-sounding noise that goes straight to my cock. I feel my grip tighten reflexively as she gives right in to the urge I’ve been fighting, sniffing at the scent gland on my neck.
I freeze as she slowly breathes me in, humming happily to herself, only jerking back into motion when her tongue darts out and drags across my skin like she’s trying to taste me.
Undeterred, she noses more at my neck and then rubs her cheek against mine, one of her hands sneaking up to touch my hair and drag her fingers through it.
Gritting my teeth, I lift the omega and put one foot in front of the other, determinedly ignoring her attempts to mix our scents. She keeps pressing her skin against mine wherever she can reach, occasionally swiping across my scent gland again with her torturous little tongue.
I walk as fast as I can, pretending that the increasing hardness trying to break free from my jeans isn’t making every step a challenge.
I have to get her to the damned clinic.
Now.
Before I become one of those undisciplined, predatory alphas and steal her away for myself…