17. Chapter Seventeen
The sound of gravel crunching under tires has already faded down the driveway. Elodie is gone. The omega taxi took her away just moments ago, and the four of us are still standing in the living room like the floor has decided to lock us in place.
Her scent hasn’t left with her.
That bright pink lemonade fragrance still clings to every surface, sweet and vibrant and so potent it makes the air feel thicker than it should. It wraps around me, around all of us, pulling at instincts I’ve spent years learning to control.
My chest feels tight. My pulse is too loud in my ears. Even the shared pack scent of sun-warmed skin and charged storm air feels heavier now, like it’s trying to hold on to her.
I glance around at my pack. Chase stands with his arms crossed so tightly the veins stand out on his forearms. Adrian has one hand on the back of the couch, fingers tapping a thoughtful rhythm against the leather while his mind clearly races ahead.
Jamie hasn’t moved at all. He just stares at the closed front door, shoulders slightly hunched, the wet patch on his jeans still visible.
I let out a measured breath and break the heavy silence.
“Her scent is still everywhere,” I say. “It’s affecting all of us more than it should for someone who just walked out the door.”
No one argues. Because we all feel it. Every single one of us.
And none of us knows what to do with it yet.
Adrian is the first to break the heavy silence. He pushes his glasses up his nose with one finger, the way he does when his mind is already ten steps ahead of the rest of us. His voice is calm, precise, and unmistakably certain.
“She is our scent match.”
The words land with finality as he confirms it for the group. No hesitation. No room for doubt.
I feel the truth of it settle deep in my bones, the same as when he first said it. Hell, the same as when I first scented her across the quad. Chase shifts his weight. Jamie’s shoulders tighten. None of us argue. Because deep down, they already knew.
Adrian continues, eyes moving between the three of us. “She reacted far too strongly for this to be anything else. The way her scent blockers failed instantly, the intensity of the spike, the way she responded to each of us… she is our omega.”
The phrase “our omega” hits differently when spoken out loud. Something primal and possessive stirs in my chest. I nod without thinking. Jamie does the same. Even Chase gives a reluctant dip of his chin, though his expression stays stormy.
Adrian’s shoulders relax just slightly, as though saying it aloud has lifted some of the weight he has been carrying alone.
Chase, however, can’t stay quiet. He lets out a loud, frustrated groan and drags both hands down his face.
“Yeah, well our omega made it very fucking clear she doesn’t want a pack,” he says, voice thick with bitterness. “And she definitely doesn’t want me in it. I scared the shit out of her the night I found her doing moth trapping in the woods.”
The words hang in the air. I don’t speak, letting him get it out. Chase rarely opens up like this, and when he does, it’s usually because the weight has become too heavy to carry alone.
He keeps going, eyes fixed on the floor.
“I scented her out there alone at night. She had lights set up and was completely focused on her work. I went into full protector mode before I could stop myself. I growled at her. Told her she shouldn’t be out there by herself.
I practically dragged her back to her dorm like some possessive asshole.
She thought I hated her. She even had to stop me from stepping on a damn caterpillar, and I still acted like a brute. ”
He shakes his head, jaw tight. “She was just trying to do her research, and I— I made her feel unsafe. If she never wants anything to do with me after that, I wouldn’t blame her.”
The room stays silent for a long moment. Her scent is still thick around us, sweet and lingering, but the mood has shifted. The shock has worn off, and everything feels more real.
Adrian listens without interrupting, his expression thoughtful rather than judgmental. Jamie nods slowly like he understands the instinct even if he wishes it had gone differently.
None of us speak right away. We just let it sit there, because we all know how powerful those early instincts can be when a scent match is involved.
And none of us are innocent in this either.
I have my own secret sighting I haven’t told them about yet.
But first, I need to hear the rest of what they have been keeping from me.
Chase’s confession about the woods hangs in the room like smoke. I watch him stand there, shoulders rigid, eyes fixed on the floor as though he can still see her crouched among the moth sheets, notebook in hand, completely unaware of the alpha storming toward her.
I let the silence stretch for a moment. Then I speak, voice low.
“So you met her in the woods,” I say.
Chase’s head snaps up.
I look at each of them in turn. “And the rest of you have been keeping things from me too, haven’t you?”
Jamie shifts his weight, cheeks faintly flushed. “I’ve been trying to flirt with her for weeks,” he admits under his breath. “I gave her a rose out on the quad. I carried her backpack across campus. Little things… none of it worked.”
Adrian adjusts his glasses, expression calm but eyes bright with that analytical spark I know so well. “I saw her first weeks ago too,” he says simply. “We share a Research Methods seminar. But that was it until the library today.”
I nod thoughtfully, pieces clicking into place.
And me.
I rub the back of my neck. “I saw her too,” I confess.
“In one of the green areas. She was on her knees doing an insect survey, completely lost in her work. I scented her from the path and knew instantly. I didn’t speak to her.
I kept it to myself because I wanted to investigate before I got anyone’s hopes up. ”
The room is quiet again, but it feels different now. Lighter. Like the last secrets have finally been laid on the table.
I look at each of my packmates. “None of you are at fault for following instinct,” I say. “She is our scent match… our omega. Of course every one of us reacted. The real question is what we do now that she has made her feelings clear.”
Chase exhales like he has been holding his breath for hours. Jamie’s shoulders drop a fraction. Adrian gives a small, satisfied nod, as though the data has finally aligned.
I feel the weight of leadership land on me again, but it feels right.
We’re not giving up.
We’re just going to have to be smarter about how we show her what she’s walking away from.
Jamie shifts his weight, clearly uncomfortable in the damp jeans he has been wearing since the heat spike.
He mutters something about needing to change and heads upstairs without another word.
The three of us watch him go. The stairs creak under his steps, then the bedroom door clicks shut above us.
I wait until I’m sure he is out of earshot before I speak again.
“Jamie is probably hurting more than he’s letting on,” I mutter to Adrian and Chase. “After what happened upstairs between him and Elodie… she trusted him enough to let him help her through the spike, and then she still walked away. That kind of rejection from our omega is going to cut deep.”
Adrian nods, expression thoughtful. “He’s been carrying a torch for her longer than the rest of us realized. The rose, the backpack, all those eager attempts. This one would have stung.”
Chase rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. The guy is upstairs right now trying to pull himself together after she basically told him it will never happen again.”
I sigh and lean against the back of the couch. “We need to give him some space, but we also need to make sure he knows he’s not alone in this. None of us are. She may not want a pack right now, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s ours.”
The words linger between us, heavy and true. Upstairs, I hear the faint sound of drawers opening as Jamie changes clothes. He will be back down soon.
And when he does, we’re going to need a plan.
A real one.
Because walking away from Elodie is no longer an option.
The stairs creak faintly. Jamie comes back down a couple of minutes later wearing fresh sweatpants and a clean t-shirt.
His hair is still slightly mussed, like he ran his hands through it a dozen times upstairs instead of taking a shower.
He looks tired in a way that has nothing to do with the late hour.
He stops at the edge of the living room, hands shoved in his pockets. For a second he just stares at the floor.
“I have been trying for weeks now,” his voice is thick. “I really— I thought that she was saying yes. To us. Earlier, when she asked for my help.”
The words land heavily. I can see how much it costs him to say them out loud.
I step forward and rest a hand on his shoulder before just pulling him into a hug and keeping him there.
“She trusted you enough to let you help her through the heat spike, Jamie. That’s not nothing.
That means something. She chose you when her body was screaming for an alpha.
That kind of trust doesn’t come from nowhere. ”
Jamie gives a small, tired nod, but I can tell the reassurance only takes the edge off.
Adrian leans forward, elbows on his knees. “We need to compare notes. All of us. Everything we know about her.”
We settle in without another word. Chase drops onto the couch. Jamie sits on the arm of the chair. Adrian pulls out his phone like he’s ready to take actual notes. I stay standing, arms crossed, listening as the pieces start to come together.
“She’s studying a science subject,” Adrian begins. “She was reading an advanced biology text when I saw her first. She’s dedicated, smart.”
Jamie smiles faintly. “She had a notebook with her the day I gave her the rose. She kept it close like it was precious.”
Chase rubs his jaw. “She was gentle with that caterpillar in the woods. Even when she was mad at me, she still stopped to move it to safety. She cares about things most people would step on.”
I add what I saw. “She was on her knees in the grass doing a survey. Completely lost in her work. Happy and focused. She’s studying entomology on the specialized track. When I saw her that day… she doesn’t want to be the center of attention. She wants to disappear into her research.”
We keep going, layering detail on detail. Her shyness. Her independence. The way she politely but decidedly shut down every advance from Jamie. The fact that she’s the first omega in her family and was raised by betas. How she values her studies above everything.
Adrian taps his phone screen. “She’s not a typical omega. Traditional courting won’t work. We can’t rush her. We need her consent before we even call it courting.”
I nod. “Then we build a plan that fits who she is. Quiet, thoughtful, academic. We show her what a pack can offer without taking anything away from the life she’s trying to build.”
Chase glances toward the stairs, voice low. “We should start preparing the nest. Just in case. Nothing obvious. Just… make it ready. Comfortable. Somewhere she would actually want to be if she ever changes her mind.”
The suggestion lands leniently, but we all feel the weight of it.
Jamie straightens a little. “Yeah. We can do that.”
I look around at my pack, at the determination filling each of them, and feel something solid click into place.
Elodie may not want a pack right now.
But we are going to show her what one could be.