Sugar baby rule number two.Always wear scent blockers.
My scent was only ever meant to be mine. I never wanted any alpha to ever know it, kept it like a secret.
“Do any of you have kids?” I blurt out. I knew firsthand how easy it was for alphas to shrug off the people who relied on them when a scent match came along. “A partner?Anyone?”
I don’t want anyone to feel the waymy mom did when I was twelve, when my dads kicked us out after they found their scent match. The pain of that rejection led my mother down the path that killed her. I can’t be responsible for that happening to anyone else.
They all look deeply confused, but we didn’t share intimate details of our lives. They could’ve had whole secret families that were none of my business.
“No,” they all say in unison.
Panic swallows me whole and I turn on my heel, running outside. The rain pours on me and I can hear the guys following me, but I don’t care. I can’t believe I forgot to take my scent blockers with the time change and travel. I should have taken them this morning but I was so tired and forgot the alarm had gone off.
The storm pounds into me, but it does exactly what I need it to do. Wash away my essence.
I’ve been so careful all of these years to ensure no alpha knows my scent. It’s been my greatest protection from any alpha who would want to make me theirs. These scent matches will ruin everything. It only leads to bonding. Alpha scent matches means control, a claim I’m unwilling to receive.
Once an alpha finds their scent match, there’s no getting rid of them. It’s not like being a sugar baby, I can’t end the relationship and never see them again. There’s a permanent, lifelong connection with biological consequences if we’re not near each other. We’ll become ill if we are separated for long periods of time, even driving alphas to madness if parted for years.
My heats will become so much worse if they’re not around.
The way they all looked at me when they breathed in my scent…They know what I am to them now. It’s like they were experiencing sunshine for the first time, their faces full of adoration and wonderment. They whispered my scent like a prayer, a hymn of salvation.
It’s too much.
I collapse into the soaked grass, cupping my hands in my face, and let the tears flow. I didn’t want to be anyone’s anything. I just wanted to save enough money to live my life on my own terms. I was so close, too, only a few years away from leaving the sugar baby lifestyle behind me.
A whimper slips out of me and all three of my names are said above me in panicked tones.
All I’ve ever wanted was a life free of alphas. Now I have three scent matches, and I’m trapped thousands of miles from home, on a private island whose location I don’t even know, owned by an alpha I was never planning on seeing again.
Their scents wrap around my head, still inside my nose, igniting a physical reaction within me. My faux heat flares, soreness spreading to my hips. My body is making it horrible for me so I’ll seek out an alpha.
Slick soaks the lace panties I was going to tease Hunter with tonight. Lust I don’t want toys with me, demanding I give into the sexual craving. I wish I were anywhere but here.
Strong arms wrap around me. I’m hauled against a firm chest, bridal style. “Put me down!”
“No,” is all Alric says before he carries me inside.
I want to keep fighting, kicking and screaming till he releases me, but his chocolate, bergamot, and orange blossom scent overwhelms me. My feral omega side wants to inhale it forever like some sort of drug, my entire body relaxing against him no matter how much I snap at him.
Stupid traitorous body.
We drip water all over the hand-painted tile flooring and he marches us into his bedroom, a place I plan to spend a lot of time hiding in. He can sleep on the fucking couch.
Once in the bathroom, he sets me down on the lid of the toilet, kneeling before me. We stare at each other like we haveevery Friday night across the table on our restaurant dates. Those gray eyes are so familiar, urging me to get lost in them.
He pushes some of my wet hair off my face and cups my flushed cheek. “An omega’s immune system is weaker on suppressants, and if you get sick running around in the rain, we have no doctor on this island.”
Oh.
Well, that’s actually incredibly considerate of him.
Alric stands, any softness to him gone. Cold eyes stare down at me and my chest tightens. “I’m sorry Hunter brought you here. This is clearly a devastating turn of events for you, but this is out of our control, too. Try to keep your feelings on this catastrophe to yourself. Zachary will take it personally and Hunter is too soft for this type of rejection. There is scent-neutralizing body wash under the sink if you don’t already have some. Dinner is almost ready and there is much to discuss.”
My stomach takes that moment to announce its hollowness with a gurgle.
He turns before I can say anything, shutting the door a little harder than necessary, leaving me in stunned silence. He’s right. None of us chose this. All our lives are forever altered by biology and designation.
