Page 6

Hopefully, they were decent. Callie had assured me that there were two or three packs I could choose from, but she strongly believed this was my best option. She had made them aware of my situation, and they were apparently understanding.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and started reading.

Their names and occupations were listed at the top of the file.

Marshall Winters: pack lead, thirty-one, business owner, mechanic’s shop.

Tobias Winters: twenty-nine, pharmacist.

Noah Winters: twenty-nine, teacher.

Emmett Winters: twenty-seven, lawyer.

They sounded like a good pack, if a little older than me, but they all had respectable jobs. Sadly, there was no photo of them, even though I had given my photo to Callie when I applied. I wondered why, but maybe they didn’t want their match judging them on looks.

The next page detailed their property. It was a lot of legal wording I couldn’t really understand, but I got the gist: they owned their home free and clear. It wasn’t a particularly large home, but it was theirs.

The next page outlined their health assessments. They had all been given clean bills of health, which pleased me. Somehow, there was a plethora of information and a lot of legal paperwork for my brain to sift through that still left me so curious. What were their personalities like? Were they genuinely kind people? Those were the questions I desperately wanted answers to, but a profile couldn’t tell me.

The next page consisted of several small ziplock bags. My brows rose as I picked one up and cautiously opened it.

Scent cards.

The first scent was warm, sweet, and tart like apple pie, but the kind that had been made with loads of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, rich and spiced. My chest tightened as the scent hit me. Not in a bad way, but in an excited way.

Omegas were very instinct-driven, and I had suppressed my own nature for far too long. I had Milo to focus on. I refused to follow my nose or spend money on nesting supplies that excited me when he needed things.

I wasn’t ashamed of that, either. He came first.

Something about that scent, though, was shockingly… safe?

Alpha scents could elicit many reactions. Stress. Fear. Comfort.

This scent was like a warm hug. My tight muscles relaxed at the first sniff.

Excitedly, I pulled out the next card, put the first back so I could focus on the new one, and even cleared my nose by sniffing my own shirt. I tugged out the card and inhaled deeply. Lemon-clean and slightly sweet. There was almost a salt-air edge to it.

The next was metallic, sharp, and deep. It reminded me of coins, motors.

Then the final one was pure bakery. It wasn’t a sweet sort of bakery scent, like pastries or cakes. It was like bread freshly baked, bread that filled the entire room and smelled like a warm embrace.

Every scent was amazing. What were the odds that I would find each of them wonderful in their own way? I had expected their scents to maybe be pleasant or passable, but they were far nicer than many of the alphas I had encountered in my life.

I sat there on the lumpy sofa for far too long, weighing my options.

Despite the late hour, I picked up my phone and scrolled until I found Callie’s contact.

“Summer!” she answered immediately. “What do you think?”

“I…I like them,” I admitted.

“They are a good pack. I think they would be an excellent choice for you.” Callie always spoke with such emotion, her inflection exaggerated.

“I’m leaning toward them,” I admitted. Even though there wasn’t that much information, the scents had sold me. Plus, they were receptive to me having a son, which was a huge plus.

“Well, then, why don’t you take a bit of time to think about it? If you want to move forward, then we’ll transition to focusing on the logistics: there is the matter of your apartment.”

“My apartment?”