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“You are coming home with me for sure.”
I feel Mom at my back and turn, showing her the cute little stuffed animal.
“Isn’t it so cute?”
“Actually, it is. Fits you.”
Nodding, I look at everything else, seeing if there’s anything else I’d like to get to take home with me. In the end, I walk away with the llama, a few drawings of decomposing mermaids with bones showing through missing skin and skeleton lovers, and two new clay sculptures to put on my shelf.
Before leaving, I take one of the woman’s cards. Her name is Elise. Maybe I can get her to make me some custom pieces.
I link my arm through Mom’s. My treasures are in a bag on my other arm, and we turn, deciding on whether to keep looking or do something else.
“It’s up to you what we do next. I told you, today is for you. Late birthday day with Mom before your dads feed us tonight.”
Nodding, I look around. I don’t think there’s anything else I really want from the booths. We’ve been walking around looking for hours and we’ve each gotten something from several areas. We just ate about an hour ago.
“Honestly, I-,” I cut off, rubbing my arm and furrowing my brow.
My eyes look in every direction slowly. I feel like I’m being watched. Have you ever had that feeling before? That there are eyes on you, watching, waiting?
At first glance, I don’t see anyone. The scent hits me first. Coconut and honeysuckle. I suck in a deep breath, my eyes widening. That’s not faint. It’s strong.
I keep looking, tuning Mom out as she calls my name. My brain is on a mission. That scent is here. I don’t know how that’s possible or why, but River is here. I don’t even know what he looks like, but I know that scent. I dreamed of that scent last night. My eyes flit from face to face. He’s watching me. I know it.
Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is debatable. Still, I want to know what he looks like. I can feel Mom’s hand on my arm, but I don’t stop my search. My brain has one mission, and it’s not giving up yet.
Finally, after looking at what seems like every face in the crowd, chocolate eyes connect with mine. Everything stops. My breath halts in my chest as our eyes collide. He is beautiful. Handsome. Perfect. Shaggy auburn hair falls across his forehead, sitting right on his brow. My nostrils flare as I look my fill, my eyes tracking down his face.
He has full lips, and I notice a dimple as his lip quirks up in a smirk. Well, hell, that’s sexy. A tight white shirt stretches across his torso. He’s lean but not small. Tall, with just enough muscle definition. His face is clean-shaven, and I want to run my fingers along his jaw. He looks like a model.
I vaguely hear my mom gasp beside me as I unconsciously take a step forward. He watches me. Not moving away. Not coming closer. I see nothing around me but him. All I see is him. My focus has narrowed on him, meeting him. Everything in my body screams at me to go to him.
There’s heat in his gaze as he watches me take another step, daring me to come closer. I don’t know if this is a good idea or not, but it’s like my body has been possessed, and I just don’t care. Like last night, when I walked toward Syn and Kian. I don’t care if he wants to hurt me for being around his bonded. I need to be near him. To smell his scent straight from the source. To really prove to myself that I want an omega.
Mom watches as I keep walking, my steps becoming steadier as I go. I’m only a few feet away from him when I stop, staring. My heart feels like it’s about to beat out of my chest as I stand across from him. His scent envelops me, so much stronger on him than the faint traces I got from Syn and Kian. I feel my slick dampen my folds, ruining my panties. And when he speaks? When he speaks, my knees get weak because this omega? I want him. I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I want him something bad.
“Hello, Little Bird.”
Little bird. I should feel offended. Little omega, little bear, little this and that and the other. It gets old. But coming from his mouth? He could call me anything, I think, and I would love it.
I breathe in deeply, his scent filling my lungs. It nearly makes me whimper out loud, but I bite my lip to keep it inside. I don’t know what to say to him. Why am I turning into a simpering mess? For an omega, no less? Does he recognize my scent? I know Kian and Syn had to have traces of it on them from being so close to me at the ceremony. But did he see them while it was still on them? Does he know they helped me? Is he angry?
So many questions flood in. I don’t know whether or not to ask them. Why is he here? Is he looking for me? Or was this just a chance, him being here when I am?
Don’t just stand there. Say something, you idiot!
Shit. How long have I been staring? My mouth feels dry, my skin clammy. My palms are sweating, so I discreetly wipe them on my shorts. I unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth and finally speak.
“Hi.” I breathe out, not taking my eyes from his.
His nostrils flare, and my cheeks bloom with a blush. He can totally smell my arousal. Fuck my life. Raising a brow at me, he takes a step closer to me. We’re out of the way of the crowd, tucked between a booth and a food vendor. I can feel my mom’s eyes still on me, but don’t turn around. I don’t think I could look away from the omega in front of me if I wanted to.
His lips quirk up in a grin, and he finally puts me out of my misery and speaks again.
“I’m River. I hear my alpha and beta saved you.”
His voice is like silk, gliding over my skin, causing goosebumps to pebble along my arms. He sounds like sex incarnate and I want to shamelessly rub myself all over him like a cat in heat. Or, well, an omega in heat, I suppose.
