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My hazy brain registered that he was really, really strong. The way an alpha should be.My alpha.
The sudden thought hit me like a bucket of ice water. He wasn’t mine at all. We had barely spoken before today. I was taking advantage of a guy who was obviously worked up over some other omega, one he had scented. Not me.
Somehow I found the will to pull back from his searching kiss, to lean away from him within the strong cradle of his arms. For the second time in my life, I felt the overwhelming urge to tilt my neck, to offer myself for a claiming bite. That scared the shit out of me.
I scrambled ungracefully out of his lap, hurrying to stand on the other side of my desk. He growled his displeasure.
Words were stuck in my throat as we stared at each other, panting and flushed. When a knock sounded at the door, I nearly had a heart attack.
“Excuse me. I’m Toby. My packmate asked me to meet him... Oh, there you are.”
Could this day get any worse? The guy standing in my doorway looked like he could model for whatever brand of trendy glasses he was wearing. Longish, straight brown hair was falling over his bright blue eyes. As he swept it back, he offered me a nervous smile that made him even cuter. He was lean and fit, wearing a nice button-down shirt and khakis, like he’d just come from an office.
Another alpha. His scent wasn’t as strong as Jonah’s, but I caught it immediately. Sunny and tart, lemon and ginger. A shrill voice was screamingmineon repeat in my head, but I needed to shut that shit down. I forced myself to speak, relieved that my voice wasn’t too breathless.
“Hi, yeah. Come on in. Feel free to use my office so you guys can talk.” I needed to get the hell out of that room and get some fresh air before I did something really stupid. More stupid.
Jonah stood up as though to try to stop me from leaving, but I didn’t look back. I kept my feet moving, past a confused Toby and out through the gallery until I was on the sidewalk.
My lungs cleared along with my head. I groaned, standing by the entrance, looking around at the businesses on the street and people passing by. Not really seeing any of it.
What the fuck just happened?
3
TOBY
The beta breezed past me like there was fire on her heels.
She was a pretty one, curves in all the right places, average height. Her brown hair was lush and glossy, probably nice to run fingers through. As she hurried by, my gaze was drawn to the deep green of her eyes. Unusual color.
Suddenly, Jonah was in my face, trying to follow her.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I held up my hands and stepped toward him, forcing him to back up a foot in the small office. He looked crazed. “What’s up? Why’d you call me?”
Shit, he was getting worse. We all knew Edward’s death had hit him hard, but it had been a year, and it seemed like by now he should be…better? Whatever that looked like.
Edward had been the emotional heart of the pack, the alpha member who balanced us. And he’d been Jonah’s best friend.
I couldn’t tell a joke to cheer him up like my brother, Luke, could. Or offer some kind of firm direction like the unofficial head of our pack, Will. All I could do was watch and worry—and do lots of internet research. Unfortunately, my tech skills didn’t offer up a cure for grief.
We needed an omega to center us, but none of us had been ready for that search in the months after Edward’s accident. I’d been bringing it up more lately, and we’d all gone to check out scent cards at the Network, but Jonah had rejected every single one. It was like he didn’t want to move on, to be happy.
And now what? He was freaking out in art galleries?Fuck.
Jonah was breathing hard, visibly struggling to stand still. His voice was a rough growl, bordering on a bark.
“Don’t let her go! How can you be so calm right now? Her scent is making me lose my mind.”
That didn’t make any sense. The woman who had passed me was a beta, no scent at all. I frowned at him.
“What scent?”
Wrong thing to say. It looked like he was on the verge of punching me if I didn’t get out of his way, and I’d lose that fight. Jonah was my height, six three, but he had another thirty pounds of muscle over me. I tried again, injecting as much calm into my voice as I could.
“Jonah, if you’re interested in that beta, you’re going to have to chill. You’re coming on a little strong.”
He laughed. Actually laughed, like I’d told the funniest joke ever. I was so relieved to see him smiling that I forgot he was having some kind of breakdown. I even smiled back.
