Maybe for him. But for me, it would be torture.
Chapter 6
Braxton
This was worse than torture. I didn’t know what the name for that would be, perhaps there wasn’t one. I just knew that I was in hell.
The way the system was set up, all the omegas sat at individual tables with numbers on them and a pad of paper on each side so the speed daters could take notes on their dates. Or I supposed the two could exchange phone numbers, or room numbers. Meanwhile, I was with a group of alphas rotating through.
I did not have any interest in talking to any omega except for mine, but I was three seats away from him, trying to listen to what the omega in front of me was talking about, all the while keeping an ear and an eye on my omega, who was laughing at something some wolf alpha was saying to him.
The smarmy jerk put his elbows on the table and leaned closer like he wanted to better hear what my omega had to say. He smiled, flashing his pearly white canines, exposing a dimple on one side of his face. I’d bet the omegas found that charming. I wanted to slap that look off his face.
Then the two exchanged a slip of paper. Phone numbers? Room numbers? What were they talking about? Was I going to be out of the running before I even had a chance to prove myself? All because I was too much of a coward to just tell Kip outright that I sensed he was mine.
I let out a growl, and the omega across from me flinched.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and I scooched back to give him more space. Great. I was looking like a lunatic and scaring other innocent guests. If I kept this up, I would be kicked out of here.
“It’s okay. Is that your omega down there? You keep looking at him.”
I sighed. “Yes. He’s mine.”
“It’s okay if you’ve scented your mate and the two of you leave the event, that has happened before. You can go straight to him and bypass the line. It’s okay.”
“He doesn’t know,” I said quietly.
The omega’s eyes went wide. “He doesn’t know? How does he not know?”
I shrugged.
“Did you grow up in the same den?”
I nodded.
He reached a hand across the table and put it over mine. “He’ll realize. Sometimes it takes time, especially when you’ve grown up together. Your nose becomes blind to what’s right in front of you.”
I smiled, appreciating his kind words. “I hope so. I don’t know how much longer I can wait. It’s been two years.”
He snuck a glance toward Kip, who was currently staring at us. The bell had rung, and it was time to move on. The omega stood, leaned across the table, and kissed my cheek.
Thanks to my bear hearing, I heard Kip’s growl. It was low, and I didn’t think he even realized he’d done it.
The omega chuckled. “I don’t think he’s as immune to you as you might think. Go get him, tiger.”
“He’s a bear,” Kip said. Suddenly, he was standing right next to us. “It’s my turn,” Kip said. Somehow, we were jumping the line now, but I wasn’t going to argue. I skipped over the omega next to me and went to Kip’s table with him.
“He seemed nice,” Kip said, gritting his teeth.
Was he not as immune to me as I thought? “Yeah. He was sweet. Not my mate, though. Seems like you’ve met some nice people,” I said.
He sighed. “Yeah, I suppose so. I gave that last alpha a fake phone number. I think he realized it. I just didn’t click with him.”
“That’s okay, you know. You don’t have to give your number out if you’re not comfortable with it.” Inwardly, I was jumping for joy. That smug bastard hadn’t made an impression on my omega.
Kip bit his lip. “I should be comfortable. I’m of age, but it’s like... I just can’t relax around other alphas. Not like I can with you. Am I ever going to find my mate?”
My chest ached, and it felt like my heart was in a vice, squeezing out all of the love I had for this man right in front of me. Why couldn’t he see? “He might be right in front of you, Kip.”
