Then the scent hits me.
Something like warm hay and saddle leather mixed with wild honey fills my nose. Underneath runs something deeper, something that calls to parts of me I've kept buried for years. My knees actually weaken as I grip the sink edge to stay upright, my knuckles lightening with the force of it.
An Alpha is somewhere close and not just any Alpha but one whose scent makes my Omega instincts roar to life despite the suppressants flooding my system.
No.Absolutely not.I stare at my reflection in the mirror, watching my pupils dilate with desire. This is a terrible idea. The worst idea. Alpha Marcus is right outside that door. The rules are clear as crystal. Unsupervised contact means punishment, and I've seen what Harmony does to Omegas who break the big rules.
Maya's hollow eyes flash through my memory. The Omega two years ago who tried to run and came back with a broken arm and a dead look in her eyes. The girl last month who talked back to a warden and spent a week in isolation, emerging completely devoid of all emotion.
I can't. I won't. I've worked too hard to stay safe and small, so I can survive this place.
I turn off the water with shaking hands, breathing slowly through my mouth to avoid that intoxicating scent still lingering in the air. This doesn't matter. It can't matter. In four hours I'll be back at Harmony, and this mysterious Alpha will be nothing but a memory.
Drying my hands carefully, I take a few more seconds to calm my racing heart before smoothing my dress with both hands and checking that my braid is still neat and secure. I force my spine straight and push my shoulders back. I can do this. I can walk out of this bathroom, follow Alpha Marcus back to my seat, and pretend this moment never happened. I'm good at pretending. Harmony House has made me excellent at it.
Besides, following that scent would be a horrid idea. Alpha Marcus would report me. I'd face consequences. Isolation at minimum, maybe worse. And for what? A stranger whose scent makes my body react in ways it shouldn't? I've spent years building my reputation as a model Omega. I won't throw it away for some Alpha I'll never see again.
I won't.
However, the moment I step back outside into the late afternoon sun, Alpha Marcus is nowhere to be seen. I freeze mid-step, my heart jumping into my throat as I scan the area, searching for his familiar gray uniform. The spot where he was standing sits empty. My heart kicks into overdrive, pulse hammering in my ears. Where did he go? Did something happen? Am I supposed to wait here or try to find him?
Panic flutters in my chest. If he comes back and I've moved, that's disobedience. If I stay and he expects me to find him, that's disobedience too. There's no right answer, just varying degrees of wrong.
I take a tentative step forward, searching the crowd for any sign of him. Nothing. Just strangers moving past me, absorbed in their own concerns and their own lives. The scent from before grows until my head starts swimming, the smell wrapping around me making it hard to think clearly.
I blink a few times and move to the right, eager to find Alpha Marcus but find someone else entirely.
Standing directly in front of me is the most beautiful man I've ever seen in my life. Tall and sun-bronzed, with dark hair that curls slightly at the edges of a worn cowboy hat. A plaid shirt hanging open over a white undershirt, revealing a slice of tanned skin and the hint of muscle underneath. His jeans have the kind of authentic wear that comes from actual work instead of designer distressing like some of the magazines atHarmony. But it's his face that steals my breath completely. That strong jaw dusted with stubble paired with warm brown eyes that crinkle at the corners. It takes me a moment to realize I’m staring but he already noticed, dimples bracketing the most devastating smile I've ever witnessed.
That scent. It's coming from him. Hay and honey and wild summer storms.
He looks at me, that smile turning into something closer to a smirk. He's fully aware of the effect he has and he isn't sorry about it at all.
"Hello, sunshine," he says, his voice coming out as a low purr. "Name's Dustin." His eyes never leave mine, holding me captive with an intensity that makes my pulse race even faster. "And who might you be?"
Chapter two
Dustin
Ten Minutes Prior
I lean over the side of the railing, watching the handlers lead my horse toward the staging area. Thunder's coat gleams from the grooming session I gave him, muscles rippling beneath his dark bay coat as he tosses his head. He knows a race is coming. I bet he can feel it in his bones the same way I can.
"Everything will be fine if Morrison decides to play fair today," Kade says beside me.
I twist around to look at my Alpha and snort at the serious expression on his face. His arms are folded across his chest, staring in the same direction I just was, though the certainty in his eyes intrigues me. "Morrison? Playing fair? That'll be the day."
The guy's notorious for finding ways to bend the rules without quite breaking them. Last month he had his jockey use a crop that was just barely within regulation weight. The month before that, his horse somehow got an extra water break that nobody else's did. Nothing you can prove, but everyone knows.
Kade laughs, the sound rumbling from his chest. "True enough."
Movement catches my eye across the way. Stefan stands near the opposite grandstand, his arms crossed over his chest much like my Alpha’s. Even from here I can see the tension in his shoulders, the way he scans the crowd with that watchful intensity he's had since we were kids. I raise my hand in a wave, hoping to grab a smile from my grumpy stepbrother.
He sees me and returns the gesture with a slight nod.
"How's Stefan doing?" Kade asks, following my gaze.
I shrug, turning back to watch Thunder, trying not to think about it too hard. "We're not as close as we used to be but I think something's bothering him."
