“You calling me dumb, Olly?” he growls. “Think you’re so much better than a fucking alpha?”
My entire body tenses, my heart quickening as the blood rushes through me. I stare at him, my eyebrows furrowing.
What the hell…? I didn’t mean…
“Easy, Em,” Gage says, pulling him off of me. “You know Olly didn’t mean it like that.”
Emmett’s fist loosens, and his lips move back to normal, hiding his teeth. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he says, letting me go.
It takes a couple of breaths for me not to feel like I’m going to have a heart attack.
“Head on in and get cleaned up. Both of you,” Gage says, nodding at Diego and Emmett.
They don’t protest or argue. They grunt in response and head for the doors, leaving Gage and me alone.
“Thanks,” I say shakily.
“You know, for a man who knows a thing or two about alphas, you’d think you would think twice before speaking out of turn.”
“I didn’t mean–”
“I know you didn’t. But how would you feel if Em flashed his ability to bench press in front of you? In front of other alphas?”
I blink. I think I understand what he’s trying to say, but…
“I would think he must be very strong and very dominant.”
Gage smirks. “I’m sure you would.” There’s a tense pause before he catches my gaze. “So, peppercorn and cinnamon, huh?”
“Yeah.” I say, looking down at the ground. Maybe they’re right, maybe I’m just not on the same page. Maybe more than my sniffer is broken.
“Do you…like cinnamon and peppercorn?” he asks calmly.
“Like, in general?” I shrug. “I put cinnamon in my tea all the time.” He blinks, and I continue. “It helps with inflammation.”
Gage laughs, throwing his arm around me and leading me into base. “Mhmm. Anything else, Boy Genius?”
I settle my hand at his back because I’ve seen the others do the same. He doesn’t seem to mind, so I take it to mean that it’s an okay interaction.
“She seemed rather dominant for an omega.”
“What do you mean by that?” he asks curiously as he opens the door for us.
“Well, by all accounts she should have been whining and whimpering in your presence, but instead she was yelling at you.”
“I did chase her through the woods,” he says as we stop just inside the lobby of the compound.
“Yes, I suppose that would piss off anyone,” I say, chewing on the thought.
Gage chuckles. “So you noticed she smells like your tea, and she’s got an attitude.”
I guess that sums it up. “Yeah…”
There’s something else there, though I can’t place it yet. I need to get to my lab, write down my observations, and sort through things to really make sense of my data.
“Get some sleep, Olivander,” Gage says, shoving his hands in his pockets. “That’s an order. I don’t need you all frazzled tomorrow morning because you were up all night theorizing.”
The man knows me too well, but as our team leader, I guess that’s to be expected.
