“You did. She’s leaving the mixer. She doesn’t want to stay.” Delilah sighs as she pulls out the other chair across from us, slow in sitting down and studying each of us in turn. “And I can’t blame her after her scent match saw her and walked away from her. I’m not an omega myself, nor have I ever come across my scent match, but they say a denial like that is one of the most painful things an omega can go through, so emotionally charged the pain becomes physical.”
The more she says, the worse I feel—a feat, considering I didn’t think I could feel worse than I did moments before. I was wrong, apparently. I can always feel worse.
“I’m having someone come get her. I won’t force her to stay,” she goes on. “As the headmaster of N.O.A. I am in charge of these omegas’ well-being and safety, and I take my job very seriously. As an alpha myself, I always tried to look out for those who may not be able to look out for themselves.” Her gaze flicks between the three of us, though it lingers mostly on me. “You three don’t seem too bad, though, so let me ask: what were you thinking?”
Now she sounds like a mother scolding her children for doing something naughty. The bizarre thing is, it’s working. I sink into the seat I’m in, feeling worse.
Monroe takes it upon himself to answer for me, “He can get… overwhelmed in certain circumstances. He was looking for a quiet place to gather himself when he came across her—the last thing in his mind when he walked away was hurting her. You have to believe he didn’t mean to. When he told us, we came over here to meet her, to apologize for his reaction.”
She digests that for a while, and then she nods once. “I believe you. I don’t think it was malicious. Still, you have to take accountability for your actions. I cannot bring her back in, but if you three would like to write her a card, I’ll make sure to personally hand-deliver it to her in the morning. I cannot promise that she will read it or that she’ll want to respond and see you, but we can try. There is still hope for you hopeless alphas yet.” She tosses a quick glance Lev’s way. “And you hopeless betas.”
“We’ll do that,” Monroe says. “Thank you so much.”
Delilah gives us a tight smile before she stands. “Make it a good card, boys. That one is as skittish as they come. She’ll need to know you’ll never walk away from her ever again.” With those words of wisdom, she walks away from us.
Lev elbows me. “See? There’s still hope. We can do this. I’ll go see if I can grab a card and a pen.” He gets up and hurries away, leaving me and Monroe at the table.
“Do you really think a card will make her want to see us?” I ask. “Seems stupid.”
“All we can do is try.”
I can’t argue with him, mostly because he’s right. Still, I can’t fight the feeling that I messed up so royally we might not be able to fix this—and the mere thought of never seeing that beautiful omega again makes me want to die.
I can only hope she reads the card, and that she reads it with an open mind and an open heart. I’ll never forgive myself if she doesn’t accept my apology. I don’t even know her name yet, I barely got a good look at her, but I know it in my heart.
She’s mine. She’s ours. She’s pack.
This pack won’t feel right until she’s a part of it.
Chapter Five – Dulcie
Mercedes and one of her alphas, a guy named Warren, take me home. Warren waits in the car outside while she walks me in. She comes with me all the way to my room, where she finally speaks: “Delilah told me the gist of what happened. Are you okay?”
The room, the same room I’ve been in since moving here when I became an omega, feels colder than it usually does. Emptier.
I stand smack dab in the center of it, unable to meet her knowing eyes as I whisper, “I don’t know.”
Mercedes was one of us not too long ago. She’s not a stranger, not by any means, but she’s like a whole different person now. Happier. Brighter. More confident in herself. It’s almost hard to recognize her.
“Listen, I know it might feel like you and I are in different worlds right now, but I know exactly how you’re feeling. Darius is my scent match. Did you know he rejected me when we first met?”
I meet her dark eyes, unable to hide the shock from my face.
“Yeah,” she says. “In fact, the first time we met, he acted like he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as me. It was like he was totally fine being a jerk, while my inner omega wanted to lay down on his desk like a lunch spread and let him have me.” She shakes her head. “It was not a good time.”
While a little on thetoo much informationside, I’d be lying if I say hearing that doesn’t make me feel any better. It does. Maybe it’s not the end of the world, like I thought.
“My point is, sometimes alphas react weird. Sometimes they have their own motivations and reasons why they’re so weird about things. Darius thought I was only in it for the moneythey promised me, that I’d eventually cut ties and run—and break their hearts. He was only trying to protect himself and his pack. Maybe your scent match was just as freaked out about everything as you.”
I have to roll my eyes at that. “I’ve never met an alpha that gets freaked out about anything.”
“You haven’t met many alphas, then.” She steps toward me. She wears plain jeans and a baggy shirt; she must’ve come from home when she got the call. “Just like omegas, alphas are all different. They’re not all the same. Just… if he happens to reach out with his pack, give him a chance. A scent match is nothing to ignore, and trying to fight it is impossible. Sooner or later someone will break.”
I meander to my bed and sit down, my shoulders slumping. “I don’t… I don’t even know if I want any of that. I mean, I like being invisible.”
Mercedes comes over to me and sits down beside me. “Being invisible can be a superpower, but at the same time… trust me when I say, when you’re finally seen and heard, there’s nothing better.”
Hmm.
