Mine.
"I'll survive," I muttered.
"You smell different," Caspian said suddenly.
I froze and noticed he was watching me in the mirror, his green eyes sharp and assessing.
"What?"
"You smell different," he repeated. "Like... lavender. And something else. Old books?"
Fuck.
Amara's scent must have clung to me and I hadn't even noticed. It had to be from this morning when our fingers had brushed every so briefly. From every morning for the past six months…
"It's probably just the bakery," I said quickly. "We use lavender in some of the pastries."
Ryker leaned in, sniffing dramatically. "That's not lavender extract, little brother. That's Omega."
My mother sat up straighter. "Omega?"
"It's nothing," I said.
"It's clearly not nothing," Damon said, grinning now. "You've been holding out on us."
"There's no one," I lied.
"Liar," Ryker said. "You reek of her."
Laurent cleared his throat awkwardly. "Perhaps I should step out for a moment..."
"Stay," my mother commanded. Then to me, "Kael Solas, is there an Omega?"
I closed my eyes. This was not how I’d wanted this conversation to go.
"Maybe," I admitted.
The room exploded. Ryker whooped. Damon laughed. Even Caspian cracked a smile.
"Finally!" Ryker said. "I thought you were going to die a virgin."
"Fuck off."
"Language," my mother said, but she was smiling. "Tell me about her."
"There's nothing to tell."
"You literally smell like you've been rolling around in her scent," Damon pointed out. "That's not nothing."
"We haven't... it's not like that," I said, my jaw tight. "She's just... she comes into the bakery. Every morning. We talk. That's it."
"That's it?" Ryker looked skeptical. "Then why do you look like someone kicked your puppy when you talk about her?"
Because I've been lying to her for six months,I couldn’t make myself say that part outloud.
"It's complicated," I said.
My mother stood, walking over to the platform. She reached up and touched my face gently.
