Selena groaned as the combined aromas from the caterer’s chafing dishes lined up along the far wall nearly made her gag. It wasn’t because the food was gross. On the contrary, it was delicious. Altogether, however, the aromas were a little much to take.
“Is it that obvious?” she asked.
Carter looked like he was fighting to keep from laughing. “Between the watering eyes and the way you keep trying to breathe through your mouth, yeah, it’s obvious. It would be worse if you were a newly turned alpha or beta. Their sense of smell is probably twice as good as ours. If you weren’t an omega, you’d be outside hyperventilating by now.”
She breathed a sigh of relief for small miracles and took a shallow breath through her mouth until the person who’d been holding open the door of the huge tent moved away, cutting off the breeze and finally slowing the avalanche of scents. It was cool that Max and Lana had rented what could only be described as a circus tent for their reception. Even cooler was the fact that they’d had it put up right in the middle of the SWAT compound. But after a night of dancing and partying, the place had gotten a little warm, even though it was a chilly December evening. That had made the already strong scents even more powerful.
Selena glanced around the tent, easily finding Jayden in the crowd. He wore a dark suit that had been perfectly tailored for his broad shoulders and powerful arms. If she thought he’d looked good in jeans and a button-down, it was nothing compared to how much she swooned when he’d picked her up at her place in that suit. After dancing with her most of the reception, he still looked cool and relaxed. And smelled even better. His was one scent she’d never get tired of.
He was currently chatting with some of his SWAT teammates as he got her a fresh drink from the bar. True to his word, he’d stuck close to her side throughout the wedding and the reception. He’d taken her around and introduced her to his packmates, the significant others in their lives, and an incredible array of betas and omegas who lived in the area. Sort of like an extended pack. The Pack mascot, Tuffie, and a cat named Kat had been in the tent earlier but had gone into the admin building a little while ago. Everyone was warm and welcoming and made her feel like she belonged.
But while she was comfortable with his friends, she was sure Jayden wouldn’t have slipped away for more drinks if she hadn’t felt comfortable with Carter. There was no doubt in her mind he was a person she could trust.
“How long did it take for you to get control of your nose?” she asked, turning back to him.
“Not long,” he said. “About a year and a half.”
Selena did a double take. “What?”
He chuckled, his blue eyes twinkling. “Just kidding. Truthfully, it did take a while for me to get the hang of it, but that was because I didn’t have anyone to help me, and I was doing it all wrong. Fortunately, you won’t have to learn it the hard way like I did, because you’ll have a lot of people in your corner.”
She considered that. “Were you on your own a long time?”
Selena could only imagine how horrible coming to grips with being a werewolf would be if Jayden hadn’t been there for her.
Carter shrugged. “About two years. It seemed longer at the time though. Gage saved my ass when he finally found me.”
She was considering if it would be okay to ask Carter what that time on his own had been like when Jayden came back with their drinks.
“Carter isn’t scaring you with all his horror stories about being an omega, is he?” he asked, setting her strawberry daiquiri on the table in front of her, then trailing a hand teasingly over the part of her back left exposed by the dress she wore as he took a seat beside her.
Selena’s pulse skipped a beat at his touch. “No. We were talking about an omega’s sense of smell and how certain scents seem to be so overwhelming right now.” She leaned in close to give Jayden a light kiss. “Not your scent of course. I could never get tired of smelling your hot, hunky body.”
Carter groaned. “Okay, I really didn’t need to hear that. I’m going to check with Max and Lana and see how much longer they want to hang around.”
“Hold on,” Jayden said as Carter got to his feet. “Who’s pulling security at the hotel with you?”
Selena lifted a brow. “Hotel security? Are you working another job?”
Carter shook his head. “No, nothing like that. Lana and Max didn’t think it was a good idea to go on a honeymoon with the hunters out there, but they still wanted to do something special on their wedding night, so we all chipped in to get them a honeymoon suite at the Ritz-Carlton for the weekend. Trevor, Hale, and I are going to keep an eye on them.”
“The place has good security,” Jayden added. “But Gage wants some of the Pack there just in case.”
She and Jayden had spent some time talking about the hunters today, so she could understand why Gage would be worried, even though it was difficult to believe they’d attack somebody in the middle of a fancy hotel. Still, the fact that the team had done something like that for Max and Lana was really sweet.
“Honeymoon suite at the Ritz, huh?” she mused. “Pretty romantic.”
“It was all Brooks’s idea,” Carter said. “We were going to buy them a Kitchen-Aid, but he insisted we do something more personal.” He gave Jayden a nod. “Later.”
Selena smile at Jayden as Carter walked away. “How’d you come up with the idea for the honeymoon suite?”
“It wasn’t a big deal.” He shrugged almost sheepishly. “I thought they’d like to do something official to start off their marriage. Make it seem more real, you know.”
Selena practically melted right there in her chair. What the hell had she ever done to deserve a fantastic guy like Jayden? He was so far beyond perfect, it was all she could do to not tell him she loved him.
Her breath caught as she realized what she’d just admitted…even if only to herself.She loved him?That was crazy. They’d just met. You couldn’t fall in love with a man you’d only met five days ago. It was impossible.
Or was it?
