Luca
“I can’t believe you are doing this,” Xavier muttered, pacing back and forth in my waiting room. “Let’s say her handler is telling the truth, and Elara does want you here; what are you going to do if she doesn’t choose you?”
“We can leave later on tonight as we had planned.” I raised an eyebrow at my pilot as I buttoned the cuffs on my suit sleeves. The agitation he was exuding had made his chocolate-covered berries scent turn sour. “I don’t see what the problem is.”
“The problem is everyone believes that you are your brother, Eli, not Luca,” he spat as he turned to face me. Xavier refused to lock eyes on me, initiating a challenge as his gaze peered over my shoulder. “What’s going to happen when your brother finds out? That you used his profile to enter The Den… Stars, what’s going to happen when the station finds out your fraudulent activity?”
“If I’m not chosen, then he doesn’t need to find out,” I pointed out, straightening my jacket. “And if he does discover that I used his identity to enter Elara’s roster, then I’ll explain that it was a mistake of identity, and I had thought that they used my profile.”
“But you weren’t registered—”
“No, but I will be before my brother returns to the station. I don’t know when he was able to register himself. He hardly leaves the company’s property, much less his villa, so there isn’t a reason for me to be alarmed.”
“And if she picks you?” Seth asked from his seat across from Jaxom in the corner of the room. They were always the observant ones in my crew, always watching and only commenting when something was important.
If it weren’t for his citrusy scent and his quiet demeanor, I would’ve forgotten he was even here. I had asked the crew’s medic to come to assist me in attending to Elara if she chose me in the end. I didn’t know anything about her, and that included her medical history. If she required any pharmaceutical products, it would have been essential to have not only me but Seth to know also, so we could make sure we could provide her with what she needed as soon as possible.
Jaxom was inventory manager and accountant when it came down to the clan’s funds. I had the final say of approval regarding what was being bought using the shared account, but he was in charge of placing all of our orders and ensuring they came in. I didn’t want to be too optimistic, but if she ended up choosing me, then she would need all of her necessities taken care of.
And once I’d claimed her, I would be required to provide her with everything she needed for her new nest before her heat. Even though I was the clan’s alpha, I was only one man and knew I would need my fellow crew to assist me. An omega near her heat cycle would be needy, demanding my assistance to ease her burning desire—and as her alpha, I wouldn’t be able to resist her siren’s call.
“What if she doesn’t want us to be here?” Seth flicked his gaze to Jaxom, who nodded in reply. “The three of us may overwhelm her when it comes down to getting to know her potential new clan.’”
“I don’t believe you have anything to worry about,” I replied, attempting to comfort my betas. “There are seven of us and one of her. Starting introductions as soon as possible would only make the transition that much easier. But we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. I haven’t been chosen, and even if she does choose me, I will need to court her until she permits me to mark her.”
“And what about her caretaker, Quinn?” Jaxom asked, crossing his arms. “Is she going to require us to allow her to supervise until she has a mark on her omega’s skin?”
“That I don’t know,” I confessed, scanning the waiting room for any indication of when Elara’s session was about to begin. The vidscreen on the wall displayed a live feed of The Den’s arena, with all of the alphas who had signed up for the current omega’s session lined up and ready. Other than the two-seat table and drink dispenser along the wall, there was nothing else within the room outside of its three doors—one to enter, one to exit, and the restroom. “It doesn’t seem like there is a clock in here, perhaps to prevent alphas from getting antsy.”
“Are you nervous?” Xavier’s head shot to the vidscreen as the male omega entered the arena. “We can leave if you want to.”
“I appreciate the offer, but there is no need.” I stepped beside him and grabbed his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. His face snapped to me, his eyes flicking from my hand to my eyes with a questioning stare. “I needed to enter the arena sooner or later, to cast my hand for a chance at being worthy of an omega. She just gave me the push I needed.”
“Have you thought about what would happen when you claim an omega?” Seth stood up and grabbed a drink from the dispenser, holding it up and gesturing to the three of us in the room, silently asking us if we wanted a drink. “While there is a fluidity, when it comes to sexual attraction regarding alphas and omegas, we have two female betas in relationships with the two other males in the crew, who are not here at the moment. So how are you going to handle an omega claiming one and not the other in a relationship?”
“What an omega wants, they get.” Releasing my grip on Xavier, who rolled his shoulders in reply, I shook my head and refused Seth’s offering. “I can bark all I want, but if they are resilient enough, they can do what they want.”
“Yeah, but do you think our women are going to like it?” Jaxom asked, pointing to the windscreen. “I’m sitting here nervous about what’s going to come. If she does end up picking you and is attracted to my scent, what’s going to happen when she goes into her full-fledged heat without even having a chance to get to know me? Her needing pheromones will make it almost impossible for me to resist. So what are we supposed to do when it happens?”
“I’m planning on taking it day by day,” I replied, watching the male omega go from alpha to alpha—smelling them, touching them, and speaking with them before moving to the next one. “If I’m chosen, as soon as I mark her and we get her nest situated, providing her with all the necessities she needs, we can select what exotic planet we want to visit. I’ve checked our shipping schedule, and we have a few weeks before the next time we are needed. After that, I can report to my brother that we are going on a vacation and we’ll be back in time for the next delivery. Once we are settled at a resort, I’ll find a property with two residential buildings, and anyone who doesn’t want to be a part of her pack can stay in one while Elara, myself, and whoever is interested in joining us can stay in the other.”
“Are you really planning on taking a vacation?” Jaxom drawled, dumbfounded as he stared at me in shock.
“The crew voiced their opinion, wanting to spend the clan’s money on a vacation home,” I pointed out. “I thought over what was said and figured that even though I wasn’t chosen, we could still take the opportunity to try to find the perfect place for us.”
“Finally, we can bask in the sun instead of being stuck between a box of metal walls and breathing filtered air,” Xavier exclaimed, knuckling my shoulders before he went over to the other two, throwing up his hands in joy. “Did you hear? We’re going on a vacation after this. Hopefully, we can pick something that has a pool, if not a beach, because I’ve been dying to swim for a long time.’
“We have to get through today first,” Seth countered as he took a sip of his drink. “We probably should let the others help pick out something.”
“I was going to make it a surprise for everyone, but you guys insisted on knowing more information.” I paused as I watched a female gamma walk out to her male omega and witness him picking out five alphas—three female and two male—from the lineup. “Another selection has been made. So I am that much closer to my turn to enter The Den. “
The room fell silent as we all watched the rejected alphas leave through their own exits directly behind them. The station was set up to prevent any alpha from engaging with each other before, during, or after the event. Each alpha was placed on a different floor, depending on what omega’s session they signed up for, and they were taken to and from the arena via an elevator shaft.
The station didn’t want to deal with nervous alphas crossing paths with those who were rejected. No matter the outcome, I would wait until the green light on top of my elevator told me to enter before going to the arena or leaving The Den’s waiting area.
As much as I wanted to calm my clan’s nerves, the number of questions they had for me was starting to make me feel agitated. I was about to do something that would change my life forever, binding myself to another for eternity to prevent myself from spiraling into insanity, and they wanted every detail of the big picture when I had no clue what was going to happen.
I’d risked getting in trouble for stealing my brother’s identity to register for her session, and if she ended up rejecting me, I’d risked not only my reputation but my clan’s and my company’s. My clan would lose faith in me and may start questioning my future decisions because of what I’d put them through
