Lucky for me, Tibby had already turned away and didn’t hear me, she was busy humming to herself as she began to layer the pan with long lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, and the tomato sauce from heaven.
Theo, however,hadheard it. His expression was stern as he jerked his head towards the hall, calling a family meeting. I sighed loudly and tapped Aria on the shoulder and pointed at the hall with a roll of my eyes.
“We’re going to head to the wine room and pick out some wine,” Aria stood from the counter reluctantly, her eyes still following the omega. “Any preference?” She asked as we shuffled towards the hallway.
“Red goes best with a lasagna!” Tibby called over her shoulder before turning back around and muttering under her breath: “Of course, they have a wine room.”
We headed back through the dining room, opening a door that was directly behind the table which revealed a room that was lined with shelves that contained hundreds of bottles of wine. Aria wasn’t a snob about much...except wine. She loved wine more than any other human being that I had ever met. We stepped inside and Theo closed the door just enough that it was only slightly ajar.
“You aren’t allowed to sleep with her, Matteo.” Theo began, crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest.
I had already known that he was going to say that. He’d been waiting to say that ever since he realized that Tibby and I were connected thanks to the academy heat services. Theo was too serious for his own good sometimes. “I hate to break it to you, Theo, but I kind of already did sleep with her.”
“You were servicing her heat.” I scoffed at his words, Theo had a strange way of looking at things through a black and white lens, especially ever since Cobb had run away five years ago
“My instincts are telling me that she’s a scent match for me,” I pointed out. “And I’d like the chance to see if hers are saying the same.”
I pointed at Aria who was busy picking out a bottle of wine, “Aria feels the same way too, you can see it in her eyes when she looks at Tibby.” I might as well throw Aria under the bus too while we’re at it.
Aria shot me a glare that was fiery enough to curl paint. “She does smell good, better than any omega that I’ve ever encountered.” She admitted with a huff.
We had tried the whole omega courting thing in our early twenties, but no omega had ever interested us more than we were already interested in each other. The only one who had ever been able to join our triad had been Cobb, but that had ended in a blaze of gunfire and trauma that we were still dealing with five years later.
I normally wouldn’t push this kind of issue with Theo, he usually had our best interest at heart, after all. But after servicing two of Tibby’s heats, her strawberries and cream smell had seeped into my skin and embedded itself into most of my waking thoughts. Now I just wanted to be around it all the time, mixing her scent with my pack’s scent until I didn’t know where her scent ended and ours began. I was fully aware that this was crazy fast, but I had also done more research on the alpha/beta/omega phenomenon than most non-specialists in the United States. It has been my pet project ever since my time in university. I knew that scent matches didn’t reallyhaveto make sense and that they were a residual effect of our evolution as human beings. It was compatibility in its most basic form. Studies showed that packs that were scent compatible tended to live longer as a group, some even living until they had all reached one hundred before passing away together. Tibby was my scent match and I had a feeling that she was going to be Theo and Aria’s as well.
“She’s also ten years younger than you.” Theo pointed out, “And she has a traumatic history.Andshe is currently being hunted down by a serial killer, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“And.” Tibby’s voice came from the other side of the door to the wine cellar, “She can also hear you.”
Theo jumped guiltily and sighed, opening the door to reveal an irritated-looking Tibby standing on the other side.
“So you were just getting wine, huh?” Tibby asked, her eyes sparkling with anger.
Aria stepped forward, ready to soothe the omega’s temper, but Tibby took a step back, “Uh-uh. None of that magical alpha juju which makes me forget my own name. If you are going to have a conversation about me, then I should be involved.”
Tibby certainly was stubborn, and I loved that about her.
“Hey Tibby-tib,” I was still working out a nickname for her, but so far none of them seemed to fit. “We were just discussing your delicious scent and what it’s doing to us.”
A sweet little blush spread over the tops of Tibby’s freckled cheeks as she looked from me to Aria and, finally, to Theo, who was busy not looking at any of us.
“And why are you discussing me at all without me being in the room? I can tell you right now that that shit is not going to fly if this whole situation is going to work.”
“You are completely right,” My tone was placating as I stepped away from my group with a cheeky grin on my face. I stood next to Tibby, allying myself with the omega. “We should definitely discuss this with you too. I was just going to say that your scent is like the most delicious drug that I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. It makes me want to bury my face in your thighs and suffocate myself between them.”
Aria let out an inelegant snort at my words, and Tibby’s face turned from a sweet blush to an absolute tomato red that traveled down her neck and into the collar of her shirt. That was interesting, I wanted nothing more than to watch her entire body flush like that as she writhed underneath me.
Despite the fact that she projected confidence that was admirable, I could still see a little bit of shyness because of my words. Her reactions were like catnip for me and I couldn’t help but reach out and brush my finger along her round cheek where the blush was the strongest. Tibby leaned into my hand and I nearly whooped with giddiness at the contact.
Of course, Theo had to cut in just when things were starting to get good, “And I was just saying that we are considerably older than you, Tibby, with a significant imbalance of power over you because we are charged with protecting you. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything but stay safe while you are here.”
Tibby’s dazed expression at my touch cleared up and she blinked before glaring over my shoulder at Theo. “You do realize that we are able to have a preference for our heat partners right? I asked for someone older than me, it’s in my file. I’m sure the academy’s security is shitty enough that you can log right in and check. I also think that this is definitely something you should talk to me about before just deciding for me. I hate when people make decisions about me without talking to me.”
I jumped guiltily because I had also, in essence, done the same when I assumed that she would want to continue our physical relationship. “I’m sorry, Tibby, you are entirely correct.” I apologized.
“I’m sorry too,” Aria looked contrite which surprised the hell out of me. Getting her to apologize for anything was like pulling teeth. She was the most stubborn out of the three of us, and that was because she was usually right. Opportunities for apologies were usually few and far between.
“Tibby...” Theo took a step towards us, his gray-blue eyes fixated on the fiery-haired omega, “You know why I’m hesitating here...” He began, but Tibby cut him off.
