He looks me in the eye, daring me to argue but also imploring me to listen. “All people have different sides to their personality; some are better at hiding them than others. And me barking at you, I think it’s pretty easy to see you’re more of a hands-on learner. Plus, it felt right. No, actually, it felt necessary that I let my Alpha out. He’s in there alive and kicking, eager to show you how he can treat his mate.”
“You’re talking about yourself in the third person?”
He smiles and it transforms his face. I like how unshaken he is, always seeing the good. “Come on, the security team should be coming through and I’d rather they didn’t scent how fucking delectable you are after you orgasm.”
“I can’t have bitten you! I’m still at school!”
“Technically so am I.” He laughs quickly before it shifts into a purr-laden chuckle as I blaze red like a tomato. God the very Alpha sound filling the space between us is full of innuendo and it brings a tingling rush of goosebumps dancing over my arms.
Which he watches while purposely making his purr continue.
I side eye him, trying to ignore the signals and sounds flying around us both so I can get a better understanding of the whole messed up situation. Plus, you know, another Alpha telling lies has my internal alarms going off. “You told me you were a doctor.”
“Technically the moment I graduated I became a doctor. I’m finishing my residency though. You can come see me get a prize for all my hard work if you like, I’m sure they’ll give me a plaque, though between me and you, I’m more interested in the check. It seriously sucks being a resident, we do four times the work and get paid bananas.”
And just like that all the pieces fall into place in no particular order, but at the same time they’re all equally poignant parts of the puzzle. He is my scent matched mate. I somehow claimed him. He’s a resident doctor. He was going to an award presentation. Our paths have been waiting to cross, which is exactly how fate works.
“All okay?” He asks, interrupting my epiphany.
I agree with a soft smile which he notices immediately. Despite only just meeting him, it’s pretty easy to see he’s got a natural born ability to calm and soothe. The fact he won Dean’s award is proof of his intelligence and dedication to his chosencareer. His compassionate side is what I keep seeing, and it’s what is going to be what sets him apart from his peers.
“I’m going to help you freshen up, so I don’t lose my shit and they have to lock the hospital down again.”
I splutter a laugh at his suggestion he’d ever lose control. And without realising he reminds me of a multi-faceted personality, and I can’t say I don’t like the surly undertones of ownership in his words. He leads us to a tiny cubicle bathroom. It is barely big enough for him let alone the both of us, but he makes it work.
“Can you see my bag? I literally have no clue what happened to it.” He briefly ducks his head out of the bathroom.
“Stay there,” he says, disappearing and reappearing with my bag in the space of a few seconds confirming how small his living conditions are.
“Oh my god, thank you!” I mumble, digging through my oversized tote to start unloading into his hands the things I need: a fresh pair of padded panties, some of Heidi’s strongest scent blocking lotion, makeup, phone.
“Your bag is almost as big as you are,” he teases as he looks down at the pile in his hand and what I still have in my bag.
“Hey! A girl’s got needs. And this is actually one of my smaller bags,” I sass back though our banter falls away when I see the screen full of texts from Big Tom.
“Shit.” I hit redial the instant I unlock my screen, but the call keeps dropping out which feeds a growing sense of urgency.
Tyson taps my leg to get my attention. And it works but his touch is also like a balm on a burn, so soothing that it stops my meltdown. “It’s the service in my room, for some reason I never get calls or can make them in here. If you text, it should work.”
“Okay,” I nod, trying to slow down my increasing nerves. I feel awful for Big Tom, he’d be pissed off about being unable to do his job of protecting me. With a clearer head, I tap out a textletting him know I’m safe and waiting for security to let me out of a room. He responds in an instant.
While I’m on my phone, Tyson busies himself too. It’s insanely sweet the way he has everything lined up for me; a sink full of warm water, a clean face cloth waiting, my lotion, my clean undies.
“I’ll be out here. We’ve got a couple of minutes until the guards come past and let us out.” He steps out and leaves me to freshen up.
Lucky too, because my reflection in the mirror looks like I’ve been dragged through the bushes backwards. “Holy shit! You didn’t want to tell me I looked like this?”
“You look like you’ve just come on my fingers.”
I bark out a laugh. “Oh please.”
A chuckle is the only response I get as I complete the world fastest freshen up and change. It’s almost comical when it comes to figuring out where to put my slicked-up panties but I can’t really put them back in my bag or maybe I could but either way I decide the best course of action is to bury them under all his dirty clothes on the bottom of his laundry basket. It makes a lot of sense to me.
When I come out all fresh again, he’s sitting on the edge of his bed reading his phone, and he jumps to his feet. Something about the action has my alarms going off. What if I just bit an Alpha who has a girlfriend, another Omega he’s been courting.
“I’m an asshole,” bursts out of my mouth.
And I watch him recoil like I’ve slapped him. “Excuse me?”
