“Is it?” Mateo pushes back.
“We can’t even scent her,” Jett reminds him.
“Which is a good thing, because I don’t believe even Wilder’s bark would have pulled you from that room if you had, Jett. I think we’d have carried her off like a wild pack of wolves given the way we’ve been reacting to her even without her scent. We’ve probably scared the shit out of her with how weird we’ve been acting and that last display.”
My Alpha doesn’t like that notion at all. A rough thrum builds in my chest and escapes before I can stop it.
My pack stares wide-eyed at me, and I look down at my chest like it betrayed me.
“Case in point. She’s not even here and your Alpha just purred for her,” Mateo says with a smug tone. “Little rusty sounding, compa.”
I shut my purr down that did in fact sound like a rusty engine, mortified by my own behavior.
“That doesn’t mean she’s ours.” As soon as I utter the words I feel sick and my Alpha bangs against my ribs as if he’s trying to get out to beat me up for saying something so ridiculous.
I rub at my sternum, and Mateo places his hand on my arm, gripping my bicep tight.
“Wilder, I know it seems hard to believe that she’d walk into our lives like this, but my Alpha knew the moment he saw her.” He places his free hand over his heart, mirroring me. “I thought it was crazy at first too, but it’s clear to me now after all this. Most importantly, my Alpha, my heart, knows.”
My heart thuds against my hand; my Alpha that’s normally hard around the edges, softening at Mateo’s admission.
“You may not believe it yet, but your Alpha did the moment he growled out there.” He pulls back from me and looks at Jett. “You went near full Alpha rage at just the sight of a smallbruise on her forehead, not something you’d do for just anyone. And I think your scent is strong because your Alpha wants her to recognize you. And mi amor”—he moves to cup Augie’s cheek—“I think there’s a reason you’ve always felt drawn to Iris. You may not be an Alpha but you knew all along just seeing her through a screen. And I think you felt something when you met her, yes?”
He nods. “When her fingers brushed mine, it felt like something clicked inside me. A missing piece. But I didn't want to get my hopes up about anything. But, I think you’re right, baby.”
Jett drags a hand over his face. “You realize how insane this is, right?”
“Do you think Augie and I are both wrong?” Mateo asks.
“My Alpha agrees with you both,” Jett says readily, his southern accent slipping through like it did with Iris earlier—another odd thing to add to the odd bank of today. “But as mentioned, we can’t scent her. How can we know for sure?”
“I trust my Alpha. If he says she’s mine, she is,” Mateo says.
“Ours,” Augie interjects.
Mateo takes his hand and squeezes, their eyes locking as words they don’t say pass between them before Mateo corrects, “Ours.”
Jett bumps my shoulder and I meet his gaze. He lifts a brow at me, and I know he’s waiting for me to speak. I’m the Prime of this pack, and I’m not going to lie and say I’m feeling off center right now.
If all of this is true, how did my Alpha not immediately recognize Iris as ours like Mateo’s did?
I don’t say it out loud often, but I’ve wanted an Omega for our pack since we formed and bonded. I may look like a man who’d scoff at romance on the outside, but I came from a loving scent-matched pack with a male and female Alpha whoadored my Omega mother. I’ve wanted what they had since I was a teenager.
When we didn’t find our Omega in college, I’d turned my focus to my pack and our careers, hoping we’d find them at some point. Even if scent matches are rare. Over the years I’d stuffed my romantic dream to the back of my mind, our success making it hard to date and even harder now with Jett’s continual rising star. I resigned myself to one-night stands and the occasional heat clinic volunteer alongside my pack.
In my dreams, the moment I met my Omega, I would have known.
“I can feel you beating yourself up,” Augie says.
“I—” My words catch and I think of what to say. I don’t like being weak in front of them. I’m their leader, the one they look to for answers. I don’t like that I don’t have any.
I tensely exhale. “I’m just frustrated with myself that I’m doubting your words. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“You rely on your nose too much. I have no doubt in my mind that if you could scent her, we’d be having a different conversation,” Mateo says.
“Maybe so, but wouldn’t she react to finding her pack if this was true? We may not be able to scent her, but she can still smell us. There’s no way she would have missed Jett’s pheromones.”
“I had the same thought, but I think I figured it out. Her Omega kept trying to scent me, but every time she did her nose scrunched like a rabbit.”
