My depression rolled in with the storm clouds, and I quickly headed inside, pulled all the curtains, and dragged my favorite blankets into my nest. I would head up to the lighthouse watch room in a bit to monitor the storm. Just as soon as I worked up the energy.
A pit of loneliness swallowed me up like a gaping hole in my chest as I prepared to spend the next few days in darkness. My mom used to sit with me during my dark days, braiding my hair and telling me stories of mermaids. But she was gone, and I could never ask anyone else to be with me when I was like this. Could never bring them down into this despair with me. The fantasy of forming a pack with someone like Easton, or even going on a date with him, was just that: a fantasy.
I scrubbed a tear from my cheek and closed my eyes, pulling the blankets tighter around me.
5
LARS
“All I’m saying issomething is going on with him,” Finn said as I pushed open the door to Beans ‘n Bliss. “He’s been to the market twice this week. Since when does he go grocery shopping? Or care about deodorizing the fridge? Like, what the fuck is that?”
I just grunted as we stepped out of the drizzling rain. I was pretty sure the root of Easton’s distraction for the past few weeks was a crush. He was acting like a love-sick puppy, and it filled me with dread. Was he trying to pursue someone without Finn and me? Was he… considering leaving our pack for a woman? I shoved the thought aside. It was impossible to think he would ever consider it. We were a family.
But that part of me who worried I wasn’t doing a good enough job leading our pack poked and prodded at my chest.
I didn’t say any of this out loud, though. Better to wait and confirm my suspicion.
The weather had driven everyone inside. We waited in the slow-moving line, Finn grumbling about Easton the whole time.
When we finally got to the counter, it hit me.
Pumpkin spice.
Rich, mouthwatering sweetness with a sharp edge ofcoffee.
The same scent I’d smelled six years ago, that had haunted me ever since.
I stumbled and gripped the counter. My alpha roared and I whipped my head around, trying to find the omega who the scent belonged to. The coffee shop was bustling—young people with laptops getting work done, older couples sharing an afternoon coffee together, a small playgroup of moms with their babies laughing in the corner. My heart pounded. She wasn’t here.Again. I couldn’t handle losing her a second time. Wouldn’t.
Finn smacked my arm, and I jolted. “What’s going on? I’ve been talking to you. It’s our turn to order.”
I faced him and gripped both his shoulders, hard. “Pumpkin spice.”
Finn raised his eyebrows as he glanced down at where I was holding him. “Umm, didn’t know that was your drink, but sure.” When I didn’t release him, he added, “You good, bro?”
“I smell her,” I said urgently. “Pumpkin spice. The omega from all those years ago.”
Finn looked around skeptically before turning back to me. “You do know this entire coffee shop smells like pumpkin spice?”
Hope soared in my chest. “You scent her, too?”
He shoved my arms off him. “It’s the signature drink.” He gestured at the decorative sign on the wall with a dancing pumpkin on it.
“No, you don’t understand.” My eyes were wild as I scanned the cafe again. I whipped my head to the door. She must have left. I would follow her scent until I tracked her down and convinced her that she was mine,ours.
Finn’s shout followed me out the door. I took off down the street, my shirt quickly growing wet as the rain came down harder. I spun around, my heart pounding. The incoming storm masked all the scents in town, leaving nothing but damp earth. The street was empty. I wanted to knock on every door in town until I found her, but even through my panicked haze, I understood that would be inappropriate.
I trudged back to the coffee shop, not caring thatI was soaked. Had it all been a figment of my imagination? My alpha snarled.No. The scent had been faint, but it had been there. There was no way my mind could make up something so perfect.
Finn was standing under the coffee shop’s striped awning, a pinched expression on his face. “Here’s your omega,” he said dryly, handing me a pumpkin spice latte.
I fought the urge to throw it in his face. “You’re not taking this seriously,” I growled. I wanted to roar at the sky. How dare the universe be so cruel to dangle my omega in front of me again?
“Taking what seriously, Lars? You’ve been obsessed with some omega you scentedonceyears ago. You never evensawher. And now you’re chasing a ghost around town? What am I supposed to do with that?”
I bit my tongue, unwilling to say anything hurtful to my brother. Finn and Easton were my world. I loved my family, but these two were the brothers I had chosen. We had built a life together, a business, and had dreamed of bringing an omega into our pack. But things had felt shaky with us for a while. Finn had been struggling these past six months since his grandparents died, and Easton was a distracted mess. I’d felt unsettled in my role as head of the pack, but all that vanished now. Scenting the omega I lost years ago filled me with certainty as we headed home. The universe had sent her back to me, tous.
And this time, I wouldn’t let her get away.
