“Oh, come on, tell me about it,” she says gently and pulls out a flower, holding it up to the light.
“What are you doing?” I ask, and I really am curious.
“Checking the colour, violets are so pretty, aren’t they? They will be excellent when dried for dyeing materials.”
“Dyeing material?” I ask carefully.
“And soap.”
“And soap,” I confirm to myself and try not to weep, imagining the mess in the house and hours of tedious study I’m going to have to throw myself into.
“So, what did he do today?”
“Nothing!” I explode and pace to the far end of the room. “Everything! He’s just…there! Needling, picking, always just an inch away from me, and I can’t…”
Mum just smiles knowingly. She has been incessantly smug about us being destined to be together.
Wouldn’t he be a scent match if that were so? What does a scent match feel like anyway?
“It’s not like that!” I warn her.
“It kind of is like that, though, baby.”
“No, it’s not. He’s…he’s Sebastian!”
“Exactly.”
I grumble at her and pick up a pretty yellow daffodil, twirling it in my fingers as I walk to the window. My mother planted a drought-resistant garden of native flowers years ago, and it’s thriving; the green glowing from all the winter rain.
I tell myself I’m checking to make sure that heathen isn’t trying to sneak in the back, but I just want to look at him, I always do. Whenever he’s around, my gaze is on him. It’s infuriating.
The view of Sunset Cove from my childhood home is my favourite. We sit just far enough up on a hill that I can see the beach beyond the town; the lighthouse where my best friend and her pack are living is in the distance. The ocean is an endless dark blue jewel, while the sky is an overcast grey today. Thewind is blowing through the trees, and everything is chaotically wonderful. I love summer, but I really love winter.
One last glance reveals an idiot-free yard, so I turn back to Mum, shoving him forcefully out of my head.
Only to find him very in my house, and I’m not surprised at all. For a moment, I just drink him in. He’s got broad shoulders, and in winter, he wears these hoodies that I want to crawl into. Today’s hoodie is grey like the clouds, and his alpha scent rolls through the room, filling it with roasted almonds, chili, and chocolate. My mouth waters. He’s got a new pair of jeans, and the way they hug his ass is criminal. He looks amazing, and I hate that I feel like a grubby child beside him.
“My darling!” My mother gushes as she rushes to him.
He, the devil incarnate, bends down and wraps his giant arms around my mother’s thin frame. She grips his cheeks and kisses him on either side, giving him the smile that only he gets.
Sebastian Sol is my mother’s absolute favourite person in the whole world.
He is not mine.
Not even a little bit.
Who am I even kidding? He’s the world. My world.
She lets him go but stares at him as he towers over her.
“Ms. Lake.”
“Oh, you, I told you to call me Julia.”
Sebastian smiles, and I hate, more than anything, that it still affects me, even if it does now make me mildly homicidal. He’s got this windswept, wavy brown hair that has just a hint of red, but only under the summer sun. His eyes are honey-coloured and can look like they are glowing or darken to the richest brown when he’s intently focused. He’s got stubble on his jaw and his trademark smile—the one that undoes me—on his lips. Sebastian is every omega’s dream alpha. He’s kind, charming,loving, comes from a great family, and looks like he could model for an underwear magazine.
Life is not fair.
