It was the corps' turn to dance. I moved with the group, trying my best to remember choreography and spacing. After our group section finished, I sighed. Not too bad.
The music paused for Steven to set the next section, where the lead female and male came together. Adrienne shot me a glare as she stepped forward to dance. She jumped to the center of the room and beckoned Preston to her. He jumped on the music and ran towards her…but then suddenly stopped.
Everyone’s eyes were on Preston as he slowly backed away from Adrienne, his face full of concern.
“Preston, this is where you take her waist and lead her into a turn, remember?” Steven gestured to Adrienne.
“I can’t…” Preston shook his head, glancing at me, then back to Steven. What was he doing?
“You did this last year; it’s not hard. What’s the problem?” Steven scowled, snapping his fingers together. “Let’s go.”
Preston took a deep breath and shook out his arms, then quickly straightened up.
He rushed forward to Adrienne, bowed slightly, then reached for her waist to guide her to a pirouette.
Something inside my head screamed as soon as he touched her. I saw his hands reach for her waist and—no. No, that’s not right. Why was he touching her? He was mine; that touch should have been mine—a loud whimper escaped my mouth as my body reacted before I could hold back. All the eyes in the room turned back to me, much to my utter horror.
My hands shot up to my mouth as I faced the back wall, shocked by my own reaction. Deep breaths were all I could do to keep from crying while my mind screamed in anger. He had to dance with her; it was his job, and I had to get over it.
Next thing I knew, Preston's scent was all around me. He reached for my hand and pulled us out the studio door, waving goodbye to the room. I could barely see where we were going; my eyes were misted over. As soon as we entered the second studio, the tears fell, but soon after, hiswarm, strong arms were wrapped around me in a tight embrace, gently cradling me against his chest.
“I’m sorry, I was very concerned about that happening, which is why I hesitated in the first place. I don’t want to dance with anyone but you,” Preston softly spoke to me, rubbing my back in comfort. “As soon as I touched her, everything inside me screamed to stop.”
“No, I’m sorry. We’re professionals, and I need to be comfortable with this,” I choked back a sob. Why was this affecting me so much? He should be allowed to dance with other people. How selfish was I that I demanded he only dance with me?
He chuckled softly, kissing my hair. “You don’t understand. That’s not going to be us. We’re the scent-matched partnership here, and everything else needs to move out of our way. You and I are not partnering with other people anymore. We physically and mentally can’t take it.”
A sigh of relief escaped from me as more tears bubbled out from my eyes. The thought of other women touching him made my stomach nauseous. I pressed deeper into his arms as I inhaled his scent to calm me down. Looking at Preston’s shirt, I tried to wipe my tears away. “I’ve got some tears on your shirt.”
“It’s fine. Besides, I got you to talk to me some more,” he joked as he lifted my chin, wiping more of my tears. “Thisis new for all of us, and we have to figure out how to navigate through this so we can all get what we need.”
The intensity of his eyes locked with mine, forcing a sharp inhale. Suddenly, I was speechless again, only mustering out a squeak in understanding.
He smirked at my squeak and cradled my head back into his chest.
“There you are,” Demetrius said as he walked into the studio. “How can I help?”
“Dem, I’m sorry, but we can’t dance with other people. It’s too much of a strain on us,” Preston shook his head. “I’m breaking knowing I put her through this with just a touch.”
“I get it, and we’ll fix this. Take a break. I need to talk to the company, then we’ll head out.” Demetrius ran his hands through his hair as he exhaled loudly and left.
“We’ll get better at this, I promise,” Preston whispered, holding me tight against his chest.
***
Demetrius
I cleared my throat as I gestured for the company to sit down on the floor of the main studio. Lukas and I had spent the last half hour drafting a quick message before being alerted to a problem with Preston and Ivy. After brieflychecking on them, I rushed over to where the rest of the company was standing around, gossiping.
Standing before the company, I looked out onto their faces, about to confirm the one thing that would change our company’s trajectory forever.
Some of the company girls gave me a dead stare, clearly pissed about Ivy. Whatever…I wasn’t here to make friends. I’d always had to be the tough, bad guy who demanded more and more. An Artistic Director always had to be emotionally removed from the dancers, something that had been harder to do this week with Ivy’s presence, especially when my alpha instincts kicked in.
The company dancers, almost twenty before me, settled down on the floor and waited for me to begin. Lukas took his spot behind me, taking a few pictures of the company. Away from the main group and standing in the back were Preston and Ivy, holding hands and listening in. Lastly, Isaac entered and leaned against the piano, gesturing for me to start.
“Alright, everyone—thank you for joining me these last few minutes of the day. I want to address a rumor circling this company. Yes, we’ve welcomed an omega into our company this season, and it's Ivy Turin. And yes, she is scent-matched to the Arco pack.”
A few dancers whispered, “I knew it,” as a fresh round of chatter rose from the group.
