I chuckle, nodding, but I don’t take my hand off her leg. Now that I've started touching her, I don’t think I can stop. Unless she asks me, I’m not going to miss a golden opportunity like this.
Veda doesn’t ask me to move my hand. Instead, she parts her legs just a little more and relaxes back in the seat. Her ease shows she believed my explanation, so I can relax too. We listen to the music in silence. The notes carry the stiffness of my shoulders. Veda looks through the window, lost in thought, and I let her be.
It hits me that this might be the last moments before she discovers who she really is. We're so worried about the consequences of discovering an Omega that we forgot that her life is about to change. Nothing's gonna be the same for her, and it’s not just for being an Omega, but because she’s one of the last of her kind.
My thumb grazes over her skin. Every touch brings chills down my arms. She's wearing a denim skirt today, and it looks great on her, like everything else. I keep touching her, waiting until she tells me I’m not allowed, but instead, all she does is sigh and perfume the car.
Fuck. I'm painfully hard. This is an impossible situation. The more she perfumes, the more I crave it. It makes me crazy to just sit here and scent it, with no way to claim her. I shift in my seat. I don’t want to draw attention to the tent between my legs. She trusts me right now, and I don’t want to break that trust with a hard-on.
We leave our corner of the world and get on the highway. Our small Alpha-Omega township is not far, but it is remote. I wonder how it would be for them when they see Veda. I don’t know much about life with Omegas around. By the time I was old enough to have memories, our ways were dying out. Mom used to tell me stories about mating celebrations. The township used to party for three days straight when a pack scent-matched. Matehood is a secret to our people, and it hurts that it’s all in the past now.
Veda is going to attract all the packs back. Everyone who fled the township will come back once this is announced. The hand gripping the wheel gets tighter, willing the tension to roll off me. Is she going to find a pack? Scent-match and be my parents' neighbors? I shake my head. No, that feels wrong.
She shouldn’t be desired just because she’s an available Omega. This woman is the most precious thing, regardless of her classification. She’s incredible because she’s Veda, and anyone who doesn’t see that is a fool.
Why can't it be us?
The daring idea feels right, just like her under my palm. I let my mind run amok, imagining every scenario where she’s ours. I would take care of her, treat her right. Derrick and Major, too. I know he has an attitude, but I trust that he would protect Veda with his life.
The possibility grows in my chest, and with each mile I press on, the more I wonder if I should just steal Veda. A stolen mate was never done before, but things changed.
The world is different, and the stakes are high.
We don’t do three-day celebrations anymore, and according to Carver, folks are trafficking Omegas. Buying them. Is it so wrong that I want to protect her from it all?
I glance at the beautiful woman beside me with something weighing on my chest. It's a mild day, the breeze coming in brushes her curls away from her face, and she closes her eyes in silent satisfaction. Her skin is warm under the sun, the long lashes fanning against her cheeks. She's the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and just like that, stolen matehood sounds like the perfect idea.
We move away from the highway, and I make a turn, following Major’s car. There’s no one here but us, and eventually I have to take my hand off her as we reach the dirt road between the mountains.
Veda sits up, taking everything in as the mountain range closes on the car. We wobble over the rocks, and I have to take it very slowly, making sure the sudden change isn’t upsetting her.
“It’s not far from here,” I say with a smile. “Just a little awkward to reach.”
“I’ve never heard about a township between a mountain range.” I hear a hint of fear in her voice.
“It’s not in the middle exactly. More like behind it.”
She looks around, but we can barely see the highway we left behind with the red dirt raised under the wheels. Her eyes are as wide as saucers, and her perfume has changed from sugary to a sour smell that makes all my hairs stand up. I feel her fear vibrating from across the car, and I hate it.
She has the right to be suspicious. We are virtually strangers, and I’m driving her to the middle of nowhere, where a car shouldn’t even fit. It doesn’t matter how justified it is.
With a curse under my breath, I stop the car and unbuckle my seat belt and then hers.
She watches me with confusion in her eyes, but I don’t say anything as I reach from behind her and pull her all the way to me, sliding her over the cab of my truck.
Breasts flush against my chest, and I look right into those pretty brown eyes as I catch a rogue curl with the pad of my fingers.
“I promise that all that is beyond this mountain is some overbearing mothers. Both mine and the Wilde boys will smother you with homemade food and compliments.”
She chuckles, and a little tension leaves her body. I know she’s not sure just yet. I can scent that she’s scared, so I keep going. “I will never do anything to hurt, sweetheart, that’s the god’s honest truth.”
She nods and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, it was silly of me.”
Not that she did anything to look suspicious, yet here she is, apologizing for it. I tip her chin up with my finger so I can look straight back at her.
“Nothing is wrong with self-preservation. You don’t know me enough just yet. I don’t mind to prove every day that I’m worth your trust.”
Something changes in her gaze, and from a scared puppy, she turns into the Omega I know. Her perfume returns, soft at first, but it makes me groan, regardless.
