Tae gasps. “What?”
“Scent match?” Nash repeats in disbelief.
“That’s why I had to come back to SVU. Because I had to make sure it was real, and seeing her again tonight onlyconfirmed it.” A sense of calmness washes over me as I see her beautiful face in my mind’s eye. “And I know she feels the same. She told me she felt the connection last year. I can’t even describe it. It’s all-consuming. She’s the blood running through my veins, and being away from her has been tearing me apart.”
“This changes everything!” Nash slaps his knee. “You should have told us! When we spoke about expanding our pack, you said this wasn’t the time?—”
“Because I couldn’t get her out of my head,” I confess.
“If Delilah really is Jagger’s scent match, then maybe she’s ours too,” Tae muses. “I know I’m not an alpha, so it doesn’t work the same way, but something about Delilah is different. I’ve never been drawn to another woman like I am to her. She’s…” A dreamy expression crosses over his face.
I let my mind stray for a second, envisioning what it would be like to have her around. The three of us and Delilah. A fuzzy feeling blooms in my chest. I can imagine her dancing around the kitchen, kneading dough, cozying up in front of the fire with blankets, writing music together.
“Do you think you even stand a chance with her now?” Nash’s crushing realization brings me back to reality with a thud. “After Jag ran out on her without saying goodbye after a heat, she won’t ever want to speak to him or anyone associated with him again.”
“I made a mistake,” I groan. “Abigmistake. But I did it for what I thought were the right reasons at the time.”
“That doesn’t change how much you hurt her,” Nash reminds me. “She’s an omega who thought she found her scent match. You helped her through one of her most vulnerable moments, and probably promised her the world, then you disappeared with no explanation and ghosted her. However you’re feeling, she’s feeling a hundred times worse.”
He’s shaking in anger, his skin stretched white over his knuckles and muscular arms tense like he’s resisting the urge topunch me. I wouldn’t blame him if he did. And in a way, I wish he would. Physical pain would beat the crippling guilt I feel, knowing he’s right.
“Maybe she’ll understand if you explain to her why you did it?” Tae suggests hopefully.
“I really did think I was doing what was best?—”
“You don’t deserve her,” Nash growls. “What you did goes against everything we’re biologically programmed to do as alphas. We’re supposed to take care of omegas, not abandon them.”
“But she’s mine!” I whimper, my bottom lip trembling, finally letting my mask drop as the pain of the past year breaks out of me. “My omega. She belongs with me.”
My shoulders shake as hot tears fall down my cheeks. I sniffle, wiping them away with the corner of my sleeve. The worst moment of my life was driving away from that hotel, knowing I’d left Delilah behind, but telling my pack about my shameful actions is a very close second.
Tae comes to perch on the edge of the armchair, patting me on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay, man. We’ll make sure of it.”
While I compose myself, Nash watches on. Disapproval is emanating from him in waves, yet the pitying look in his eyes gives me hope that his anger is dissipating.
“I want to make it right with her, Nash.” I press the heels of my palms into my weary eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever be happy without her. And if she’s my scent match, you know it’s likely that she’ll be yours too.”
“Me? A scent match?” Nash harrumphs. He’s never outright admitted that he doesn’t believe in scent matches before, but Tae once shared that Nash’s long given up hope of finding an omega. “Yeah, right.”
“You’ll feel differently when you meet her,” Tae tells him.
“Look, I’ll help you work out whatever shit you’ve got going on because that’s what packmates do,” Nash mutters. “But you’ve got to understand that she may not be interested, okay? Even if you do try to make it right.”
“I know.” I use my sleeve to wipe the remaining wetness from my cheeks. “I have to show her how sorry I am.”
Leaving her once was hard enough. I can’t do it again; that would shatter my soul completely.
“We’ve got you,” Tae reassures me, ruffling my hair. “And we’ll help you fix it. She’s worth it.”
“She really is.”
“But no more lying,” Nash growls. “From here on out, we’re in this together as a pack.”
Yes, a genuine smile curls my lips.A pack.My family. But there is still one person missing, so I’ve got to win her back. Now that the truth is out and I have the guys behind me, there’s no stopping me.
TWELVE
Delilah
