This is even better than the liquor I tasted that night.
This is warmth and longing, so potent and delicious that my body trembles in response.
“Uh…Maeve?” Piper asks, while saliva fills my mouth like I’m a damn vampire.
“Huh?” I snap out of my stupor, but not before inhaling that Alpha aroma one more time.
Mine, a primal part of me snarls.My Alpha.
Uh oh.
Alvin cocks his head at me, tail swishing back in forth in anticipation while he perches on the front counter.
Even the cat is onto me.
“Everything okay?” Piper questions, cocking an eyebrow. “You disappeared for a second.”
“Yup.” I pop the “p” a little too loudly.
Piper isn’t oblivious. She asked if I was okay to be polite, instead of calling me out on what she just saw.
I had a physical reaction to an Alpha scent, and said Alpha isn’t even in the same building as me.
Go to him,my inner Omega says.Go to him now. There’s no reason not to.
No! Cats come first.
Alvin nudges his cheek against my palm, and I gently run my thumb under his chin.
“I have scent-blocking gummies in my purse if you need them,” Piper adds, her eyes understanding. “Or some strong minty gum you can chew on if there’s a scent that’s too strong for you.”
“I’ll take both,” I squeak. “Is it really that obvious?”
She lets out a long breath. “Oh, yeah,” she mutters. “It’sthatobvious, Maeve.”
“It’s not my fault he smells good!” I whisper frantically, and Piper chuckles.
“No, it’s not, but it’s pretty funny.” Her eyes glimmer with delight as she hands me the pack of gum and container of scent-blocking gummies. I huff and devour the gummy, then tear open the stick of gum and allow the peppermint to erase the torture of warm bourbon and vanilla invading my senses.
“Thanks,” I mutter, embarrassed at my reaction to the scent.
“Just go say hello during lunch,” Piper adds. “Once you become used to his scent, you’ll be fine.” She eyes me carefully. “Do you feel like it’s something more?”
I shake my head.
I would know if it were a scent match…right?
It would hit me like a freight train, or so I’ve been told.
“I don’t think so,” I admit, slightly shamefully. Piper and Blair are both aware of how much I want to find my matches, which is the exact opposite of how they felt before their packs.
I want a pack, but sometimes I worry that some of the less perfect parts of me won’t be accepted.
Sure, Ivan is patient and understanding, but for how long? How often can someone put up with my panicking until it becomes too much?
“What does he smell like to you?” Piper asks curiously as I chomp on the gum. “I don’t scent much from him.”
“Yeah, but you also have three differentAlphas,” I scoff. “Of course you’re not going to notice.”
