Page 15 of My Begrudging Scent Matches

He really is exceptionally handsome. The downturn of his brows and his mouth, the slight curl to his hair at his neck. He looks calm enough, but the frantic searching way he looks at her belies his confusion and desperation. Alice understands the feeling; her entire body aches to move closer to him, to let him wrap her up.

“And please, you don’t even like me, and now you want to take care of me through my first heat?” Alice laughs, but it’s hollow.

“You haven’t had your first heat?” Caleb asks.

“No, but again, not your business.”

“And just what makes you think I don’t like you?” Caleb demands after a moment of processing her assumption. “We just met on Monday.”

“We did not just meet Monday,” Alice spouts. “I’ve been working with you for months! You’re constantly picking apart my work, or trying to get my tasks reassigned to someone else. It’s pretty obvious what you think about me.”

Caleb blinks at her words before shaking his head. “I’m the Quality Assurance Manager, Alice, it’s literally my job to be meticulous about the work we send out,” he reminds her. “Do you think I’m just marking up your work for fun? Christ, you should see the notes I send back to Scott!”

“Then why would you reassign my tasks to him?” They’re both shouting now, loud enough that if anyone else was on the roof they would certainly be concerned. “I know that I can do a better job than him, and in half the time.”

“Because you do triple the work of any male colleagues in your department on any given day. I can assure you that you are working harder than them. Yes, it’s easier when you do the work, and yes, Scott needs two more iterations than you do, but you get paid the same, if not less, and do way more fucking work. It’s not fair.”

Alice’s jaw hangs open for a moment, but she snaps it shut. She knows the work distribution is uneven, but she thought it was because she’s the best. It’s easier to just do the tasks than to go back and forth with others on the team who haven’t picked up on it yet. And she didn’t believe that this problem was something any of her male colleagues could even grasp, much less try to mitigate.

“You don’t do yourself, or your team, any favors by doing everything,” Caleb says. “You can only do everything alone for so long before you burn out.”

She knows that they’re talking about work, but she feels like the last remark was pointedly also not about work.

“But your emails. . .”

“Oh no, I’ve seen you so sorry about that! and no worries if not! matters that are definitely not your fault and are definitely worrisome if not—I email you like I do because I’m direct and I respect you.”

“Well it makes you unpleasant and terse,” Alice says. She’s inched closer to him in her indignation.

“Well, I’d rather be unpleasant than an underpaid people-pleaser busting my ass for managers that don’t see my value.”

They’re closer than she realized, less than a foot separating them on the cold rooftop, and in his frustration, Caleb is scenting unintentionally. The effect on Alice is immediate, filling every sense and gliding over her skin. It’s like nothing she’s ever experienced, being near her scent match like this. Her own scent starts to perfume out of her, mingling with his and making her lightheaded.

She staggers backwards from him, and Caleb brings his hand to her arm to steady her. The touch is like a live wire, even through her coat. She feels her slick between her legs just as he smells it.

Something ignites in his eyes, and without intending, a whine escapes from her throat.

“Get away from me,” Alice snaps. Her stomach cramps hard, making her almost double over in pain. She hisses through her teeth at the sensation and Caleb takes a step toward her.

“You’re going into heat,” he says, alarmed.

“I know, just—I need you to get away from me. Please.”

“Don’t do this. You’ll hurt yourself, just let me?—”

“I can stop it,” Alice lies through gritted teeth. It’s wishful thinking more than anything. There’s a clinic a few blocks away, she can make it there if she leaves right this moment, maybe. Hopefully.

It would have to do.

Alice clenches her fists until her fingernails dig into her soft palms. “I’ll take care of it. Don’t touch me.”

Caleb looks pained, like he’s going against his every instinct, but he backs away from her by a couple of steps.

“Please, d—don’t follow me.”

Alice retreats as quickly as her feet will let her, and heads for the roof’s access door and down the first flight of stairs. She wrenches off her jacket first and foremost, then reaches into her bag to retrieve her water bottle. She chugs it with shaking hands, a few drops escaping and sliding down her chin and onto her neck.

She can feel her slick between her legs, the fire burning beneath her skin and behind her eyes. She’s going into her first heat, and it’s making her delirious. All she can think to do is go, get out, escape, and if she can’t, then she wants to bury herself in a closet and hide. Scenting Caleb like that pushed her over the edge, her suppressants didn’t even stand a chance.

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