Page 34 of The Heat of Us

“Why don’t you help Ollie and I’ll finish up the table with Juno, hmm?” Miles had offered helpfully.

Everett, Juno’s stupidly large alpha, surveyed the scene as he carried in the TV like it was a paperback. “I told you not to let them work together,” he grunted, before leaving to bring in more heavy things all by himself.

At least the other members of my sister’s pack were gracious enough not to rub it in my face.

Ollie finished screwing in the shelf and gave it a shake to test the sturdiness. “How’s life as an alpha, Ben?” he asked cheerfully. “I bet scents are wild for you now. You must feel like a brand new puppy.”

Yes. If puppies fought the homicidal urge to tear people’s faces off for getting too close and developed a truly maddening obsession for one person’s scent in particular.

Then sure, I was a puppy.

“Something like that,” I muttered.

Everett had returned and dropped the last box inside the door with a solid thud. “There’s a gym downstairs,” he said shortly. “You should join.”

My brow furrowed. “Ok…?”

“You awakened to an alpha and met your scent match all at once,” he said bluntly. “You need to work some of that aggression off before you accidentally contest the wrong alpha and get your head shoved in.”

Even the word contest had me squaring my shoulders. Dominance, power and the brutal will to make war rose hot in my blood as I turned to face my pitiful opponent before me and—

A tiny omega-sized sneaker hit me in the temple.

“Like exactly what you’re doing now, idiot,” Juno griped. Her other shoe was locked and loaded in her hand.

Everett looked extremely unimpressed with me and I realised I was lucky he didn’t turn me into a Ben-shaped splatter on the floor of my new apartment.

I groaned, lifted Shelf D to my forehead and began hitting myself rhythmically. “Why is this my fucking life now?”

Ollie took it carefully from me, a winsome smile on his face. “It’s not all bad,” he beamed. I had yet to find a topic Ollie did not look on the bright side of. “You have a scent match. You even know who she is!” Ollie gave Juno a truly sickening look of adoration. “This one ran from me almost immediately.”

“Hey, I went through so many scent cards at the scent matching department to find you, ok?” my sister said defensively. “And you know we should be really calling it scent sympathetic. Just because you have a strong reaction to someone’s scent doesn’t mean that the relationship is meant to b—”

I had to look away when Ollie began murmuring extremely intimate things before pulling her in for a kiss. Gross. I caught Everett watching me and everything about that narrowed gaze said you’re lucky you’re her brother. I gulped.

“Ok. Gym it is.”

If going to the gym was supposed to make me feel less barbaric, then this was the wrong one for it.

I could barely focus on the overeager beta giving me a tour of the facilities, pointing out weight racks like they were a brand new car. I kept getting whiffs of her. The first scent of something floral I could try and shake off. But that coconut and then the fucking hit of citrus afterwards?

No. She had been here, I knew it.

“Do omegas attend this gym?” I barked at the borderline prepubescent looking employee. The beta flinched and I hated myself for it. When was I going to stop feeling like I had absolutely no fucking control over my own body? I was this fucking close to pushing him to the side so I could run my nose along the handles of the LAT machine.

“Yes, we’re an all-inclusive gym with a zero tolerance policy for harassment.” His voice warbled on zero tolerance. “We have omega-only hours throughout the week and implement a rigorous cleaning schedule.”

“Show me the timetable.” Fuck, stop being such an asshole. “If you don’t mind,” I added with extreme difficulty.

I was ushered over to a laminated, colour-coded printout on the wall. I immediately committed the omega hours to memory and planned my next week around attending the gym in the minutes immediately following them.

“I’m sorry. I’m not usually like this. There’s been…a lot of change in my life,” I apologised, not looking at him. “Thank you for the tour. I’d like to sign up.”

I went to call Juno as soon as I stepped outside and was faced with 3 missed calls from Dad. I gave the notification an angry swipe, my temper flaring rapidly. Why wouldn’t they leave me alone? Hadn’t I made it clear to them where I stood?

I stared at the brick wall of the gym and had the unbearable urge to put my fist in it.

My arm had actually begun to pull back when I stopped myself. I had been so close to breaking half the bones in my hand.

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