Page 23 of For What It's Worth

I sniffed the air, wanting to draw Aidan’s scent into my lungs. It was easy to filter through all the other alpha scents and alcohol to find his desert rainstorm scent, especially when he was so close. But just one smell wasn’t enough. My body rebelled against common sense, pressing my nose against his neck to inhale his scent directly from his skin.

A rumbling sound brought me out of my own inner need: his purr. Perfectly content for the first time in what felt like forever, I rested my head on his shoulders and took another sip of my drink.

“You look beautiful,” Aidan said.

I blushed at the small compliment. “You, too.”

Everything about Aidan was beautiful, but when he smiled, pure happiness shone through. I wished I could’ve bottled up his image, saved his smiles and kind words for later. Maybe even saved his lips for kissing and his tongue for more delicious things. With that inappropriate thought, I tried distracting myself, taking a long sip of my drink, only to stop short with it halfway to my lips when I noticed all eyes on us.

Sitting up straight, I put my drink down, suddenly wishing I had something stronger in order to get through what was about to happen.

“Um, this is Aidan,” I said to the table.

Sebastian looked between Aidan and me sitting together, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air, taking me in again. Or I guess the first time since he hadn’t really noticed me when I arrived.

My eyes widened, matching my rising worry, as Sebastian looked between Aidan and I like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

“How do you know Aidan?” Hannah asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the table. She smiled cheerfully, but there was a new look in her eyes that hadn’t been there a drink and a half ago. Was she upset because she thought we were together? It wouldn’t have been the first time an omega scorned an alpha-beta relationship, but it would be the first time that I was on the receiving end.

“We don’t really.” I cringed at my ingenious response.

Hannah raised a single eyebrow at me. “You know, if anyone, beta or not, greeted one of my alphas like you did with Aidan, I’d bite the bitch’s head off.”

I blamed the drink and a half because there was no other reason I growled at Hannah. “Well, he’s not yours.”

Somewhere in the back of my mind I acknowledged she wasn’t threatening me or my place with Aidan, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Hannah. My inner omega felt challenged, and I couldn’t reign her back in.

The purr behind me got stronger, and I was lifted off the seat onto Aidan’s lap. There wasn’t enough room for me to cross my legs, so I had to sit with my back pressed tightly to his front, straddling one of his legs.

But the fact Aidan was so close, touching me, purring for me throughout an omega dominance fight, had me purring in response, finally looking away from Hannah. Aidan shifted under me, his muscular thigh pressing up, into my core. The thought of riding his leg quickly came to an end when I remembered I couldn’t perfume here. I was an unmated omega in public. Perfuming was not a good idea. That meant no getting turned on by sexy alphas forcing their leg between my thighs and vibrating against my back like the best sex toy on the market.

I adjusted myself to sit on Aidan’s other side instead of on his lap, forcing him closer to Seb and giving me an easy get away if necessary. Looking up, I caught a flash of disappointment in his eyes before it was gone, and I wondered if I’d imagined it.

He grabbed my hand and gave it a slight squeeze.

At first, I thought he was just comforting me, but when he did it again, I realized he was trying to catch my attention.

“I’m sorry, what?” I looked around for someone to clue me in on what I’d missed.

“Sebastian asked what you’re studying at Braker,” Aidan said.

I almost sighed in relief at the topic change. “Astrophysics.” After finishing off my glass in several huge gulps, I said, “I want to study black holes after graduation.”

Han whistled. “How did you get into that?”

“I just um—” I couldn’t find the words to explain my reasoning since I didn’t have one. Astrophysics wasn’t my dream. Black holes weren’t my passion. School was. My scholarship required me to be in a degree plan, and Astrophysics sounded cool. “I just picked it one day.”

“I was thinking about getting an English degree,” Hannah said, saving me from wherever my tongue was taking that topic. “Right now, I’m just taking some random classes. I want to get my degree, but then I look at the all the hours of credits needed, and it just feels like too much. Too long.”

“It has been a long time. I did two years at the community college before I started this semester at Braker. And I still can’t see the finish line.” For my education or my secret.

“What does your packmate teach?” Zeke asked Aidan.

“Jenson? He’s a professor of quantum mechanics.”

I nodded along as if agreeing to this information, but before anyone could ask if I was a part of that class, I motioned to my glass, and got up for a refill. While I stood, wait for the bartender’s attention, again, some of the band started trickling onto the stage, setting up. I wasn’t an expert in instruments, but I saw a trombone, trumpet, and some other large instrument that had a big hole on the top but wound down for the player to blow into. Either I was starting to get tipsy or that instrument was fake.

When my drink appeared, I took a sip of the familiar apple flavor, wondering if this drink was weaker than the others since I couldn’t even taste the alcohol. It was probably my last one anyway. There was no way I’d get up when the band started, and I didn’t have any plans to stay after. Being out and getting to know Hannah was fun, but now with Aidan, my control over my omega was fading.

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