Page 18 of Want It All
Heathcote’s obvious bias troubled me, though probably not as much as it should have. Sebastian would be fine. He was the smartest person I’d ever met, and if Heathcote continued to target him … Well, I’d be doing more than just talking back in class.
‘I’m going to have to work my ass off,’ Sebastian muttered. ‘I bet his bias against betas and omegas comes through in his marking.’
‘SECU policy states that all work is blind marked.’
Sebastian threw me a wry look. ‘Yes, I’m sure he’ll let that stop him.’
Disquiet churned in my stomach. Perhaps I wasn’t taking it seriously enough. Sebastian already had the world working against him; he didn’t need a bigoted professor with a superiority complex making things worse. ‘We’ll watch him,’ I said, curling my arm around Sebastian’s waist and pressing a kiss to his temple.
And I would.
Like a fucking hawk.
Sebastian’s brow creased into a familiar frown. He stumbled on the bottom step of the main staircase, and I knew that his mind had gone elsewhere – to studying, specifically. I kept my arm around him as we descended, and it was only half for the pleasure of holding him close.
I knew from long experience what he needed: a pot of tea, some study snacks, and his classical music playlist. When we reached our apartment and he disappeared into the bedroom, I found his favourite tea and made him a pot. I’d ordered some biscuits and chocolate from a speciality shop further down the coast, so I put some on a plate, added some raspberries, then connected his phone to the Bluetooth speakers.
Sebastian reappeared as the sound of a gentle piano concerto filled the living room. His expression softened, and his perfect lips curved into a smile.
‘Oh, alpha,’ he breathed, and for a moment, I thought the afternoon might take a different turn. It wasn’t to be, however; he bussed a kiss to my cheek and flopped down on the couch, opening his laptop and shoving a biscuit in his mouth, whole.
‘I’m going for a walk.’
He glanced at me. ‘In the gardens? Or further?’
‘Just the gardens. I want to check out the maze.’
He nodded. It wasn’t surprising; I walked as much as I could. I knew I didn’t look outdoorsy, but walking was my meditation. If I didn’t have anything else to do, I’d walk for miles, letting thesounds around me and the steady rhythm of my own breathing lull me into a state of quiet content. It was a trait I shared with my mother; whenever I went home, she’d plan a ramble, just for us, and they were times I treasured.
After pressing a kiss to Sebastian’s hair, I headed downstairs. Later-year classes ran all day, and I overheard some workshops as I walked through the corridors and escaped into the gardens at the back of the manor.
The gardens were meticulously manicured, lying beyond a small green. They framed the maze and were bordered by flowering plants and, further away, towering trees, giving the manor a sense of seclusion. The garden was entirely planted with native species: even the green wasn’t grassed, but rather a lush covering of Australian violets. I’d never seen its like and I paused to admire it, snapping a few shots on my phone to show Sebastian and to send to my mother. They both loved gardening, though Sebastian’s interest was mainly in indoor and balcony plants; messy cottage gardens were more my mother’s thing. It was what had changed my parents’ minds about Sebastian. They’d thought I was too young tosettle down, until he’d given them a tour of our last apartment and Sebastian and my mother had struck up an hours-long conversation about indoor gardens.
Somehow – to my parents, at least – Sebastian’s care and dedication for his plants translated to care and dedication tome, and they came around to our relationship.
Sometimes, I wished my parents didn’t know mequiteso well.
Banksia’s maze was made of lemon myrtle; it was flowering, so the sweet scent of its blossoms hung in the air, mixed with the heady citrus smell of its leaves. It was so strong that I could barely scent anything else, which unnerved me. As an alpha, my sense of smell was second only to an omega’s, and we relied on scent to navigate the world around us. The heavy curtain of citrus in the air was as good as someone blindfolding me.
The maze stretched over my head, three metres or so upwards. I strode forward, my shoulders relaxing as the lush green enveloped me. I resolved to take some leaves back to Sebastian for tea. He enjoyed comfort, and that comfort often came in the form of something hot and drinkable.
The pathway forked. I chose the right-hand side; I wasn’t trying to get to the centre of the maze, just wandering around it. The path led to a small clearing with four more walkways branching from it, and a small water feature in the middle like a tiny roundabout. Stone benches sat to the left and right. I snapped another picture for Sebastian, then whirled around, frowning, when I thought I heard a footstep.
There was no one there.
I inhaled, but all I could smell was lemon myrtle.
Shaking my head, I chose one of the paths and strode deeper into the maze. A kookaburra call sounded from somewhere nearby. I’d only ever seen them in zoos or at bird sanctuaries, but I knew that they were territorial and their call could mean a stranger was close. What Ididn’tknow was ifIwas that stranger, or whether they were calling about someone else.
I followed the path, finding some dead ends along the way, most of them featuring some kind of statue. Banksia’s art collection was worth a fortune, and I was a little surprised to see so many pieces out here in the garden, where anyone could trip over them.
A shuffling noise came from my left.
I spun, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end as my alpha rose inside me, bristling just beneath my skin. The kookaburra called once more, mocking. My hands came up, ready to strike, and my teeth ached, preparing to push down, to bite, totear.
But I remained alone.
I lowered my hands, feeling like a fool, but my skin didn’t stop crawling. I shoved my hands into my pockets, scoffing at myself.It’s the maze, I told myself. It was the overpowering smell of citrus and the way the trees walled me in and cut off the sky.
