Page 46 of Where There's Smoke
Scrambling around my little nest, I pulled out the T-shirts, shoving my face into them and inhaling deeply.
There were scents there, but they were faint. Minty. Warm. Rich.
I needed to smell them properly, from the source, especially since the scents on the shirts were somewhat muted by my own scent that was somewhat familiar, but also far more potent, which naturally covered everything in the nest.
Climbing out of the nest and righting myself, I glanced back at my pillows almost longingly. They smelled so good.
If I was right, though, the scents would be even better from the source.
The firehouse was quiet as I padded through the building, heading toward the firefighters’ rooms when I couldn’t locate them in any of the common areas.
Was I being a total weirdo, barging into their room? Probably, but rational thought seemed to have escaped me as I continued my journey to find them.
The door to Pack Wilder’s bunk room was open. That was basically an open invitation, I rationalized as I slowly inched my way forward.
Only one of them was there.
Samson was still dozing, so I hovered at the edge of the bunk, keeping my distance but still trying to sniff him. There was something fresh and sharp about his scent.
The room’s scent was overwhelming and hard to pinpoint; it was like my nest but so much more intense. Nutty, minty, and dark.
All smells I was a big fan of.
What was I doing? I was acting like a crazy person. Creeping on Samson while he slept was stalkerish, and he could end up hating me for it. Only, there was a large, very loud part of me that was refusing to move.
I turned to leave, planning to scamper out of there as quickly as possible, but before I could, his eyes opened.
“Melody?” he asked sleepily.
“Hi…” I whispered, trying to figure out what to say and landing on, “I think I need to smell you.”
His eyes widened, and for a brief moment, he looked like he was either deep in thought or still trying to wake up. It wasprobably less than three seconds, but that was all it took for my anxiety to skyrocket.
When he opened his arms, a dopey smile spreading across his face, a small squeak of happiness escaped me. Without any further preamble, I crawled onto the bed, cuddling into his chest and wrapping my arms around him. Excited noises left me as soon as he did the same. Pressing my nose against his chest, I reveled in the deep, rich scent.
“Holy shit, you smell good,” I muttered, unable to stop myself from shoving my face deeper into his chest.
“You can fully smell again?” he asked, his voice tinged with sleep.
I shook my head. “This is different than before the fire. Everything smells so much stronger. Is this what it's like to be an omega? Because you smell good enough to eat,” I muttered, pausing occasionally to take a deep breath.
“I’m not sure if it’s like this for all omegas. You may have to pester Sunny on that one. She’s the resident omega expert. But it’s good you can smell—you should go smell the others.”
“I think I could smell them on some of the clothing in my nest, but…” I trailed off.
“You need to sniff it from the source?” he asked, looking down at me with a sleepy smile.
My cheeks heated as I nodded, unable to believe what I was admitting to.
Samson reassuringly ran his hand over my back as I melted into his embrace. “Don't you worry, we will go see the others once you've had your fill of me.”
“Won't they think I'm crazy?” I asked, my voice wobbling.
“Not at all. They will just think you're behaving like an omega.”
I chuckled into his chest. “I mean, that's probably going to be weird, considering I've been so adamant that I'm not an omega.”
The chest under me moved as he laughed. “You're not wrong there.”
