Page 63 of Where There's Smoke
Placing my drink on the small coffee table, I nodded. “You were. So, why’d you do it?”
He swallowed, chewing on his lip for a moment. His scent darkened, and my nose scrunched involuntarily as it hit me. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his brow pinching together as he regarded me.
“Your scent… it changed.”
“Ah…” He swallowed, bobbing his head in a slight nod. “So, okay, I'm sure you noticed our scents get a bit stronger when we’re turned on, yeah?”
My face heated as I nodded, thinking back to the heat. “I amveryaware that.”
“Well, sometimes when an alpha or omega is in distress, or they’re unhappy with something, their scent can take on a bit of a darker tone. With omegas, it's usually a bit of a charred or burned smell, like burned sugar. For alphas, it's not quite as sweet, but usually their scent just gets a bit less pleasant.”
I stared at him for a moment. Did that mean he was stressed? Angry?
“Yours just changed and went a little bit… sour? I think. If that makes any sense.”
Elliot nodded. “Stress. Maybe a little bit of nerves.”
“I’m stressing you out?”
“N-no, not at all! I just know we need to talk, and I don’t want to fuck it up and say the wrong thing. I’m not good at this shit. Never have been.”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “Okay. That’s understandable… Does my scent change?”
“Very much so. It gets a little sweeter anytime you look at Samson and Fitz, and you smell like slightly scorched fruit when you’re stressed about something.”
“How often do I smell like that? Like the burned fruit?”
“It’s only happened a handful of times, and it's usually when you're worried about the animals from the rescue.”
“That tracks.” I wasn't used to people being able to smell me so easily. Everyone had a scent, but before I’d presented, mine had been far more muted, not a neon sign that shouted my moods.
“I owe an explanation for why I was so grumpy about the arson investigation. I just…I love my pack mates dearly, but they don't always think with the right head, if you know what I mean. Not that I'm calling them manwhores or anything!”
Elliot shot me a worried look, and I smiled, shaking my head.
“I didn't think you were,” I assured him.
“From the day our pack formed, I was the leader. It's my job to ensure their safety. Sure, they’re both grown-ass adults, but I still feel a sense of responsibility for them. When you came to the firehouse, it was clear they had really strong feelings for you.”
My stomach twisted. “And that was a bad thing?”
He shook his head. “No. Not at all, but there was and is still the question of what happened to your shelter.”
“And you worried that your pack mates were getting attached to someone who was secretly an arsonist, when they’re firefighters, which would obviously end badly.”
Elliot nodded, his lips rolled between his teeth.
“Okay. I get that, but why did you have to be such a dick about it?”
“Ha.” Elliot laughed sarcastically. “Honestly? I was mad at myself.”
I frowned at the alpha, trying to figure out what he meant. “You're going to have to explain that one.”
Elliot chuckled ruefully. “I was mad about it because Ialsoliked you a lot from the get-go. In the early days of your being at the station, I found myself completely disregarding the possibility that you could have set that fire. After all, it's hard to believe you would ever put animals in danger.”
“I mean, you're not wrong there.”
“But it is mydutyto protect my pack, and that means checking every possibility. I've never had an experience where my inner alpha and my logical brain were at odds. My alpha was immediately possessive and caring of you, but my logical brain knew I needed to hunt down the truth about what happened. It was like fighting a war with myself.”
