Page 33 of A Very Knotty Halloween
We say our goodbyes to Marnie, though I linger a little longer than the others. We stand in the hall, with her masked escort waiting a few feet away. Down the hall, I can see other escorts bringing alphas out of adjacent rooms—the walls must be soundproof, because I sure as hell didn’t hear anything from the other rooms last night.
Selfishly I hope her friend is fine, but I know even if she is fine, the two girls might want to ride together just to discuss everything that happened to them the night before. It’s not going to be easy riding in the car behind her, but I’ll make do. Alphas can’t be with their omegas twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, as much as they wish they could. There are jobs to think about. Hobbies. Friends. Family. Part of life is being apart from those you love.
Holy shit.
Love.
Did I love this girl? Did I love this omega, my scent match, already?
Would it be absolutely crazy if I did? I mean, that’s what scent matches are for. That’s what happens between alphas and omegas. Connections click into place at the snap of a finger, sometimes with just one shared look. It’s instinctual, it’s primal. What use is there denying it? You can say no all you want, but it doesn’t make something not true.
As someone great once said:just because you put syrup on something, don’t make it pancakes.So, yeah, I can try to dress it up all I like, but it won’t change facts.
I fell for this girl immediately. Possibly years ago, at the wedding, when we were just kids coming into our own. There’s no point in saying no, but as much as I want to tell her, I don’t want to scare her in case she hasn’t come to terms with everything yet.
Soon, I’ll tell her. Maybe in a more romantic place than this.
“We’ll find your car,” I tell her, and then I give her one last kiss before I trail after the guys. Leaving her is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, although staying away from her these past few years might just beat it.
No more. We’re a pack now. Marnie is our omega. It might not be easy, coming out to our parents, but we’ll get through it. We’ll get through it and come out of it with a beautiful omega at our side and a pack that’s stronger than ever. The future is so bright it’s blinding, and I can’t wait.
Chapter Sixteen – Marnie
My mind is racing as I follow the masked alpha back to the omega dressing room. I’m not the first omega there. The room is abuzz with gossiping, giggling omegas, their scents now twinged with the scents of alphas—and, I’m absolutely shocked to see that at least one omega has fresh bite marks on her neck. A night of fun turned into a bond for life.
I mean, I’m not really shocked. How can I be? I was probablythis closeto leaving that room with bites of my own.
Cas. Damien. Jack. Even now, thinking about them, I get all hot and bothered. There is no denying the bond between us, even without official mate marks on my neck. I’m a part of their pack now. My whole life is about to change.
Sabrina said last night was just for fun. I knew there was no possible way you could throw eligible omegas and alphas together and not expect them to get together—and it sounds like this Mr. Holiday guy actually played matchmaker. Like, he didn’t let everyone who signed up for the hunt come. That was news to me. I knew he vetted us, and obviously he wouldn’t let anyone who would be a danger to anyone else come, but still.
I see both my phone and Sabrina’s phone sitting at our shared station, but no Sabrina yet. I sit down in the chair and stare at myself in the well-lit mirror, figuring she’s only moments behind. If I had a more fun night than my best friend, I’ll be shocked, honestly. Considering I didn’t even want to come to this place to begin with and she was all for it, if anyone should’ve had a wild night of attachment-free sex, it was her.
Leave it to me to come and end up in a pack.
Now, if my best friend comes back and tells me she found herself a pack… then that’s going to be the shock of the night. Or,um, of the morning? I check my phone and see the time, and to my utter surprise it’s not as early as it feels. It’s just after ten.
Dang. I guess when you stay up all night doing wild things with wild boys, time gets a little skewed.
As I sit there, waiting for Sabrina, I try to imagine how it’s going to go—not only my conversation with her, but the one Cas and I will have with our parents. The moment we bring up the fact that we’re scent matches, they’ll understand. How could they not? Sabrina, on the other hand, is going to lose her mind when I tell her.
I look around. Where the heck is she?
Omegas actually start leaving before I spot my friend approaching our station. She has an unhappy look on her face, and she barely looks at me when she grabs her phone and her bag, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
“Bad night?” I ask.
“Come on,” she says. “Let’s get out of here.” She is uncharacteristically quiet as we leave the dressing room, following the same path we took when we first arrived. Man, that feels like ages ago, another lifetime.
We make it to her car, and I see that my guys have already found us; they’re in an idling SUV a few cars down. When they see me, they perk up. Jack waves. It’s only after Sabrina tosses her bag into the back of her car that I wave back. I haven’t even told her about them yet, though she can surely smell them on me.
Wait.
It hits me as I get into the passenger seat, as she sits in the driver’s seat and starts the car. Being in an enclosed space with her, it should be obvious, but it’s not. All I smell is me and the alphas whose scents rubbed off on me last night. When it comes to Sabrina… there’s nothing extra there. She’s just her.
“Sabrina,” I say her name slowly as she backs us out of the parking spot. “What’s going on?”
She sighs, and it’s a loaded sigh that sounds like she’s stopping herself from saying so much. As we drive away, she fixes the rearview mirror, staring at the compound as we drive down the dirt road away from it. “Let’s just say I had a… crazy night.”
