Page 9 of The Twelve Knots of Christmas
Mariska’s rosy cheeks paled before giving the other girls an apologetic look. “Sorry, but I have to work all week. Don’t let me ruin any fun you two want to have though.”
I wanted to be relieved, but I wasn’t feeling it. Damn this, she was just a pretty Omega. And to assure myself of this, I breathed in deeply. It was hard to tell scents in this crowd. Betas rarely had any, and I didn’t smell anything from Emberlee, as she was the nearest to me, except a slight feminine scent that usually always accompanied Omegas. Lyla had a citrusy perfume, but it was too sweet.
A pair of kids ran by hooting with laughter and kicked up a breeze in their wake. That’s when it hit me.
Balthazar and Lucian both tensed beside me.
Creamy vanilla, light and feminine, and a hint of something more. Something with more spice. I drank in Mariska’s scent further. Fuck, that was cinnamon. I wanted to eat her up.
My cock twitched, pushing at my pants. Never had an Omega’s scent captured me like this. Even in a crowded lot with a million aromas whirling in the air, she was all I could smell. One look at my packmates and I could see they were affected the same way.
A scent match. Not just for me, but it seemed for all of us.
Here was that less than one percent chance.
“Aw, it won’t be the same without you.” Lyla gave Mariska a one-armed hug. “Our Mari is leaving us right after Christmas. She’s got a big important job waiting for her in California.”
It was said with pride and happiness for her friend, but the statement punched me in the gut. The Omega who could be right for our pack would be gone at the end of the month. No way was Mariska looking for a pack then, and it was pointless for us to waste our time here any longer.
“Congratulations to you, Mariska, but you ladies will have to excuse me. I have work I need to get back to. Happy holidays.” I gave them a tight smile and a nod before turning on my heel and marching back toward the house, letting their polite goodbyes fade behind me. The Alpha in me snarled and raged, wanting me to go back for Mariska, but he could fuck right off.
Lucian caught up to me a minute later. His pale eyes shone bright with yearning. “I think she might be the one.”
“She’s a match for you?” My throat was tight as I asked.
“Yeah. Holy shit, yeah.” He gave me a hopeful look. “You too?”
If I said I smelled nothing, we could be done with the idea of Mariska as our Omega, but I’d never lied to my pack. With an unhappy huff, I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Bal is totally taken with her, so I’m going to say he’s compatible with her too. He was right. Fucking hell, he was right.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. Anger made my voice sharper than intended. “He was wrong. You heard the blonde. Mariska is going to be in California at the end of the month. How’s that going to work for us?” I shook my head. I wasn’t so mad at Balthazar as I was at myself for the one little moment of wanting her. Fuck. “It’s best if we just forget about her and get through the season.”
“I don’t think I can.” Lucian sighed and glanced back. “Bal is still with the girls. He won’t let her go.”
“He’s not going to have a choice.” We rounded a bend and walked out of sight of the Christmas rush. I patted Lucian’s shoulder. Of the three of us, Lucian had the least experience with women. He spent more time with trees than he did with people. Every time Balthazar thought he found an Omega for our pack, Lucian gave her a chance, but none ever seemed to connect to him. “Bal isn’t going to give up trying to find an Omega. Mariska will be gone, but he’ll bring us another one in the new year.”
“I suggested to him the other week that maybe we try a matchmaker.” Lucian kicked at a block of ice and sent it skidding off the drive. “He said he wasn’t that desperate yet.”
It was a sound idea. I wasn’t so eager to have an Omega in our lives, but my packmates wanted a mate. I wouldn’t deny them that. “That could work for us. I’ll stand with you to help you convince him in the new year. It could save us a lot of trouble. A matchmaker would be able to help us find an Omega who wants to live our outdoors lifestyle and will be willing to have the twenty babies that Bal wants.”
Lucian laughed. “He doesn’t want that many.”
“He wants half that many, and fuck, that’s still a lot.” I joked, but Balthazar would make a fantastic father. His giant heart got him into a lot of trouble, and Lucian was a sensitive soul too. I had to be the realistic one. So what if I got called a bastard by half the Omegas we met. I wasn’t going to let any of my packmates get hurt.
It didn’t matter that Mariska had stirred up the Alpha in me like no other Omega ever had. She was leaving the state, and that left no room on her agenda for a new pack. I didn’t hate her for it. Let her have a good life on the west coast. In the end, it didn’t matter if I still felt the urge to run back to the lot and snatch her up to claim as ours. She wasn’t for us.
End of story.
CHAPTER FIVE – Mariska
Every night I dreamed about those three hunky Alphas, and every morning I woke hornier than hell. Lingering erotic images from those dreams haunted me all day and distracted me from my work. Balthazar bending me over his snow machine, pounding me from behind. Lucian kissing slowly up my neck as we’re cuddled in front of a crackling fire. Even Jasper picking me up and pressing me against a wall as he ravages me.
How the hell did they get under my skin so quickly?
Okay, sure, each of them was a scent match. Yet I hadn’t touched any of them nor had any contact with them after we left the farm. Plus, I had smelled other good Alpha scents before. Jack’s had been like fresh summer grass and sweet tea, but it never bulled me over like the scents from the Silver Tree Farm Alphas.
As much as I tried to convince myself otherwise, any time I smelled something this past week, I would compare it to one of their scents. The fire Miss Eloise stoked in her cozy living room as we drank hot cocoa and decorated the tree brought images of Balthazar to rule my head. Crafting some pomander balls—cloves stuck into oranges—with the girls had Jasper and his intense azure gaze making me shiver. Then eating candy canes as we decorated the cedar bushes out front of Primrose House had Lucian’s gorgeous face and charming smile warm me even as the temperatures dropped.
