Page 4 of Lilacs and Leather

Her eyes widen at my motion, and burnt-sugar scented fear slices through the air, making the hair on the back of my neck rise. My fists clench and I feel the growl in my chest. I need to go to her, wrap her scent around me until I can’t tell up from down.Protect. Protect. Protect. Claim. Mine. Omega.

My thoughts slam to a halt at that last. What am I doing? She’s a stranger, and I practically went feral at just one wisp of her scent. I force my body to relax, trying to pull my thoughts back. I take another step, and she stiffens. Before I can react, she’s bolting down the hallway toward the ballroom. I hesitate. What is wrong with me? I’m not that alpha, chasing down any omega that crosses my path, not even ones that smell as wonderful as that little flower. Could I approach her without looking like a creep?Hi, I smelled you from across the room, and I can’t let you get away without knowing your name.No, that’s somehow worse than just staring. But I had to know her, just to put a name to her face.

A hand on my shoulder yanks me from my thoughts.

“Told you I was—”

The growl is out of my throat before I can catch it, instinct taking over. I whip around to face the owner, the scent of lemonade and freshly cut grass hitting me a second later.

“What the fuck, Rhett?” Mateo snaps, pulling his hand back.

I look back toward where the omega had been, but she was gone, and I had no clue where to look for her. My shoulders slump, and I take a deep breath. Only a trace of that garden scent remains, but it’s tainted by something plastic-y, almost like Play-Doh. I wrinkle my nose and shake my head, turning back to Mateo. His arms are crossed over his chest, a glare leveled at me. His nostrils flare, and then his body goes slack. He smells her, too. He swings his head around, trying to find her.

“Holy shit, who is that?” he mutters under his breath.

I look back toward the ballroom, but the omega hasn’t come out.

“She’s gone.” I sigh, unable to keep the disappointment from my tone.

“Damn. Would’ve liked to see the face to match that scent,” Mateo says wistfully.

I swallow another growl, guilt creeping in. Five seconds and one glance from that omega has me acting like a possessive ass. And, based on that fear I caught, I’d do well to curb those urges if I ever see her again. And I want to. Ineedto.

Mateo looks me over, smirking. “Thought Lucas would have worn you out enough last night,” he says.

I look down and realize I’m still hard. Like a fucking teenager. I adjust myself as subtly as I can, Mateo outright laughing in my face.

“What about Lucas last night?” a familiar voice calls from behind me.

My beta is exiting the bank of elevators nearby, his long legs eating up the distance as he trots toward us. He shakes his dark, still damp bangs from his cool gray eyes, smirking at me.

“Just saying that you didn’t quite get the job done if Rhett can get it up over a stranger,” Mateo calls, turning and walking toward the doors.

“Prick,” I shoot back.

“You didn’t seem unsatisfied when you left earlier,” Lucas says lowly, his tone heating at the unspoken challenge.

“He’s just bitter because he didn’t get to see the omega,” I say, trying to keep my voice level. Even when every protective instinct in me wants to rip into Mateo for insulting my beta.

We push through the door of Wickland House and find Mateo’s SUV parked haphazardly on the curb in the valet lane. I open the front passenger door as Lucas gets in the back. Mateo takes off toward the main road, pulling smoothly into the flow of traffic.

“There was an omega? I didn’t scent anything on my way in,” Lucas asks casually.

“She was gone by the time I got there, Luc. Only Rhett got to see her, and he isn’t sharing with the class,” Mateo says, ending in a sing-song voice.

I shrug. “Not much to tell.” I don’t know why I’m not telling them, but I can’t find the words to describe her. And I’m finding I don’t want to, at least not yet.

“Bull. Shit. Her scent made even my cock sit up and take notice,” Mateo scoffs.

“Your cock will get hard for anything with a pulse, Mat. It’s not exactly a hard bar to clear,” Lucas replies coolly.

I snort as Mateo growls, but he doesn’t deny it. Mateo has always been a flirt, not distinguishing between genders. “Love is love, and I’m not in the business of denying myself based on social constructs,” he’s fond of saying. His natural charisma, alpha status, and trusting heart bring all manner of trouble to his door, but it’s his life. I just buy the ice cream when he comes crawling back to the pack, broken pieces of his heart in his hands.

“Not the point, Luc,” Mateo throws over his shoulder.

Mateo signals and turns into the driveway of Bright Hills Estate, parking under the carport alongside Lex’s silver sedan. We’re meeting to discuss the next round of expansions to the property, which include cabins for guests and a potential microbrewery. We pile out and enter through the kitchen door, throwing a quick greeting to Jeanie, one of the cooks on staff here. She smiles and continues to wash the dishes.

“Miss Alexandra is in the sitting room,” she calls to us as we pass through.

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