Page 10 of Pack Rivals, Part One

Maybe it's those deeply mesmerizing eyes of his, or the way his voice had my knees buckling yet again. Or maybe it was something in his scent I couldn't read this time. Something complex.

In the kitchen, I drop the empty wine bottle with the others and go to fetch another.

I'm hot, sweat pooling at the base of my spine. I waft my hand in front of my face.

There is no need to feel flustered like this.

So what, some dude here tonight saw me at the gas station yesterday? It wasn't like I was in my underwear or stripping for money. I was filling up my car. Now I'm here serving him his dinner. No big deal.

Ellie taps me on the shoulder. "The scents finally getting to you too?"

"What?"

"You aren't looking so good." She leans closer. "Or did that pack say something inappropriate to you? You know what their reputation's like."

"No, I don't."

She raises her eyebrow and opens her mouth about to spill the tea, but Alicia spies us and points to more wine bottles.

I grab one and stroll out towards the next dinner table. I keep my eyes fixed ahead and refuse to look over to the man. I don't want him to catch me looking. Although I have the strangest feeling he's looking at me. My skin creeps with awareness, hot with his attention.

As I pass around the table, it's as if someone has whipped off my invisibility cloak. The men and women turn their heads to look at me. Noses twitch. People whisper. My cheeks glow with embarrassment, and, when the bottle's empty, I head straight for the staff toilets to check I don't have lipstick on my teeth, or my skirt tucked inside my panties.

I look fine, hot and flustered, but fine.

I run the cold tap and let the water flow over my wrists, hoping to cool my blood. Then I dry my hands on a napkin and step back out, walking back to the kitchen for my next task.

I find the waiting staff huddling in a corner as a woman in a velvet ballgown talks tersely with Alicia.

"What's going on?" I whisper to Ellie, as the woman in velvet jabs an unhappy finger at Alicia's face.

"That's Mrs. Skipton. The owner of the foundation. She came marching in here, shouting about some unmated omega who isn't on blockers. Then started accusing Alicia of trying to sabotage her event."

"What the hell?" I gasp.

"Exactly!" Ellie says, sneezing into her sleeve.

"No unmated omega would be stupid enough to be walking around without blockers. Their unmuted scent would send all those alphas out there into a frenzy." I nod along, although I don't know what she's talking about. "Even if it was some ploy to snag one of those rich, hot dudes out there, it would be suicidal."

"It would?" I peer at the door. I know so little about omegas and alphas. But those big burly men out there did look a hell of a lot scary. Apart from the one with gray eyes. No, he was …

Alicia comes striding across the kitchen, her arms folded across her chest and the woman in velvet by her side.

"Mrs. Skipton is convinced there is an unmated and unblockered omega in our midst. Does anyone have anything to say?"

Everyone peers at each other suspiciously. A few pairs of eyes land on me.

Alicia turns back to the woman. "I think I would be–"

"It's her!" the woman looks straight at my face and points a finger like a dagger directly at my heart.

"Me?" I squeal for the second time this evening. "I'm not an omega!"

The woman beckons me closer and goddamn it my feet carry me towards her without my permission. The other waiting staff step aside, parting like the red sea, as if I'm a leper and it's catching.

The woman leans towards me and sniffs. Her lips curl in disgust and her pale blue eyes flash with anger. Up close, I can see how beautiful she is, although the Botox and fillers have taken a toll on her face. Her own scent is minty and pissed off.

"This is she!"

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