“Well, believe it. Bella’s sister has a super reliable source.”
The other voice is more confident but could belong to one of several girls who sound kind of alike.
It doesn’t really matter who they are, I guess. They didn’t seem to notice my perfume and that’s all that matters.
I roll my eyes when I replay the nonsense gossip they were spouting in my head.
Frank Palmer? Yeah, right. A serial killer who seems to have a thing for Beta women suddenly deciding to hit up an Omega academy? That’s insane.
As for Bella’s sister’s reliable source, everyone knows that Beta is dating a cop. What they don’t know is her boyfriend isn’t always honest with her. She’s a reporter and she has incredibly loose lips. No one would ever give that woman the whole truth.
I doubt she’d even welcome it.
Fiction’s usually far more interesting.
I lock the door and turn on the main suite lights.
The warm illumination makes everything feel more relaxed, and I don’t know if that’s good thing.
I need to know what triggers my perfume so I can avoid letting it come out in public.
Putting my heels away in the walk-in, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror behind the shoe rack.
My skin is flushed, and my eyes are dark. I look like a woman possessed.
I suppose I am. That’s kind of what a heat is like. A possession.
My perfume will come and go until I accept a mate or mates, whether those mates are temporary or permanent. I’ll be stuck trying to control it until that happens.
It’s still lingering on the air around me while I try to push away thoughts of the EMT who invited me to call on him anytime. Slick drenches my thighs when I take off my dress, the tease of the material brushing over my nipples. Pressing my thighs together, I moan at the soft throbbing pulse of my clit.
My first heat is long overdue. This isn’t it, but it could be a false heat.
Either way, giving in to the desire to pleasure myself would only encourage my perfume to stick around and deepen. I don’t want to risk that. I don’t want anyone knowing about it. I might become more desirable to the asshole Alphas if I come in cherry flavor.
Sighing, I move toward my bedroom’s adjoining bathroom.
A bath won’t be as pleasurable, but I know the warmth of the water will relax my muscles and hopefully also wash away any trails of perfume that still exist on my body.
For a second, my thoughts go to the knotting sex aid that’s under the sink.
It’s been there since I got here, unused in its box.
I shouldn’t think about using it. Besides, if this is a false heat, it won’t work.
I let the bath water run while I take off my soaked-through panties and wash them in the sink.
I seriously need to be on my guard.
The minute Geraldine knows I’ve perfumed, she’ll put me in a room with an Alpha my father deems as acceptable, and any hope I have of escaping Goldcrest without a mate will be crushed flat.
I can’t risk letting her find out.
I should have run when I had the chance.
FROST
Twelve-hour shifts can be grueling at the best of times, and the night only got more chaotic after the cherry-scented Omega gave me that hurt look.God, she was beautiful. Sexy as hell, and definitely more trouble than any woman is worth.