Page 6 of Shades of Scars

As soon as she’s out of his arms, the omega flails while I drag her backwards behind my desk, making sure that there’s at least one giant obstacle between the nearly feral alpha and her. Hopefully it’s enough to slow him the fuck down. It takes every ounce of my will power to release her the second we’re a safe enough distance away from the pair still grappling on the ground.

She immediately retreats into a corner between my personal bar and a bookcase, just as Caito lets out a vicious, spine tingling snarl. I’m pack lead, and even my spine snaps ramrod straight at that sound. I can see just enough from my spot behind my desk to watch him get the upper hand on the poor bouncer, and I vaguely hear the omega suck in a sharp gasp. I’m helpless, watching as my pack brother rears back, before slamming his fist into Gus’s face.

“Caito! That’s enough!” My alpha bark snaps through the room with enough force to make everyone stiffen up, feral alpha included. Every wild, alpha instinct I have goes rigid when the omega at my back releases a pitifully low whine in response tomy command, but I can’t take my eyes off of Caito to check on her. The alpha in me is howling and clawing at me to go to her and comfort her, but we can’t have two alphas out of their minds in this room.

She’ll never survive it.

Caito slowly lifts himself off of Gus, but he doesn’t offer the other man a hand up. He turns that predatory glare on me, malice glinting there. Then his dark green eyes flash towards the cowering omega in the corner that smells like all of our dreams come true. The sound that rumbles out of his chest ispure alpha.

He takes a slow, deliberate step forward like he’s going to go for her again. “Mine.” His chest continues that dangerous rumble, and I step to the side, effectively blocking his view for the moment to capture his attention again.

“Rein it in, brother. You’re scaring her. This isn’t the way.” I hold up both of my hands in a placating gesture, ignoring the soft sounds of panting behind me, and the overwhelming scent of distressed omega. My omega.Ours.

Caito tilts his head back, nostrils flaring, and he growls again, taking another step forward. I glance over my shoulder at our omega, but her eyes are laser focused on Caito, not me. He’s clearly the bigger threat to her. So many questions swirl through my mind, but there’s only one that takes precedence over the others. “Why lie about being a beta?”

She flicks her gaze to me, studying me for a moment before she lifts her chin. Some of her terror has ebbed, but the panic is still ever present in her dark hazel eyes. It’s heavy in the air all around us, suffocating me and making me feelextrastabby. “Is that really the question you want the answer to?” She challenges, andfuck me, it makes my cock twitch in my pants. This omega is already showing a back bone. It makes me want to test all her limits just to see how far I can push her before she snaps.

Thinking about her feral with defiant rage makes it hard not to reach down and adjust myself.

“Your suppressants clearly didn’t work.” I point out, and Caito starts rumbling. It takes me a second to realize that he’s purring.

Alphas only purr for their scent matched omegas.

Fuck me.

There’s a glint in her eyes while she continues to stare at me. “They work every other time.”

I scoff. “A smart omega would know that they wouldn’t be effective when faced with a scent match.”

Those dark, beautiful eyes narrow. “Is that what you think this is?”

I can’t help myself. I smirk, and I fucking love the way it makes her lips tighten in anger. “Do yourself a favor and stop lying to yourself. Denying the truth will only make a fool of you.”

Her lips thin even further like she’s trying to stop herself from baring her teeth. I crave her fire. I want it more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my entire life.

And that’s a serious fucking problem.

“We’re not scent matched.” Caito unleashes a low growl at that, both of us recognizing every word as the bullshit it is.

Then I see it. Her chin wobbles and her eyes glisten in the highlights of my office. Her panic is real. Even though she’s faced with her scent matches—everynormalomega’s dream come true—she wants to deny this.

It’s absolutely perplexing.

And incredibly infuriating.

I’m lost for words. I don’t know what to do in this situation. I’d always believed when I found my omega, it would be something magical. An instant connection between us that could never be broken. I’d always believed that everything would just fall into place.

This is not at all how it’s supposed to be.

“The job is yours if you want it.” It’s the only thing I can think of to say. She blinks at me, surprise shuddering her expression, and I force myself not to smile. This infallible omega can be ruffled. “Take time to think about it. If I don’t hear anything by the end of the month, I’ll take a hint.” The lie makes bile rise up and flood the back of my throat, but I need to tell her what she needs to hear right now. If I voice my true feelings, like I’m sure Caito wants to, I’ll spook her off.

She might even run once she leaves here.

Fucking hell. I’m going to have to task Caito to stalk our damn omega to make sure she doesn’t bolt the city.

How could life become so complicated in such a short amount of time?

Goddammit. I can already feel a migraine settling in my temples when I think about how I’m going to have to go back to the pack house, smelling like our scent matched omega, without her.

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