Page 24 of Coveted

It had only been fifteen minutes since Suri brought her into the room, but faint panic fluttered in her veins. She couldn’t help feeling the pressure to hurry, as if she’d be punished for keeping others waiting, so she left everything where it was and rushed to set the code on the tablet so she could let herself in later.

Suri sat on one of the couches when Alana opened the door, another woman sitting across from her giving Alana a glance as Suri turned to her. Hesitating, Alana watched as Suri said a few more words to the woman before rising and walking over to where Alana stood beside the wall.

“Ready?”

Curiosity swirled inside her, but Alana pushed it aside and nodded. The other woman watched them but made no move to rise or speak, her expression one of quiet dejection.

Alana followed Suri to the lift once again, noticing the other woman had disappeared when she turned around to face the doors.

“Is she okay?” Alana asked quietly.

It wasn’t her place to ask about who she could only assume was another omega, but she felt bad for pulling Suri away if the other woman needed her.

Suri’s sigh was almost too soft to catch as her perpetual smile slipped.

“She’s… adjusting. Many of the women who come here are not happy about it, and she’s had it a little harder than most. I tend to be just as much of a councilor as any other role I fill.”

Suri’s words stirred more questions, but Alana kept them inside as the lift rose before rocking to a gentle stop. When thedoors opened, she was hit with scents she only then realized had been missing on the other floor.

Musk.

Male.

Alpha.

Her belly clenched, entire body going on alert.

It wasn’t that she’d never been around alphas, she’d danced with plenty at the ball only a short time ago, but the air in the ballroom had been pumped with a neutralizer that muted the scents. All of the servants her father employed were betas, so it was rare for her to get the full effect of alpha pheromones.

Heart fluttering as she sipped the air, trying not to breath in too much of the smells, she walked behind Suri down another hallway. It was drab, with thin carpeting and walls painted off-white. She would have called it sterile if not for the lingering traces of others who’d passed through the space.

Suri stopped in front of a nondescript door, one of many along the length of the hall, and turned to face Alana.

“You ready?”

The already frantic pace of her heart doubled, and she clenched her fists to stop the trembling.

This was it.

This was her moment to step in there and show her future mate that she wasn’t going to be walked all over.

That she had a mind of her own, even if she was only an omega.

Swallowing around the lump in her throat, Alana rolled her shoulders and smoothed her features into a semblance of calm. Clasping her hands in front of her, she nodded to Suri and waited as the other woman opened the door.

“Chancellor Vax, may I present Alana?”

Suri moved to the side as Alana stepped through the doorway.

There was a simple rectangular table taking up the center of the bland room, with two chairs on each side of it. Vax sat across from the door, a tablet on the table in front of him that he ignored as he stood.

All alphas were big, especially compared to omegas, but the pictures Suri had sent hadn’t done him any justice. Even from across the table he filled the space with a presence Alana could feel down to her bones.

He was only slightly taller than her father, but he was broader, muscles bulging under the shirt stretched tight across his chest. His skin held a richness that reminded her of the dark chocolate she’d tried once, and the scent that wafted to her as he moved around the table only reinforced the connection to the decadent treat.

Dragging her gaze up to his face, she studied his strong jaw and slightly blocky features. He wasn’t a male that women would drool over for his looks, but the power and pure masculinity there had her belly cramping as she squeezed her thighs tighter together.

The closer he came the more she trembled, his scent increasing, subtle notes of cinnamon and something that reminded her of a fire breaking through the dominant cocoa. When he finally stopped in front of her, she almost leaned forward to lick his bare chin to see if he tasted as good as he smelled, but her eyes finally met his, the solid blackness freezing her in place.

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