Page 11 of Gold Rush
“What’s going on?”
“I met her.” I shove my phone into my pocket. “Last night — but not just then. She was in the elevator with Bennett and I.” I look up at them as Theo freezes with his cup of coffee nearly to his mouth. The set of his shoulders are tight as my eyes flicker to Bennett, pleading, but my decision is already made.
I think I made it last night before the other woman dragged her out of the coffee shop.
“Last night she ran into me, that’s who you both smelled.”
“What —” Bennett looks back to the TV, then at me again. “What are you about to do?”
I step back, shoving my feet into my shoes, shaking my head.
“Seth.” Theo’s bark is harsh. “Where are you —”
“I have to go.” I look at Bennett, praying he understands the tangle of emotions through the bond, the feeling that if I don’t leaveright now, I’ll be making a huge mistake.
I’ve always been an impulsive person, but it’s always paid off. I’m hoping now is no different.
CHAPTER FIVE
JUNE
They’ll haveto air out the meeting room behind me because one of the alphas smelled like motor oil and wet cigarettes. I didn’t know that a large portion of being an omega was just praying that anyone who gets near me doesn’t fuckingreek.
The man next to me falls into step as I head toward the bathrooms. After last night’s cafe debacle, I told Laura to go back to her flat and get some rest. At leastoneperson dealing with all this should have a shower and a bed.
Meanwhile, I spent the morning taking a sink bath, trying to make myself presentable for the alphas who were in town and agreed to meet with me.
It’s been nothing short of a disaster.
The first alphas I met were two men, friends who stuck together and formed a small pack. While each of them were nice, one smelled like spring onions, and the other freshly cut grass. It wasn’t really myfavoritein the files that I combed through yesterday, but I wanted to at least try. When I stepped into the room, both of the alphas had visibly deflated at seeing me, and even though they were polite, I could tell there was no attraction from any of us.
I cut the meeting short and let them go on their way. As much as I can’t stand the thought of multiple meetings, I can’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the alphas who keep walking in hoping to meet their soulmate, someone they want to bond immediately, and instead they get… me.
Splashing water on my face, I stare at myself in the tiny bathroom mirror, chewing on my red and raw lip. I tried to smooth back my hair, but it makes it look even worse. The unwashed state is bordering on fully unkempt, and I tried to put my blouse and trousers back on this morning, only for the trousers not to button from being bloated.
I feel like shit, and I look like it too.
I can’t even force a smile as I wipe my hands off, adjusting the only sweater I have, the one I wore on the flight over and in the elevator. Wearing it, once again, over leggings, just makes me look sloppy.No one is going to want you.
My heart lurches as I step back out, the beta representative waiting for me as he grimaces and nods toward another room. “This one next, Miss Walden.”
Someone from the American embassy contacted me this morning, but legally, I’m barred from travel until the heat passes. They gently encouraged me to find an alpha, or pack, that will take me in. I don’t really relish the thought of staying with strangers while I’m out of my mind, begging for sex, because the pamphlets Denise left for me made it sound like I won’t even be lucid, just horny.
Not terrifying at all.
The embassy representative at least clarified that the London center is on the hook for helping facilitatesomethingfor me. Even if all the alphas keep wrinkling their noses when I enter the rooms. Denise told me this morning to becalmbecause stress makes omega perfumes smelloffapparently.
I feel so hopelessly alone in all of this.
As I cross the walkway open to the main lobby, I hear arguing. A man leans over the reception desk, long hair pulled back into a bun as he plants his hands on the surface.
The receptionist stares. “Sir, you are abeta, you cannot submit a pack into our files without an alpha’s approval. That’s not how any of this works.”
“I know but my alpha is on the way, okay? My partner will sign, I just need to see her.”
The sound of the man’s voice makes me stop, clutching the glass railing as I stare.
“Juniper.”
