Corbus doesn’t even glance back at her. “Thank you, but I’d prefer to hear it from her directly.” He turns as we exit the door, looking down at me with those impossibly blue eyes. “Are you Kate?”
“Yes.” It takes me a moment to realize he’s looking at the name stitched on my breast pocket, not checking out the curves under my uniform. If my stomach swoops with disappointment, at least I manage to keep the evidence off my face. “Mr. Devereux is up in one of the junior suites. I think he’s alright now, but he slipped in the bathroom and hurt himself…”
Corbus mutters something in another language, his handsome face stark with worry. “Sorry for cursing, Ms. Valentine, but I should’ve sensed that something was wrong. I got pulled into a discussion with the mayor-.”
He stops abruptly and I give him a sympathetic look. “Let me show you up to his room.”
Corbus nods, but Mrs. Gladstone jerks on the edge of my uniform, stopping me from taking a step. “I think you’ve done enough here, Ms. Valentine. Please return to your duties and I’ll show the gentlemen up to the suite. Which room number is it?”
I expect Corbus to fall into step with my boss, but his entire body stiffens, his musical voice dropping to a growl. “Right now, Kate is the only thing standing between your employers and apotential lawsuit. If you want to help here, I suggest you return toyourduties and let her come with us.”
I peek around him in time to see Mrs. Gladstone take a sharp step back. I don’t know whether to cackle at her shocked face or leap for joy, becausemy scent match is sticking up for me. Never once did Lee growl in my defense, but this stranger with the hypnotic voice sounds like an approaching thunderstorm. I’m still staring up at him in shock when he sweeps a hand ahead of us, inviting me to lead the way.
Is this the scent match at work, or is this just him?
I don’t know which answer I want more, but every inch of my body tingles with awareness as we walk towards the elevators, his arm casually brushing mine. The security guard gets there first, talking into his cell as he holds the doors open. Mrs. Gladstone has trailed us this far, but he now lifts a hand, blocking her way. “I’ve just spoken to the operations manager. He’s informed of the situation, so we won’t need anything further from you.”
Mrs. Gladstone’s parting look tells me she’s already thinking of all the ways she’ll make me pay for this later, but that’s a problem for tomorrow.
When the doors have closed, I press the button to the correct floor and look at the big alpha curiously. “Did you really speak to Mr. Richards?”
“His boss, actually.”
Corbus gives a low hum of approval, but my mouth falls open. “Mr. Richards reports directly to the hotel’s owner, Mr. Friedman.”
There’s a hint of a smile on his hard face, like he knows how much pleasure I’m taking from seeing Mrs. Gladstone sent off with a bee in her ear. But all he says is, “Can you tell us how Dash was injured?”
“Just the little he told me.” I glance at Corbus, but he nods for me to go on. “When I arrived, he was already nursing a bloody nose. He said he wasn’t sure if he fainted or slipped in the bathroom. I helped him clean up and gave him some soup before I came looking for you.”
My gaze flicks back to Corbus, but he’s staring at the other alpha, and I realize this isn’t just some random security guard. The look they’re sharing is too intense… and Dash did say he was here withdates, plural. “Are you two…?”
I’m not sure how to phrase the rest of the question, but the bigger guy saves me by sticking out his hand. “I’m Bram Webber. Corbus and I are packmates.”
I nod, but as he swallows my hand in his massive one, I can’t help feeling disappointed. Thinking about Dash with multiple mates was simple in the abstract, but now I’m facing his dates in the flesh. And from the concern etched into their faces, I’m guessing this isn’t just a casual thing. There’s a big difference between dating and courting in pack terms, and these guys seem really invested. Normally this would be none of my business, except for the fact that I’ve scent matched with the alpha next to me.
Unless…
As I let go of Bram’s hand, I turn to stare at my pale face in the polished doors.Could I have this whole thing wrong?
Dr. Green warned me that the closer I get to my heat, the more likely I’ll start experiencing some serious complications. How did she put it again?That my hormones are going to run riot, and I’ll be driven to find a mate at any cost.I’d jokingly compared it to a nuclear event, but isn’t that exactly what finding your scent mate is? Could my messed-up instincts be constructing this match in some last-ditch effort to land the perfect pack?
I shudder at the thought, but it makes sense in a sick kind of way. Scent matches are rare and are usually only triggered when an omega is young and their perfume at its most potent. Lee and I certainly weren’t matched that way, meeting in a campus bar and becoming friends before we were anything more. I just assumed we were a match on a different level, and never really questioned it up until the moment he told me he was done with us. My instincts had failed me in spectacular fashion, and not only because of the hurt and humiliation of unpicking our lives together. The harder pill to swallow is that most omegas only get one chance at love, and mine is now as twisted and ugly as the scar on my throat.
God, is this whole situation just a pathetic case of wishful thinking?
As the elevator doors open, I fight the urge to fiddle with the Band-Aid over my scent gland. If I’m wrong about this, the last thing I want is to draw attention to my unbonded status. It would be bad enough if Corbus rejected our match because it was inconvenient – but it would cripple me if he decided to ignore it because I was some other alpha’s ‘spoiled goods.’
Get a grip, Kate, or your baggage is going to spill out all over this hotel hallway.
As soon as we reach the room, I unlock the door, and they hurry inside. The dining cart is where I left it, and while they check on Dash, I maneuver it out into the hall. I can hear enough of their excited reunion to know he’s in safe hands, but before I can leave, Dash calls my name.
I step inside, some of the turmoil quietening inside me as our gazes meet. The soup bowl is empty, and while there’s faint bruising across his nose, there’s more color in his face. Bram is rinsing the washcloth in the bathroom while Corbus sits close beside him on the bed, stroking his hair. I swallow hardas I watch his fingers brush through Dash’s silky strands with infinite care. “How are you feeling now?”
“Better, thanks.” He grabs Corbus’s hand and squeezes it, but his gaze is still locked on mine, a little divot between his brows. “Corbus said you got in trouble with your manager.”
“It’s fine,” I fib, because it’s touching that he cares at all. “She was just making sure I wasn’t ignoring my other tasks.”
“Yeah, but I’m still sorry.” He casts a quick glance at Corbus, his puppy dog eyes on display. “Can we talk to her and sort things out?”
