Page 19 of Trick or Heat

Her apartment is an omega’s dream. Dark walls, wooden tables, a blanket found on every available surface. We travel further in, our steps slow and cautious in an omega’s space, and we notice the song is being played on a record player, the sound full of nostalgic static. The air permeates with the most delicious candy aroma full of spices and apples. I look around for the candle it must be coming from, but the living room surfaces are void of any.

“Fuck—” Brodie mutters, but he’s unable to complete his thought as a sound turns our attention to the doorway.

Elsie stands there, her expression twisted with nervousness. “Hi,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

My eyes widen, my pupils dilating. She’s a dream. Her long white hair falls all the way to her waist, her hands clasped together bashfully.

Then her scent hits me, the subdued aroma that I had mistaken for a fall candle hitting me right in the face.

Holy shit. She’s my scent match.

TEN

Three alphas stand in my kitchen, their scents calling out to me… pulling me in like a spell. I huff out a squeak of distress, because what the hell, universe? I just asked for alphas to help me with my heat, not for my freaking scent matches to randomly show up at my door before the most intense first experience of my life.

Their eyes are wide as saucers as they stare at me, dumbfounded as they try to navigate this discovery to the best of their abilities. They probably didn’t expect to get here and suddenly have an omega. I certainly didn’t expect to suddenly have a pack.

The air between us should be charged, but I am currently shitting myself with worry instead. Each alpha is more gorgeous than the last, each of their scents enticing in their own special way. It’s almost overwhelming to be meeting them this way, with all their aromas together in one big tangled mess. I can’t even tell which scent is coming from who. The silk honey and dark liquor is eerily familiar, but then there’s something sweet. Almost like chocolate, but with a nutty and fruity edge. Figs, I realize. Casey has always made fun of me for liking them. Then there’s the sweet punch of bitter pumpkin with a creamy undertone, and my mouth begins to water.

A droplet of sweat falls over my brow and I wince. Shit, we haven’t even said our pleasantries yet.

“It’s okay,” the one with the beautiful wavy hair says. “We can figure this out, but first we want to say… well, I want to say… you look stunning.”

My cheeks redden as my stomach pools with heat. “Th-Thanks.”

“I’m Raivat, this is DJ, and this is⁠—”

“Honey bourbon,” I voice, finally recognizing the scent from last night.

“You’re the omega I smelled at the party,” the alpha with caramel hair muses to himself, like he just made the same connection I did.

Raivat looks over at him. “She’s the one you scented, Brodie? The one you thought was your scent match?”

Brodie’s head whips to him. “What? How did you know that?”

“Because you told me last night when you were black-out drunk.”

His eyes flash with something that I can’t distinguish. “And you were still going to let me connect with another omega even though I told you that?”

“Well, you insisted!” Raivat yells. “And it doesn’t look like that matters now, does it?”

“But still!” he squeaks. “You knew and you didn’t try to stop me?!”

“Dude, I didn’t even know if you wanted me to know, so I was pretending like you didn’t tell me.”

“She’s my scent match, too,” DJ confesses, his eyes never leaving me.

They continue to talk back and forth, going a mile a minute, and the quickness at which the conversation is happening causes a vein in my forehead to pulse. I can’t even process this information because all I can think about is Casey. Our chance of being together is quickly slipping away—if there was ever a chance to begin with—and the sadness from that knowledge can’t even be properly felt because my heat is coming on stronger with every whiff of these amazing alphas.

Alphas, ones that I will never share with Casey.

Their argument continues, and even though I hear no real malice in their tones toward each other, it sends stress through my body all the same, and I suddenly can’t take it anymore as the command spills from my lips.

“Shut up!”

They stop talking immediately, their gazes snapping back to me. Raivat’s brows scrunch as he steps forward, moving toward me like I’m a wounded animal. “Elsie? Are you okay?”

My breathing becomes ragged as my stomach pinches. Their scents are too much. I put my hand to my head.