Chapter 2

Chapter Two

AUGUSTINE

C erenity is asleep on the other side of my wall, and I'm slowly dying inside. She has no idea what she does to me with her dirty winks and take no shit attitude.

Watching her beat the fuck out of Arthur Bailey for being an impertinent snot was so damn sexy, and I've been rock hard ever since. Her bright blue eyes are sharp, but only soften for me, because I'm her best friend.

When I met her at a dating mixer six years ago, I was lonely and looking for a distraction. My best friend at the time taunted me into it after I lost a stupid dare, but I never imagined I'd meet my scent match that day.

I was in shock when I scared off the alphas pressuring Cerenity to choose them.

I didn't want to be something I forced on her, and when she didn't react to me at all outside of a bright smile and gratitude, I decided to keep quiet and let it ride.

My best friend has been through hell, and has an aversion to every alpha male or female except for me. Her mother was abused in ways she won't fully tell me about, but I have a private investigator looking for Pack Cockburn to pay them a visit one day.

I am capable of violence and it usually comes attached to the name Cerenity.

Now, it's been six years since the day I found out she's my scent match, and I've been silently pining. We work closely together at the club, we live together, spend our down time with each other as well.

I'm an obsessed alpha, even down to knowing when her heats are scheduled to come, so I can take care of her as much as she'll allow me to.

I'm already beginning to stock her mini fridge with snacks and drinks for this upcoming week, and it kills me to know she'll kick me out to sleep on Gabriel's sofa. Funny enough, I have kept in touch with the beta I lost a bet with six years ago, that led to meeting Cerenity.

He thinks I should tell her, because it may make a difference if I do. Maybe she'll let me in, since she trusts me and knows who I truly am. There have been many nights where she's fallen asleep watching a movie with me, or lets herself be cuddled, and I torture myself as I breathe in her apple pie scent.

She smells like mine, but what if I tell her and I lose her?

Cerenity uses her alpha blocker nasal spray obsessively, even though it's the strongest on the market. She gets it from a black market source she trusts, and won't tell me who it is. Even as close as we are, there are still so many secrets we are each keeping.

Groaning, I throw my head back, my nose flooded with the phantom scent of my girl. I don't care if I only call her this in my mind, she's mine.

Apple fucking pie, that's what she smells like. Shoving down my basketball shorts, I stare down at my pierced cock as if it offends me. It's something I did when I was eighteen on a whim and Gabe went with me.

The Jacob's ladder runs down the underside of my cock, with a piercing at the tip as well. Dancing with Cere was the beginning of my disastrous spiral tonight, but getting to touch her as we spent the aggressive energy while sparring sealed my damn fate.

The crown of my cock is weeping, making me curse our thin walls. If it was up to me, we'd buy a house together, but she wants to wait as she says she wants me to have a chance to find my scent match before we start playing house together.

God, the damn irony is not lost on me at all.

"Fuck me," I rasp, wrapping my large hand around my dick. I know I did this all to myself, my chickens are coming home to roost, and I fucking hate it.

My eyes cross as I envision Cere beating the fuck out of Arthur, gasping as I stroke my shaft. My pre-cum provides the perfect lubricant as I tighten my fist, my hips thrusting into the tight hole.

I imagine how lucky I would be to fuck Cerenity's tight pussy, maybe even be her first. My breaths get thready and my chest tightens as I get closer to my illicit release.

I shouldn't be having these thoughts, she doesn't know how I feel, but my heart and cock want her. I can see her beautiful blue eyes tearing up as she choked on my knot, my words spurring her on as I tell her how proud I am of her.

"Goddamn, Sweetheart," I growl, my vision beginning to dim around the edges. I don't know if I'll be able to stay quiet for much longer, because my imagination is running rampant with things I wish could happen in the future.

Cere riding my cock, joining a pack with me, oh… Her stomach growing round with our child as she accepts that we can write our own destiny.

Biting down on my shoulder, I attempt to muffle my growing roar as my balls draw up and my cock twitches. The cool piercings all down the underside of my shaft increase the pleasure as I rock my hand up and down them slowly.

God, Cere is a hellcat on a daily basis, I know she would blow my mind in bed. We've seen each other naked on occasion, usually after a thunderstorm where I'll yank my clothes off with abandon on the way to a warm shower, or by accident when it comes to her. While she's not shy, my girl is careful of boundaries when it comes to walking around naked.

She says that she's trying to be respectful of whoever my scent match out there is, which makes our situation even worse.

"You're so fucking good," I grunt, my voice muffled from still biting down on myself. "The world doesn't deserve you, but I swear one day I will."

Those words are all I need before I shudder, biting down harder as I roar out my release. Fuck, I even lose my eyesight for a few moments and my ears begin to ring as ropes of cum shoot up and over my fist.

Fuck, I'm going to have to wash my sheets now, but it was worth it.

Gasping for air as I lay back on my pillow, I decide I can't live like this forever. I need to figure out how to tell her that I'm her scent match. I love her, and I want her to know the truth.

Cerenity is already gone when I get up the next day, making me sigh. We'd had plans to go to breakfast, and I wonder if she heard me last night, or if she was really in that much of a hurry to get to work to balance the accounting books.

After I washed the sheets, I also took a cold shower, so now I'm walking out the door in jeans and a tank-top. Minneapolis in September is beautiful and warm, so I don't need long sleeves yet. I meant it when I told Cere I needed to do some errands.

Locking up, I blow out a breath as I walk to my car. I really need to stop jacking off at night where my best friend can hear me. Maybe I need to take a few days at Gabriel's house, let him help me take the edge off.

We've been off and on for years, though it's yet another thing that Cerenity doesn't know about.

"Fuck, this is going to bite me in the ass," I mutter as I get into my truck. Cere has her cute sports car today, which gives me anxiety about accidents.

Especially when we have an angry mafia alpha out for her head. This is also the reason I'm going to see Gabriel at his gym, because he tends to have his pulse on the underbelly of Chicago. The only issue is it's a few hours drive.

My phone buzzes as I begin driving, lost in my thoughts.

"Hello?" I ask absently, not checking the caller ID.

" Are you still coming out today ?" Gabriel asks, making me snort as I roll my eyes. I've only been thinking about him for the last few minutes.

"Are your ears burning?" I tease him. "I just got into the truck, but I want to check on Cerenity first. She was gone when I woke up this morning."

" Is your Cerenity spidey sense going off?" he asks. Anyone else would be joking, but I know he's serious. I seem to get this weird feeling when something is going on with her, but that's not happening right now.

"No, but we had something happen at the club last night, and I want to pick your brain about it. It's making me twitchy about her working there alone, but if I change my mind now, she'll remind me about how she can take care of herself," I sigh.

The little omega is damn infuriating at times.

"You two are really cute," Gabriel snickers. "I've seen her spar, and she's fast. If Cerenity wanted to train and fight professionally, you know she could."

"I think she can do anything she damn well wants to," I admit. "I hate how unsafe things can be for omegas, so I'm glad she's always carrying a knife just in case. One of the club's dancers was stopped as she was walking to her cage last night, and the dick was groping her."

"Club Serene is a safe space," Gabriel grunts, sounding worried. "That shit isn't supposed to happen there."

"Exactly," I mutter, pulling into the club's parking lot. "Things escalated a bit. Look, I just got here, so let me check on Cerenity, and then I'll head on over, okay?"

"Yeah, I can see why you're worried. Give me the prick's name, so I can see what I can dig up," Gabriel says. I hear him say something to someone near him, his voice muffled for a moment.

"You good, man?" I ask, my brows drawing down as I turn off the truck. I'm just as possessive of Gabriel as I am Cerenity, though she doesn't know much about him, because she tends to ignore the things she doesn't know if she wants the answers to.

My girl practices willful avoidance when it suits her. I think it's adorable, because her curiosity itches at her for hours afterwards.

"Yeah, sorry. Jasper was reminding me the guy coming in to train just got here, so I gotta go," he says. "I have a fight coming up."

"I'll let you go, and I'll give you the guy's name when I get there. I know you'll crush it," I tell him.

"Thanks, baby," he says, not thinking. I smirk because I enjoy it when he tries to make it seem as if we're simply best friends with benefits. In a perfect world, I would be with both Cere and my beta. "I guess… I'll see you later."

So damn cute. "I'll text you when I'm on the way," I promise, hanging up as I get out of the vehicle and pocket my phone.

Slamming the door closed, I lock up as I stride toward the back door. Everything is fingerprint coded to Cere or myself, while the rest of the crew who need them have their own key. Humming, I enter the semi-darkened club as I go in search of a stubborn omega.

"Hey boss, didn't think you were going to be here today?" one of the dancers says as she fills her glass with water. The dance floor is now converted into their practice space for the day, and I nod to her in greeting.

"I wanted to check in real quick with Cerenity to see if she needed anything before I ran my errands, and I was just around the corner," I explain.

The dancer nods because I tend to do this, before draining her cup and going back to practice. If anyone bothered to look closely enough, they'd see that I'm head over heels for Cerenity, but thankfully no one does.

Walking to her office, because that's where she tends to hide while she curses out our financials, I smirk at the sight in my head. She's damn good with numbers, she just dislikes doing it. The club is also doing really well.

Her office door is closed as I approach, so I knock patiently.

"I hate interruptions," Cerenity groans through the door, making me laugh. "Is that you, Augustine?"

Twisting the knob, I smirk as it opens. She typically keeps it locked, which means she unlocked it from her desk. Sauntering in, I nod, opening my arms.

"‘Tis I," I boom out, making her giggle. "You lit out pretty fast this morning."

A shadow crosses over her face before she shrugs. "Were you on the phone last night? It sounded like you were talking to someone."

Dropping my arms to my sides, I realize she may be misunderstanding what happened last night.

"Nope, I was not on the phone, Cere," I tell her. "I was masturbating all by myself."

Her eyes widen at my words, a beautiful blush coloring her cheeks. I meant it when I said I would be more truthful with her, and this is an easy truth to give her, though a little embarrassing.

"You were?" she asks, taking a breath. "You sounded like you were enjoying yourself."

"Came like a geyser, thanks for asking," I tease her, enjoying myself. "I'm not dating, and I told you I wasn't interested."

"I know, I just don't understand why," she says. "Don't you want to find your scent match?"

Fuck me hard. Ugh.

"I do, but I don't need to fuck my way through a bunch of omegas to do it with while waiting," I tell her. "I'm happy with my life, it's low stress, and I have my own outlets when I need them."

"Like your hand," Cere teases me.

"My hand is the outlet I have and it is well used," I tell her, barking out a laugh. "I wanted to swing by and see how you were before I head out to Chicago for the day. I was planning to be back earlier, but I may not be by the time you're done here. Gabriel has a fight soon, so I wanted to give him some support."

"I love that you two are still friends," she says, relaxing a bit. "Can we go to his next fight?"

"It's next week," I mention, wincing. I hate bringing up her heat because it's such intimate knowledge that I clock it like it's my job. "However, he's fighting more often, so we can go to the one after that."

"It still feels so odd to me that you track my heats," she grumbles. "Where do you stay when I kick you out? Don't think I haven't noticed that you've started restocking the mini fridge in my nest."

"I usually stay with Gabriel," I admit. "I don't mind the drive, and the club is only open three days of the week during your heats. It's not a big deal."

"I still feel bad," she mumbles.

"If I minded, I wouldn't do it," I remind her. "Now, how many times have you cursed out the club's books?"

Cere rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. "Only twice. I've been blasting music to keep myself occupied, but I was just finishing a phone call when you knocked."

"Anyone interesting?" I ask.

"The Omega's Haven founders, Wren and Aisling called to talk about how well the fundraiser went," she explains. "They raised enough money to get a few programs started. They need a building to lease for omegas who need services, so they were asking for safe areas to rent."

"I have a few places in mind," I muse. "They'll want good foot traffic for it, somewhere the bus routes can get to, while still being safe."

"Exactly. Let me get the addresses you're thinking of so I can send them to them if I missed something," Cere mutters, grabbing an electric blue post it note. My girl has a thing for blue and teal.

Rattling off some properties I know I've seen had a for lease sign recently, I glance at my watch with a sigh. I have to get going.

"What are you doing after this?" I ask her. "I'm kind of worried about the Arthur Bailey situation, if I'm being honest. I'm going to ask Gabriel if he's heard anything regarding retaliation."

"Shit," she murmurs. "I've worked really hard to make sure this place is neutral ground, I don't want to worry about some thugs rolling in while I have a club full of people."

I'm more worried about something happening to my little blue-haired pixie than the fucking club.

Taking a breath, I shake my head. "I don't think it'll come to that. He touched one of your employees without permission, most people who come here know that's unacceptable."

"Damn right," she growls. "I plan to pick up some Chinese food and then go home to eat and take a bath. That's my idea of a fun time today. I have a feeling it's going to be a longer day than I planned by the state of my spreadsheet."

"I restocked the bath bombs in your bathroom. I noticed you were running a little low," I say smugly at her surprised look. I know just about everything that happens in our apartment. "Please make sure to have someone walk you out when you leave?"

"Done," she agrees with a nod. "I should be surprised you know when to restock my bathroom, but I'm not."

Smirking, I shrug. It's the least I can do to make her happy.

"I have a lot of ground to cover today, and the girls want to show me a new routine they want to try, so it may be a late night. I'll text you when I'm home?" she suggests.

"Please do," I tell her. "I may get home late, depending on how things go. Be safe, okay?"

Cerenity stands, walking over to give me a hug. Her jeans hug her ass like a glove, her crop-top kissing the top of her pants like a lover. "You're the best," she says with a happy sigh as I wrap my arms around her. "This shirt is so soft."

"It's yours when I'm done wearing it," I say immediately.

Cerenity rubs her cheek against me before freezing and looking up at me in horror. My scent match just scent marked me. I fucking love it.

"Oh my God," she gasps.

"Nope," I purr, letting myself just be for once. Cere hates her omega tendencies, but what she doesn't know is that I tend to purr for her when she's sleeping. I notice she always wakes up refreshed and relaxed afterwards.

There's no way I'm stopping. "Lean into it, it's totally natural. I don't know why you fight an alpha purr, Cere. It's not influencing you in any way except maybe putting you in a better mood."

"You usually put me in a good mood," she whispers, giving me a squeeze before stepping away. "Is there anything else you're doing in Chicago?"

Cerenity's birthday is soon, so I'm getting her gifts while I'm out there, as well as some other things. It overlaps with her heat, which is unfortunate, but I want her to have the best day possible regardless.

"I have the cooler in the truck," I admit. I cleaned it out a few days ago. "I'm going to see a butcher out there and bring the frozen meat back for the deep freezer. I can't seem to find someone who can get the cuts I want."

"You're so bougie," she says with a giggle. She's not wrong, but she enjoys it just as much. "It sounds like I won't have to grocery shop for meat for a while, then. I fucking hate the grocery store."

My lips twitch at the admission. "You could just get it delivered," I tease her.

"Sometimes that's worse when they bring you food that's not right," she grumbles.

"Okay, you're right," I say with a nod. Meat, fruits, and vegetables are some things I need to see to decide if I want them. "Have fun with your numbers, Sweetheart."

Cere flips me off with a grin, making me laugh as I walk out.

I feel a little better knowing she'll be fine as I drive out to Chicago. My scent match hates to celebrate her birthday, but I still want to do something special.

A thought drifts through my mind, making me feel guilty. I do need to tell her the truth soon, but I don't know if there's ever a good time to tell your best friend that she's the one she keeps telling you to find.

I'm so fucked.