3. Malachi

3

MALACHI

I stand at the head of the conference table, the evening sun slicing through the blinds and casting long shadows across the tense faces of my pack.

The scent of agitation hangs heavily in the air, a potent cocktail of alpha pheromones tinged with unease and unspoken words. Zane, Quinn, and Dash sit before me, their eyes fixed on the folder clutched in my hands. The silence is thick, charged with anticipation and something close to dread.

Four alphas, one omega. Who said leadership was easy? More like herding cats… rabid, lovestruck cats.

My leather chair creaks as I shift, the sound unnaturally loud in the quiet room. I breathe deeply, tasting the mix of familiar scents, all undercut with a sharp note of anxiety.

“I received the official report from Scent Synergy,” I say, my voice steady even as my thoughts churn beneath the surface. “It confirms what we all suspected. We’re matched with Aria.”

The room erupts in a clamor of overlapping voices and scents. Quinn leans forward, his eyes bright with a flicker of hope that feels almost out of place, his scent spiking with excitement and trepidation. “So on a scale of mildly inconvenient to apocalyptically life-changing, where does this match fall? Asking for a friend, of course.”

Dash pushes back from the table, the legs screeching against the floor as he runs a hand through his hair—a nervous habit he never managed to break. His usually salty aroma turns sour with stress.

It’s Zane’s reaction, though, that pulls me in. A fleeting look of guilt flits across his face before he masks it with practiced indifference, his scent darkening. For a moment, I’m transported back to that night, seeing Aria’s face crumple as Zane’s harsh words cut through her. “You lied to us,” he snarled, his anger palpable. “How can we ever trust you?” The memory of her scent—orange creamsicle turned bitter with fear and hurt—lingers like a ghost.

“What does this mean for us?” Quinn asks, cutting through the noise, his voice tinged with barely contained curiosity. “And for Aria?”

I draw a deep breath, choosing my words carefully. “The match is unusually strong. According to Scent Synergy, it’s one of the most compatible they’ve ever seen.”

Dash shoots up from his seat, pacing the length of the room like a caged animal, his agitated movements stirring the air and sending waves of distressed pheromones washing over us. “So what’s the game plan? We are going to roll up to her place like, ‘Surprise! We’re your fated mates! Please ignore our past douchebaggery?’ Spoiler alert, she’s going to slam that door so hard, our grandkids will feel it.” He pauses, a hint of his usual playfulness breaking through. “Hey, maybe we could serenade her? Nothing says we’re sorry like a badly sung power ballad, right?”

“She might not even give us a chance to knock,” Zane mutters, regret sharpening his tone, his scent heavy with self-recrimination. “I’ve been… I’ve been seeing a therapist, trying to work through my issues, and I realized just how badly we treated her.” He runs a hand through his hair, his intense gaze fixed on some distant point. “It’s like looking into a mirror and seeing a stranger—a stranger I’m not sure I like very much.”

His admission hangs in the air, heavy and raw. It isn’t every day that an alpha, especially one as proud as Zane, admits to seeking help. The vulnerability is jarring, cutting through the tension like a knife. The room fills with a complex blend of surprise, respect, and a hint of shame from the others.

“That’s a start,” I say, acknowledging Zane with a nod, allowing a note of approval to color my scent, “but Dash is right. We can’t just bulldoze our way back into her life. We need to make amends and show her that we’ve changed.”

Quinn leans back, his arms crossed and brow furrowed. “What if we?—”

He’s interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. My assistant steps in, her beta scent tinged with concern. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Alpha, but I have some information about Aria’s current situation.”

My pulse quickens, and I know the others can smell the spike of anticipation in my scent. “Go on.”

“She moved into the Omega Guardians building. It’s a new organization that provides safe housing and support for omegas.”

The news lands like a punch to the gut, the reality sinking in. Aria felt the need to seek refuge and shield herself from alphas like us. Silence descends, thick with guilt and regret, and the room fills with the acrid scent of shame and disappointment.

“Thank you,” I say, dismissing my assistant. I turn back to the pack, absorbing the gravity of the situation. “This… complicates things.”

“Complicates?” Dash barks out a humorless laugh, his scent sharp with frustration. “Malachi, this is a fucking disaster. She’s surrounded herself with people who’ll protect her from us.” He presses a finger heavily into his chest as he speaks.

“And can you blame her?” Zane retorts, his scent heavy with remorse. “After how we treated her, we’re lucky she didn’t file charges.”

Quinn interjects, his mind already spinning possibilities. “I could hack into the Omega Guardians system and see what we’re up against.”

Zane turns to him, his eyes flashing. “And prove we’re still the same invasive alphas? Brilliant plan, Quinn.”

“Hey, at least he’s thinking outside the box,” Dash chimes in, a hint of his usual levity in his tone. “All I have is grovel profusely.”

The room devolves into a storm of voices and pheromones, each alpha’s frustration spilling over and feeding the others. I let it run its course for a moment, watching as the tension pulls at the seams of our unity, then I raise my hand and release a wave of calming pheromones to settle the chaos.

“Enough,” I say, my voice carrying the weight of my alpha authority. “We’ve made mistakes, serious ones, but this match… It’s a second chance—one we don’t deserve, but one we need to honor.”

I look each of them in the eye, letting the silence stretch and the responsibility sink in. “We’re going to respect Aria’s space and give her time, but we’re also going to find ways to show her that we’ve changed, and that we can be the alphas she deserves.”

Easier said than done when every instinct screams to claim and protect.

“How?” Quinn’s voice is soft but resolute, the question hanging between us.

“We start small,” I say, a plan already taking shape in my mind. “We look for ways to help and support her without overwhelming her. We respect her boundaries. And, most importantly, we work on ourselves.” I pause, sweeping my gaze across the room. “We’re not just fighting for a mate here, we’re fighting for the chance to be better alphas… better men.”

The pack nods, a tentative sense of purpose threading through the room, and their scents gradually shift from distressed to cautiously hopeful. We spend the next hour brainstorming, tossing around ideas, and arguing over approaches. We’re trying to walk a delicate line, proving to Aria that we’ve changed without smothering her and making the same mistakes that drove her away.

As the meeting winds down, I find myself at the window, staring out over the city bathed in the glow of the setting sun. Somewhere out there, Aria is trying to piece her life back together, unaware of the storm she’s stirred within us. Her phantom scent, sweet and tantalizing, seems to linger in my memory.

“Malachi?” Zane’s voice cuts through the tension like a knife. “What’s our play here? Right now, it feels like we’re trying to defuse a bomb with oven mitts.”

I turn back to face them, the decision clear in my mind. “I’m going to reach out to Omega Guardians and see if there’s a way we can collaborate, support their mission. Willow approached me before all of this about contracting our security services. I plan to follow through.”

They agree, filing out of the office one by one, their expressions a mix of determination and lingering doubt. As the door clicks shut behind them, the room still heavy with the lingering scents of our pack, I pick up my phone and scroll through my contacts until I find the number for Omega Guardians.

The weight of leadership has never felt heavier, but for Aria and my pack, I’ll bear it. I close my eyes for a moment, remembering Aria’s smile and the way her scent brightened when she was happy. The memory is a bittersweet ache.

This is just the first step, I remind myself as I dial, listening to it ring. It’s a long road ahead, one fraught with challenges and the ghosts of our past mistakes, but for Aria, we’ll walk it.

I feel the smooth coolness of my phone in my hand. Anxiety pools in my gut as I wait for Willow to answer.

The phone clicks as Willow answers, her voice carrying surprise and wariness. “Malachi? This is… unexpected.”

I take a deep breath, steeling myself. “Willow, I wanted to follow up on our previous conversation about security services.”

There’s a pause on the other end, then Willow’s voice comes through, sharp and clear. “Malachi, I appreciate your offer, but understand this—if this is some ploy to get to Aria, I’ll shut it down faster than you can say alpha posturing. Clear?”

I can’t help but smile at her directness. “Crystal clear, Willow. I assure you, our intentions are genuine. We want to help in whatever way we can.”

As I begin to outline our proposal, I can’t help but wonder how Aria will react when she inevitably learns of our efforts. My stomach churns, a mix of hope and dread swirling like a storm as I imagine her response to our intentions.

What if, in our desperate attempt to win Aria back, we end up destroying the very thing we’re trying to save?

The thought lingers, chilling me to my core as I end the call with Willow, the future as uncertain as ever.