Chapter 25 In which I am very fucking confused

The last thing I wanted to do this morning was leave my omega. Especially when she was wrapped around my body like a fucking ribbon on a present, her head nestled under my chin with her light brown hair tickling my neck.

Yeah. It was fucking hard to get up this morning and leave.

I don’t think I would have if the reason for my errand wasn’t helping Sadie get answers.

I might have started this entire relationship unsure if I wanted an omega, but how quickly that has changed. How quickly I went from wanting all of us to keep our distance so we couldn’t get too attached, to not wanting to leave her side, to being willing to do anything for her.

Even sneaking out of bed far too early this morning and leaving her between my sheets just to get her answers.

Swift tried to torture them out of the one guy we left alive after paintball, but the most he could determine was that someone with deep pockets hired his team to take Sadie from us. He didn’t even have a meeting place to take her, said he was told to send a message when they’d secured my omega and they’d get further instructions then

He didn’t know why, and he didn’t have a clue who his employer was.

A frustrating dead end.

Swift had a good time dismantling his body, though, so there is that.

Ethan sent me a text late last night, after Sadie was asleep, that he got a lead on Dr. Schwab from one of our many contacts. Said that the asshole runs through the park every morning and he always takes the same path. Stupid. Sticking to a routine makes it far too easy for the monsters—like us—to hunt you.

We got here earlier, scoped out the route detailed to us, and found a spot that will be the best for an ambush, surrounded by trees in an under-used section of the park, right at the top of a bend in the path. So long as there isn’t anyone right on his ass, we should be able to nab him and drag him into the cover of the underbrush.

Of course, this only works if the guy bothers to fucking show up.

We’ve been here for an hour and still no dice.

Ethan shifts next to me, eyes focused on the path, but I can tell he’s getting impatient. “This would be the one fucking day he doesn’t come,” the beta murmurs, swiping a hand over his face. Not the one holding the syringe with the sedative Logan gave us. I have one too, just in case the old guy gives us a fight. But I doubt he will.

I’m opening my mouth to ask if he wants to pack it in for the day when the rhythmic pounding of feet on the dirt path reaches our ears. We both duck behind the trees we’re leaning against, staying out of sight of whoever’s on the path. The idea is he’ll jog past, we’ll come out behind him, jab his neck and drag him into the trees.

But the footsteps slow to a walk, and then stop altogether, someone panting hard from their run.

My beta pauses, tilts his head and drags in a deep breath of air before cursing.

The scent slams into me right after his hissed curse, and immediately I’m on edge. Because Sadie shouldn’t fucking be here. She promised she’d stay at home, safe and sound until we could figure this out. Until we could make sure she’s safe.

“Sadie?” I call out, stepping away from my tree, trying to keep my voice as gentle as it can be when everything in me is demanding that I find my mate, bundle her up and carry her home, back to safety where I can turn her ass pink for following us. “Trouble, where are you?” And where the fuck are Logan and Luca, who are supposed to be keeping her in the penthouse?

There’s a rustle through the trees, a flash of bright pink and blond hair. And then a woman steps through the foliage. A woman who isn’t Sadie, but definitely smells like her. Exactly fucking like cherry pie à la mode.

She blinks at me, her plump pink mouth parted on a gasp. She takes a step forward, her perfectly manicured fingers reaching toward me. “It’s you.”

I tilt my head and glance over at Ethan, lingering behind me, his eyes narrowed in distrust. “I’m sorry,” I say, turning back toward the woman. “Do I know you?”

She laughs, a tinkling giggle that makes goosebumps ripple over my arms, and not necessarily in a bad way. There’s a weird tugging in my chest. The same as I feel when I’m with Sadie, and my alpha is staring out at her with hunger… just like with my fucking mate. I have no clue what the hell that means, beyond that this woman somehow stole Sadie’s scent and is wearing it like a fucking trophy.

A warning growl from my chest has her giggle cutting off, the hand she had reached out to me flying to cover her lips as tears fill her eyes. “Don’t you feel it?” she asks softly. “Can’t you tell?”

“Tell what?” Ethan asks, and the omega in front of us looks at him for only about a half second before she dismisses him and looks back at me.

“You’re my scent match,” she murmurs. “You’re mine. My alpha.”

Somewhere deep in my chest, a battle starts. Half of me agrees with this omega. Agrees that she is mine. She is my scent match. She smells divine. And I’m getting hard just standing here looking at her, all plump curves and softness.

But the other part of me, the part that is already halfway in love with Sadie, is roaring that she’s fucking wrong. A liar and a cheat. Sadie is mine. Sadie is my omega. My future. Sadie is my scent match, the someday mother of my babies. Sadie is the one I’m going to bite and claim.

Ethan moves closer to me until his shoulder brushes mine. “You’re mistaken. We already have a scent match.”

“You’re a beta,” she says somewhat haughtily. “You don’t have a scent match.” My brows lower at her cruel words. Ethan might not be an alpha, but he’s just as much a member of our pack as the rest of us, just as integral. Having this woman dismiss him because of his designation clears some of the fog from my brain.

“He’s right,” I ground out, even though the words are bitter, the half of me that wants this woman making them that way.

Sadie. Sadie. Sadie.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

I remind myself as her face falls further. “That’s… That can’t be true. You’re my scent match. I can tell.”

I run my eyes over her. She’s older than Sadie by a few years, maybe early thirties. Closer to my age than my omega’s. She’s plump and pretty. She looks like a typical omega with wide hips and a full chest. Whereas Sadie is slimmer, less generous in the curve department, but still gorgeous as hell.

Ethan twists to look up at me. “Do you think this has to do with the tests that were done on Sadie? Maybe… Maybe this is the woman whose blood…” He flicks his gaze at the blond omega and trails off, not wanting to talk about what happened to Sadie in front of a stranger. “Maybe Logan can do some tests?”

“Tests?” The omega shrieks. “What kind of tests? I don’t understand what is happening right now.” Her wide blue eyes implore me to be a better alpha to her, and I have to clamp down on the instincts that demand I do the same. Sadie is my omega, and I will not disrespect her by doing something stupid like purring to soothe a stranger. “Why are you acting like this?”

I run a weary hand over my face, scrubbing at my lips before I answer. “Ethan wasn’t lying when he said we already have a scent match. She’s our omega.”

The tears overflow and spill down her cheeks. She swipes at them and then glares at me. “Well, there’s been a mistake. Because I am actually your omega. Take me to this woman who’s fooled you. She’s obviously gotten a hold of my scent somehow.”

She inches closer and I tense as she brushes the tips of her fingers over my forearm, making a shiver skitter over my skin. “I’ll prove to you that I’m your omega.”

I grit my teeth and glance at Ethan, who’s watching the woman with narrowed eyes. “What’s your name?”

She smooths a hand down the front of her workout clothes and straightens her shoulders. “Claudia. Claudia Poole.”

Surprise hits me. “Claudia Poole, the daughter of Benton Poole?”

She beams at me. “The one and only.”

Benton Poole is a billionaire, who makes his money off the backs of others. He’s from the east coast and far enough away from us that we’ve never had to cross paths with the shady motherfucker. “What are you doing in Granton? Shouldn’t you be in New York or something?”

She shrugs and glances around, a shiver working over her body. “I got bored. Wanted an adventure. Decided randomly to come here, and look! It was meant to be. Fated! Because here I am walking through a park and I find my scent match alpha! I never would have met you if I’d stayed in New York!”

She says it like I’m silly for even questioning why she’s here. It makes me grit my teeth. No one fucking talks like that to me. I’m a little surprised she hasn’t realized who I am, who we are.

Ethan glances at me, and then tugs his phone out of his pocket. I don’t have to look to know that he’s pulling up whatever he can about this woman, her father, her reason for being here. Just getting bored seems like a flimsy excuse for flying halfway across the country, but then I’ve never not had responsibility thanks to who my father was, who my pack was.

I couldn’t just take off because I’m bored. And now, with Sadie in the picture, I wouldn’t want to. I have a responsibility to her to stick around and make her safe, to provide for her. Though I suppose if I wanted to take a vacation, Sadie could just come with me now.

My brain flashes to us on a sandy beach somewhere, Sadie wearing one of those teeny little bikinis, her skin turning golden in the sun, our bonding marks on full display, claiming her as ours. Maybe the little swell of a baby bump curving over the flimsy strings holding up her bottoms. Yeah, I like that fucking idea. A lot.

My cock does too.

Claudia notices my burgeoning erection and smirks at me. “Admit it, you’re happy you found me. Or at least part of you is.” She reaches out like she’s going to touch my cock right here in public, and I catch her fingers before she can make contact.

“No,” I growl at her, readying to tell her that no one will ever touch my dick again but my omega, but Claudia immediately tips her head to the side, revealing the pale column of her throat to me in the perfect display of submission. A waft of cherry pie hits me hard now that she’s within touching distance. Apparently, my alpha likes that enough to cut off my rejection.

Sadie’s never bared her throat for me. Hell, she never even drops her eyes from mine when we’re arguing. She always meets me head on, and while part of me loves that, there’s also a part of me that really fucking wants a submissive side to my omega. One that will let me take control, one that trusts me enough to do that.

Ethan works his way between us, turning to face me and press on my chest, creating distance between us. “Maddox, think of Sadie. Think of our omega.”

I do as he demands and think of Sadie last night on the couch. The way the put herself in my hands, trusted me to edge her for hours knowing there would be pleasure at the end. I think of how quickly she told me she trusts me after I’d asked. How she melted into my chest and the sweet moans she’d gifted me.

She might not have shown her neck to me, but she’s submitted in a far more significant way. With her whole body.

My mouth drops open, breathing through my lips instead of through my nose, cutting off as much of the almost too sweet smell of Claudia. It’s not exactly the same as Sadie’s. There’s something a little… off about it. I don’t know if it’s because I’m used to Sadie’s version of the scent or if it’s something else, but either way, it still affects me the same.

And isn’t that fucked?

Ethan glances over his shoulder at Claudia. “Stay here.” She huffs her displeasure, but he ignores her, pushing me farther away before peering up at me. “What do you want to do, boss?”

I grit my teeth. I hate when he calls me that. Even though I know it’s right. I have to decide here. “We need to figure out what’s going on. Maybe Logan can do some tests.” We need answers. More for Sadie than anything. Part of me prickles at the idea of someone out there sharing her scent. It’s fucking mine and no one else should be able to smell it but my pack.

But based on what Danielle told us, Sadie’s actually the one wearing Claudia’s scent. Which means… I shut off the thought before it can fully form and look at Ethan again with a nod. “We’ll bring her back to the penthouse. Have Logan meet us there. He’s been looking into what was done to Sadie, so maybe he’ll be able to figure out what the fuck is happening.”

“And if he can’t?” Ethan glances over his shoulder. “Based on your reaction, there’s an instinct here that’s going to be hard to ignore.”

Shame fills me. I should be stronger than this, should be able to stay loyal to Sadie. There are very few times when I resent my alpha instincts. Overall, I love being an alpha, love being dominant and feeling in control. But this? This is not one of those times. I should be fucking able to resist this, especially with how I feel about Sadie, how it goes beyond instincts and into deep emotions.

“If Logan can’t find us answers, then we keep moving forward with our plan for Sadie. We’ll track down Dr. Schwab and he’ll tell us what we need to know.”

Ethan is typing away at his phone, but that doesn’t mean he’s not invested in this. He is. “I doubt there’s a way to undo this, Dox. I doubt they’ll be able to take a medicine that cancels out whatever the fuck they did to Sadie and Claudia and magically tells us which one is your real scent match.”

My heart thunders in my chest at the implication. It might not be Sadie. It might be Claudia, and if that is the case and there’s a way to undo this, to block the scent or something, would we still want Sadie? Would she still be ours?

Everything in me responds with a resounding, ‘yes!’ and I relax slightly.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If we come to it,” I say, motioning for Claudia to join us. I feel a lot more in control, the thought of not having Sadie sobering me up from my alpha instincts right fucking quick.

The omega beams at me as she joins us, giddily bouncing from foot to foot. It would be cute if Sadie were doing it. I would smile back at her and give her whatever she fucking wants. But this is not Sadie and not my omega. So I only fold my arms over my chest and say, “I think you should come with us. One of our packmates is a doctor and I want him to check you out.”

She giggles. “Oh, good. I want to check him out, too.”

I grit my teeth. “I mean, I want him to medically check you out. We already have an omega. You smell remarkably close to her, and we want to figure out why.” I will not give away more than that. This woman hasn’t earned my trust or Sadie’s secrets.

Her smile blooms even brighter. “Oh, that explains it, then. If she smells close to me, then you just got confused. I’m sure once we’re together, you’ll be able to see I’m your omega, not her.”

I swallow back the snarl that wants to loose itself, and instead spin on my heel heading back to the car. “Where are we going?” she asks when she’s safely ensconced in the back seat, still beaming happily, so assured of our goodness and the lure of a scent match to trust us.

The girl must be some kind of idiot, because no omega should just blindly follow an unknown alpha anywhere. Even with a supposed scent match.

But then, Sadie went into the back rooms with Luca and Ethan at The Market. I frown at the realization and decide to talk to her about her safety going forward. She can’t take chances like that. Though I suppose the point is moot, since we’ll never let her go anywhere alone again, anyway.

The entire drive back to the penthouse, Claudia chatters giddily. Cooing about the sights out the window, babbling about how our lives are going to be going forward. She seems so fucking certain that we’re going to pick her. It sets my teeth on edge and hardens my resolve against her.

Sadie. Sadie is my omega. My mate.

Her blue eyes widen when we enter the underground parking garage, taking in everything. Mostly the line of expensive cars and the gleaming surfaces uncommon in a garage. She follows us to the elevator, watches as I scan my hand and call the lift.

She’s already on her phone, typing away at the screen. I open my mouth to ask her what she’s doing, but I don’t have to. Claudia beams up at me and I feel absolutely nothing. It’s not like when Sadie smiles at me, and I get all warm and melty in my chest. Sure, the alpha urge to protect her because she’s an omega is there, but that would apply to any omega. This isn’t my omega,—my scent match,—no matter that she smells like she is.

Sadie is it for me. For us.

“I’m having my things sent here from my hotel. It shouldn’t take them very long to pack it up. And I had a room just down the street from here. How wild is that?”

I’m not sure it’s wild at all. After all, The Falcon is the best hotel in the city and it just so happens we own it. We lived there for a few years before we bought this building just down the street so we could make it into a veritable fortress. The hotel was great, but there were too many unknowns coming and going.

The lift arrives, and we step inside. I curl my hand at my side to keep from putting my hand on the small of her back. It’s an ingrained instinct that I fight. Protect the omega. Guide the omega. Make sure nothing happens to the omega.

Fuck. I need to bond Sadie to dull the instinct to coddle other omegas. I hate feeling like I’m doing something wrong, when I know it’s nothing but instincts. Sadie wouldn’t even blame me for being protective of this other woman. It would hurt her, I know that, but she understands instincts better than anyone, since she’s dealing with so many new ones.

That just makes me feel even worse.

Ethan slides between me and Claudia, creating a buffer with his body, and I give him a grateful look. He gives me a tight nod. Thank fuck I brought our beta with us today. Thank fuck he isn’t ruled by instincts like the rest of us. We’re going to need him to keep his head.

Claudia arches a brow at him and sniffs her disdain. Again making it clear what she thinks of him? Or all betas. Maybe she’s one of those omegas that thinks there’s no place for a beta in a pack. Complete and utter bullshit. Pack is pack, no matter the designation.

The elevator doors open and Claudia strides out like she owns the penthouse, like it’s already hers. She immediately starts perfuming, soaking the air in her cherry pie scent that still doesn’t smell exactly right.

Then her nostrils flare, and her scent turns acrid, bitter. A cherry pie that’s bubbled over and is burning on the bottom of the oven. Fix it! My alpha roars. I shove him away and fist my hands at my sides as Claudia moves into the open concept living area. She picks up Sadie’s sweatshirt, dropped over the back of the couch, knuckles going white as she squeezes the fabric. From here I can tell it’s drenched in her scent and pheromones. She probably wore it at the start of her workout this morning and dropped it there when she got a drink from the kitchen.

“She’s here?” Claudia asks, voice strained. “You brought another omega into my pack house?”

“Not your pack house,” Ethan’s quick to correct. And again, thank fuck for him. I’m too busy battling the alpha inside me that wants to comfort her. “Its hers. Sadie’s.”

I don’t know if Ethan knows her name is like a balm to my alpha, but it certainly works like it. Yes, Sadie, my alpha purrs at the reminder of our mate. Sadie. She’s ours, not this omega snarling like a cat because we’ve already found our mate and it sure as fuck isn’t her.

“Sadie’s,” I confirm, folding my arms over my chest. “She’s already been bitten into the pack. She’s our omega.”

“Who bit her?” Claudia shrieks, loud and shrill enough that I wince, my ears ringing.

“Who the hell is this?” Logan calls, coming down the stairs. His hair is damp, and he’s wearing a pair of olive green joggers and a gray tank top, glasses perched on his nose. He may have just showered, but even from here I can scent Sadie on his skin and I know that while I’ve been chasing leads with Ethan, he’s been fucking our omega.

“Where’s Sadie?” I ask, not answering his question. Mine is more important.

Logan comes to a stop next to me, scowling at Claudia. “In the shower. She’ll be done soon.” It’s a warning to all of us. Behave for our girl. But then Logan’s nostrils flare, and I know he’s gotten close enough to scent Claudia. His pupils dilate and a low rumble sounds from his chest, reacting to the still acrid tinge in her scent. Ethan steps between us and Claudia, disrupting her cherry pie with his clean spring rain beta scent.

“What the fuck is going on?” Logan grinds out, hands fisted by his side.

Ethan runs a weary hand down his face. “This is Claudia Poole.”

Logan takes a panting breath through his mouth. “She smells like Sadie. Why the fuck does she smell like our omega?”

I shake my head. “We were hoping you’d be able to help figure that out.” I turn my face toward him and say quieter, “Maybe we can get some answers for our girl.” Since we have frustratingly little to go on.

Logan’s green eyes flick to mine and then he’s looking at Claudia again, not like he wants to fuck her, but like he wants to examine her, break open her skull and learn all of her secrets and how they might pertain to Sadie.

He nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Take some of her blood and compare them. See what sticks out.”

“Excuse me?” Claudia says, chin dropping to her chest as she looks up at us all coyly from under her blackened lashes. “Why would you need to do any sort of tests on me? You all know who I am.”

She flicks her gaze to Ethan and dismisses him again, focusing on me and Logan as she perfumes again, filling the air with her pheromones. This time it’s not acrid, but sweet. Too sweet and full of arousal.

“Actually,” Logan says, fingers alternating between flexing and fisting as he struggles to keep his alpha under control. “We have no idea who you are.”

I nod, gritting my teeth against the scent that is telling me to fuck, knot, bite, claim. “You just happened to stumble upon me and Ethan in the park? You expect us to believe that? Really?”

“Look,” she says, lifting her chin. She looks over my shoulder and then back at me. “I don’t know what else you want me to tell you. It’s the truth. I’m-”

I smell my omega the second before I hear Sadie’s sweet voice confirming all her worst fears. “Your pack scent match.”