10. Ben

BEN

"Pass me shelf…B," Ollie requested, squinting at the flatpack instructions.

I found the wooden plank marked by the tiny round sticker and handed it to the bespectacled alpha. Juno and a few of her pack were helping me move into my new apartment.

I'd made the mistake of pairing up with my sister to build a simple side table and we came this close to having a full-on medieval duel with the legs. Miles, one of Juno's bonded betas, carefully extricated the dowel-shaped wood from my hand and guided me towards a half-finished bookshelf.

"Why don't you help Ollie and I'll finish up the table with Juno, hmm?" Miles had offered helpfully.

Everett, Juno's stupidly large alpha, surveyed the scene as he carried in the TV like it was a paperback. "I told you not to let them work together," he grunted, before leaving to bring in more heavy things all by himself.

At least the other members of my sister's pack were gracious enough not to rub it in my face.

Ollie finished screwing in the shelf and gave it a shake to test the sturdiness. "How's life as an alpha, Ben?" he asked cheerfully. "I bet scents are wild for you now. You must feel like a brand new puppy."

Yes. If puppies fought the homicidal urge to tear people's faces off for getting too close and developed a truly maddening obsession for one person's scent in particular.

Then sure, I was a puppy.

"Something like that," I muttered.

Everett had returned and dropped the last box inside the door with a solid thud. "There's a gym downstairs," he said shortly. "You should join."

My brow furrowed. "Ok…?"

"You awakened to an alpha and met your scent match all at once," he said bluntly. "You need to work some of that aggression off before you accidentally contest the wrong alpha and get your head shoved in."

Even the word contest had me squaring my shoulders. Dominance, power and the brutal will to make war rose hot in my blood as I turned to face my pitiful opponent before me and—

A tiny omega-sized sneaker hit me in the temple.

"Like exactly what you're doing now, idiot," Juno griped. Her other shoe was locked and loaded in her hand.

Everett looked extremely unimpressed with me and I realised I was lucky he didn't turn me into a Ben-shaped splatter on the floor of my new apartment.

I groaned, lifted Shelf D to my forehead and began hitting myself rhythmically. "Why is this my fucking life now?"

Ollie took it carefully from me, a winsome smile on his face. "It's not all bad," he beamed. I had yet to find a topic Ollie did not look on the bright side of. "You have a scent match. You even know who she is!" Ollie gave Juno a truly sickening look of adoration. "This one ran from me almost immediately."

"Hey, I went through so many scent cards at the scent matching department to find you, ok?" my sister said defensively. "And you know we should be really calling it scent sympathetic. Just because you have a strong reaction to someone's scent doesn't mean that the relationship is meant to b—"

I had to look away when Ollie began murmuring extremely intimate things before pulling her in for a kiss. Gross. I caught Everett watching me and everything about that narrowed gaze said you're lucky you're her brother. I gulped.

"Ok. Gym it is."

If going to the gym was supposed to make me feel less barbaric, then this was the wrong one for it.

I could barely focus on the overeager beta giving me a tour of the facilities, pointing out weight racks like they were a brand new car. I kept getting whiffs of her. The first scent of something floral I could try and shake off. But that coconut and then the fucking hit of citrus afterwards?

No. She had been here, I knew it.

"Do omegas attend this gym?" I barked at the borderline prepubescent looking employee. The beta flinched and I hated myself for it. When was I going to stop feeling like I had absolutely no fucking control over my own body? I was this fucking close to pushing him to the side so I could run my nose along the handles of the LAT machine.

"Yes, we're an all-inclusive gym with a zero tolerance policy for harassment." His voice warbled on zero tolerance. "We have omega-only hours throughout the week and implement a rigorous cleaning schedule."

"Show me the timetable." Fuck, stop being such an asshole. "If you don't mind," I added with extreme difficulty.

I was ushered over to a laminated, colour-coded printout on the wall. I immediately committed the omega hours to memory and planned my next week around attending the gym in the minutes immediately following them.

"I'm sorry. I'm not usually like this. There's been…a lot of change in my life," I apologised, not looking at him. "Thank you for the tour. I'd like to sign up."

I went to call Juno as soon as I stepped outside and was faced with 3 missed calls from Dad. I gave the notification an angry swipe, my temper flaring rapidly. Why wouldn't they leave me alone? Hadn't I made it clear to them where I stood?

I stared at the brick wall of the gym and had the unbearable urge to put my fist in it.

My arm had actually begun to pull back when I stopped myself. I had been so close to breaking half the bones in my hand.

Being an alpha was fucking awful.

I forced myself to breathe slowly until the aggression subsided. When I felt like I could hold my phone again without crushing it to smithereens, I called my sister.

"Is it that hard being away from my glittering presence?"

I had no sense of self-preservation. Despite needing her help, I instantly replied with a snide, "Glitter? You mean the herpes of craft supplies?"

"Ok hanging up now, buh bye."

"Wait!"

"Say please."

"Seriously, Juno? Every time?"

"Every time."

"Please."

"It's like…" She proceeded to make obnoxious kissy noises with her lips.

I tapped my foot impatiently. "Are you done?"

"For now."

If I had a mortal enemy I would wish a younger sister on him.

"Does Hazel live near me? I scented her at the gym," I asked her bluntly, cutting right to the chase.

Juno went quiet. "Are you sure you did or was it just—"

"It was her, Juno."

She spoke slowly, like she was trying to be careful with her answer. "I know she lives in the city in an apartment alone. But as for where…I've never been, Ben."

What?"You've never been to your best friend's place?"

"Omegas don't really visit each other's houses," she said exasperatedly.

"You literally have massive parties and gatherings at your house," I shot back.

"It's different with a lot of people. Everyone's scents just kinda mingle and it's fine. But the thought of one of us going to the other's house? Alone?" I could hear her shudder. "It would be like I'm shedding cat hair all over her space and the same if she was here. It would feel even worse if the rest of my pack were home. We've only done it once and she was so careful the whole time. Why do you think we always go out and eat?"

My uncomplicated beta life seemed like a world away. I knew alphas and omegas had their territorial idiosyncrasies but experiencing them and hearing about them…

Who would want this? We were a mess.

Juno seemed to decipher all this from my tired exhale.

"I know firsthand how a scent match can make you feel loopy. But she's still Hazel and you're still Ben. You need to find out whether they work together once the pheromones fade."

I was a fucking bull in a china shop right now as my new designation settled in. I didn't even know if I could even speak to her without losing it on some level. Courtship seemed like a pipe dream.

"Have you always been this smart?"

"Yes, Ben. You're the dumb one."

I deserved that.

"So…" I dragged out. "In the interest of finding out whether we work together…can I have Hazel's number?"

"Say pl—"

Oh, for fuck's sake.

I took Juno's words to heart and didn't try to stalk Hazel at the gym while I was still trying to get a handle on my alpha.

Instead, I lay on my new bed in my weird-smelling apartment that felt nothing like home and stared at the message I had yet to press send on.

Hi Hazel, it's Ben. Juno gave me your number. I know the other night was a lot for both of us. I want you to know I'm not going to push for anything you're not comfortable with. But I would like to get to know you.

I groaned, my eyes running over the next line wondering if I was really going to take my sister's advice.

Hazel is her best friend. Juno knows her better than anyone.

But…I was also her brother.

Which one was going to win out? Juno's urge to sabotage or matchmake?

I just have one question though. Are you more turned off by the fact that I had a breakdancing phase or that I legitimately thought I was going to make it as a gaming streamer?

I pressed send, threw my phone hard down on the bed and smothered my face with my pillow until I couldn't breathe. My heart hammered so violently I was surprised blood wasn't shooting out my eyeballs.

From a fucking text.

I shot up from the bed when my phone vibrated moments later. And then buzzed again. And again.

Hazel

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

im fucking dying

two questions

could you windmill

and how many subs did you have

Ok, so Juno had somehow managed to do both, it seemed. My palms were sweaty as I typed back.

almost and

My fingers paused. The embarrassment was eating me alive.

4

She was writing a response. How could three bouncing circles cause such anxiety?

Hazel

Are you still holding onto these lofty dreams of yours?

Absolutely, being a doctor is my fallback

Way to work the fact that you're a doctor into the conversation

She saw right through me and we'd been talking for 30 seconds.

I'm just trying to give myself a fighting chance here.

Mind if I text you from time to time?

Too much too soon? Fuck.

Hazel

I dunno, a gaming b-boy doctor sounds out of my league. But sure, I'd like that.

I had to concede that I owed Juno big time.