31. Ari

ARI

His alpha instincts clawed at him. No matter how many times he reminded himself that Juno had shown her true colours and was just like every other self-absorbed omega, it did nothing to alleviate the raging, irascible beast in his chest. Urging him to fix, to comfort, to soothe.

It wasn’t that the omega was upset, or hurt or angry. Ari would have preferred all those things over this. No, things were much worse than that.

She had gone cold. Utterly devoid of emotion, her scent almost undetectable and any trace of light missing from her normally luminous eyes. She showed up on time, submitted her assignments and participated in their last class together.

But Juno was no longer there. And he fucking hated it.

The next time he would see her would be at her final presentation. And then she would be gone, her complex, wonderful scent fading from memory. The thought sent panic through him.

It was why he found himself in the Faculty of Design offices hoping to catch one of her other teachers in a carefully calculated but apparently coincidental encounter. He was behaving insanely, potentially even jeopardising his job. But that did not stop him from leaping in front of the older alpha woman exiting the door of her office. His eyes caught briefly on the plaque that read Dr. Christine Kelly. Excellent. It was her General Design Principles lecturer. Which he knew ’cause he accessed her schedule in the staff portal like a fucking deranged stalker.

“Dr. Christine. Ari from over in Advertising.” He stuck his hand out perfunctorily and she took it, confusion slowly crossing her face.

“How can I help you?” She flicked her sleeve to glance at her watch. Right, straight to the point it was then.

“I was concerned about one of my students. Juno Liu. She takes my class as an elective but is from your faculty.”

Dr. Christine gave him a bewildered look. “Juno? But she’s been a model student. On track to receive a High Distinction in my class.”

Now was definitely not the time to have a surge of pride that she was doing so well.

“It’s just that she…” Ari trailed off, cleared his throat and tried again. “Well, you see, for the past week I’ve noticed, well, not so much as noticed but it’s been apparent to me that…” Fuck, why did he not think this through with more than a single brain cell before going in guns blazing.

The other alpha said nothing for a long moment, content to simply let him dig his own grave. When he was about to start a new sentence for a third time, she cut him off. “This your first year teaching?”

“Yes,” he replied, miserably.

“Look, I know it’s hard to curtail our alpha natures when there are omega students in the class. But you mustn’t treat them any differently.” She had thankfully misunderstood his true intention. “It’ll get easier with time, especially once you’re bonded to your own omega.”

The thought of bonding an omega made him feel ill. Then a flash of blonde, a haze of syrupy peaches and a radiant smile he had seen far too little of. No. Fuck. Ari desperately wished he was alone so he could bash his head against a hard surface.

He thanked the well-meaning woman and made a quick escape, feeling infinitely worse than he did before.

* * *

Ari had run his students’ names through a randomiser to determine the order of their final presentation. The universe decided it would be infinitesimally amusing to place her dead last. Unfortunately he had been discussing the logistics of it all with Alistair, who would be grading with him, so he did not have the luxury of running it again. Although knowing his luck, it would somehow end up producing the same result.

The first day had passed in a blur. The only notable interaction was being cornered by Priya as he was leaving. Her presentation had been in the afternoon and she was still hanging around? He was hit by a disconcerting sense of déjà vu. Alistair couldn’t save him this time either, having left immediately after the last presentation, apologising that he couldn’t help pack up as he was running late for a meeting.

“Long day?” Priya asked, running a sympathetic hand over his arm.

Instead of answering, he looked pointedly down at where she had made contact and shrugged his arm out of reach. Alarmingly, she sidled closer.

“You know you’re not my teacher anymore.” She seemed amused by his rejection. Ari got the distinct feeling it would be in his best interest to move along to a location that was far more brightly lit with lots of witnesses.

“That’s not true, I still have to grade your presentation,” he reminded her swiftly.

Priya giggled like he’d told the most hilarious joke instead of stating a fact. She gave her long black hair a flick and her faint floral beta scent washed over him.

“Thanks again for defending me against Juno the other week. She’s crazy.” She said it with a derisive little laugh and looked up at him, clearly waiting for him to agree.

Despite him turning over the events in his head over and over since then, continually coming to the conclusion that he had been in the right, it did not sit well with him to be thanked for it. Priya’s assessment of Juno grated as well, and Ari bit back the defensive instincts that rose up within him.

“I hope there’s been no further issues,” he replied woodenly, instead.

“Oh no,” she said, violating his personal space further. “Thanks to you…”

Yes, he definitely needed to make his escape imminently. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder, lifting the strap up and back down, a clear sign he was making his exit.

“Well, if that’s all, I best be—”

“I just don’t even know why she’s here.” An air of desperation and thinly disguised animosity laced her words. “Omegas just want to be taken care of by packs anyway,” she scoffed. “We’re the ones who actually work hard and keep the world going, you know?”

“Juno’s done very well in this class, actually,” Ari informed her honestly. He really couldn’t take her maligning the omega anymore. “I would’ve thought you of all people would be understanding of not being judged for your designation.”

Priya looked stunned by his reprimand. He took advantage of her silence to take his leave.

* * *

Ari stared at the order of presentation in front of him, Juno’s name taunting him from the bottom of the list.

“You alright there, mate?” Alistair nudged him as a student shuffled out the door, drowning in his own flop sweat after a disastrous display.

“Yeah, fine,” Ari replied a little too quickly. He glanced at his watch — lunchtime. Thank Christ. “Do you ever wonder what you would do if you found your scent match?” he found himself asking his old friend.

“Well, I don’t have to wonder,” Alistair replied matter-of-factly. “I have found my scent match.”

Ari swung his head around in disbelief. “You never told me this.”

The other alpha shrugged. “It was a while ago,” he said, impassively.

“What about Beth?”

“Oh, I chose her.” Alistair flashed his wedding ring. “Clearly.”

Ari stared at him sitting there like they were exchanging pleasantries at afternoon tea instead of discussing a monumental life event he’d never mentioned. “Mate, you are absolutely killing me here,” he complained, giving his sideburn an anxious tug.

Alistair gave him an amused sidelong glance before he looked away, eyes distant. “I’d been with Beth about two years,” he recounted. “One night on the tube home, an omega scent absolutely knocked me on my arse. Like, I genuinely could not stop myself getting off at the wrong station to follow her. I think the only reason I was able to control myself somewhat was because she was bonded already. Dampens the effects a bit.” He scratched the back of his neck, looking mildly embarrassed. “Bloody good thing too because it took all of five minutes chatting with her to realise we had wildly different values.”

Ari’s brow creased. “What, you knew that from five minutes?”

Alistair chuckled humourlessly. “She said she couldn’t believe her scent match was black. And asked if I had a job at least because her prime would have a hard enough time accepting me into the pack as is.”

“Oh bloody hell.”

“So yes.” Alistair gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I’m proper pleased with my decision to remain with Beth.”

They sat in silence as Ari processed Alistair’s awful story. Whoever was in charge of scent matches certainly had a twisted sense of humour.

“Do you think it’s all rubbish then?” Ari asked him. “Scent matches?”

“Ah, who knows. So long as Beth’s willing to put up with my sorry arse, it’s not my concern, really.” Alistair stood up, looking at Ari expectantly. “Now are we getting lunch or not? I could murder a chicken katsu right now.”

* * *

She walked in at the end of the day and suddenly Ari wasn’t tired at all. How was she somehow more beautiful each time he saw her? It was like revisiting a classic artwork and finding new details to admire each time. The flattering curve of her neckline framing her inked collarbones. The adorable way she closed doors with a bump of her hip. Her unconsciously crossed fingers for luck as she stood in front of them, her presentation materials in hand. Sticky sweetness, creamy silk and utter lusciousness.

“Hi Ari.”

It was deeply, deeply unfair how right his name sounded on her lips.

She greeted Alistair as well but Ari paid so little attention she could have called his friend a frothing wanker and he would’ve just smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Hi Juno. You may start whenever you’re ready.”

Her pitch presentation was excellent, of course. She had taken the very broad tagline assigned to her for a fictional bank (‘Secure your tomorrow, today’) and built a multi-channel brand campaign around it. The main outdoor component built trust and brand awareness with the public, targeting high corporate density areas to specifically drive business customers to the bank. Not many of the other students had managed to nail that particular part of the brief. She had mock-ups of billboards superimposed in real life locations, print ads (because the demographic of people who made the financial decisions for large businesses still read newspapers) and even a rough storyboard for social videos (for tech-forward startups and smaller fish).

Ari had the oddest sensations coursing through him. Satisfaction at how well she had done. Astonishment over just how much she had taken in everything he had been teaching. A lingering dread, as he couldn’t see how this omega in front of him was the same one who would attack a fellow student, particularly in light of Priya’s odd behaviour yesterday.

And finally, possessiveness, because it was preposterous that this brilliant, competent omega was not his.

Ari ran his hand through his hair, blinking hard to try and clear the alpha fog. He stared at her presentation boards, willing himself to find something, anything to distract him.

“The logo,” he said suddenly. He pointed at her main outdoor ad. “Would be better in the other corner as it would follow the direction of the action better.”

There, now she could think he was an asshole.

He looked up at her and instead of annoyance or frustration, she had a triumphant little smile.

“I blue-boated you, Ari.”

Juno reached down and pulled out an identical mock-up of her outdoor ad — save for the logo which she had placed…in the exact corner he had just told her to.

God fucking dammit.

It all went back to his very first lecture. The fable of the blue boat — a deliberate design choice (i.e. a blue boat) placed for the sole purpose of giving clients something to give feedback on. Everything’s great, just get rid of the blue boat.

Ari glanced at Alistair who was watching this all unfold gleefully. Oh, you’re fucked, his knowing little smirk said.

Alistair didn’t waste a single second once Juno thanked them and shut the door behind her.

“She’s yours, isn’t she?”

Ari shut his notebook with a loud smack. “You are too observant for your own good, you miserable gobshite,” he muttered with no real heat.

“Do you ever wonder what you would do if you found your scent match?” Alistair mimicked Ari, putting on a truly offensive falsetto. “I don’t need to be Sherlock bloody Holmes to solve that mystery.” He leaned forward on his arms so he could get a good look at Ari. “Christ, how have you dealt with having her in your class the whole semester?”

Ari busied himself with tidying up a day’s worth of takeaway coffee cups. “By not wanting or needing an omega,” he said waspishly.

Alistair levelled him a look that said he was letting that particular comment slide for now but they would be revisiting it later. “Well, she’s clearly very bright and doesn’t strike me at all as a racist so you’re already doing better than me,” he said diplomatically.

“Though I have a whole host of other problems.” Ari pointed with his chin at the order of presentation, reminding Alistair that Juno was still his student.

“Well, she won’t be your student any longer once you grade her. And she’s not even from our faculty so you won’t have any further influence over her education.” Alistair rose, shrugging his jacket over his shoulders. “Ethically a little grey but certainly not illegal — is what I would tell you as a friend.” He pushed his chair back under the table with a definitive thud. “As Head of Advertising, however, I would direct you to the university’s code of conduct.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want an omega.”

Ari could feel Alistair’s pitying gaze burning into his back.

“You have to get past what Amelia did eventually, Ari.”

Hearing her name still sent chills along his spine. Ari didn’t know how to respond to that so he didn’t. He felt enormously tired all of a sudden and thought wistfully of his couch as the two of them made their way into the hall.

Only to see Priya’s open hand descending on Juno’s cheek, slapping her so hard the omega was thrown against the wall.