8. Isaac

8

ISAAC

When Isaac selected Ollie for his pack, one of the reasons was because he was the least dramatic of all their siblings.

He was making Isaac reconsider things today.

“Ollie, go finish getting changed and come back. You look like a lunatic.”

Ollie had three shirt buttons undone, his tie loose and flung over his shoulder and one scuffed dress shoe on. He was pacing back and forth in front of them, his steps making uneven clunking sounds. Isaac resisted the urge to tell him off for wearing shoes in the house.

“How could she not be there? Never thought we’d go to another one of those awful gala things again but I was so sure this time.” His hair was sticking up at strange angles because he’d been tugging on it so hard.

“I wore a suit,” Everett interjected morosely. “I never wear a suit.”

“You don’t like suits?” Miles asked with a curious tilt of his head.

“Neck’s too fat for the collar.”

“It’s not too fat, it’s too tree-trunky,” Miles said matter-of-factly, as he made a gesture at his own neck as if to indicate the width of Everett’s in comparison. “You can skip neck day at the gym next time.”

Isaac was surprised Miles’ face wasn’t blistered off with the force of Everett’s withering stare.

“It was a gamble.” Isaac stopped Ollie with a firm hand on his chest before plucking his shoe off for him like a child. He also untangled Ollie’s tie and pulled it off his head. “We have no idea if she’s even at the Omega Village.”

Ollie grasped his shoulders desperately. “I have to find her, Isaac. I’ve never—”

“Never reacted to an omega like that, I know. Ollie, I know.” Isaac was trying to be patient after hearing about this omega for two weeks now. “What do you want me to do? Track down everyone who booked a ticket at the Lume on that date?”

“Yes.” There was a crazy glint in his eye. “That’s exactly what I want you to do.”

Isaac gave a sideways glance to Miles, who was unsuccessfully trying to stifle his laughter. “Do you think he actually thinks I’m capable of that?”

Miles mimed shaking a magic 8 ball in his hand, pausing to read the apparent prediction. “Signs point to yes.” He held out his hands like he expected Isaac to take it from him.

The fucking cheek of him. Isaac’s eyes narrowed. “You’re such a brat.” Miles blew him a kiss in reply and Isaac suddenly had a very clear idea of what he wanted to do to that insolent mouth later. Miles’ complete lack of remorse coupled with horny excitement in their bond meant he was very much on board.

“Hello?” Ollie stuck his head in front of Isaac, disrupting the eyefucking Miles was giving him. “How can you be CFO and not be able to help me?”

“Do you know what a CFO is? I’m basically an accountant. It’s not my money.”

“Then why is our house so big?!” Ollie threw his hands up in exasperation as Miles lost his battle with the giggles.

Isaac looked back and forth between a shaking Miles and Everett being a silent statue. “Help me,” he demanded through clenched teeth.

Everett shrugged but Miles stood up and slung an arm over Ollie’s back. “Ok Ollie, let’s calm down and go with a new plan tomorrow. Yes, the courtship gala was a bust but I did end up chatting with one of the officers for a bit. I’ll see if I can get in touch and maybe find her that way.”

“You’d do that for me?” Ollie’s frazzled expression melted into a puppy dog stare.

“Of course. You’re my brother.”

Ollie squeezed the life out of Miles with a crushing hug. “Thank you.” He released him, looking much more calm. “I get sad when you send peach emojis in the chat, by the way.”

“I know I’m sorry. I’ll stop.”

“Don’t stop.” Everyone turned to look at Everett, who had the sense to look slightly abashed. “I think it’s funny.”

Isaac wondered if this omega was even aware of the seismic earthquake she’d set off in his pack.

* * *

“Yes, please courier it over ASAP. The address you have on file is correct. The cost is no issue, just send me the invoice. Thank you.”

Isaac hung up the phone, staring at the screen in disbelief. Miles hit a wall that morning getting in touch with the NOC officer (he cited ‘privacy and security reasons’ for being unable to talk about any of the omegas at the Village and Ollie screamed into a pillow), so the last thing he expected was a call from the scent matching department.

There was no way to tell if the file on its way over to the house contained details of Ollie’s mystery omega but something in his gut said it did. He left work immediately with a rushed request to his assistant to block out his day, dialling the others as he did so.

“Pack meeting at the house. Now.”

Isaac very rarely, if ever, pulled rank as prime alpha of their pack. Everett and Miles agreed immediately, with Miles even managing to forgo any sort of impertinent quip. Ollie was already home working, or rather ‘working’ with quotation marks because he had been unhinged for the last fortnight.

He probably broke several traffic laws doing so, but Isaac managed to beat the courier home. He found Ollie in his room lying facedown on the bed.

“Ollie.”

“Mmfmm? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“We have a courier arriving with a file from NOC’s scent matching department.”

The last time Isaac had seen Ollie move that fast, he was 10 and their Nanay asked who wanted the last lumpiang shanghai.

“Is it her?”

“I don’t know.” Isaac placed a calming hand on Ollie’s shoulder. “It could be. I’ve called Everett and Miles home as well. We’ll open it together.”

“Kuya…”

Hearing Ollie call him big brother like he used to as a child tugged something in his heart. Isaac pulled him into a hug.

“Come on, I’ll make you something to eat while we wait.”

The courier arrived at the same time Miles did. Everett joined them shortly afterwards. They all gathered around the dining room table, staring at Isaac as he opened it like he was diffusing a bomb.

Isaac slid the contents out on the table — a sealed scent card, a USB stick and a glossy photo. Blonde, tattooed, defiant and utterly beautiful.

“It’s her.” Ollie looked like he was about to cry. He picked up the photo reverently, before turning it over. “Her name is Juno Liu. She’s 24.”

Miles gave a low whistle. “She’s gorgeous, Ollie.”

Everett picked up the scent card. “Can I open this?”

Ollie smirked, his expression brighter than it had been in days. “Only if you want to be completely knocked on your ass.”

Everett tore the perforated edge of the plastic and Juno’s sweet peaches and cream omega scent emerged. It was so discordant to the girl who wore her ink like armour in the photo. Soft and intensely vulnerable. A late night secret indulgence shared in the dark, lit only by the refrigerator and eaten straight from the bowl, used spoons quietly stuck in the sink without clattering. The urge to care for her and see her happy sat restlessly in his chest.

Isaac could tell the others weren’t having the same reaction.

Ollie’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he hit the table with his fist. “God if her scent smells this good, I can’t even imagine how she tastes.”

Isaac knew what Everett looked like when an omega was a scent match. This wasn’t it. But there was a tightness in his jaw, his expression calm on the surface, tumultuous beneath.

He looked over at Miles and was surprised at how tense he was. Betas weren’t as strongly affected by omega scents but it didn’t mean they were immune. Desire simmered in the bond.

But not for Isaac.

“Miles.”

They’d talked about it before, of course. Early on before bonding, Miles asked if he was just a way to pass time until Isaac found his omega. But as their relationship grew, it was clear they had found something that was uniquely theirs, beyond designation and unable to be replicated. Sometimes in the quiet of the night curled together, they spoke about what their pack might look like in the future, deciding that there might come a day when Isaac would find an omega. But it wouldn’t diminish what the two of them shared.

They never imagined a scenario where Miles would want an omega.

“Isaac, you know I—”

Isaac cupped the back of his neck, turning their bodies slightly to give the two some privacy. His next words were low, just for Miles. “What we’ve spoken about in the past…I didn’t make it clear but it does go both ways. Of course it goes both ways.”

“It’s nowhere near as strong as what Ollie feels ’cause you know, I can’t really biologically have a scent match,” he said with a matter-of-fact sort of laugh. “But it’s also not nothing.”

Isaac sent reassurance down the bond to him. “Then you should be given the chance to explore it. I think it’s pretty clear we’ll be courting her as a pack regardless.”

Miles gave him a discerning look. “You’re not drawn to her scent?”

Isaac hummed. “Not romantically. She feels like she belongs though.”

Ollie cleared his throat, clearly impatient but wanting to be respectful of them. “What’s on this?” he asked, picking up the USB.

Isaac took it from him. “The woman from the scent matching department said it was a video message from her.”

They piled around the TV as Isaac slid the USB into the slot, getting it right on the first try. Miles called him a warlock.

Juno appeared on screen, larger than life as she seemed to be adjusting her phone. Her brow was furrowed and she had her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

“Is it recording? Shit, let me check.”

She reached towards the phone again but knocked it to the floor, the screen shaking as it fell.

“Fucking hell.”

“I love her,” Ollie whispered, earning a light smack on the back of his head from Everett.

Juno reappeared and shook off her technical mishap, seating herself down so she was centred in frame. It looked like she was in her bedroom, soft daylight streaming in and the edge of her rumpled bed in the corner. The wall behind her had sketches taped all over it, filled with skulls, insects, flowers, birds and a whole host of other similar imagery. She gave a nervous wave and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Hi, I’m Juno. I’m 24 and live in the Omega Village.”

Miles perked up. “Hey, she was there, just not at the courtship gala.” Ollie shushed him, waving his hands frantically.

“I’m studying Graphic Design at SCCA. I also draw creepy beautiful things. I hope you like spiders.” She chuckled lightly. “I found your pack through the scent matching department here at NOC. Ollie, it’s nice to put a name to the face and the scent. I hope you remember me.”

Everett huffed. “He definitely remembers you.”

“I’m…sorry I ran from you that day. The truth is the only reason I’m seeking a pack is because my heat suppressants are failing. I know on paper I’m not the most ideal omega. I’m older. I’ve been bonded before. It was not my choice. Any of it.”

She put on a brave smile, subconsciously rubbing her neck. No one made a sound, the air thick with tension and fury.

“I’m not sure if you heard of the bond dissolution trials NOC are running but I went through it. I’ve avoided alphas since. Couldn’t even imagine stepping into the door of one of those courtship gala things. Still not even sure if I’ll ever want to bond anyone again. Don’t worry, I’ve been working on it with my therapist.”

Juno scrunched up her nose. “Is that TMI? Sorry. I want to be honest with you all even if it hurts my chances. The scent matching department omegas said I should put my best foot forward with this video but I’m not trying to be the perfect omega. I just want to be…me.”

Her expression was so pure and unguarded a lump formed in Isaac’s throat.

“My life as an omega hasn’t been the best one, and I can’t promise a normal or easy courtship. But I would like the chance to build a home, a family. I’ve never really had that.”

The video ended, frozen on her gentle, slightly melancholy expression.

“Isaac, please. She’s mine.”

He’d never seen his ordinarily carefree little brother like this. A hungry desperation on his face, limbs coiled like he wanted to leap into the TV and comfort the omega on screen.

“I’ll call NOC now,” Isaac promised.

* * *

Isaac didn’t have to turn around to know who had stepped into his office. He poured a second glass of whiskey and slid it over to where Everett’s large body sank in the chair across from his own. He took a sip as Everett threw his back, his blunt face expressionless as he set the empty glass back down again.

“She’s not your scent match, is she?”

Everett let out a humourless laugh. “No. You know she’s not.”

“There’s no rule that says you only get one.” Isaac watched Everett pour himself another glass and pointedly moved the bottle out of reach after he was done. Everett glared at him over the rim as he dutifully sipped. “Will it be a problem?” Isaac asked directly.

“No, of course not,” Everett replied without artifice. “I wouldn’t deny Ollie the chance to know his scent match. She’s not yours either, I take it?”

Isaac shook his head. “I’m surprised Miles reacted to her though,” he said after a beat.

“Yeah, didn’t expect that one.” Everett gave him a side-long look. “Jealous?”

He thought about it for a moment. “No,” he replied honestly. “Curious more than anything, really.”

“I guess the chances of all of us finding our scent match in one omega was pretty slim,” Everett admitted.

Scent matches were so arbitrary. There was no litmus test for it nor a universally agreed upon checklist for the phenomenon. Some professed to have an entire pack of them while others went their whole lives without encountering one. Others left (usually beta) partners when they found theirs. How much of it was biology like they all claimed and how much was an easy cover for shitty behaviour? Or just plain old wishful thinking? But his Nanay and Ba were scent matches — the only one in their family’s pack — so Isaac couldn’t discount the value of them completely.

“First impressions?” Isaac prompted.

“Her scent is pleasant but nothing like…you know,” Everett averted his gaze but continued. “But I’m not immune to how vulnerable she was in that video. Bonded against her will and going through experimental treatments to break it? Christ. Gives me heartburn just thinking about it.” He rubbed his chest in discomfort. “What about you?”

“Similar,” Isaac replied. “It’s like I know her, even though we’ve never met,” he said quietly, almost to himself.

“I guess we won’t really know until we see her at NOC in a few days.”

They drank their whiskey in silence, contemplating the new trajectory their pack was now taking.