Page 107 of In Doubt

“I think she’s been taking blockers this whole time,” he repeats. The buzzard swoops low over the tops of the trees, its high-pitched whistle ringing out.

“No, mate.” Levi grins at him a little. “That’s not possible. We’d know. You wouldn’t be able to smell her. And her scent … her scent is as clear as–”

“I saw her packet of scent blockers. A pill missing for each day. Including that day’s. Yet she smelled as strong as ever.”

Levi shakes his head, still not believing him.

“It makes sense,” he persists. “Giorgie’s too fucking sensible and organised not to take blockers. Besides which, she doesn’t trust alphas. Why would she leave herself exposed to every alpha in the vicinity?”

“She’s not that organised. She fucked up her suppressants, didn’t she?”

Jake sinks down on the lounger, considering that. “OK, so maybe she screws up and doesn’t take them every day. But that day’s pill was missing from that packet and she smelled like fucking heaven.”

I tip my head back, the aroma materialising in my nose, and my eyes falling shut as my gland tingles.

“It isn’t possible,” Levi insists. “You wouldn’t be able to smell her if she was on blockers.” He takes a long swig of his drink. Then swings his gaze back to Jake’s. “Unless …” he says.

“Unless,” Jake repeats.

“I can smell her too,” Levi says, “and you guys as well.” He motions to me and Dylan.

“I know.” Jake looks up at us all.

“You don’t believe in that shit, man,” I say to him.

“It doesn’t matter if I believe in that shit or not. I love her either way.”

“You love her?”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

I step towards him and push at his shoulder.

“What are you saying, Jake? You’ve found your soul mate? So what? You’re abandoning the pack? Does she even want to be with you?”

“I’m not abandoning the pack.”

I stare at him incredulous. “This makes no sense.”

“Aiden,” he says. “You can smell her too. We all can. She’s meant to be ours.”

My heart spasms. She’s meant to ours. But she won’t want me.

“She’ll blame me,” I whisper. “I had the phone. It was my fault she panicked. She’s never going to forgive me.”

Jake stands and places his hand on my shoulder, squeezing. “She doesn’t blame you.”

I fix him with a stare, meeting those dirty blue eyes of his. “But you do?”

Jake’s grip on my shoulder falters. “What?”

“You blame me for this.”

“Aiden, no, I don’t. I blame the psycho who did this to her.”

“You came running into that bedroom and immediately,” I swallow down the bitterness and the hurt, “you jumped to conclusions. You thought the worse of me, mate. You all did.”

Jake hangs his head, his palm still resting on my shoulder.