Page 39 of In Doubt

The man pales, mumbling some pathetic apology, and I push my chair back and march away, not sure where I’m going until I walk straight into the path of the omega in question.

Seriously, how the hell does she do that?

“Oh sorry,” she says, her cheeks blazing crimson.

“No, it was my fault,” I say. My shoulders heave up and down and my jaw is so tense it might snap.

She stares into my face with a look of dismay. “What’s wrong?” she gasps, shrinking away from me.

And the tension, the anger snaps away. I feel ashamed, my body sagging. “Dudes talking shit. It got up my nose.”

“What shit?” she asks, peering behind me.

“It doesn’t matter.” I don’t want her to know about the crap men say about omegas. For some reason, I don’t want to hurt her feelings. She probably likes those guys. She probably considers them friends.

She nods, hugging her hands around her middle and we both stand there in silence. I feel that need to take her in my arms again and decide I’d better avert that course of action before it’s too late.

This girl is my competition. The one thing standing between me and my place on Professor’s Weaver’s research team. My opportunity to undertake the research I want to. To prove my ideas and theories. To make a name for myself. To prove to my parents I’m worthy of their attention.

I’d do well to remember that and get my head back in the game. Stop being distracted by her intoxicating scent, and the softness of her lips, and the way her bare shoulders rise and fall or her hair rustles against her collar bone…

And … shit shit shit!

I need to stop being such a giant dickwad. Stop being so goddamn nice. Treat her like the opposition. Be ruthless.

I shove my hands into my pocket.

That’s going to be easier said than done. Especially when she peers up at me through her eyelashes.

“I’ve got to go,” I lie. “Car’s waiting.”

She smiles at me. All wide and genuine. She’s had two glasses of wine. That’s all it is probably. She wouldn’t usually be smiling at me like that otherwise.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” She curls her hair behind her ear, wrist brushing against the slender column of her neck. I fucking gulp. “Thank you again for sweet talking Professor Weaver.”

“It was nothing,” I mumble, trying my best to ignore the warm sensation blossoming in my chest at her thanks. I stride away quickly before I give it too much thought, before I give in to the temptation to reach out and kiss her again.

Kissing her is a bad idea. Then she’ll meld herself well and truly under my skin and that ruthlessness I need to secure my spot will disappear in a puff of smoke.

You can’t kiss a fucking girl, then be her cold-hearted opponent the next moment. At least I can’t. That’s not how I operate. The alpha instincts to care, to protect, to defend, kick in and I’m well and truly doomed.

I’m not handing this research place to her on a plate. I’ve worked hard. It’s been no easy feat juggling a Masters degree and my position on the rugby team. Most of the men don’t give a shit about their studies. I’m competing against them for my place. I have to work twice as hard for mine.

I storm through the hotel lobby and out to the front of the hotel. It’s silent here and empty. No one else about. I lean against the wall and breathe. Then I stab at my phone, instructing the driver to get here as fast as he can. Ten minutes later, he’s swinging into the hotel drive and I don’t waste a minute ducking inside the vehicle and speeding the hell away.

I’m thankful to find my packmates still up when I arrive at the villa.

They’re gathered around the pool nursing glasses of whisky. I pour myself a large measure and knock it back before slumping into a chair next to Aiden.

All three of them wait for me to speak and when I don’t, Aiden kicks my foot. “Good evening, then?” he asks.

I open my mouth to speak, then shake my head and swipe the whisky bottle from the table, chugging two long gulps straight from the neck.

“That bad, huh?” Levi says.

“Probably worse,” I mutter, flinging back my head and staring up at the sky. Stars litter the black blanket in such volume they merge into one long smudge of white light, streaking across the heavens. On any other night I’d be lost for hours looking up at that sky. Tonight I’m too lost inside my own head, in the contradictory emotions crashing through my body.

“Are you going to tell us about it?” Aiden prods. “You’ll probably feel better if you do.”