Page 6 of In Doubt

I peer over Sia’s shoulder to read the schedule.

“Who is?” Sia asks.

“Jake and his ninja turtles,” I whisper.

Sia snorts at my joke. “Professor Weaver won’t allow that.”

“Professor Weaver has never had to deal with a group of alphas.”

“Exactly,” Carl lowers his voice. “And we know what their reputation is like.”

The professor may be a battleaxe of a beta, but she has no experience when it comes to a pack of alphas. I live with one. My brother’s. It’s a hell of a lot of testosterone.

This trip means the world to me, and securing my place on the professor’s team means even more. I can’t believe Jake’s prepared to turn such an important trip, a once in a lifetime trip, into a lad’s tour.

“Well, more fool him,” I tell my friends. If Jake’s going to be distracted by his packmates and girls, that leaves me more opportunities to impress the professor.

This is my opportunity to impress.

I’m not going to let a bunch of boys ruin it for me.

2

Jake

Aeroplanes always give me a bloody migraine. The scents swirling in the recycled air are spearing right up my nostrils with no hope of a breath of fresh air for the entirety of the flight.

This flight is going to be a thousand times worse. In fact, this whole fucking trip is likely to involve a level of torture I’m frankly unprepared for.

I stare out the window at the endless bank of clouds reaching all the way to the horizon.

This is probably a bad idea. A very bad idea. It’s what I’ve been saying for the last six weeks, but somehow my goddamn pack talked me into going. They know how much this trip means to me.

The Ancient Egyptian temple they’ve unearthed on the edge of the Sahara desert is the biggest archeological find in several decades. The pictures I’ve seen blew my fucking mind and had my blood buzzing with excitement. It’s untouched, buried under layers and layers of golden sand, unvisited for centuries. Who knows what will be found inside its shadowy halls?

Every archeologist worth his fucking salt is heading out there over the next few weeks for the initial dig. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not only to see something truly awesome but to make connections and secure my future. Secure that spot on Professor Weaver’s team. Prove to my parents that I can be someone.

It’s why my pack is tagging along on this trip. It’s not something I can afford to miss and they want to provide the moral support I need to make it through this. Plus, the dickwads wouldn’t miss an opportunity for a holiday at a five star villa if it meant missing their grandmothers’ funerals.

I cough, trying to force the scent that’s driving me insane from my nose and my throat. Aiden rests a hand on my shoulder.

“Hanging in there, mate?” he asks with sympathy. He’s no doubt suffering too – Levi and Dylan as well – but none of them as badly as I am right now. It’s something about this goddamn scent that gets right up my nose – literally – and burrows under my skin.

I shake my head and my gaze floats down the aisle and lands on the omega who’s the cause of all my problems.

She’s sitting happily, unaware of the agony she’s putting me through, her book perched on her lap and her long tanned legs tucked underneath her. Her fingers tap playfully against her rosy, plump lips as her caramel eyes scan to and fro over the page behind her glasses. Shit!

She’s beautiful, smart and as passionate about archeology as I am. Plus an omega. With a scent that smells like ripe watermelon. Like paradise. She should be my dream woman.

But she’s the one thing standing in the way of achieving my dream. The opportunity to work for Professor Weaver next year. The professor is the best in the country and the work she’s doing right now is the most interesting.

I came to Crestmore University with the express ambition to claim that prestigious spot. Only to find this little omega standing firmly in my way.

It’s not all bad, though. I struck up a friendship with Aiden and found my place in this pack.

Aiden squeezes my shoulder, and I tear my eyes away.

“How much longer?” I ask through gritted teeth. My packmate taps on the screen in front of him.