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My hand wildly searches for the knob behind me, and I practically fall into the room when I do. I’m in a daze as I close the door behind me. Did that really happen?
“You feeling better now?” Ry asks, startling the piss out of me.
I blow out a deep breath and shake off whatever happened with Jedrik. I’ll have to dissect that later. Ry motions for me to turn my back to him and allow him to unzip my dress. “Now that the ones I like are safe, you mean?”
I turn to catch his knowing smirk. “Um, no. I have ears, Ver. I’m talking about whatever happened in the hallway right now with Jedrik.”
“Sorry, I’m a little flustered,” I respond, loving the way his skin grazes mine as he helps drag the dress off of me.
Seeming to understand I want time to process, he switches topics. “What’s with you and that Kyle guy? Seems like he snatched you up out of nowhere after his interview ended. I went to find you at Rosey’s station, but you were gone, so I plundered the snack table.”
Remembering Kyle and I’s cute little mini rendezvous has my cheeks heating. “He took me on a mini date. I think...” I trail off, thinking about how I want to approach this subject.
Ryland knows me, though. “You like him?”
I nod. “Yeah, I do. There’s a spark between us.”
“More than Andrik or Jedrik?”
“No, about the same, if I’m honest. But you know I’ve always been a sucker for the assertive ones. Kyle surprised me.”
Ry laughs. “Oh, I know, Ver Bear.” He places a soft kiss against my neck as he helps me into some comfy pajamas he already picked out for me. “Come on, you need your beauty sleep after all that. I’m worried your little episode means you’re not getting enough rest.”
I know better than to argue with Ry when he’s like this. Instead, I hop into my nest wanting the comfort and snuggle against his side, glad to have the first elimination finally over with. I’m one step closer to finding out who my pack will be.
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new start to the week.
Too bad Mondays always fucking suck.
Chapter 23
Emmett
My footsteps are rhythmic as I pace the small exam room where all of Verity’s assessments happen. It feels like an eternity has passed since the last time I saw my sweet little omega. I check the time on my watch for the umpteenth time. Shit. It’s only been two minutes since I last looked. My alpha instincts are screaming at me even though I saw her yesterday. The way my heart practically leapt out of my chest when I found out she’d almost collapsed…
I run my hands through my hair and take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart and nerves. I’m acting like an alpha on the cusp of a rut. Verity’s scent has become like a drug. My little omega fills my every waking thought, and my dreams too, for that matter.
My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. A sudden dryness overtakes my mouth, and my heart rate speeds up in nervous excitement. Fuck. Her arrival is so bittersweet. She can never be mine, but her presence calms my alpha instincts like we’re already mated. Even though my hands are slightly shaky from holding myself back.
I’m a doctor… I should be able to control myself better than this. Yet all of that goes out the window when Verity is near. I can’t seem to remember anything beyond how her scent calls to the basest part of me… How did I let things get so far?
“Come in,” I call out, trying my damndest to sound calm and collected. She swings the door open and her mouthwatering pear scent wafts to me. It solves my dry mouth issue, and I have to grip the clipboard in my hands harder in an effort to keep myself from striding to her and taking her into my hold. Seeing her in that state yesterday has only heightened my internal drive to claim her as mine.
She smiles and takes an excited step in my direction. Instinctually, she reaches her arm out like she needs to touch me before catching herself. She immediately bites her lip while folding her arms across her chest to keep from doing it again.
The electric pull between us is becoming harder for each of us to ignore the more time we spend together. It’s like her actions mirror my own, trying to keep herself from crossing the fine line between us, the one that disappears more every day.
“Dr. Em.” My name is a breathy sigh spilling from her lips.
It makes something snap inside me. “Emmett. Please, call me Emmett.” I need to hear her say my name. If I can’t taste her sweet lips for myself, at least my name can be intimate with them.
Her eyes widen in surprise and search my face, trying to figure out why I’m suddenly making this request. A shiver visibly runs down her spine at whatever she finds lurking in my expression. She’s done about as well as I have at hiding the desire we feel toward one another and even though she fights it like I do, I know she wants me as much as I want her.
“Emmett,” she breathes, taking a hesitant step closer to me. Hearing my name is as sweet as I’ve dreamed about, and now that she’s murmured it into existence, I realize how big of a mistake I’ve made. I’ve given in to my desires, toed the line a little closer. Pushed boundaries that shouldn’t be tested. I’m her damn doctor, for crying out loud.
She’s off limits. No matter how many times I lecture myself on that truth, I can’t seem to convince my body. I’ve claimed her, and every moment with her is a challenge to keep myself from sinking my teeth in her, of giving her my mating bite.
My dreams will now be filled with nothing but the sound of her saying my name on a moan. Of touching her in all the ways my body urges me to. I can imagine her taking my knot perfectly, locking us into place like only an alpha and omega can. I take an unbidden step toward her, my body acting on its own accord. This is getting dangerous. I should recuse myself. Find someone who can replace me…
