Page 43 of Written in Scent

I wait until I’m sure he is out of earshot before I speak again.

“Jamie is probably hurting more than he’s letting on,” I mutter to Adrian and Chase. “After what happened upstairs between him and Elodie… she trusted him enough to let him help her through the spike, and then she still walked away. That kind of rejection from our omega is going to cut deep.”

Adrian nods, expression thoughtful. “He’s been carrying a torch for her longer than the rest of us realized. The rose, the backpack, all those eager attempts. This one would have stung.”

Chase rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. The guy is upstairs right now trying to pull himself together after she basically told him it will never happen again.”

I sigh and lean against the back of the couch. “We need to give him some space, but we also need to make sure he knows he’s not alone in this. None of us are. She may not want a pack right now, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s ours.”

The words linger between us, heavy and true. Upstairs, I hear the faint sound of drawers opening as Jamie changes clothes. He will be back down soon.

And when he does, we’re going to need a plan.

A real one.

Because walking away from Elodie is no longer an option.

The stairs creak faintly. Jamie comes back down a couple of minutes later wearing fresh sweatpants and a clean t-shirt. His hair is still slightly mussed, like he ran his hands through it a dozen times upstairs instead of taking a shower. He looks tired in a way that has nothing to do with the late hour.

He stops at the edge of the living room, hands shoved in his pockets. For a second he just stares at the floor.

“I have been trying for weeks now,” his voice is thick. “I really— I thought that she was saying yes. To us. Earlier, when she asked for my help.”

The words land heavily. I can see how much it costs him to say them out loud.

I step forward and rest a hand on his shoulder before just pulling him into a hug and keeping him there. “She trusted you enough to let you help her through the heat spike, Jamie. That’s not nothing. That means something. She chose you when her body was screaming for an alpha. That kind of trust doesn’t come from nowhere.”

Jamie gives a small, tired nod, but I can tell the reassurance only takes the edge off.

Adrian leans forward, elbows on his knees. “We need to compare notes. All of us. Everything we know about her.”

We settle in without another word. Chase drops onto the couch. Jamie sits on the arm of the chair. Adrian pulls out his phone like he’s ready to take actual notes. I stay standing, arms crossed, listening as the pieces start to come together.

“She’s studying a science subject,” Adrian begins. “She was reading an advanced biology text when I saw her first. She’s dedicated, smart.”

Jamie smiles faintly. “She had a notebook with her the day I gave her the rose. She kept it close like it was precious.”

Chase rubs his jaw. “She was gentle with that caterpillar in the woods. Even when she was mad at me, she still stopped to move it to safety. She cares about things most people would step on.”

I add what I saw. “She was on her knees in the grass doing a survey. Completely lost in her work. Happy and focused. She’s studying entomology on the specialized track. When I saw her that day… she doesn’t want to be the center of attention. She wants to disappear into her research.”

We keep going, layering detail on detail. Her shyness. Her independence. The way she politely but decidedly shut down every advance from Jamie. The fact that she’s the first omega in her family and was raised by betas. How she values her studies above everything.

Adrian taps his phone screen. “She’s not a typical omega. Traditional courting won’t work. We can’t rush her. We need her consent before we even call it courting.”

I nod. “Then we build a plan that fits who she is. Quiet, thoughtful, academic. We show her what a pack can offer without taking anything away from the life she’s trying to build.”

Chase glances toward the stairs, voice low. “We should start preparing the nest. Just in case. Nothing obvious. Just… make it ready. Comfortable. Somewhere she would actually want to be if she ever changes her mind.”

The suggestion lands leniently, but we all feel the weight of it.

Jamie straightens a little. “Yeah. We can do that.”

I look around at my pack, at the determination filling each of them, and feel something solid click into place.

Elodie may not want a pack right now.

But we are going to show her what one could be.