She fell quiet as I sat down, straightening up and then forcing myself to meet her eyes.
“The message you so intrusively took upon yourself to read,” I began, and she nodded. “It…alerted me to something I wasn’t aware of.” I took a long breath in, then let it out again. “The reason why I jumped at the chance to work here rather than in one of the more high-profile business units is because I am a latent.”
“No.” Her mouth fell open at that.
“I…became aware that I could’ve potentially revealed as an omega some time at uni,” I said, then shook my head. “No, before that. I used to have dreams…” As my voice trailed away, I could see it, hear her—my wolf, her paws slamming into the earth as she raced across it, every muscle working to push her forward. I blinked and saw Candy watching me, suddenly serious. “It doesn’t matter, because we have to keep that side of things out of the study.”
“But, Riley—”
“I’m serious. I don’t want anyone knowing. I know it skews the data and is a conflict of interest. We’ll invent an anonymous omega to explain that in the study.”
“But why? There’s no shame in being a latent. Thousands of people are, most with no idea what they are.” Candy leaned forward, all soft-eyed right now, and I hated it, never wanted to see that kind of expression, ever.
“It’s not me,” I replied. “I’m a beta. I know that deep inside.”
Did I? Or was that the message I’d been told over and over, until finally, I’d accepted it? It didn’t matter. This was my life now, and I wasn’t messing that up for anyone.
“But I’ve become aware of some…phenomena that I can’t find any clinical records of, and when I spoke to Haze this morning—”
“Bitch, I told you not to call him! How am I supposed to live vicariously through your torrid love affair with five smoking hot alphas if you don’t follow the plan?” She smacked the side of one hand against her other palm. “Never call him first. Let him do the chasing.”
“He was ecstatic that I called, thanks for asking, told me he was taking me out to lunch today, and then jerked off, I think.”
“Oh.”
“But that’s not the big thing.” I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, looking everywhere but at Candy, until finally, I was forced to.
“Something happened last night.”
“God, you fucked on the first date? I’m not sure if I should high-five you or slap you.”
“Shut up, Furby,” I snapped, then let out a sigh.
I told her what went down, sort of, skimming over as many details as I could while still getting the message across. Her eyebrows jerked higher and higher until I swore they were going to pop off her head and run around the room unassisted.
“So…you were strumming the old clamjo, and as you imagined them doing nasty, nasty things to you, they felt it. Fuuuuck…” she hissed.
“Worse. Apparently, they’ve always felt this,” I said, dropping my head against my palm. “Since I was a teenager.”
“So every time you…” Candy blinked frantically. “Fuck, I used to flick the bean so damn often during my formative years, my clit was punch-drunk. Damn…” But then that keen scientific mind came back on board. “But this, this is why they think you’re their mate. You’re responding to them like an omega. Shit, maybe this is what happens before an alpha pack finds their omega? They are psychically linked through sexual arousal, allowing you to acclimate to them before—”
We both jumped when we heard a sharp knock on my door.
“Is that him?” she squeaked.
“I don’t know,” I whispered back. “Open the damn door.”
She got to her feet, making a show of smoothing her clothes and hair before approaching the door and pulling it open.
“Well, hello there, ladies,” Haze said, leaning his too muscular arms against the frame. “Were you talking about me?”
We just stood there, struck dumb by the sight of him as he straightened, then strolled in. The old T-shirt with the sleeves ripped out had been replaced by a crisp white button-up that somehow made him look more pornographic, particularly since the sleeves were rolled up over thick, tattooed forearms. He wore a pair of black jeans with boots, but his dark hair still hung in a shaggy mess. He swept it back and off his forehead, a crooked smile on his face as he noted our rapt attention.
“You’ll have to excuse Riley today, Candy,” he said, moving behind my desk and holding out a hand to me, his blue eyes burning into mine. “She’s hungry, I can feel it, and I can’t relax until that’s satisfied.”
What the fuck!she mouthed at me as he drew me out from behind the desk and towards the door, his hand wrapped around mine.
“We can’t walk around here holding hands,” I hissed at him as I jerked my hand free. “I told my boss you guys would actually follow through on the study you lot signed up for.”