Manix by Grace McGinty

3

Seven

Her scent threatened to drown me. Being in an enclosed space, where all I could smell was the beginning of her heat, and then under that, her own natural scent... well, it was killing me. Or at least killing my dick. My cock was so hard, I was pretty sure it was going to explode like an overfilled water balloon.

The car had fallen silent since Finlo had done a U-turn on the freeway and headed back through Missoula toward Lolo. Made sense why she would live out of Missoula, and separate her two lives, especially if she had a kid. Guess she didn’t want anyone to know she was a stripper, but it made sense to me. Even humans were susceptible to the kinds of pheromones she was throwing off right now. If we hadn’t hit the fire alarm, she would have made a bucketload tonight.

A little guilt snuck up on me, but then I remembered that if everything went well, she’d be ours and we would make sure she never needed a damn thing ever again. Both her and her offspring.

My nose twitched, and I second-guessed myself. I had a highly sensitive olfactory sense, or at least that’s what Ellar said. Better than most other Manix, which was why I was able to pick up this female’s scent from the mountains.

It was better than most Alphas I knew. Hell, I was stronger than every Beta in Maxton, which was why it had been so hard for me to find a Pack that would take me, despite my good bloodlines. The only ones who would even consider me were this ragtag bunch of half-bloods and misfits, and I’d never been more fucking thankful that they’d looked past the attitude and the hierarchy than I was at this very moment.

It was because of my annoying nose that I was wondering if there even was a kid. I could smell information about people—which sounds fucking weird, and I guess it kind of was. But I could scent that this female had never bred. I didn’t mention it though, because one, I’d already put the pretty Omega offside... uh, twice now. Two, because there was the scent of young on her stuff; I just didn’t think it was her young. Better to see what it was all about before I made any sweeping statements that got me even further up the shitlist.

She seemed content in the Alpha’s arms up the front, and a pang of something—not jealousy, but something like it—hit me in the chest.

Unworthiness, maybe?

I hadn’t been good enough for a Pack, so why would I be good enough for the last female Omega on the fucking planet?

“Seven,” Raiden said softly, looking over his shoulder. His eyes were soft, and I reached out a hand to touch him.

“I’m fine, Omega,” I whispered softly. His eyes narrowed like he was going to call me on my bullshit, but he resisted. Thank fuck. Ellar, the other Beta in our Pack, sent me a worried look too, but kept his mouth firmly shut.

We rolled through Lolo, and it looked like a cookie tin picture of a small town in the Montana mountains. Finlo didn’t ask for directions, which meant he was probably getting them off his cellphone. We might live isolated from humans, but that didn’t mean time had passed us by. Honestly, I couldn’t have gotten through the last decade without video games.

I grabbed the Omega’s oversized tote, and found a sweater dress and some flip flops.

“Alpha,” I barked, passing the clothes to Ellar. “The Omega might be more comfortable arriving home dressed in more than a thong.”

The Omega’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror as she snatched the clothes from Ellar. “I wouldn’t be in a thong if you hadn’t abducted me. Pull over,” she demanded, turning to glare at Finlo.

Surprisingly, Finlo complied. Watching her like she was a rattlesnake, we let her step out of the car, and shuck the dress over her head. She paused, eyeing the distance for a moment, before climbing back into the car again. With agility that was only really granted to short people, she maneuvered into the middle row of seats, sitting between Raiden and Ellar again.

The silence this time was almost deafening. She’d voluntarily—or at least pseudo-voluntarily—got back into the van, which didn’t mean anything really. But it felt like it meant something.

The silence, as always, was too much for Ellar. “May we know your name?” he said softly, his entire body language non-confrontational. As a half-blood Beta, he’d been even worse off than Gatlin. But where Gatlin had had to forge his path, he’d taken Ellar under his wing almost immediately, protecting the softer Beta from the harshness of Manix life.

The girl looked at him but stayed silent, and I could see his little Beta heart breaking.

We eventually pulled up in front of a squat house painted bright pink—so pink I could see it in the dark. “Can I convince you guys to stay outside?”

Gatlin looked over his shoulder, and gave her a single shake of his head.

She huffed. “Can you wait until I send the babysitter home before you come in then? I’d rather the good folk of Lolo didn’t think I was running a fucking brothel out of my rental.”

There was a tense silence, and Raiden huffed. “Of course, Omega. You aren’t a prisoner. We request that you listen to our plea, but then if you wish, we will leave and go back to our home.”

She gave him another narrow-eyed glare, but it vanished nearly immediately. Raiden was very disarming. I had the opposite effect though.

She climbed out over his lap, holding her hand out for her tote bag. I hefted it between the seats to her, and she stomped off toward the front door. We sat in the darkness, not even a street light illuminating the interior of the car.

“She could be calling the cops,” Finlo said.

Gatlin shook his head. “No, I know her type. She won’t call the cops. She might run though.”

The disquiet that ran through the car at the thought was nearly a living thing. “She can run, but I will find her again,” I said confidently, and Ellar snorted.

“Show off.” He frowned. “I don’t know how you’re still walking. Just the faint hints of her heat and I’m choking on air,” he whispered, and I decided to play it tough and pretend I wasn’t ready to fuck the tailpipe of this Mom-Van.

Gatlin made an uncomfortable sound from the front. “No one pressures her. If she kicks us out, we leave. We aren’t our brethren of old. We are better. A willing Omega or no Omega.”

Raiden nodded. “Of course, Alpha. But if Seven can smell her heat now, eventually those with less impressive noses will scent her and come down from the mountains. We both know that not all Packs have our beliefs.”

A low growl rumbled in my chest, and I tried to squash it down out of habit. No one would beat me down for my dominance in this pack, but old habits died hard.

“Then we stay and protect, warn her about what might be coming, and then when her heat is over, we leave. She’ll know the dangers she faces then if she stays here. She’ll probably move on.”

Raiden whined, and Ellar pulled him into his arms. We slid back into silence as the minutes dragged on.

I was beginning to worry that Gatlin was correct about her running when the blue front door opened and a teenage girl walked out, sliding into a beat-up car that whirred like bees caught in a bottle as she sped away. The door opened again, and the Omega was there. She eyed the van like she could set it on fire with her mind, but eventually she lifted her chin, motioning us into the house.

We were stealthy, protecting her reputation as much as possible. Luckily, despite our size, Manix were actually built for stealth. It was what made us such good warriors. Semi-shifting, a light coating of fur slid down our skin, making us blend with the darkness.

We slipped through the Omega’s door like shifting shadows in the night, and she closed it gently behind us.

Finally, she stank of fear. “What the fuck are you guys?”

Finlo looked down at her—hell, she couldn’t be more than five-two—and grinned. “Manix.”