Nautilus was beautiful. Everything that made up a classic grungy tattoo shop, but elevated. Dark, clean cement floors and strong lines emphasized by square columns. A mirror all along the back wall which reflected the natural light. This building was lucky—having storefront windows on two sides, so the natural light felt fresh and clean.
There were doors to what looked like private rooms, and a few stations out in the open, only a couple of them full. Bennett was one of the ones tattooing, and he hadn’t seen me yet. But I saw the others too. I knew their names now from stalking them on social media. Avery was finishing a tattoo on someone’s shoulder, and one of the doors was open.
Grays with splashes of spring green decorated the space, with a lush waiting area and monochromatic prints on the walls. With one exception.
Behind the reception desk, over the metal sign which read Nautilus, there was a painting. The paint was chunky, thick, and layered like it had been put onto the canvas with a palette knife, radiating out in an abstract spiral. A deep blue-violet which reminded me of tanzanite and a metallic gold which winked in the light. Streaks of black and white too, but it felt alive in this space.
It took my breath away.
I grabbed Eva’s hand, and she gasped too. “See? I told you.”
The other thing about this place was, it was like stepping into a candle store. Competing scents which were all so good, you didn’t know which direction to walk in first. “I need you to tell me if it smells like the world’s best perfume store in here, or if it’s just me.”
My sister laughed quietly. “That’s just you, babe.”
Fuck.
The receptionist—a petite woman with electric blue hair and every piercing imaginable looked up with a smile. “Hi there, welcome to Nautilus. How can I—” She faltered halfway through her sentence, eyes going wide as she realized who Eva was. “Oh, shit.”
Eva laughed. “They know we’re coming.”
Bennett looked up then, and it was like our gazes had snap-to-grid turned on the way they locked in place. He grinned, pulled off his glove, and turned without hesitation to reach behind him where a box of six huge cupcakes sat. Vanilla cake, swirled white frosting, just like I’d imagined him to be at the party. He picked one up and bit into it, never looking away.
“Holy shit,” Eva said, like she was inside my mind.
“What do I do?” I asked, breathless.
“Go talk to him, obviously.”
Handing her my sunglasses, I took a breath.
I was incredibly aware of myself as I walked, and the fact that Bennett was looking at me. Not only Bennett. Avery watched me, too. And Luke, who was sitting in a chair in the corner I hadn’t noticed before. I stopped just before I bumped into him—hopefully I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
This close, his warm vanilla cake and frosting scent wafted around me and holy god, it was just as good as the other night. “Hi.”
He smiled and licked what remained of the frosting from his fingers. “Want a cupcake?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. My mind was still a wasteland of blankness and anxiety. All I knew was that I was here, and they were all here, and I didn’t know what to do now. We never got this far, usually. The packs and I. They would have figured out the truth by now and I would have sent them on their way or they would have rescinded their application.
Bennett tugged on a new glove and leaned forward. “I’m glad you came. I have to finish this, and it won’t take long. Would you be okay waiting in our office while Avery and I finish so we can all talk to you?”
It wasn’t a dismissal. Nothing about the way he was looking at me was anything less than focused. But there was still a man lying face down on the tattoo bench, and I didn’t think he would be pleased if his session was interrupted because I showed up.
“Okay.”
“Rylan,” Bennett called.
A blonde head popped out from one of the doors, and I recognized him too. Boyishly handsome face with a smile that would knock the lights out of photographer’s cameras.
“Can you take Esme to the office?” Bennett picked up the tattoo machine with one hand, and with the other, he touched me lightly on the arm. “Don’t go anywhere.”
I swallowed, trying to breathe evenly when the same impulse to force my nose into his neck was slowly taking over.
“Sure thing.” Rylan gestured to me, and I made my way over to him, immediately warmed by the smile on his face and his scent. Summertime. A mix of fresh-cut grass and lemonade. Sweeter notes of fruit and jam. Beta.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Rylan said, pushing through a heavy door into a spacious room I hadn’t expected.
There were a few desks and drafting tables, a kitchenette, and another set of huge windows looking onto the other side of the block, where there was a park across the street, and a door to a small parking lot.
The same color scheme ruled here, cool and comfortable. A big couch sat near the windows, and I knew that was where I’d end up.
“Why do all of you smell so good?” I blurted out, looking up at him. He was as tall as Bennett was, dimples in his cheeks showing when he grinned.
“I don’t know, but I think it’s a good sign, right?”
“Yeah.”
He walked with me over to the couch. “We’re going to try to not totally overwhelm you,” he said. “That’s why I’m in here with you and not one of the others. But you should know we’re all excited to meet you. Ben’s shirt has taken up permanent residence in the kitchen.”
I blinked and sat down on the couch. “His shirt?”
“The one he wore to the party,” he clarified. “The one with your scent all over it.”
My entire face turned bright red, and I was suddenly sweating in my hoodie. “He showed you that?”
“He did.” Rylan now looked a little sheepish. “Not in a creepy way. In a ‘my whole life is changed and I think it’s going to be the same for all of us’ way.”
“Oh.” The single word felt more than inadequate in comparison to his description, but it was all I had. I was so used to being on the defensive when it came to me and packs, and I had nothing here. Everything they said—every scent—so far had laid me open.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I told him. “And I’m… really fucking nervous.”
Rylan sat down on the arm of the couch, close enough to lend me his comforting scent, but not close enough to crowd me. “It’s okay. None of us have a clue what we’re doing either. But we’re going to try. Do you want something to drink?”
I shook my head. “I’m okay, thanks.”
The scent hit me first. Vanilla and sugar. Bennett strode into the room, tossing his gloves into the trash can and putting the box of cupcakes on a desk as he came closer. It was his same uniform from the party—dark jeans which clung to his thighs in ways that made my mouth water and a dark t-shirt straining over his chest. This one was navy blue. “Give us a second, Ry. Make sure everyone else is ready.”
The Beta grinned. “Will do.”
Grabbing a wheeled chair from one of the desks, Bennett rolled it in front of me, moving the coffee table away so there was room and trapping me between his knees. “First things first, what I should have done that night instead of letting you run away.”
His hands came up around my face, one slipping behind my neck as he kissed me. It wasn’t hesitant, and it wasn’t out of control. It was just a perfect kiss, and my mind went blissfully blank. The same sense of safety I’d felt when we were dancing clicked into place, and I moaned softly, unable to help it.
I was perfuming again—frankly amazed I’d lasted this long without it—and at least we weren’t in public.
He pulled back but didn’t let me go. “The only reason I didn’t come after you was because Eva told me she would help bring you when she called. Otherwise, I might have turned into a bit of a stalker just so I could scent you again. See you again.”
“Really?”
A huffed laugh. “Esme, I’ve barely been able to think the last two days, and I’m not the only one. The others are barely letting me in here alone with you because they’re so eager.”
“Rylan told me about the shirt.” I bit my lip.
“It has a place of honor.” He leaned forward, inhaling deeply, the simple sound of it sending tingles through my entire body. The purr I’d only gotten the barest hint of at the party came to life, rich and deep. “Looks like I’m not the only one.”
I colored pink all over again only for his hands to tighten. “Don’t be embarrassed. I don’t think you have any idea what you having my scent still on you is doing to me.”
Every one of my senses was overloaded. It was entirely possible I would pass out. He’d kissed me, was purring for me, and I wanted more.
“Would you like to meet them?”
I nodded. “Yes, please.”
“You feral beasts can come in now,” he said, lifting his volume a little.
The door opened like they’d all been hanging on bated breath. Now it wasn’t just my scent and Bennett’s, it was all of them.
“Holy fuck,” someone said under their breath. “The shirt was nothing compared to this.”
I blushed, standing up to meet the four men who were filing into the room. “I might have done my own stalking,” I told Bennett quietly.
His answering smile was wide. “Good. But introductions are still needed. This is Luke, our traditional specialist.” It felt strange to shake hands with them like this was some kind of business transaction and not what it really was.
“Hi.”
Luke’s hand gripped mine, and he didn’t let go. His build was lean, but he wasn’t skinny. The henley he wore showed the power of his arms, as much as the pushed up sleeves did. Sandy brown hair and piercing blue eyes met mine, and unlike the rest of them, I didn’t see any visible tattoos. “It’s very nice to meet you, Esme, and if you’re willing, I’d like to hug you more than just a handshake.”
I blew out a breath in relief. “Yes, please.”
He wrapped me up tightly, and I got the first real hit of his scent. It was rich and aquatic. Like the fresh scent after rain and the ocean on the wind. Somehow wild and steady at the same time.
The same reaction that I’d had to Bennett occurred. I wanted to inhale this man and explore him, my Omega brain recognizing him as something.
Deep down, I knew what it was, but I was still too nervous to let the thought surface completely.
Luke pulled away slowly, smiling at me. I knew from my stalking he was the oldest of their pack. Not that he looked it.
“You’ve already met Rylan,” Bennett said.
The smiling blond held his arms out with a question on his face, and I nodded, unable to stop smiling back. His lighter Beta scent was just as delicious as the first time around, and his hug was good. The kind of hug you could breathe into and not want to let go.
But he had to.
“This is Kade, our piercer and chameleon. You come in and don’t have an appointment or don’t know what you want? Kade’s your man.”
The giant in front of me was covered in tattoos and piercings. A thick beard graced his face, dark as his hair. When he looked at me, I felt like he saw all of me completely.
He had a ring in his lip and studs in one eyebrow. Gauges in his ears, too. His scent hit me before he even stepped close enough for me to decide whether to hug him. Oak and chestnut. Kettle corn. A wavering sweetness over deeper notes. A bonfire in wintertime. “It’s good to meet you, Esme.”
His voice was so deep it vibrated through me and pulled at something in my soul.
At first glance, he was the kind of guy you crossed the street at night to stay away from. But danger wasn’t even close to the thing I felt from him. I let him pull me into a fierce embrace, scent washing over me in pure waves. A purr just as deep as his voice rumbled through both of us.
When he let me go, my hands were fisted in his shirt and I hadn’t remembered doing it.
“And finally,” Bennet said, “this is Avery. Our watercolorist.”
The last of their pack was large. Red hair and full beard, he was burly. He somehow reminded me of a lumberjack and a teddy bear at the same time, and I wasn’t complaining.
His scent was subtler than the others, but no less delicious. Spicy—that’s what he was. Herbs like cardamom and cinnamon. Even sharper, like Anise. The closer I got, the more threads there were to follow in his scent.
I imagined spending all the time I needed breathing him in, just so I could trace down every little element of his spiciness.
Avery’s hug was full and comfortable, enveloping me in warmth and softness. “I know we’re a lot,” he said quietly, “but I hope you know we’re very glad you’re here.”
When he pulled away, I wasn’t sure what to do. My scent permeated the room like it did only during my heats. I wasn’t there yet, but with this many Alphas I responded to? I wouldn’t be surprised if one came on soon.
Bennett pressed a hand to my lower back, guiding me back to the couch. But he didn’t let me sit alone. He sat first, guiding me to sit between his legs, and I didn’t protest. Being pressed up against him and surrounded by his scent along with everyone else’s? I was pretty much in heaven.
One arm looped around my waist like he was afraid I might run again. Which was fair.
“Now that we’ve been introduced,” he said, “let’s talk.”
