Page 106 of Just Wait

She tugs me to stand next to one of the pillars as the group starts to pass us.

Lumen smiles awkwardly, looking up at me, rather than her ex and his band. Theo isn’t one of the guys with a woman hanging all over him, but that doesn’t mean much.

I split my attention between Lumen and Theo, just because if he tries to start shit, I’m significantly outnumbered. The guys could be down here in three minutes, but I’m hoping this will be a nonissue.

Theo’s face twists when he spots me and Lumen. It probably doesn’t help that we’re still holding hands.

“I guess it’s not just the lead singer. Huh, Lu?” Theo shakes his head, weaving through the crowd to get away even faster.

I bet it does sting.

To the rest of the world, it looks like she upgraded to a more well-known band, but he’s the one who fucked up their relationship.

Once they’re past us, I tug Lumen along, beelining for the door.

The cool night air feels incredible. I’ve gotten used to suffering in long sleeves and jeans when everyone else is sporting tank tops and shorts. If I stack cuffs and bracelets, I can mostly cover the bottom half of my forearms, but they slide around. I’ve never wanted to take the risk of someone snapping a picture.

Malcolm asked the guy who made my mask to make me forearm braces. They’re killer, and they match the mask so well that no one would think it was strange if I started sporting them on the nights we wear our masks.

Maybe one of these days I’ll get brave and try them out. If nothing else, now that I think about it, I owe Mal a thank you.

He does have a big heart. He can be a pain in the ass at times, but I’d miss the hell out of him if he wasn’t around.

I shake my head, refocusing on what we came out here for.

“I felt like we came on too strongly on the balcony.” I run my thumb over Lumen’s hand. “You seemed overwhelmed, and I thought it might be better if we got some air.”

“God. You really are empathetic.” She laughs. “Honestly, the conversation needed to be had. I’m just used to that being a one-on-one kinda thing. I’m a beta. We don’t often date more than one person at a time.”

My system has been intrigued by her scent since the moment I picked it up. There are times when her pheromones are so thick, I don’t think a beta could produce that kind of smell.

Like last night.

She damn near sent me into rut, and I’ve never had to struggle to keep a handle on myself. Not in that way.

Hell, my canines were aching so badly that the only thing my system was convinced would fix it was to bury my teeth in Lumen’s soft body.

She clearly knows her designation, and I’m not saying she’s wrong about being a beta.

Fuck.

It’s confusing.

She’s been in a vulnerable situation, which has triggered my instincts with the need to protect her.

Is it possible for a beta to be a scent match? If so, maybe that’s what she is. Maybe that’s why my system has always thought there was a possibility that she was an omega?

Hell.

I have no idea.

I should have paid more attention in my alpha and omega dynamics class because I could have sworn that they taught us scent matches were only between alphas and omegas.

Think about it this way, asshole.

If she was an omega, you’d believe she was a scent match, right?

I would.