Page 25 of Packing for Vacation

“You’ll have full wifi at the bach.”

I stare at his handsome face, watching the scenery pass by in the reflection of his dark sunglasses. He catches me staring, raising a brow in question.

“I’m just in awe of what’s happened. How did I end up here?”

“And all because you almost missed your first flight.”

“Well, I would have probably found your suit jacket anyway. I already had a booking at that hotel, but then again, had I not been stuck at Auckland Airport for another hour after my flight arranging for them to send me my carry-on once it’s recovered, I probably would have checked in earlier and been given a different room, and never sniffed you out.”

“What do they call it? Kismet?”

“Luck?” I offer.

“Speaking of which, we should buy a Lotto ticket. Maybe we’ll win big.”

“Maybe.” There’s a flutter in my chest at his use of the word we. By all accounts we’re strangers, and yet there’s a level of comfort I have with both Scott and Matiu that I haven’t experienced before, as if we’re all pieces clicking into place, like we’re made for each other.

I suppose that’s the power of a scent match. We are.

“Look ahead,” Scott says, breaking me out of my thoughts. “And have your camera ready.”

Before I can ask what for, we round another bend and I gasp as the view suddenly opens up on our right to the most stunning aquamarine blue ocean and golden sand coastline. I lift my phone, but by the time I have my camera app open it’s disappearing again behind trees. “No!”

“Don’t worry, it’s coming back around the next bend.”

He’s right. I spend the rest of the journey taking photo after photo, short videos too, marvelling at the natural beauty of this place. We drive past a ‘populated’ area of a handful of houses, and through to the crest of another hill, my excitement growing as he turns off the road and onto a long, winding driveway, the canopy of trees above us opening up to blue sky and a field of long grass ahead of us, an adorable A-frame house sitting in the middle of it. The view here is even better than the glimpses I had from the road, the land in front of the house falling away to green bush and a small bay.

“This is it?”

“This is it. What do you think… could you have your heat here in the house? You can’t get much more uninterrupted than this.”

I nod, blinking back the sudden tears that threaten to fall. On paper heats are fun. Absolute mindless fucking for days and days on end, all inhibitions thrown to the wind, and every other person present has one sole focus—to please and pleasure the omega. But what they really are is a time of intense vulnerability.

When I had the genetic testing years ago and found out I would eventually reveal as an omega, part of that service had been counselling around my future. I remember asking an older omega how they knew they were safe when it came to alphas and heats and the fact that there were periods of time when lucidity was questionable at best.

“You have to trust your instincts. And alphas will show you, too, who they really are. If they’re good, they’ll put the effort in for you, to make you feel comfortable, to make you feel safe.”

Scott is already out of the car. He circles the vehicle, opening my door for me and offering me his hand. “You ready?”

“Yes,” I tell him, sliding my hand in his.

If I thought the outside of the bach looked wonderful, the inside is amazing. “Oh,” I say, at a loss for words to describe the way the heaviness I hadn’t even realised I was carrying seems to lift off my shoulders. “Oh wow.”

“She’s old, but she’s cosy.”

I nod, stepping barefoot onto the plush cream carpet, tilting my head back to look up above to the high peak of the ceiling and the mezzanine level that sits above the rooms in the back half of the house, accessed by a steep stairwell that hugs an internal wall. Old but cosy is an apt description for the house, with its lived-in decor of clean but outdated sofas, long wooden-plank walls, and huge windows and glass doors that let the summer light come streaming in. “What is this made out of? Oak?”

“Radiata pine. It’s a Lockwood.” Scott walks over to one of the walls and pushes on it, making the wall creak alarmingly. “You can do this to the whole house,” he adds, grinning at my reaction. “I used to love doing this as a kid. It’s because the panels are all locked into each other, and somehow it holds up. Don’t ask me how, I’m not an architect.”

Barry wanders through the house, clearly at home, nose to the ground as he sniffs his way into the open plan kitchen before disappearing into one of the lower-level rooms, his white-tipped tail held high and happy. “I feel very at peace here,” I say, turning slowly. The sun is still high in the sky, shining over the ocean, and birds flit in the air over the lawn.

“Yeah, it’s definitely peaceful here. My mum was an omega, and this was her special place.”

Was an omega. Oh Scott.

I turn to face him with a lump in my throat. “Thank you for bringing me here and sharing this place when you only just met me.” I hold out my hand and he comes to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle and tucking his chin against my shoulder.

“Yeah, well, it feels like I’ve known you a lot longer. I don’t wanna sound like a cliche, but I think there’s something to be said for trusting your gut, that whole when you know, you know.”