7: You smell like me
Tristan
I couldn't see her face. Try as I might, the bodies in front of me prevented me from even laying eyes on the mate of my boss. The only person I could see, ironically, was Damon. I slipped away from the crowd after a while, aware of how suspicious I'd seem in this crowd of people who, unlike me, wore nothing on their heads, and instead, watched from the archway of the dining room. It was then that I finally took the time to glance at my boss who was, much to my surprise, smiling. It was so unusual, and yet so subtly beautiful, the way the corners of his mouth were tugged upward, and the way he glanced down lovingly at the woman I wished I could have seen.
"To those of you who have not yet bombarded Jasmine and me with your questions, welcome. I'm very happy to have you all here in my house, devouring my food and breaking my father's prized porcelain dishes."
My shock only grew as he continued to speak. He was being sarcastic, funny and friendly. It was a Damon I was completely unfamiliar with, and one which intrigued me more than ever. How could someone once so robotic be this light-hearted and smile so much? Was it his mate perhaps?
"...I am extremely delighted to announce that Jasmine and I are engaged. It took her five minutes-"
"-Ten minutes." Said a softer voice, one I assumed to be from his mate. As soon as she said this, his smile deepened, and he looked down again, brought the pale hand of the stranger to his lips and gently kissed at it. My eyes widened at the sight and I finally reached the conclusion that it was, in fact, his mate who made him smile the way he did. For a moment, a fleeting moment, I wondered if the same would happen to me if I were ever to meet my mate. But I brushed the thought off, reverting them back to Damon and his mate.
"Yes, it took ten minutes for her to say yes. It was pure agony, but worth it, because now I get to spend every single second of the rest of my life with her-" he then paused and looked around the room, surprising everyone with this soft and gentle look of sincerity on his face, "- and I hope you all treat her with respect. She is not my mother, no. She will not stay quiet and let people walk all over her. She's strong, mouthy, stubborn and protective, and she is my Co-Alpha. From this moment onwards, to disrespect Jasmine would be to disrespect myself and my authority. So please, I beg of you, treat her the exact way you treat me. There is no one in this world more precious to me than her."
Jasmine? The moment he said that name, I couldn't help but be taken back to a fleeting memory of someone I once knew. A kind-hearted girl with black hair and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. But just before I could truly bring the memory to the surface, I caught the scent of something strange... something strong and decadent. It was a subtle scent of cinnamon mixed with the faintest little hints of vanilla and somewhere I could pick up a lingering aroma of rosewood. Curious, I began searching the room, looking for anything from an incense diffuser to scented candles. However, I found nothing of the sort and instead, began attempting at following the scent which had now done a good job at distracting me from my mission.
The task of locating the scent became harder though, as Damon concluded his little speech and the room soon turned to chaos as the people in it began racing for the food now placed on the table. Were these people actual animals?
Desperate to find what was smelling so pleasant, I launched myself into the crowd which was honestly no mean feat. In fact, I could have sworn I gained a few scratches and bruises from stray claws and elbows which collided with my skin. It took a few moments of stumbling around before I realised that the scent was beginning to grow fainter and that its source had begun to move away from this room. And so, I began following it still, and as I did, I took special care not to be spotted by Damon who'd begun yelling at his animalistic and crazy family.
Once I'd made it out of the room, I let out a little sigh of relief, but dared not stop walking as I attempted to track the scent through the house. Much to my dismay, the scent began to scatter and disperse around the entire house and I couldn't pinpoint the exact location of it.
"This is just fucking great!" I uttered before checking my watch. When I saw the time, I gasped and shook my head. I'd wasted precious time chasing a scent which was probably produced by some kind of diffuser. Now my stupidity was going to cost me information I could have been gathering in the dining room.
Annoyed at myself, yet still curious about the scent, I reluctantly began walking towards the dining room, keeping my head low and my cap as well. I was just about to enter the dining room again when my body collided with an extremely hard object, a wall, I assumed, and I soon found myself with my ass flat against the floor and my cap off of my head.
"Good Goddess, watch where you're-"
It was then that I realised that it wasn't a wall I had collided with. After all, walls did not talk. Slowly I lifted my head and was met with the most beautiful golden eyes I'd ever seen in my life. They peered at me curiously, and when they did, they made my entire body heat up in flames. My heart began racing and my skin began developing goosebumps and a light layer of sweat.
The unfathomably stunning stranger reached out a hand for me to take, and with it, offered a charming smile which began making my heart beat faster. This type of reaction to a stranger was nothing I'd ever experienced before and only made me wearier of him.
I stared at the outstretched hand but refused to take it. I couldn't, not when I slowly began to realise that the source of that absolutely delicious scent was the man standing before me.
After a moment, his eyebrows began to furrow in confusion, and I wondered if he himself hadn't realised any of what was going on yet. It wasn't until he leaned in and sniffed that his eyes began to widen, and he froze in what I could only describe as terror.
"I-it can't be. This is impossible." He uttered before retracting his hand and standing up. And it was the next words which left his mouth that finally confirmed everything. "You smell like me... fuck."
Immediately after he said it, I grabbed at my cap, placed it over my head, stood up and began running as fast as my legs could carry me. I pushed past people, stomped over a few more and shoved a few others in the hopes of getting myself the hell away from the man I'd just met. He, however, didn't seem to want to let me go and called out to me as he chased after me. And Goddess, was he fast! I, however, was faster and after a while, ended up losing him in the woods near the pack grounds.
I took a moment and glanced over my shoulder to make sure that I did, in fact get rid of him. Once I was certain that I was safe, I leaned over and placed my hands on my thighs as I began panting. Slowly, the realisation began setting in, only making my breathing shallower and more hitched.
I had just met my mate, and by the looks of it, he seemed to be related to Damon. All I could do was hope and pray that the man I'd met was a distant relative, a cousin six times removed, perhaps.
Well this just got interesting! Just a reminder that Lucien has the ability to catch the scent of mate bonds as his special Alpha wolf ability
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!