Chapter 15

I was shocked into silence for the umpteenth time in the last few minutes. I'd always doubted Cathy's declaration that she loved my smell. I was sure she was just being kind.

Was it possible she was telling the truth? Had I been wrong all these years?

If Charles was telling the truth, the connection was beyond what most of us hoped for. An A+ match was rare in our society. The perfect S was so rare it was practically a myth.

"This makes no sense," I said. I tried to picture our interactions during school, to remember if there was anything more than the casual hellos, than sitting next to each other in silence. There was no sign that I was an S to him.

“How could you have no idea?" Charles frowned. "What do I smell like to you then?”

“You smell wonderful, but I couldn’t tell you a grade.”

“You don’t have a grading system?" Charles was shocked. "I thought you confessed to me in the parking lot because…”

I shook my head. “I don’t have that ability."

“Then this is a one-way S match,” Charles said with a bitter smile.

“How would I know I was an S to you when you only said one word to me, 'hi,' for the entire four years we sat near each other?"

"I would say 'hey' occasionally."

I wasn't amused. "You could have at least implied something. And that day in the parking lot after graduation, you totally rejected me!"

"I told you, that wasn't my fault. Circumstances..."

"Circumstances? Please. You were the debate champion, the soccer team captain. You had, and still have, confidence pouring out of you. You make circumstances happen and change by your force of will.

I shook my head. "The evidence does not add up."

He turned to me with frustration in his eyes. "As I said, I was confused, okay? Happy now?" He faced forward, gripping the steering wheel in anger.

"I always had my life under control. And I always thought I would end up with a confident, radiant Alpha female. That's what I've always been told. But when I found out Jennifer was an A+ for me, I realized that wasn’t enough.”

“When I caught that elusive S match in school, I wasn't sure it was you at first," he said. "Not until you sat behind me in class. And then I didn't know what to do. From what I knew, you lacked confidence. You didn't seem as articulate. You were exactly the opposite of what I imagined," Charles said as he looked into my eyes.

“But I couldn’t resist your smell.”

His strong hands flexed on the wheel, as if he were trying to steady himself by holding on to it.

“On that day in the parking lot, I realized I may never see you again if I turned you down.” Charles moved his gaze back to front window of the car. “But I also couldn’t let myself fall for a stupid scent match that was so different from everything I'd expected. So we…ended like that…”

Now it was my turn to get angry.

I couldn’t believe I was so miserable in high school, and that when Charles realized he was attracted to my scent, he fought against it. We'd both been unhappy for no reason. And now, instead of fixing it, he was still refusing to treat me like I was an equal and valued scent match.

I didn’t know if I was an Alpha or an Omega. What I did know, however, was that I was not someone who'd roll over whenever someone higher ranking felt like lashing out.

"You obviously don't know me at all if you think I'm some insecure slave," I said, turning my entire body to face him, my voice quivering with rage.

"I may not be that confident Alpha female you pictured, but I'm not going to sit here and let you insult me. And what is it now? Why, after all these years, are you asking me to be your girlfriend in, I might add, the most unflattering way possible?"

This silenced him for a moment.

“I admit, your S scent is more powerful than I anticipated," he said more quietly. "I looked for you a few years ago because I missed your scent so badly, and I was even more thrilled than I thought I'd be when I finally met you again.”

“After the last few days working together, you're a little different from what I remember. And more importantly, I'm becoming increasingly addicted to your fragrance. I can’t bear not having it around me.”

He looked at me again, his eyes wary and hard.

It was my turn to face forward.

“So I think we could give it a try if you can’t settle for being my assistant.”

"Like I said, I always had my life under control. I can't allow scent, or anything for that matter, to manipulate my emotions the way you have."

He took a deep breath, trying to control himself, but then choked as he got a nose-full of my scent.

"The Moon Goddess has put you in my path." He coughed. "In my company. It's fate. And you're going to help me solve this."

"How? By being your girlfriend?" I said, with a deeper frown. Why did he make it sound like I was a disease or dangerous drug to him?

"Yes. I've realized that having you be my assistant may not be enough. I think this obsession only exists because I've never been able to fully have you. Once I have enough, it's going to vanish, and I'll probably be able to get on with my life."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

This was his plan for the whole time.

Everything was just a scheme to trick me into “helping him”, as his assistant or as his girlfriend.

I thanked the Moon Goddess I was alert enough to ask him more questions and didn't just say yes like he obviously anticipated.

After one month, he probably would have been done with me, just casting me away and I'd be left heartbroken, judged by my colleagues, and wondering what I did wrong.

"And what about my life, Charles? Do you seriously expect me to just be okay tethered to you to use until you get over me? I have my own dreams, my own life, and my own feelings."

"I've seen it, Elena. You were not going to get a promotion where you were. Talented or not, with what HR stupidly called your 'lack of scent,' you weren't going to achieve your goals."

That stung almost worse than anything else he'd said. I'd known it in my heart that I was being discriminated against, but I hadn't wanted to admit it. Now, I didn't know what to do.

I thought for a moment. "What do you mean exactly when you say “fully have me”?"

My voice sounded defeated, tired. He heard it and leaned forward toward me, a gleam of predatory intensity in his blue eyes.

"Mostly just that. We do things together. We have..." his voice rasped, as if it were hard for him to say. "We have sex. A lot. We need to... I need to get you out of my system, Elena, no matter what it takes."

"No matter what it takes?" He'd said that last phrase as if having sex with me was the most unappealing thing he could imagine.

I took a deep breath, tears filling my eyes. A voice in my head raged out, loud and clear.

No way.

I was no catch, that's for sure, but I refused to be the dirt under his shoe, to be used however he felt necessary. I was worth more than that.

I turned to him and leaned in. He had always intimidated and scared me, but now, in this small space, I suddenly felt my anger giving me power.

I made my voice as low and calm as I could.

"Charles, I am not your toy. And you will not speak to me like I'm nothing."

I turned and quickly got out of the car, afraid he might reach to stop me. I slammed the door and looked back.

His shocked face stared out the window in disbelief.

I turned, intending to walk with dignity and poise away down the street, but his power still affected me, and the moment I began to move my nerves broke.

I began to run.

I ran and I ran, despite my heels, and I didn't stop until I got to my apartment. I didn't realize that tears had begun to stream down my face, and the sight of my mascara-streaked checks in my hallway mirror made me lurch sobbing for the bathroom.

I pulled off my shoes and slumped onto the cold tile floor, my body shaking with more sobs.

I wished with all my heart I hadn't gone to the reunion. Then Charles would have been the beautiful but inaccessible high school boy I remembered.

Instead, he had turned into a horrible person. The word asshole wouldn't even begin to start the names he deserved.

Or maybe he was this horrible person the whole time and I was just too young and infatuated to realize it.

I took a deep breath and pulled myself up. I started the hot water and began to undress.

My bag lay on the floor, and as I picked it up, I saw that my phone inside was light up. It was a text from Cathy asking how things went.

I scoffed bitterly, and put the setting on Do Not Disturb.