Even after he had vanished into the mill, the omega’s scent lingered in the air.

My omega’s scent.

It was beyond all doubt at this point; that beautiful boy was my fated mate, and I wasn’t leaving here without him.

Something about that man with him seemed fishy to me. He was an alpha, obviously fancied himself some kind of tough guy, and the way he was barking orders had me on edge. There was your boss being a dick to you, and then there was the way this guy was acting – like my fated mate was his property…like he owned him.

“Hey, Henry,” I called as another picker made its way over to my truck.

“Yeah, Seth?”

Keeping my voice low, I nodded across the road to the alpha in the leather jacket. “Who’s this guy?”

“Him? That’s Anthony. He’s one of Kade’s boys.”

“Who’s Kade?” I asked.

“One of my best suppliers,” he said with a grin. “I dunno how he does it, but he and his boys are always bringing me all kinds of shit and for great prices.”

“He some kind of son of a bitch?” I asked, nodding at Anthony who was leaning casually on his truck, smoking lazily while Henry’s men did all the work.

“I mean, I wouldn’t invite him over for dinner,” Henry replied thoughtfully. “But he ain’t bad to share a beer with.”

“Uh huh,” I said as I brushed dust from my hand, stepping back as the second picker came up beside the truck.

There was something…wrong about whatever the situation was between those two. An omega shouldn’t be out doing work like this with the alphas. If he was part of a pack, he should have a mate by now and be back at their den doing something else while the alphas took care of this shit. Seeing him driving a truck and helping with the lumber probably meant he was yet to be claimed, which was fantastic for me, but meant something fishy was going on.

He certainly hadn’t looked happy – until our eyes met.

“Speaking of which,” Henry added as he made his way across the road back to his office. “We’re doing a barbeque here tonight if you want to join us. Pulled pork and brisket.”

“Thanks, but I gotta be headed back,” I told him, eager for him to be gone. “Pack dinner tonight.”

It was a lie, but I just wanted Henry out of my hair so I could investigate more. Once he was gone, I made my way across to the other truck and stepped up to Anthony who eyed me like I was a total nobody.

“Hey there,” I said to him as he took a drag.

“What can I do for you?” He asked in a way that said fuck off.

“That omega with you—” I started to say, but Anthony instantly cut me off.

“What about him?” he asked, turning to me like he was ready to fight. “You want him? Well, tough shit, white trash, he’s spoken for.”

White trash…

This son of a bitch was lucky I didn’t break his nose right then and there, but I held back. Violence wouldn’t solve anything right now, and I needed more information.

“Listen, man. I got no problem with you—”

“Yeah? Well, that’s good, slugger,” he growled, tossing his cigarette and stamping it out with his boot. “Because let me tell you something – you don’t want a problem with me or my pack. Understand? Now get the fuck out of my face and forget you ever saw that omega.”

My wolf was begging to be let loose and I felt my fangs extend in my mouth. There was nothing I wanted more than to sink my teeth into this scumbag and tear his throat out. Now I knew – there was something horrible going on with this guy, and my omega needed me.

So for now, I let the guy think he had the upper hand.

“Okay,” I said, acting like I was afraid of him. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

“Yeah, now get lost!”

I backed away, keeping my head down, keeping my wolf at bay as I turned away from him and headed up the road toward the mill. I could feel his eyes on me, and knew he was watching where I was headed, so I kept moving up the road toward Mill 3.

Once I was at the doors, I glanced over my shoulder and saw he had turned away and lit up another cigarette. Doubling back, I kept out of his line of sight and slipped through the doors of Mill 2.

Pine. Pine smell everywhere, but among it all, overpowering it, was the scent of my mate. How all these other men could stand it was mind-blowing to me, but I guess that’s the difference between just any sweet scent of a sexy omega and the scent of your fated mate.

Instantly, I picked him out of the crowd of men and strode right over to him. Before I reached him, he spun around and our eyes met again.

“Hey.” It was all I managed to get out as we looked at each other.

“H-hey,” he stammered back.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke. What do you say to your fated mate when you first meet? Somehow it felt wrong to just make typical small talk, but I wasn’t sure about just leaping into things either.

So I found a middle ground.

“That guy…Anthony,” I asked him. “Somethin’ ain’t right with him.”

“You could say that,” he replied timidly. He didn’t want to say anything wrong.

It’s worse than I thought.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

“Harry,” he replied with a voice like wind chimes. My cock stirred in my jeans and I shifted my stance. His eyes flicked to my bulge – he must have noticed, and when I looked at his, I saw he was just as excited as I was.

Why weren’t we alone!?

“Harry, I’m Seth. You wanna get a drink or something?” I asked him. Somehow, I was actually nervous as I waited for his reply. We both were smelling the same thing, and it was obvious that he was into me, but there was something about this situation with Anthony that had me on edge, and when I heard his response, my heart sank.

“I can’t,” he replied almost immediately.

“That’s it?” I shrugged. “You just can’t?”

“I’m sorry,” he said, hanging his head and shielding his eyes from my gaze. “Now, please. You have to…you have to get out of here before something bad happens.”

“Bad!?” I hissed, stepping closer but keeping my voice down. “What do you mean? Harry, is Anthony going to hurt you!?”

“Hey!” It was Anthony’s voice behind me, and I wheeled around to see him standing at the door. “Harry! What the fuck did I tell you!?”

Before I could react, Harry turned and was walking quickly away from me.

I wanted to do something, but there were men everywhere. Breaking out into wolf form here and fighting this motherfucker wouldn’t be wise. Henry would have my ass, and Tate wouldn’t be happy.

I looked back at Anthony, and he gave me a firm glare – he knew what I was up to.

Turning back to Harry, I watched him go, then stepped out the side door and headed back to my truck.

For now I’ll let it be, I thought. But tonight…tonight will be different. Tonight he’ll be mine.