THE FATED OMEGA MATE

Chapter 4:Elias

The scent hit me first.

It was thick, cloying, and overwhelming. Alpha pheromones are layered on Alpha pheromones, crowding out every breath of clean air. My chest tightened. The dizziness followed soon after, washing over me in dizzy waves. This...this was why I hated places like this. Crowded, noisy, suffocating.

I tried to hold my breath, tried not to take in more, but it was impossible. Instinct clawed at me. My body recognized the pheromones even when my mind rejected them. Surrounded by Alphas, it was like my own instincts were dragging me toward collapse.

My vision was blurred. I leaned closer to Damian, forcing the words out. “I need the restroom.”

He didn’t respond. Didn’t even look at me. His attention was fixed on his colleagues, his business partners, the laughter bubbling around him.

Fine.

I turned and made my way to the restroom myself, clutching the walls to steady my steps. Once inside, I gripped the edge of the sink, splashed water on my face, and fumbled in my pocket for the one thing that could steady me. My suppressant.

But my hand closed on nothing. My heart lurched. I checked my other pocket. My bag. My jacket. Nothing.

“Where is it…?” I whispered, panic crawling up my throat. I searched frantically, turning everything inside out. I had brought it I always brought it. But it wasn’t there.

The dizziness sharpened into something worse. The warmth spreading beneath my skin was unmistakable. I was slipping toward heat, unmedicated, surrounded by Alphas.

“No… not here,” I muttered, stumbling toward the door. I had to get out. Out of the party, out of the building, anywhere but here.

The moment I stepped back into the hall, heads turned. Eyes locked on me. Their nostrils flared. My scent, sweet, undeniable, was in the air.

The murmurs started first. Then the stares. Then the shouts.

“An Omega”

“Do you smell that?”

“God, that’s strong”

I ignored them. I didn’t look. I just ran, half-blind, weaving through the crowd as fast as my unsteady legs could carry me. The air was thick with hunger now, alpha drawn like moths to flame. Their voices rose, excitement bleeding into every sound.

I didn’t stop until my body forced me to. My knees buckled. My vision was fading at the edges, the world spinning too fast. I heard several footsteps, too many. Shapes closing in on me.

“No…” My voice was weak, breaking. “Please… stay away.”

But they didn’t. The scent of Alphas closed around me, pressing, smothering. My skin prickled, my body betraying me even as my mind screamed to run. I could almost feel it already, their eyes stripping me bare, their hands reaching.

“I don’t… want this…” My words cracked, swallowed by the pounding in my head. “Please… somebody”

My body was giving out. The fight drained out of me with every ragged breath. My legs no longer obeyed. I sagged against the wall, eyelids heavy, consciousness slipping.

Then a voice cut through the chaos, sharp and furious.

“Are you sure you want to touch that filthy Omega?”

The Alphas froze. The tone was cold, commanding an Alpha’s voice meant to dominate, meant to make others cower.

Filthy Omega. The words stung. Cruel, demeaning. But at that moment, I didn’t care. If that insult was the price of being pulled out of this nightmare, I would take it.

Because I was so tired. Too tired to fight.

My eyelids drooped shut. The last thing I felt was a sudden, unyielding strength lifting me off the ground. Arms cradling me. Scents shift, blocking out the others.

And then nothing.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When I woke, the first thing I noticed was the warmth. My bed felt hotter than usual, almost stifling, though the blankets hadn’t changed.

A slow, steady sound of breathing broke the silence. My chest tightened as I turned, dread prickling at the edges of my mind.

There, on the other side of my bed, lay a man.

For a heartbeat, my thoughts scrambled, panic flashing. But as I sat up and leaned closer, the details of him came into focus. Damian.

He was on his back, one arm bent beneath his head, the other resting lightly across his chest. In the soft morning light, his features seemed almost unreal. Strong jawline, lips parted slightly in sleep, dark hair falling carelessly across his forehead. The sharp edges of his face usually so severe were softened now, making him look deceptively calm. Even his breathing carried that Alpha weight, steady and self-assured, as though nothing in the world could ever shake him.

He looked dangerous, even at rest. But also devastatingly handsome. The kind of Alpha people couldn’t help but stare at.

I inched closer, hesitant, almost unwilling to disturb the rare stillness. But just as I reached to wake him, his eyes snapped open sharp, alert, instantly aware.

I froze.

His gaze locked onto mine. “What are you doing?” His voice was rough with sleep, but the suspicion in it cut like a blade.

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My throat had closed up, my heart beating too fast.

Then I noticed his hand had shifted, covering his nose. For a moment, I didn’t understand. I didn’t stink. I had showered, the sheets were clean, and the room carried no sourness.

But then it hit me. My scent. My Omega scent.

He didn’t like it. He didn’t like me. And how could I keep forgetting that?

I dropped my gaze, forcing my voice steady. “Mr. Blackwell, you can go home now. Thank you… for taking care of me.”

His eyes narrowed, sharp and unforgiving. The Alpha who had looked so calm in sleep was now back to the one I knew the boss who demanded, judged, and always reminded me of my place.

“Can you control how you hold your pheromones?” he said flatly, his tone edged with disgust. “You make me sick.”

The words hit harder than I wanted to admit.

Without waiting for a reply, he stood and left, his footsteps fading until I was alone again.

I let him go.

Slowly, I peeled off my clothes, shivering as I remembered the press of Alpha pheromones from last night, their overwhelming weight clinging to me even now. My skin still carried the faint stink of them unwanted, invasive. I scrubbed myself raw under the shower until the water ran hot against my skin, until I could almost convince myself their scent was gone.

When I came out, I stripped the bed, tossing the sheets aside, and replaced them with fresh ones before collapsing back into it.

But rest didn’t come. My mind dragged me back to the night before the dizziness, the voices, the approaching Alphas, the certainty that I wouldn’t survive. My body shook with the memory, a cold shiver sliding down my spine.

An Alpha marking me against my will. Trapping me forever.

It could have happened. I was so close.

But someone saved me.

Thanks to him.