Understudy [ABO] [MxF] [18+]

E I G H T

The girls eventually went home after a few good movies and a lot of very unhealthy snacks later, and Ally finally had a moment to herself again. As much as she loved their company, they had clearly been walking on eggshells around her feelings over the whole mate situation, and she hated it. It wasn't like they had really known each other long enough for the bond to realise itself, so the rejection didn't hurt as much as it might have. Just a dull ache in her chest, uncomfortable, but nothing all that bad.

She heard the sound of someone putting the passcode into the door and looked over to see Gabe returning home, with Atticus in tow. Her stomach flipped seeing the younger brother, who looked so strikingly similar to Elias in a lot of ways that it made that dull ache suddenly sharpen.

"Oh, you've returned to the land of the living," Gabe commented snidely as he made his way to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. "I was wondering if you ever would." The comment seemed harsh to anyone else, but Ally knew this was his only way of acting normally around her that he could manage for now.

Much to her distain, Atticus was staring straight at her with bright red cheeks. No doubt Atti could smell his brother's scent on her, and judging from his reaction, had concluded why it was there.

"I thought you were studying late at the library tonight," Ally replied, ignoring his comment and Atticus' stare as best she could.

"Yeah, well I got restless," Gabe shrugged and took a spot on the couch near her. Atticus silently took a seat as well, as far from her as he could. "Besides, I got a call from our mother."

Ally stiffened, "Oh? What about?"

"They want us to come over for dinner tomorrow night," Gabe sighed. "Something about not having seen our faces in a while, make sure we aren't getting too fat, et cetera. You know how it is with them. If we just entertain them and agree to dinner, they should leave us alone for another 6 months or so."

"Just dinner? They must have something else up their sleeve."

"Well duh, but like I would know what. Have you uh," Gabe hesitated for a moment, "told them about your new status yet?"

Crap. "Not yet..."

"They'll know the moment they smell you," Gabe said, eyes furrowed. "Since you started taking those pills, you've been smelling more and more like an Omega every day. Plus, with that other scent on you, they'll have a good idea anyway."

"Why has his scent lingered for so long?" Atticus spoke up for the first time, trying not to make his voice sound too sharp, but his eyes held something in them as he watched her. "I mean, you haven't seen him in a week right? That's a pretty absurd length of time, even if you are an Omega and he's an Alpha."

Ally didn't want to answer, but now Gabe was studying her as well as he finally realised Atticus was right. A week was far too long for a scent to linger around considering she wasn't marked or anything like that. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's because he... ah, Elias is my fated mate." Her voice grew gradually quieter with each word until the last one came out at almost a whisper.

Gabe and Atticus stared in silence for a long time.

"What the fuck," Gabe snapped as the sentence finally sunk in. "Fated mate? I didn't even think that kind of bullshit actually existed."

"It makes sense," Atticus' voice was quiet but calm. "I mean, Eli is always ridiculously in control, so I was pretty shocked when I caught his pheromones on you. He normally has himself so drugged up that you can't catch any kind of scent from him. For him to lose himself like that... something like fated mates is the only explanation."