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One: Taxi Driver

One: Taxi Driver

He was here again. That taxi driver. The one with the leather jacket and the smelly cigarettes that only partially covered his natural woodsy scent. Wren had only called for a taxi three times in the past two months and yet somehow, he got the same driver every single time.

Wren wasn't sure how that was statistically possible. There were twenty million people in the city and probably five thousand taxi drivers. The chances of Wren getting the same one three times in a row seemed unlikely. Wren could see how this might happen if he were calling for the taxi at three in the morning every time or something. But he wasn't. He usually called for it around seven or eight p.m., on nights when he had to work late at the office and didn't feel like walking home in the dark.

Wren might not have noticed the coincidence, except this particular driver was hard to forget. Though he didn't talk except to ask Wren where they were going, he had a presence that was a little overwhelming, especially for an omega like Wren. Wren had avoided making friends with anyone with a strong scent since he was young. His nose was more sensitive than most, and alpha pheromones like the driver's tended to make his head go a little fuzzy. Thankfully, the drive from Wren's office to his apartment was only a few blocks, so Wren could take shallow breaths for the fifteen-minute ride and be fine.

But being subjected to the driver's overwhelming presence and scent three times in a row was starting to frustrate Wren. Not to mention, it was a little creepy. Wren had heard all the horror stories about omegas being stalked and kidnapped in big cities and never being found again.

Even more confusing was that the driver didn't seem like any other taxi driver Wren had encountered. Most were pretty average people – they didn't stick out much, and in an effort to avoid offending their customers, they often wore scent-concealing perfume. In fact, some taxi services required it of their workers.

This driver either didn't care that his unconcealed alpha scent could make his passengers nervous or aggressive, or he was leaving it unconcealed on purpose precisely to make omegas like Wren uncomfortable, and as of yet, Wren couldn't figure out which it was. Additionally, the first time Wren had ridden with this driver, the thing that stuck out the most to Wren was that the driver didn't seem like he was living off a taxi driver's income. His clothes were expensive and well-suited to him. Wren would almost guess they were tailor made. His shades were definitely name brand, and he had a Rolex on his left wrist.

Maybe the driver had a wealthy family or something. But still, most people who came from wealthy families had more glamorous jobs than driving a cab. Whatever the case, it was weirdly incongruous, and Wren took notice.

Additionally, the driver was handsome. Handsome to the point that even behind the shades and baseball cap, anyone could tell. Wren had even seen a few omega girls pointing at the driver and squealing from the sidewalk while they were stopped at a red light the one time. Wren hadn't ever seen him without the sunglasses, even at night, which was definitely dangerous, and concerning.

Wren stood under the awning at the front of his company, Perry's Event Planning, which was, as it sounded, an event planning company. Wren worked mostly with weddings and graduations, specifically with acquiring catering and entertainment. He had stayed late tonight to wait for a confirmation email from a caterer. He could have gone home on time and just dealt with it then, but Wren had been promised the email would come no later than five thirty, so he stuck around the office to wait for it.

Clearly that hadn't happened, as it was now almost seven forty-five. The sun was setting earlier now, and it had started raining heavily sometime around six. Wren hadn't brought an umbrella with him to work because he thought he'd be home before the rain started. Thus, he called a cab.