Factors of Change

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“You gave him… what?”

“He took it,” I corrected with a sigh. Laurie’s eyes were as wide as saucers and filled with a good dose of desolation, and I struggled to save my dignity. “He turned around and took one from my desk, alright? What was I supposed to do? Rip it out of his hand?”

“What were you supposed… what happened to exchanging cellphone numbers?” She clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Her business card. Goodness, girl, now he can only call you at… at work.”

“Lore, there wasn’t any time. I couldn’t… move, in any case, let alone run after him like a loon in the office to give him my personal number.”

“Mmhmm, right. Alright. Maybe,” she acknowledged regretfully. “But the Alpha, Lee… What if he doesn’t call?”

“Then he just won’t, and that’ll be it.” I doubted it, though. While he had acted amused and could make anyone do whatever he wanted – literally – Gabriel St-Louis hadn’t appeared to me like someone who would mess with someone else’s feelings. That might have been wishful thinking, though, and I tried to keep a damper on my hopes. My telephone had been silent for the rest of the day, after all. “I… I think he will. He might, I mean.”

Laurie arched a delicate eyebrow at me. A natural omega, born from a family of werewolves who had lived on the Montreal island since the pack was first founded over three hundred years ago, she was one of the colleagues who had been the most welcoming to me at my arrival in the cable company two years ago. She had taken me out for lunch to tell me everything I needed to know about my new job, and we had become close friends very quickly. We had established, over the past few months, some sort of Monday happy hour that didn’t include alcohol but gargantuan amounts of coffee. A pretty, petite blonde with pure blue eyes, Laurie had also been mated for several years and was mother to five young rowdy boys, and I suspected that Monday evening was also Desperate Escape night for the sometimes tired mother. Tonight’s conversation had revolved over the excitement of the Alpha’s visit at the office today, and I had told her about our private conversation. She was smart and quick, though, and I knew she would read right through me if I wasn’t careful. “What makes you think that? What happened?”

“He… well nothing happened.” I bit gently on my lower lip. “He looked interested, that’s all. It felt that way.”

“Felt?” Laurie’s eyes narrowed slightly as she leaned forward over the table, sensing her prey. “What did it feel like?”

“Laurie… I don’t know how to explain a feeling.”

“Then tell me what he smelled like.”

I froze and frowned at her. “I beg your pardon?”

She only smirked. “What did he smell like?” she repeated more slowly, as if I hadn’t heard the first time.

I opened my mouth to argue, but gave up and answered. “He smelled… male. And powerful. And like… rain. What it smells like at the lake after a summer rain, on a warm day,” I added, and her eyes narrowed. I ignored it, and shrugged. “Like pine and fresh leaves.”

She snorted softly. “Is that all?” she asked gently, and I shook my head.

“Spices,” I finished in a whisper. “Nutmeg and cinnamon.”

“Sounds yummy,” she said softly, arching an eyebrow at me.

I nodded. “I could have breathed it all day,” I admitted, and we sat silently for a few long minutes. Laurie frowned and took a slow sip of her cup of coffee, deep in her thoughts. As for myself, I had drifted back in memory to remember the scent again.