The phonecall had taken everything out of me.

I was completely drained emotionally. I had gone off like a firecracker, and everyone who had entered my office afterwards had been scared off by the pheromones. 

Even Jim Brenner, my boss, 46 years of age and exactly the superior alpha male you’d expect to be a product of an entire lineage of two alpha’s mating, had come in looking slightly unnerved.

David had said needed a hug.

Hell, I needed a hug.

But this wasn’t a good idea. Patrick would say: ‘no don’t do it’, and he’d be right. Then again, if I could take the Tesla back, I wouldn’t have to tell him I spent our entire life’s savings on the kid.

Ok, fuck it, I’m going there. 

I told my secretary to put my calls on hold and postpone the one meeting I had still planned for the day, and got going. I stopped by a pharmacy to get some extra suppressants, and took them just in case. 

This is such a bad idea…

It was 4.30PM when I arrived back at the house I had dropped the new car off this morning. Even before I fully exited my car, David was already outside, walking up to me. His blonde hair was messy, and he was wearing baggy jeans and a T-shirt that had a picture of the Futurama robot trying to figure out a captcha lock. 

My heartbeat sped up seeing him, smelling him. He was wearing scent-blockers, which was a brilliant idea. But for some reason remnants of his sweet scent still reached me. I thanked myself for taking the extra suppressants, because I think I sure as hell needed them.

He hesitated a second before he reached me, then opened his arms and hugged me. I closed my arms around him, and we just stood there for a bit. Breathing in each other’s scent, touching our bodies together. 

It made me calm, clearheaded even. Completely different from that night 10 days ago.

David pressed his head against my neck and purred, it felt good. We were about the same height, I guessed. David was quite tall for an omega. I think I was only taller now because of the stiletto heels I was wearing.

After we’d been standing there hugging for several minutes, a voice rang out. “So that’s what happened to you that night, never figured you for a golddigger…” 

Alpha. 

Pissed-off alpha. 

Without thinking I had turned, and moved David behind me.

I was staring in the face of the kid from the keychain. David’s ex. The one who hurt him. One sniff made me realise exactly what had happened. Besides the pheromones of an angry alpha, there was also clearly the disgusting scent of babyshower.

I squared my shoulders, looked the guy straight in the eye, and said: “Well, that’s one way to introduce yourself… But then again, if you don’t want me to think of you as ‘Stinky’, you could actually act like a proper human being, and be nice to David so he can introduce us to each other.”

David stepped out from behind me, grabbed my hand and said calmly: “Chris, this is Matt, my ex. Matt, this is Christiana, my alpha.” 

Holy crap he actually said it.

Matt however, wasn’t playing the being-civilised-game with us and growled at me. 

I tried to keep my instincts in check. However big and strong he was, this guy wasn’t even half a threat. So I relaxed and smiled. 

“Hi Matt, nice to meet you.” 

I stuck out my hand. As I expected, he didn’t take it.

I had been expecting him to attack me, and I was prepared for that, but he didn’t. Instead he went straight for David. Throwing himself at him, whilst screaming that he was a spiteful bitch.

The second I saw it happening, I was completely possessed by something I had never felt before. If wasn’t just anger, and it wasn't just fear either, but a type of protectiveness that rushed through my body and turned everything else off.

I grabbed Matt by the collar and jerked him off of David. 

Crazed, he went right back at it. He was physically stronger than me too, as were most male alphas, and no trick with either my voice of pheromones would keep the guy at bay now. 

Without thinking about it, I took off one heel and smacked Matt right in the temple. His body collapsed on the pavement with a thud.

I ran up to David to check if he was okay. He was shaking, but before he let me hug him, he crawled over to Matt. He looked shaken.

I wasn’t.

Oh god, why wasn’t I? I might have killed a guy!

OK NOW I was shaken. I checked Matt’s pulse: he was alright. Heart beating, lungs breathing, no blood where I had hit him. Just unconscious.

I looked at David, as he grabbed Matt by the shoulders. I followed his example and took the feet. We hauled him across the street and on David’s cue, dropped him on the bench on the porch of, what I guessed to be, his house.

After we put him down there, David raised his hand and high-fived me. He was smiling. 

A feeling inside me rose that could only be described as pride, which was completely out of place. Why would a grown-ass woman be proud of hitting some kid in the head with a shoe? 

If anything, it was idiotic. Yet David’s beaming smile made me walk on air. I almost got myself hit by a car crossing the road because I wasn’t paying attention.

David saw it and laughed. “Now don’t go get yourself hit by a car, I’ve been reading a lot about bonding and it might just kill me.”

It wasn’t funny. His remark dragged me back to the reality I was in, and it stung.

“So,” I said, “now what?”

“Let’s take the car back. I don’t need it, and however much some part of me still hates you, I don’t want to be the kind of person Matt just made me out to be. The kind that destroys someone’s life out of spite.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate that.” I said, and my body proceeded almost automatically to hug him again. 

He immediately started purring. It made me feel whole.

We both took a car and tailed each other back to the dealership. I had to pull all the tricks I had up my sleeve to get them to accept the car back with almost a complete refund.

When we got back outside, David looked impressed. It made me feel warm and happy. 

It was insane how much I wanted to impress him. Nothing rational about it, but I guess that’s because of our ‘thing’. I still didn’t really want to call it by its name.

“This thing still cost you a shitload of money…” he said.

“Yeah, well. I’m not so rich that I can just go around buying Tesla’s, but I can miss 3.000 dollars.”

“Guess I should’ve just asked for that…” David joked again. I smiled and agreed that yes, he should have.

“Hey Chris… can I call you Chris?” he suddenly seemed a little unsure of himself.

“Yes, you can.” I replied. Everyone calls me Chris, why shouldn’t he?

“So, well. Chris… What I wanted to say. You know you’re not really my type…” I smiled again, I knew I wasn’t. The guy who I had just knocked out with my shoe was. And besides us both being alphas, I didn’t really think we had anything in common. “… and also, you’re happily married with um...”

“Patrick.” I said.

“Yeah, so. I don’t think we should be together like that… You know?”

I nodded. This was what I wanted to hear. Yet a really tiny part in the back of my mind screamed at me that it really wasn’t.

“But I feel drawn to you. Did you feel it? When we hugged?”

“Yes…” I said, wondering where this was going.

“So, I was thinking… Maybe we could try being friends? Like, friends that spend time together and sometimes hug? Would you want that? Would your husband be okay with that?”

I thought about that, and decided that this was probably the best solution. It would take a lot of self-control, but I was usually capable of mustering that. And it was a way for us to feel better without throwing both of our lives into the trash. Patrick would have to be okay with it too, which was unlikely, but I was going to give it my all to sell the idea to him.

“I think that would be a good idea. But please promise me you’ll take your meds from now on okay?”

“Yeah well. You too.” He replied. I smiled, nodded and hugged him again. It was a long and comfortable hug, and the part of me that was begging for it to become more was controllable. This was okay, I could do this.

I let David drive my car back to his house and tried very hard not to act like a driving instructor, nor a concerned parent. He flew over a speedbump and cheered as he did it. It made me smile. I had done exactly the same thing when I got my first car.

He pulled up in front of his house and I immediately noticed a silver SUV in the driveway. At least one of his parents was home.

“Do you want me to say hi, or shall I just go?” I asked. I could do either, but I really wanted him to feel safe.

His mother decided for him though, by running out of the house screaming. “You bitch! What have you done to my son?! David! Are you alright?!”

I got out of the passenger door and stood by my car, as David ran up to his mother. I couldn’t overhear her conversation, but even though she had stopped screaming at me, she was still staring daggers. 

That woman does not trust me one bit, I thought. And she was right too. But what choice did she have?

David beckoned me over and, keeping my posture composed like I would in court, walked over to the pair.

“So… David says you’re going to try being friends?” Sarcasm was dripping from the blonde woman’s voice like a leaky faucet.

“Yes, we think that would be the best option.” I said, a professional air to my tone.

“You know that if you ever touch him, I’ll kill you.” She said.

“It seems we can make do with hugs. If that’s okay with you.”

“Not really, but David just told me it helps.”

“It does.” I said, matter-of-factly.

“I won’t ever forgive you, you know…”

Yeah well, I wouldn’t either if I were in her shoes. 

“I know. I’m not asking for forgiveness. Not from you, not from David. I know what I did is unforgivable. But I hope you will allow me to try to make this situation more bearable for David.”

“Don’t take advantage of him.”

“I won’t.”

“Good. Now scram.” She said, making a waving motion towards my car.

“Bye David.” I said.

He threw his arms around me for a last hug, which made his mother scowl. “Bye Chris.” He said, as he let go and followed his mother back inside. I let out a deep sigh and walked back to my car. 

The entire way back, I jumped speedbumps and blamed his smell lingering in the driver’s seat.