Chapter 29

When Allie and Nate returned to the packhouse, they were surrounded by the pups inviting them to barbecue on the lawn outside. She thought the entire ordeal was cute and almost made the omega drop to her knees. Its something they did every week—the barbecue. The pack's hunters go into the forest and shift into their hellhounds and catch prey which they share with the pack.

Much like werewolves, only that hellhounds don't involve pups and omegas. Very traditional that way.

Bidding the pups goodbye, they promised to join them in a few minutes or so. Once inside the room, Allie realised that her shirt smelled heavily of those clinic's herbs. It made her nauseated the more she breath into it.

She turned to the Alpha. "I need to change."

Nate bobbed his head. "I can wait outside."

"No", Allie flushed a deep shade of red before continuing. "I mean, that's not the problem. I did not pack enough clothes for the trip. And my previously worn clothes smell."

"I told you that you should have let Greta wash your clothes. That's her job!"

The omega made a face at that. She was not used to having the luxury of a maid who does her chores. It made her uncomfortable when Nate suggested it, which is why her dirty clothes were stuffed in her travelling bag somewhere.

"Can you stop yelling at me? It's not very helpful."

Nate sighed. "Sorry."

Silence blanketed the room, only the sound of their harsh breathing echoing around. The Alpha took a step towards his closet before turning towards her. "You can wear one of my hoodies if you want."

"Yes! Thank you. I can wear anything."

The Alpha opened his closet and threw one of the hoodies towards her, and when she caught it, an intense smell of vanilla and his musk invaded her nostrils. It had a strong residual of his scent along with the clothes freshener. She secretly didn't mind it at all.

"I can't wear this," Allie stated, holding the material in a ball in her opened palm.

Nate arched his brow. "What happened to I can wear anything?"

"I can, but this is too black. Don't you have something upbeat?"

He rolled his eyes. "You need something to wear, and that's what I'm giving you. When we leave, you can wear whatever you want of yours, but as of now, that's what you're wearing in this household."

"Fine"

***

Nate had to help the hunters set up the woods, so he left her to find a good seat at the tables. All the chairs were all arranged in a group of five. Fortunately, she was able to find a table with all four empty seats and slid in next to a man. As soon as she sat down, he seemed to turn himself away from the Omega. She furrowed her eyebrows at that.

The man was older than her by far, his hair a little grey at the roots and face sharp as he stared forward. He was motionless like a stone statue. The smell coming off from him was that of a Hell hound Beta.

"Is something wrong?" She whispered to the man, irritated at the sudden looks she got from the people around her.

The man snapped his head at her, his brown eyes filling with fear as he met her blue ones. His eyes travelled down at the black hoodie she currently had on before looking away and coughing into his elbow.

"I have to go," The beta stated before basically running away from the table.

Allie would've found it weird if it wasn't for a sudden realisation that twisted inside her. She stared at the sleeves of the hoodie. Of course. She was wearing Nates shirt. It reeked of him, and for all these pack members sitting on the lawn, they could probably smell it too. The omega could only imagine all the thoughts they had.

"Fucking great!" She mumbled under her breath.

And wearing someone else clothing was an act of claiming someone. Allie slowly shoved her face into her open palms, body slumping in the chair in defeat as she sighed into her hands. Just then, a chair creaked beside her, and she noticed Kay plopping next to her.

Nates cousin gave her a weird look, one that registered as more confused than any other expression. "So you and Nate are totally up to something then. He doesn't let people use his stuff."

"We're not up to anything, Kay. Nate and I? Just friends," She smiled to make the statement seem believable.

Kay made a tsking noise as she shook her head, folding her arms over her chest and twisted her lips as if she didn't believe her at all. Sounds fair.

"So explain the hoodie then," Her new friend flicked her wrist at the black coloured material. "What exactly does wearing his clothes mean? At least besides for announcing that you two are close and in the mating stage of your relationship that you don't have."

Allie didn't answer. She found herself instinctively searching for the Alpha only to find him a few feet apart, stacking the woods. As if he felt her eyes on him, Nate lifted his head and smiled.

Kay inhaled sharply. "I can't even smell you, Allie. You smell of him, like, his smell overpowers yours to the point where if I didn't know the both of you, I would think it's how you originally smelled."

"Oh, believe me, I know," Allie sighed as she leaned back in her chair. The omega could still feel the eyes on her and cringed internally at the type of attention she got. She wondered if Nate knew by now? If word had spread as fast and wide as she thought it would, then he might have. Whatever, it didn't matter.

"So..." Kay wriggled her brows which was Allie's cue to get out of the chair. She was no longer interested in talking about the hoodie or her relationship with Nate.

"Excuse me. I'll be back in a moment."

***

The moment Allie stepped back into her room to get her phone, it started to ring. A glance at the caller ID told her that it was Rachel trying to reach her. The omega promised herself she wouldn't answer and be focused on the task at hand.

She was able to resist for more than a few hours of constant vibrating before her finger slid over the screen to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"What the hell, Allie! What the bloody fucking hell!" Rachel rarely ever lost it, but maybe it was justified in this case, Allie thought as she held the phone away from her ear. "Are you kidding me? I have been trying to get hold of you for hours! Do you even know what's going on here?"

"I'm sorry," was her meek reply, and the omega felt she had said those words so often in the last few days that they had lost all meaning.

"It's not enough. People are looking for you, Allie. Dangerous, weird ones. A group of guys are watching our dorm since yesterday. When I confronted them, they told me they are waiting for you. What's going on?"

Allie stood, rooted in her spot as those words sunk. Who were these people? What did they want with her? Was it her brothers doing it or someone else behind it? She had so many questions swirling in her head that it took her a minute to respond. "I-I don't know Rachel, trust me but I want you to know how fucking sorry I am, okay?"

"No! No, it's not okay. How do you expect me to just go on with my life like this? I'm scared and I hate feeling watched every second. Please come back."

There was a pause, apparently neither of them sure how to continue. Allie was at a loss for words, and Rachel seemed to have too many to know where to start. Her concern was valid; after all, her roommate didn't do anything.

"Where are you? Still with Nate?"

"Yeah", Allie didn't even realise she was crying until the omega opened her mouth and felt salty tears fall onto her tongue. She exhaled shakily, wrapping her other arm around her waist tightly. Unknowingly she was causing pain to the people close to her—something she never wished to happen.

"I'll be back soon. I promise. I'm ashamed that I have caused you unnecessary stress and pain. I hope you can believe me when I say that I'm truly sorry, and I will get to the end of it once I'm back."

Rachel sighed. "I know."

Allie let out a shuddery breath, her whole body trembling from how much everything about this conversation had hurt. The omega pressed the red button; choking on her breath. There was only one thing replaying over and over in her mind: she had to leave the packhouse soon and find out about those wolves chasing her.

It was only a matter of hours before they figure out her real location and barge in without any care for others. That scared her—a lot.

***