Page 55 of For All My Effort
My leg was already bouncing in anticipation of where we were heading. I tried to distract myself by asking about my mate. He told me all about how he was raised, with etiquette lessons in sitting and dining and greeting people. Despite how much he admitted breaking away from that harsh mold his parents cast him in, I could still see some of it in him.
His perfect posture even while driving, the way he spoke, his words never mumbled or unclear. Even compared with Han, there was something just … formal about Sebastian.
“Did you ever like it?” I asked him.
“Like what?”
“The formal attire. The fancy dining and being waited on hand and foot.”
“It has its perks. I never grew up worried about food on the table or whether I’d get gifts for the holidays. But I also wasn’t allowed to talk to other kids my mother saw as ‘beneath us’. I wasn’t just encouraged to be proper, I was punished if I wasn’t. When it’s a choice, I have no issue occasionally making it. But my life was dictated too closely, I never felt like I was free … like I had a choice in anything.”
I felt the frustration at his past in his words. Or maybe it was my own understanding that helped me to relate to him. “Do you feel like you have plenty of choices now? Enough freedom?”
“I do. I remember when we first started courting you, back when you were still living at the OC and hiding your involvement with the designation movement. It was the first time that I wished I was back to getting everything I wanted.”
“What do you mean?”
He shook his head, a smile pulling at his lips like he was thinking of a fond memory. My mate was absolutely gorgeous, even from the side profile as he drove. I had never really been interested in cars, or got the appeal of men driving them, but seeing Seb’s face, his long fingers on the wheel, completely relaxed and in control, yeah, there was something incredibly sexy about the image.
“We weren’t particularly interested in finding an omega, but my mother had arranged for us to get our scents documented for the OC. At the time, it was better to just let her think she was getting her way since we never figured we’d actually court anyone.”
Omegas at the OC were required to go through all the scents of potential alphas to find the right pack. Technically, we weren’t forced to pick one. Even so, the betas watched as we sniffed at the swatches covered in alpha scents, and if we had a particularly strong reaction, the omega would find themselves with a date.
I didn’t remember scenting my pack, but considering how much I loved their scents, and remembering how much I hated smelling the swatches, I could imagine being shocked at the scents for this pack. I imagined being caught unaware of how much I enjoyed their combined smell that the beta watching me would have run off with excitement at the chance to pack me up.
“As soon as we met you, I think we all knew we wanted you,” Seb continued. “You, princess, were not as immediately convinced. You liked our scents well enough, but I remember you telling us that if you were ever in a freak accident, and you lost your nose, you’d still want to love your pack.”
“Would losing a nose stop your sense of smell?” I asked. “Like, if your nostrils were flat on your face, would your sense of smell be the same?”
“That’s a complicated answer. Technically your nose does have some olfactory senses, although the majority of your ability to smell comes from the direct connection of the smell receptors in the nose reaching up to the brain.”
The answer didn’t really answer the question for me, but I nodded anyways.
“Anyways, we courted you for a while. Obviously, our charms worked in the end.” He glanced over at me quickly, winking in a way that had me rolling my eyes at him.
“Will you tell me more about your job?”
Even though I already knew it, hearing Seb describe his work was unavoidable proof that my mate was incredibly smart. When he said he did years of schooling, I realized then that he wasn’t exaggerating. I figured that he went into a scientific discipline because he wanted to prove to himself that he was enough. After all, he needed more than money to get into his current field.
I was proud, and slightly envious that he was able to break free of his gilded cage. That was what I wanted for myself.
When Seb finally parked the car, I still didn’t have a clue where we were. The building was huge, and even the car port was fancy with several people in tailored suits waving cars in, opening doors, and even acting as guides.
I half-jumped when my door was opened by someone not Sebastian. The female smiled at me, offering me her hand to help me out of the car. Her suit was obviously tailored to her body and considering how good she looked, it made me think that I might’ve wanted to start wearing suits. Not the shirt part underneath, just the pants and coat combo would be perfect.
“How are you doing today?” the beta asked. Her eyes flared when she caught my scent, quickly dropping my hand and taking a half-step away.
“Just dandy,” I told her. My mate came around the car to pull me close to him.
“If you’ll follow me.” She led us to an elevator, even getting in to press the button for us which I thought was kind of funny. The small space was just as elegant as the garage, which was making me even more curious about what we were doing.
Was this an event or a restaurant? Because I was hoping food would be there. Even if it was little samples or something.
I probably should have told Seb that Han and I had worked right through lunch. My excitement about the date had distracted me from my hunger, but it was now nudging my stomach with its little reminders.
The elevator ride was dramatically long.
When the doors opened, the beta held her arm out in front to stop the doors from closing on us and said, “Enjoy the show.”