“Elliot, I?—”
“Fuck, Claire,” he says, grabbing my wrist and pulling my hand off his chest, which feels like a rejection I’ve never experienced. “I can’t do this with you tonight.”
“What, have a conversation with me?”
He rubs the bridge of his nose. I can smell the arousal in his scent. I could see how dilated his eyes were, how fast his heart raced. This can’t be one-sided.
“Claire,” he says my name in a way you would talk to someone you pity. “It’s…I—” He’s tripping over his words and I should walk away now and save my ego, but I can’t.
Tears well in my eyes as I blink at him. I know I say the words hoping I get a reaction out of him. “I’ve signed up for Heat Haven. Maybe I’ll find my pack there.”
His jaw ticks, his gaze unwavering from mine. We stare at each other, no words between us as my eyes well up with tears. Idon’t want to find a pack at Heat Haven, not a pack that doesn’t include him.
Elliot’s face falls, and he plasters this sad half smile on his face.
“You deserve the best, Claire. I hope you find it,” he says before looking away from me.
He doesn’t care that I’m looking for a pack; he doesn’t care that I’m going to find a pack.
Elliot Smith doesn’t want me back and the reality of that has me nearly jumping off of the outdoor couch. He doesn’t call out my name, or chase me, he just sits there and drinks while I storm off to my room. Only when the door is shut behind my back do I let myself fall apart.
I don’t know what I thought, but I wasn’t delusional in thinking there was something between us.
He doesn’t want me, doesn’t want to be a part of my pack, and I’ve been holding out for him all this time.
“So fucking naïve, Claire,” I growl at myself, wiping away tears from my eyes.
I want a pack so bad. I want to have that ultimate whirlwind romance that leads to everlasting love so desperately. I’d always pictured Elliot in that future and it’s all come crashing down around me.
Rejection isn’t something I’m familiar with and I’m not sure what to do with myself.
With a sniff, I pull out my phone, intending to doom scroll. The second I open up social media, it’s all the people from the city I know. None of them have ever caught my attention. Most of them liked me because of my last name or my designation. Seeing their perfectly put together faces just pisses me off more and I switch over to my email.
There’s an email from Heat Haven, but it has nothing to do with their facility in Manhattan. It’s a promotional email for acruise, one specifically designed for Omegas to meet with packs and single Alphas and Betas.
The website is hard to read with the light pink background so it takes me a while to get through the information.
A three-month cruise where the intention is to find a pack. A place where I wouldn’t be Claire Sørenson. I’d just be an Omega looking for a pack. It would be a fresh start, a place far away from Elliot Smith and all the other Alphas in the city who haven’t made me feel anything but a pawn or a prize to be won.
There are only three Omega suites left, and I click on the button almost in a haze. Before I know it I’m signed up for this three-month cruise and it’s either going to be a disaster or the best decision of my life.
All I know is that staying here would break me. I have four months to change my mind, but something tells me this isn’t a tequila driven decision. No, this is me choosing myself.
I want a pack and I’m going to find them on that damn ship if it’s the last thing I do.
Chapter 2
Claire
The massive shipsare getting closer as my brother drives me to the port and reality is setting in.
I’m really about to get on a floating city and find my pack. At least I hope so. At the minimum I’m running away from my problems back home.
Out in the middle of the ocean, I’m going to find my pack, I just know it.
This isn’t casual for me. I’m going to find a pack that wants me for me.
Maybe this is an extreme way to get what I want, but this cruise is an even playing field. There won’t be Alphas panting around me because of my last name or trust fund. I’m going into this adventure being completely me and not accepting anything less than a true connection.