It Started With a Scent

Seventeen Thirty-Eight

Rachael didn't pay close attention to the onslaught of fire building up in her stomach until later in the afternoon. She had become so used to the feeling of that heat that it hardly took her by surprise anymore.

The only difference was, she usually felt it when she was around Jason, and he had left her apartment hours ago. 

Every time he left without finishing the mating process with her, it was harder and harder to let him go without allowing her instincts to take over and lure him into her bedroom.

She was lost in her thoughts, imagining the moment Jason would come back, and almost missed Tina's next question.

"How's job searching going?"

Rachael readjusted the phone against her ear and responded, "not great. I can't find anything I'm interested in."

"What are you interested in?"

Rachael smiled and juggled with the idea of revealing her plans at such an early stage. It wasn't as if her plan was overly outlandish however she was still harbouring a certain amount of doubt, especially after doing so much research and seeing just how much work she would have to undertake.

"I was thinking about what you told me the other day when you were at my house."

"Go on..."

"I think I want to open a sweet shop."

There was silence on the other end of the line and Rachael started to feel slightly more apprehensive, wondering what was going through her friend's head.

Finally, she heard Tina take a breath, "you know what? I can totally see you doing something like that."

"What was the big silence about?"

Tina gave a nervous laugh, "oh, I was just thinking about the fact that Jason loves everything sugary. He'd never leave your shop."

Rachael couldn't help the dopey smile that lit up her face and was glad that Tina couldn't see her expression over the phone. 

"Yeah." She said, simply.

She didn't want the conversation to steer to close to the topic of Jason because if she wasn't careful, she'd end up blurting all the dirty details of their newfound relationship. She'd proven to herself time and time again that she had a hard time keeping secrets from Tina.

"Okay, there's something else too." Tina blurted.

"What?" 

"I was going to wait until tonight to tell you but-"

"Wait- what's happening tonight?" 

If she was honest, she wasn't in the mood to make any other plans for the evening. All she knew was that when Jason got back to her apartment after work, they wouldn't be leaving her bedroom for a long while.

"I'll get to that in a minute," Rachael could practically hear Tina winking over the phone and she rolled her eyes. "First of all, I spoke to Head Alpha about you wanting the buy the diner-"

"Not anymore, Tina."

"That's not the point. So, he said that the pack would be willing to chip in and help you buy an establishment if you wanted."

The words that balanced on the tip of Rachael's tongue fizzled away, leaving her completely gobsmacked. 

"Did I hear you right?" She stuttered out, " are you pulling my leg or something?"

"No. I'm serious, Rach." Tina laughed, "we want to help."

She'd never tried to do anything like it before, she had no idea if it would even work, but for the first time in her life, Rachael extended the pack bond over the phone.