The threshold of the house itself seemed to sigh right along with Seath when Lycan finally returned.
Greene was off again on Council business, and he was stepping into the role of Pack Alpha more and more. Still, even the Alpha being gone was not as difficult as Lycan’s absence.
He didn’t expect to see Lycan, as the coven was that night under the full moon and no doubt he needed rest after his excursion to town. But, right after Caine entered without a knock—of course—Lycan followed behind him.
“Jamie said we might borrow a moment of your time, Legate,” Lycan said, head bowed, eyes down, and behind Caine. He had taken to trying to call him Legate, not Alpha, although sometimes it still slipped. Seath liked it when it did.
The downcast eyes, though. It wouldn’t do.
Seath moved in front of Lycan and tilted his head up gently with the soft pads of his fingers.
“You look very well, Lycan,” Seath said, enjoying how the diamond earring’s brightness played off Lycan’s face and how his clothes in general gave him the look of a healthy man in his early twenties. Seath’s wolf surged in pride. He had sourced the diamond himself when Trav had mentioned wanting to replace the jewel Lycan had been wearing when found. The omega had taken off a sizable emerald and never put it back on. Now, the diamond completed the look of a much-recovered Lycan.
He had done that. As Legate, as Alpha taking care of his pack.
But, there was something more there, too. Something about this omega wearing something he had picked out. Enjoying something beautiful just for himself.
Seath shut down his scent. The ability to do so was a talent he always had on a smaller scale, but now that he was Legate, the ability was stronger. Easier to call upon. And he was grateful for the timing, because Lycan stirred something in him that had been dormant. Something big and something growing. Something he needed to figure out for himself before others scented it and figured it out for him.
In the meantime, it also wouldn’t do for others to scent arousal from him to the beautiful omega.
“Thank you, Alpha.”
“Was there a problem in town?” Seath asked, his gaze falling also to Caine, who had managed to silently move over to the wet bar area, leaving them on the other side of the study. But it was Lycan who answered.
“No, I just . . ..”
Seath stepped back, taking the drink Caine made for each of them and handing one to Lycan as he looked out the windows.
“We went to a bookstore and it was amazing,” Lycan reported with a smile.
“I will have to show you the library, then,” Seath said. “It adjoins this study, but I don’t think you have seen it. You can go there whenever you like, of course.”
“Thank you, Alpha.” Lycan looked back down at his feet. “I know we don't know about tonight and . . . what . . . well. Whatever is possible, but,” Lycan looked up at Seath, fully in the eyes, and Seath had the urge to hold him. Lycan’s full gaze was a rare gift.
He wanted to wrap this omega in his arms and keep him close, tightly bound to him. There were mysteries in his eyes, in the way he moved his hands, in his small smiles and Seath felt compelled to learn them all.
“What I meant to say is thank you, even if nothing can be done about me tonight with the coven,” Lycan gestured vaguely to his head. “But,” Lycan began again, stopping Seath from trying to say anything to interrupt him, “I know witches are not inexpensive, even in service to Pack, and I came here with nothing, but, I do have this . . ..” Lycan reached into his pocket and Seath tried not to be fixated on how Lycan’s hands looked digging in his front pocket. It shouldn’t have been something to catch his attention. Oh, but it did.
Lycan laid the emerald earring, practically flawless, on Seath’s palm.
“You were wearing this when I found you,” Seath said. They had tried, unsuccessfully, to scry with the gem to understand where he came from, but it had been wiped clean of carrying such information.
“Yes. The piercing was frombefore, but this—this stone—was to please someone and I…” Lycan’s voice broke off then, and he quickly cleared it and set his shoulders.
“I don’t have much to offer in response to your kindness, Alpha, except to endeavor to be worthy of it. However, I do have this thing and it is of value. I ask that you, please, consider taking it to a dragon in exchange for gold. Please apply it to my debt to the pack.”
Seath looked at the precious gem for a moment, knowing that even if he was to tally the price of the witches, Lycan’s healthcare, even room and board, the value of the old and perfect emerald would far exceed all of it.
Sensing his hesitation, Lycan curved Seath’s hands around the gem, digging the sharp post slightly into the Alpha’s skin.
Seath liked being marked by something from Lycan. He liked the brush of Lycan’s skin against his. The confusing swirl of arousal and awareness he had where this omega was concerned grew, a tropical storm in his gut gaining force.
Green eyes stared into his, and Seath found he was holding his breath.
“Please. I do not want this gem. No matter how precious, it is a reminder of being held as I was. Even if I remain spellbound, I want no artifacts of that time. No mementos.” Lycan swallowed hard. “This part I can remember well-enough, and I ask you to take it from me, Alpha.”
Lycan looked at Seath with pleading eyes, and Seath nodded. He probably couldn’t resist even the most casual of requests from Lycan, but this one, this one he would gladly do.
