I’d come here to take him.
Not want him.
I forced it down and dragged in a steady breath. He was leverage. Rowan’s weakness. A means to an end.
Didn’t matter that he looked soft and harmless in that bed. Didn’t matter that every instinct I had around omegas said “protect, don’t touch.” Saint was lying under hospital lights because Rowan’s man dragged one of them between cars and took a swing at the wrong biker. If Rowan only understood pain, then this was the language I had left. I hated that it had to be him. But I hated the thought of Saint never waking up more.
Kellan shifted in his sleep—just a tiny movement—but it dragged my gaze down the line of his body. Long legs. The steady rise and fall of his chest. The soft give of his mouth.
He murmured something into his pillow, words too quiet to catch.
My stomach tightened.
Focus, Lachlan.
I stepped closer, boots silent on the carpet, keeping my breathing slow. My shadow fell across him, and his brows pulled together like he felt it.
I reached for him.
That was when his lashes fluttered.
Once.
Then again.
Shit.
He was waking up.
I froze, my hand hanging inches above him as his breathing changed—deeper for a second, then shallower, like his body knew something was wrong before his brain did.
He turned his face toward me, still half asleep, lips parted, eyes squinting against the low light. It took him a second to focus.
When it hit, his eyes went wide.
His mouth opened, but my hand was already there, covering it before he could make a sound.
His breath hit my palm in a quick, shocked rush.
“Easy,” I whispered, keeping my voice low and even. “Don’t scream.”
His lashes fluttered again. His chest rose too fast. His fingers curled in the sheets like he couldn’t decide whether to shove me away or pass out.
And that’s where the night went to hell, because the second his scent really hit me—warm and sweet and unmistakably omega—something primal snapped awake inside my chest.
Not planned. Not wanted. Not convenient.
But it was instant.
Violent.
And absolutely undeniable.
Shit.
This was going to be a problem.
3
