Without thinking, I wrap my arms around him, around his waist, and the tears come without warning. It’s like a dam breaks inside of me, unleashing my own treacherous sea of pain. I crumple to the ground with him. I sink my fingernails into his back through his shirt, clawing, holding on for dear life.
“I don’t want to leave…” I say, the words falling out of their own accord. “Please, don’t make me leave.”
“Make you–?” he asks, his voice edged in surprise. “Why would I ever make you do anything?” I pull away, looking up at him. “I’m the one begging you to stay.”
I blink. “What?”
“That day I found you in these woods…” he says, reaching a hand for my hair. His thumb brushes over the tears on my cheek. “I knew then that you were more than just an omega.” He says the words, and they cut me like a knife. Because I’m not an omega. Not really.
“But I’m not,” I say. “I’m not an omega, so I hold no value in your pack.”
“You think because you’re…different—” His words settle on me, reminding me of Olly’s.
You’re just different.
“You think I don’t value you?”
I can’t meet his gaze. I don’t want to see the pain, the sympathy. The sadness there, because I know the truth.
Omegas are valuable. We’re the ones who keep the packs going, who keep the bloodlines alive. It’s we who are traded and given, purely because of what we can provide.
And it’s been clear since Gage brought me to the compound, that that is what made me valuable to the Orions. And I’m not stupid enough to think that every time Gage and I had sex he wasn’t trying to get me pregnant because I was an omega to him. I was a means to an end. An instinct.
“How can you?” I ask. “I’m not—”
He grabs my jaw. Hard. Forcing me to look at him.
“You are my alpha. You are just as valuable as anyone else, if not more.”
I feel a tear run down my face. His grip loosens.
“You only wanted me when you thought I was someone else,” I say.
“Wrong,” he says. The word is heavy. “I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you. Job or no job.”
“Because you thought I was an omega,” I whisper.
“Because you stood like an alpha and told me your name was Auryn.” His voice doesn’t waver. It’s strong. Stronger than I feel at the moment. “Because you fought for yourself. For your freedom. You fought for us.You brought Olly out of his shell. You tore those bastards up for Em. You sat by Diego’s side while Olly operated on him.”
He leans his forehead against mine, his mouth so close I could take his lips easily.
I want to. God, I want to, but there is a part of me, a larger part than I want to admit that wants him to kiss me.To prove to me I still matter to him now that I am no longer what he thought I was.
But as I wait with bated breath for him to kiss me, I realize maybe I am.
Maybe somewhere deep within me, I am an omega, even if it’s not natural.Olly said there was no telling if my omega alteration would stick. It could disappear tomorrow, like Emmett’s.
Or it could stay a part of me, forever.
“I want you because you’re Auryn. Because you’re my mate. What you are is my mate.”
I whine the moment his lips find mine. I whine so deep, I think it rattles the Earth. “But what if—”
I break away, but Gage swallows my words, pushing me down into the dirt, and something inside of me comes alive.
All resistance is futile. There’s no desire to run, no desire to fight.
The earth beneath me is soft, and his body is heavy and hard. His lips graze my jaw, my neck. His hands hold me still as he purrs. My pussy throbs, and I feel wet. Very wet.
