Lucky looked adorable, staring at him with startled eyes, slamming his notebook shut like it contained his deepest, darkest secrets.
“Am I disturbing you?”
Lucky shook his head, a plaited ponytail swishing across his back, and eased out the chair beside him from the table.“Have a seat.”
Chase hadn’t intended to stop, only return an overdue book, but seeing Lucky here felt like fate.Since he’d come this far, he could spare a few minutes.“The guys and I are heading to Club Madin tonight.Do you—and your friends, of course—want to come along?”
Lucky gnawed on his bottom lip and twirled his pen between his fingers.“Sure.”
Chase was surprised he’d agreed, it being a spur-of-the-moment decision.“We’ll meet you at the front doors at around eight?”It was safer to let Lucky make his own chaperone arrangements than to offer and face a potential rejection.
Lucky nodded, a faint smile appearing as his bottom lip slid free from the hold of his teeth.
If he had more guts, he would have been reckless and kissed Lucky.Anyone who could look at Chase like that deserved to be kissed into oblivion.But he was a coward.He didn’t deserve someone like Lucky—sweet, smart, strong and so honest it hurt.Why would Lucky want to be with someone like Chase, whose father was a scheming politician who stood for everything that Lucky hated?
Lucky Darro was a gift from Azrah.He was everything Chase wanted, if he’d had the luxury of choosing his mate—beautiful, traditional, smart and quick-witted, with no filter between his brain and mouth.He’d been enjoying Lucky’s comments about arrogant alphas and barbaric laws against omega rights for years, but had never believed that the smart-mouthed omega would be his.
There was no way the gods had given himthisomega as his own, but how else did he explain this single-minded fascination?Looking at him right now, it felt like fifty-thousand volts were rushing through his nerves, making it hard to breathe.
“Can I ask you a question?”Chase had to force the words out, afraid of what Lucky would think.“Do you believe in true mates?”
Not many people did.True mates were different to bonded mates because they came together with a crash, often unpredictable, unexpected and so intense that it was impossible to resist.They were chosen for each other, predestined in a way that superseded all logic.
Chase had always wanted to know his mate before they secured the bond, which could only be undone in rare circumstances.Why tie himself to a stranger because of a bond that had no logic or theory?
Looking into Lucky’s eyes, he could see the appeal.
Lucky smiled, exuding a scent that tickled his nostrils and urged him to get closer.“I do believe in true mates.I trust that Omha will lead people to each other regardless of the circumstances, status or age, likes or experience.I wholeheartedly hand my fate over to Omha, for Her to lead me towards the alpha who is destined to be mine.”
Chase smiled, wishing he could have the strength of faith Lucky had.It must have been comforting to believe in something so strongly.
“Is that naïve?”
Chase couldn’t have resisted the urge even if he’d been sitting on his hands.He reached up, brushing a loose strand of hair from Lucky’s cheek to tuck behind his ear.“It’s not naïve.I envy you.I wish I could believe in Azrah the way you believe in Omha.”
Lucky leaned in close, something soft in his eyes that drew Chase in, begging him to cut the distance.“Neither Omha or Azrah care whether you believe in them, because they believe in you.”He clasped the end of his ponytail in both hands.“Believe in true mates or not, Azrah will guide you to the path where you belong.”
Chase nodded, stunned by how comforting those words were.The proximity was killing him and he was shocked by the flash of worry in Lucky’s eyes.
“Please don’t hate me.”
He frowned, not sure what could ever make him hate Lucky, unless he was about to hear that he’d felt the mate bond with someone else.
Lucky
If Chase took any longer to close the distance he might lose his mind.Lucky grabbed Chase by his shirt and ignored his faint frown of surprise to pull him into a kiss.The first contact of their lips was like an electrical charge that sent sparks all through his body.
Then Chase reciprocated with the faintest brush of tongue that sent his nervous system into overdrive.He pulled back and stared at Lucky so intently that he worried Chase would scold him for being so brazen.
“Chase!”
They both sat back, though he was glad Chase moved slowly, reluctantly, before looking at the library door where Grant was waiting.He waved, then shot Lucky a smile.Chase cleared his throat and stood, taking care to push the seat back into the table.“I’ll see you tonight?”
Lucky blinked, pleasantly surprised by the reminder that they’d already planned a date.“Yes.I’ll be there.”He couldn’t believe he’d done that, but at least Chase wasn’t angry.
“Okay.”Chase wet his lips, then walked away, pausing at the front desk to glance back.When he caught Lucky looking, his smile blossomed with what he hoped was approval, not some kind of cruel amusement.
As soon as he was gone, Lucky dropped his forehead to the table, not sure whether to scream at his impetuous behaviour or at the fact that it had actually paid off.He’d kissed Chase!He shouldn’t have, but what did it matter when he’d kissed back?
