“I know, I trust you, Indi. And... listen, this is sudden, but... Will you bond me? Will you become my alpha?"
The offer was tempting, excitement racing through my veins as the prospect of finally getting to see for myself if Joon loved me the way that I did him.
My answer was obvious.
I opened my eyes to look up into Joon's, taking a deep breath to steady my racing thoughts. "No?—"
The omega's face fell, sugary apple scent going alcoholic in his disappointment, but I pushed on. I needed to get this out, even if it was disappointing for both of us.
"I need a minute, and so do you. A bond with any alpha is really special—even if it was accidental. And I don't want to rush us into something that you weren't ready for a couple of days ago just because you feel guilty."
"That's not—" Joon started hotly, and I put my hand up to quiet him, rubbing his knee affectionately.
"I know,and it's not why I want to bond with you either. I'm your alpha, Joon. It doesn't matter if Marcus got there first; we were already on our way. We just needed a little more time, and that didn’t change just because your relationship with him did. Or even because now you realize I’ve been right all along. That Iamthe alpha for you, and no matter how many alphas you bond before or after me, or how you feel about them, nothing is going to change that. Period."
Joon's eyes sparkled with tears, the very end of his nose going red as he sniffed. "I thought you were never going to talk to me again. That I'd lost you."
"C'mon, butterfly?" I said, slowly rising from the floor to sit on the bed beside him before pulling Joon into my lap. The mattress dipped under our combined weight, and I smiled, kissing the corner of his mouth softly. "Like you'd get rid of me that easily."
"You... you still want to someday though, right?" the omega asked with another sniff, the first few silvery tears slipping down his cheeks.
"It's notno," I clarified, thumbing away his tears and scooting to rest my back against the headboard with Joon cuddled in my lap. "It's not right now, okay?"
The omega's face fell, sugary apple scent going alcoholic in his disappointment, but I pushed on. I needed to get this out, even if it wasn't totally comfortable.
"I need a minute, and so do you. I don't want to rush us into something that you weren't ready for a couple of days ago just because you feel guilty."
"But I was ready!" Joon argued. "I was just too fucking stupid and stubborn to realize it! Indi, you have always been my alpha—I have never scent-matched with anyone else the way I didyou. Sure, I feel it with Marcus and Cameo, but you’re… It’sdifferent! Your kindness, your patience, and yeah, even your temper sometimes are just... parts of the reason I love you. Like skill trees that add up into making you the perfect alpha for the stupidest quest of your life?—"
"Hey, less of the negative self-talk," I complained. “It's making it impossible to enjoy the compliments."
Joon laughed, surging forward for a heavy kiss, and for a moment, everything was okay in the world again. A feeling that lingered even after he pulled away.
"I want you, Indigo. And whenever you're ready, I'm ready. I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize it. And—yeah, what you said hurt, it cut bad, but... I got it. If you bonded Eva by surprise like that, I would've probably said worse, all things considered."
"But it isn't just you that I hurt," I mumbled, thinking about Marcus.
Sure. We were friends, but we were also pack. And pack didn't purposefully try to hurt each other, no matter what was going on.
"Marcus is a big boy," Joon huffed. "He can handle a couple scrapes... But maybe talk to him, if you still feel bad. And they’re showing Screech tomorrow at that theater across from the restaurant.AndI’ve already gotten the three of us tickets. I'll make an opening for you to get a couple of minutes together so you can talk."
"Oh," I said with a chuckle, a smirk tugging up the corner of my mouth. "You've planned this all out, have you?"
Truthfully, I was touched that he’d already been thinking about how to mend things between the three of us. Maybe a movie and a talk on neutral ground was just what the doctor ordered.
"Yep!" Joon said proudly, grinning back at me—any trace of tears a thing of the past. "Down to you being so focused on me that you left that towel of yours on the floor, alpha."
I blinked, leaning around the omega to spot the mass of damp, black terrycloth on the carpet.
He caught my face in his hands for a tender kiss that quickly transformed into more, the omega's tongue stroking along mine while I ground my hardening cock into him from below.
"I love you."
"I love you more,” I whispered, nipping his lower lip hard. "Always going to."
Joon was a lot of things—creative, thoughtful, bratty, sexy as fuck... but there was something so much more important about the omega, something that I'd never question again as he slid off my lap to kiss up my thighs until he reached my cock, toying with the silvery piercing through the head with his tongue.
He was fuckingmine.
