The first thing I noticed was that the scent was stronger here. It was everywhere. Smoky enough to choke on, but soothing somehow. The doors shut behind me. There were bookcases everywhere. Some were actually filled with books, while most held artifacts and weapons. Iron swords on display, ancient jewelry, antlers and tusks. Objects that reminded one how ancient the Oaklands were.
It was not surprising that Axel prioritized swords and arrows over books. He was a soldier, not a scholar. That was something Alain had said before, on the boat.
One corner of the room held a sofa covered in furs. I longed to warm myself up in it. The room had no fireplace. Alpha werewolves did not much mind the cold. In the middle of the room stood a large desk. Sturdy and polished. The General stood behind the desk, bent over some official-looking documents, his hands flat on the desk. He did not look up. He was infinitely more attractive when deep in thought. I would have never admitted that to him.
"You wished to see me, my lord," I said. My voice was softer than I wished it to be, and it was always too breathy for my liking. He inhaled. He looked at me then. I bit my lip once more.
“Sit down,” he said. I looked around the room. There was only the sofa to sit on. It was very close to General Axel. But I did heed his command. I warmed my hands under the fur blankets on the sofa. I could see the nape of his neck. For a while it was quiet. He was reading, and scribbling something on a scroll. He worked standing up. Even then, tapping his feet, nodding his head. He was a restless man. Something I did not notice when he was seated on his throne. I tried inspecting the artefacts in the room. I ended up inspecting General Axel. Always clad in furs, nothing like the high-born back in the Drowned Town. He was dressed similarly to the guards, and to the soldiers, instead of the advisors.
After several minutes, Axel stood up straighter. His attention diverted to me. I was still sitting, unsure if I was supposed to stand up to address him. He looked me up and down. That would have been less uncomfortable if I was standing up. His dark eyes were focused as intensely on me as they had been focused on his documents before. It was as if he was studying me as well.
"Why have you been on my mind?" he asked. As if it was my fault that he was drawn to me in much the way I was drawn to him. His gaze was piercing. I shivered.
“You’re not wearing my furs,” he said. “Are you cold?” The question caught me off guard. Of course I was cold. This was a stone castle without glass windows or curtains. Most chambers did not even have a fireplace. My throat was the only part of me that was warm, filled with the scent of burning wood. The scent was more intense than ever. I had to catch my breath. I felt the weight of a blanket on my lap, and his face looming over me.This was just like when he came into my chambers, but this time I was supposed to be lucid. Why did I not feel all that different?
“Thank you,” I said.
“My Lord,” he reminded me. I nodded. I should have apologised. Axel did not seem to mind my lack of manners. He sat down beside me. He was so close. He was everywhere. I tried to gather my thoughts. To be more like myself. To not let him reduce me to whatever an omega becomes in the presence of an alpha like Axel.
“What can I do for you, my lord?” I asked. I looked him in the eyes as I spoke. That was a mistake. I bit my lip again. It was a habit I had to break, or I would start bleeding again. But General Axel made me so tense, there was no stopping it. He sighed.
“Not sure, omega.” It was frustrating. His eyes were emotive, but the rest of his face was not. Unless he was smirking, mocking. I wondered if he ever showed any other emotions. If he did, they were reserved for people other than me. He was mocking me now as well. Not with his face, with its blank expression, but with his words. He probably did not mean to mock me, but I never asked to be called by rank. He likely did not address Inge or Espen that way.
“My name is Gabriel, my lord,” I said. He raised an eyebrow at me. It annoyed me even more. Did he think I was beneath him? He must have thought I was. Or did he just enjoy me driving him up the wall as much as I enjoyed doing it? Was my cheek what drew him to me?
“I know, omega,” he said. And by the little smirk on his face, I knew that he did enjoy it. He was baiting me, hoping that I would be caught. It was infuriating how I took pleasure in it, these exchanges. That I was not truly being disobedient. That I was teasing, being coy, in a way I never was before. Thathe responded in kind. That we were not behaving as enemies anymore, not feeling like enemies do.
“Okay, alpha.” Calling him alpha did not have the same effect as him addressing me by rank. But it did have an effect. His eyes grew dark. He licked his lips. He was obviously not aware he was doing it. Not aware he was staring at me like I was prey. And I bit my lip. I didn't mean for it to come off as flirtatious. It was just a habit. But in this situation, who could blame Axel for interpreting it that way? The fingertips that grazed my knee let me know that he thought I was encouraging him to reel me in. Did I want him to?
“Red hair.” He rolled a strand of my messy curls in between his index finger and his thumb, inspecting it, as if it would feel much different from his own shaggy black hair. I looked down at his other hand, resting on my knee. “Pretty.” His hand went from my hair to my neck, holding me there gently.
“I have been told it is common in the Evergreen Isles,” I said, as if he had asked me a question. “My mother was from there.” He hummed. A low-pitched sound. Relaxed and inviting. His fascination with the way I looked was understandable. I found it hard to look away from him as well. He looked nothing like me. Not only was he tall and broad, dark-haired and a little wild-looking. He also had quite fair skin, and an uncharacteristically beautiful button nose. His eyes were angled and dark. As a southern peasant, I was significantly more sunkissed. My eyes were far less sharp, more hooded and mellow. My nose did not slope, it was wider, less pointed. Rounded features, soft rather than strong.
His hand moved up from my knee to my upper thigh and my heart quickened. My breath hitched. He noticed. He let out a soothing sound, a low rumble, something distinctly werewolf-like, that should have had no effect on me. Yet paired with thechange in his scent, it calmed me down. I found myself not panicking quite as much as I should have.
“My Lord, I-” He shushed me. His face drew closer to mine. I could feel his breath on my cheek. I felt his lips graze my ear. My breathing was fast and uncontrolled. Whether in excitement or alarm, I did not know.
"Have you been touched before?" he asked. His voice barely above a whisper, gravelly and slow. To my horror, I almost moaned. I held it in. It came as a surprise to me, how easily we crossed a line we had not crossed before. I knew he treated me differently from the omegas at court, but I did not expect such a sudden advance from him.
"You know I haven't, my lord." My voice sounded too high, too soft. Not certain enough. Not sarcastic, or teasing. Just breathless and weak.
"Good." His lips moved from my ear to my throat, that was now caught in between his hand and his face. When he kissed my neck, I moaned. I could no longer hold it in. His furs fell from my shoulders. My hands were stuck somewhere on my chest, squished in between the two of us, in my uncertainty of what to do with my arms. I cursed my own lack of experience, and the way I responded to him. The dynamic we naturally fell into. The way it felt right.
“Alpha!” He opened the top buttons of my tunic, and my mind went into overdrive. He pulled the collar down, and traced a line of kisses down my then exposed shoulder. Why I did not expect the tension between us to lead to this, I did not know. But I knew that this was a powerful man, and I was a lowborn from the Empire.
“We can't.” I could not just give myself to him, not knowing what his intentions were. He grabbed my chin, always slowly, softly, restrained in a way I was not. The hand on my thigh caressed me.
“We can’t, or you don’t want to?” he asked.
“We just can’t.”
“Shh,” he whispered. “Let go.” And I almost succumbed to it. "Stop thinking.” And his lips touched mine for the first time. “Leave it up to alpha.” Another barely there kiss. “Let me take care of you.” And my mind went blank.
A more fervent kiss. Bordering on aggressive. Still slow, but stronger. Nothing like the touches I felt before. When I gasped, he took my open mouth as an invitation. I felt his tongue move against mine. It was like he was trying to wholly consume me. And I responded, somehow. I suppose I didn’t do so very skillfully. And he kissed so passionately that I almost forgot who he was. How we knew each other. His hand moved up my thigh, to almost touch a place that made me remember. I pulled away from him a bit. His eyes were crimson. His breathing was ragged.
“But I’ve never-” And he kissed me again, as if it would make me submit easily. Maybe it would. This time, once more, tender. Slow and soft. He took my face in his hands. His thumb caressed my cheek.
“Don’t worry, omega,” he said. “I’ll take responsibility.” He spoke as if this was a grave matter. As if I was a noble omega, worried about my standing. As if my honour was to be defended. As if I wasn’t just a young man from the shore, who visits the lower town markets each week. And it felt nice to pretend I was someone else. Maybe even to imagine what I could become. I could never return home anyway. There was tentative anticipation, in the way I fantasized, in the way I wrapped my arms around his neck.
