Page 102 of His Stolen Omega

Chapter 24:

Reality came back to him slowly, snippets of what felt like a fever dream plaguing his mind as he struggled to pull himself out of the haze.

Elm was lying on his stomach in the master bedroom, facing the window. Outside, the sun shone brightly, causing the snow-covered expanse to glitter and glimmer. It was pretty. Winter had always been his favorite season. His parents joked he had thick skin, and Kian used to stand outside watching over him as he played for hours, even once his lips started to take on a blue tint.

His brother never complained. Never told him to go inside. Sky couldn’t handle the cold as well as Elm managed to, so those days every winter when Elm was able to convince Kian to hang out with him were special for a few reasons.

He’d never resented his best friend. Understood that attraction didn’t work that way, wasn’t something someone could control, and wasn’t something to get angry about. Even before either of them had presented, a part of Kian and Sky had clearly recognized mate potential in each other.

Back then, Elm had longed to be alpha or omega. He’d placed all his hopes on it, in fact. That one day, he’d present and develop the type of biology that could seek out a life partner with another of his kind in a special way. The bond between alphas and omegas was said to be sacred. Unique. Envious.

No one ever knew, but he’d cried the night the doctors had told him he was beta. It’d felt like the dream of a happily ever after had been ripped out from under him. Yes, millions of species found their soulmate without needing pheromones or primordial urges. Betas married all the time, and at no lower rate than the rest. And yet…

Elm had been devastated.

But he hadn’t shown it. The next day, he’d woken up, made the active choice not to let something he couldn’t control bring him down, and had gone about his life. If asked, he lied and said it was no big deal. If he was teased, he laughed it off and played into the joke.

When Sky had returned from some time away with the claiming bite, Elm had felt both happy for his friend and pity for himself.

A mate had always symbolized so much more to him. It’d meant finding someone who would solely belong to him and him alone. Someone he didn’t have to share, or worry would turn to another. Someone who would brave the cold at his side. Find him worthy. Special.

Elm’s gaze shifted to his right wrist, visible where it was resting on the side of the bed. The teeth marks seemed to mock him.

He’d like to believe it’d been done in the heat of the moment. That the alpha sleeping at his side had merely been overcome by his rut and had made a hasty mistake.

Elm made it a habit not to lie to himself though.

And all of the signs had been there, now that he knew what to look for.

What an idiot.

He could feel them all over his body, the marks. Torn flesh already knitting itself back together with the fast healing their kind possessed. It wasn’t just bites, there were bruises, and scratches, and parts of him that felt rubbed raw. His ass especially felt like it’d been seared with a hot poker, and he winced as he tentatively lifted himself.

Levi was facing him, lying on his side, eyes shut. The arm that had been around Elm’s waist fell away, but the alpha didn’t stir.

Considering how long his rut had lasted, that wasn’t too surprising.

It also meant Elm had a decision to make.

Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he risked a glance down at himself, wincing. It was worse than it felt. His nipples were still puffy from being sucked and bit, indents with dried blood around them where the alpha had sunk in his teeth. There weren’t any scent glands there, so it’d been purely out of a desire to mark him up. Those, at least, would heal.

He pulled on the tender flesh of his thighs, checking to see the wounds high up on the inside. There were glands near the groin area, and the alpha had claimed both. The bites would scar, visible proof that Elm belonged to someone.

All of the claiming bites would.

The two at his wrists.

Two on his inner thighs.

Two at either side of his neck.

He felt beneath his jawline, glad to see there were no marks there at least. Had the alpha been unwilling to mar his face?

Absolutely.

This was the Leviathan he was talking about.

The guy who needed everything to be perfect and in exact order.