Page 153 of His Stolen Omega

Elm touched his cheek and his fingers came back wet.

Well. That was embarrassing.

He finally noticed how everyone was watching and dropped into a crouch, hiding himself behind the long bar. Wrapping his arms tightly around his knees, he buried his face, a sob slipping past his lips before he could contain it.

There was a shout and a loud crashing sound, and then Levi was there, kneeling in front of him, touching him, sending soothing pheromones into the air.

But it was too late.

Pheromones couldn’t fix a broken heart, and Elm’s was breaking, on the brink of total collapse.

The Leviathan had treated him like an object, only changing his approach after Elm had successfully broken free the first time and injured his people all on his own. It’d been impressive enough to attract the interest of the alpha, of the Dominus side of him.

Levi was like that.

Was always quick to adjust his angle and try something new in an attempt to get the results he desired. He’d alter his behavior at the drop of a hat, with ease, and with the type of self-control he had, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for him to keep up a ruse for months at a time.

“Omega,” Levi sounded as confused as Kian had looked, probably because his potent pheromones weren’t doing anything to calm Elm. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.” He growled when Elm ignored him and then shouted over his shoulder, “What the hell did you say to him?!”

Elm couldn’t do this.

Couldn’t be here.

There were too many people and he felt smothered.

He should never have left the lodge.

The lodge had been safe.

It’d been just the two of them.

Quiet and comfortable and—

Aggressive pheromones exploded out of him, somehow even stronger than when he’d used them against the Serpents. The suddenness of it caught the Leviathan off guard, knocking him onto his ass.

Elm sprang to his feet while he was down, making a beeline for the exit, blindly moving through the noise and the people currently struggling to stand against the weight of his pheromones. He kept pouring them out, growling and baring his teeth threateningly when a hand snapped up and caught him around the ankle just as he was about to make it to the entranceway.

Baal held on tight and pushed himself up onto his other hand and his knees.

So Elm punched him.

Pain exploded in his knuckles, but it did the trick and the alpha let go.

He spun on his heels and raced out the door.

And away from the chaos threatening to drag him back into a state of frenzy.

Chapter 36:

The second he was able to climb back onto his feet, Levi exploded.

The rest were still dealing with the lingering effects of Elm’s pheromones, even though the omega—his omega—had fled, and Levi wasn’t of the right mind to hold himself back or think of the bigger picture.

His hand found Kian’s throat and he strangled him, lifting him off the ground and furiously shoving the other alpha backward until he came hard against the wall. Pheromones of his own shot out, snapping at Kian, striking against his skin like lashes, the anger and worry and fear twisting in Levi’s gut needing some way to purge itself from his system.

“What the hell have you done?!” his voice, always carefully collected, always calm in the face of conflict, was loud and aggressive.

When Kian managed to fight him off enough to free himself, Levi punched him, digging in his knuckles for good measure, sure to break skin for the both of them in the process.