Page 154 of His Stolen Omega

He barely felt the burn, or the fire caused by Kian’s rivaling pheromones, now responding to his.

Levi didn’t care.

Not about any of it.

The only reason he was even here had been because of Elm, and now—

He hit Kian again, then growled when the other alpha delivered a kick to Levi’s side.

“Leviathan!” Baal called out to him, and he managed to break through the haze.

Levi turned to go, intent on chasing after his mate, but Kian apparently wasn’t finished being an asshole.

His arm banded around Levi’s neck, catching him in a strong chokehold, then yelled to his people, “Go protect my brother!”

Levi elbowed him in the ribs, once, twice, and then a third time, which finally did the trick, and spun on his heels, growling. “He doesn’t need your protection!”

But he did need Levi.

“Whatever you did to him,” Kian snapped, “I swear I’ll undo it. Elm isn’t a thing to be played with. Just because he’s my brother—”

“Oh suck a dick, Erskine.” Levi heard everyone else in the room gasp at his seemingly out of character remark, but he was still too keyed up to give two shits about them or their opinions. “What’s between my omega and me has nothing to do with you.”

“Since that omega is Elm Erskine, I strongly disagree,” he countered. “I know a gods damned trauma bond when I see one. You got in his head, didn’t you? Made him reliant on you so he’d be easier to control. There’s no way in hell I’ll allow that to continue. I’ll find a way to break the bond, even if it means I have to slit your throat to do it.”

Levi couldn’t exactly argue over the first accusation. It wasn’t wrong. Hadn’t he made the conscious decision to acclimate Elm to him with the purpose of tying him to him? However…

“He isn’t as weak as you make him out to be. Not in mind, or in body.” His omega was one of the most resilient people Levi had ever met, maybe even the most resilient. “He was aware of what I was doing, what I was planning. We’ve already discussed it. As a couple. Because that’s what we are.”

“Just because he was aware, doesn’t mean he could defend against it.”

“He didn’t want to defend against it, you moron.”

Kian gnashed his teeth threateningly. “You think I’ll believe that my extroverted, kind hearted little brother would willingly choose you as a life partner? You? You’re a cold son of a bitch, Leviathan. An anal-retentive bastard who doesn’t flinch at gore or cruelty. Meanwhile, Elm cried when he found an injured bird.”

“How old was he?” Levi snapped. “Ten? Eleven?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it does, because he’s no longer a kid, and he no longer needs you to monitor him.”

“So I should let you do the monitoring instead?” Kian grunted.

Right. About that.

Levi lifted his arm and started typing on his multi-slate, pulling up the tracking device he’d imbedded in Elm. Reason was finally starting to slip through the cracks of his fury. He’d allowed his omega to get a head start, figuring since he’d bolted the way that he had, he clearly needed some space.

But this was as much time as he was willing to give him, and there was still going to be a punishment later for breaking his word and running when he’d sworn up and down to Levi he wouldn’t.

“What the hell is that?” Kian asked, anger palpable. Neither of them had fully pulled back their pheromones, preventing any of their people from getting closer.

“He isn’t extroverted,” Levi said, covertly sending the coordinates to Baal. On foot, Elm hadn’t managed to get very far, had in fact stopped only a few blocks away. Was he coming to his senses? Considering returning on his own knowing he’d left Levi and Kian to duke it out? “He’s a people pleaser afraid to be overlooked. He doesn’t want or need a hundred people shouting in his corner, he just needs one. That was never you, Kian. Don’t fault me for filling the gap.”

“You’ve known him for six months,” Kian disagreed. “I’ve—”

“Protected him because he’s your brother,” Levi cut him off, “and cared for him to the best of your capabilities. But you’ve never once put him first.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Baal silently order three of their men to follow him before exiting the room.