Page 49 of His Stolen Omega

“I think I was wrong about pheromones,” Elm boldly said. “Maybe I was better off without them after all.”

“Maybe?” Levi chuckled.

“Have we…” Elm swallowed, collecting his thoughts for a moment before continuing, “Have we done this before?”

“You remember now?”

“I…” He frowned and opened his eyes, finding the alpha already staring back at him. “No, but it feels familiar somehow.”

Like his body recognized what was happening between them, and had been waiting for it all week.

“Yes, we’ve done this before, omega.”

“When?”

Levi merely lifted a brow.

Probably because it was obvious.

“When I was in a coma?” Elm pursed his lips. “I thought…”

“I abandoned you?” He hummed. “So you’ve said.”

“You didn’t?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Putting you in a coma was never my intention,” Levi stated. “If I’d known that was even a remote possibility, I never would have allowed you to endure your heat alone. You would have taken the toy, whether you liked it or not.”

“That’s…awful, but also kind of…sweet?” He shook his head the second the word left his lips. “No, I don’t mean that. I get that you only care about protecting your asset. That that’s all I am to you. A thing.”

“You’re an omega,” the alpha surprised him by correcting, voice dropping an octave, as though Levi was coming to this conclusion just as he said it. His gaze wandered over to the bed where the nest had been. “A dominant one at that. Dominant omegas are precious.”

“Even synthetic ones?” he couldn’t help but taunt, figuring that was where the caring act would end.

But the alpha surprised him yet again.

“Maybe even more so,” Levi replied. “If something like you can be created in a lab, that’s nothing short of a miracle. Do you know how many dominant omegas there are in existence? Do you know how many of them can tolerate my scent for long periods of time?”

Elm frowned again. “I can’t resist your pheromones either. They hurt.”

“Only when I want them to.”

Admittedly, that hadn’t been very often. He narrowed his eyes. “You know what it’s like to go through a mating period without release.”

“Hurt feelings, omega?”

“You’re an asshole.”

“I never claimed not to be. It’s your mistake for seeking out fairness and altruism amongst the mafia.” Levi’s thumb brushed lightly against Elm’s bottom lip, but the touch was quick, there and gone. “Worry not. You won’t be left empty again.”

“I don’t think that’s as comforting as you mean for it to be.” Elm searched his expression. “And I do think you meant for it to be.” He should stop talking, but his next few sentences poured out of him anyway. “I’m not the only one who’s affected by dominant pheromones here. You’re growing attached to me in the same ways I am, aren’t you? I bet you hate that.”

Levi cocked his head. “You have this uncanny ability to act before you think. Should you be goading me right now? Surely, if you took a moment to consider your circumstances, you would realize it’s not in your best interests.”

“I’m being honest. You should try it sometime.”