Page 58 of His Stolen Omega

“Not to mention,” Levi continued, staring Elm down all the while, “he’s realized he can’t survive on his own. If he makes it out into the world, all he’ll do is harm innocent people with his chaotic energy. He needs to learn control before he has a hope of reintegrating back into society.”

“Surely he believes Kian can do that,” Baal argued, talking as though Elm wasn’t even there. “You’ve kept the man locked in a cage and ran experiments on him for months now.”

“I took vitals and helped him through his heats, that can’t be all that bad.”

“Yeah,” Elm interrupted, “actually it is. How would you feel if a stranger shoved something up your ass? If they witnessed you at your most vulnerable?”

“He hates you,” Baal noted.

“Totally do.”

The underboss sighed. “And he really doesn’t have a filter. It’s like his survival instincts are broken.”

“Don’t let him fool you.” Levi smiled. “He’s impressively attuned to danger. He’s being bold right now because he can sense I don’t intend on harming him. The second I pose a real threat he turns into a fluffy bunny. Prey knows it’s prey.”

“Asshole.” Elm stood, sneering when Baal sent a wave of threatening pheromones at him.

“Does it not hurt?” the underboss asked when Elm remained on his feet.

“Like I’m standing too close to boiling water,” he replied, not seeing a reason not to. “Uncomfortable, but that’s about it.”

“Baal is one of the strongest dominant alphas I have,” Levi said.

“What was that the other day?” Elm turned to him. “You told me not to tip my hand. That exposing my weaknesses to the enemy was the surest way to lose.” He paused and considered. “What is it you’ve got? It’s got to be something good for you to be so comfortable telling me I can withstand even your strongest soldier.”

“You may be able to withstand their pheromones,” Levi replied cooly. “But you’re no match for mine.” His targeted pheromones slapped against Elm’s chest, causing him to drop back into his seat. “I asked Baal here because I want you to understand how dangerous you truly are to the people out there. If you harm regular citizens, you’ll be arrested, and even Kian’s connection to the Imperial family won’t be enough to have you released.”

“So?”

“We’ll work together,” he announced. “You need my pheromones to help stabilize you, and I need information about your transformation. I’ll continue to collect data, and you’ll cooperate.”

“How is that any different from what you’ve supposedly been doing?”

“Did you miss the together part?” Levi drawled. “Since you can’t be trusted in anyone else’s hands, I’ll care for you myself. Or, I can do as Baal suggests. Call this project a wash. He can put a bullet in your skull, burn your body, and ensure Kian never finds you. But that would be a waste of talent.”

“If you’re going to keep threatening to kill me, you may as well do it already. This whole nice guy act? No one here is buying it. You’re forgetting I swore I would never join the White Frost. That hasn’t changed just because we’ve cuddled, alpha.”

Baal set his cup down on the counter with a little more force than necessary, but they both ignored him.

“You’ve spent weeks in a cell, surely you’re willing to set aside pride in exchange for more liberties?” Levi quipped. “I should have realized I was handling you incorrectly sooner. My apologies. You’re a dominant omega. You should be treated as such.”

“You’re freaking me out, Leviathan.” Elm glanced to Baal as though asking him for help, even though he didn’t know what he expected the underboss to do.

He didn’t do anything though. Baal was too busy staring at Levi with worry painted across his brow, like he was seeing something Elm wasn’t.

Or like he’d just realized his Dominus was a loon.

“You lock all your dominant omegas up?” Elm asked, for lack of a better thing to say. He just knew he wanted to break this weird tension in the air. It was starting to frazzle his nerves.

“Only the valuable ones,” Levi said.

Elm refused to believe that feeling in his chest was excitement. He did not need compliments from this twisted, evil alpha. The guy was merely calling to his insecurities, those old wounds of feeling average coming back to haunt him yet again by making him enjoy hearing that someone found him special.

Good Light. He’d really hit an all-time low hadn’t he?

“Only you,” Levi continued. “And I’ll continue to do so. Since you can’t yet control your pheromones, the staff will be dismissed for the time being. You and I will work on teaching you how to activate and suppress your pheromones, just the two of us. When I’m present, you’ll be allowed to move about indoors freely. When I’m needed elsewhere, you’ll return to the cage. It took a week apart for you to slip back into feral territory.”

“Don’t.” Elm hated the snap of panic, biting down hard on the inside of his cheek as soon as the refusal rushed out.