Page 90 of His Stolen Omega

But…

“Kian told me once that if his bio mom hadn’t died when she did, he’d been considering ending it for her.” Elm had sat with that for a while. Had come to terms with it like he did with everything his brother said to him. “Can I tell you a secret?”

The alpha seemed taken aback by the random request, but nodded.

“I don’t care if he’s a good person. I never have. Whether he’s a psychopath, the leader of a mafia, or anything else. It doesn’t matter to me. He’s my brother. So long as he never stops caring about me, I’ll never stop caring about him.” Elm chuckled, the sound empty and humorless. “I’m shockingly selfish, aren’t I? I felt bad for Sky when he was claimed, but I was also jealous. Jealous that he could form that kind of connection with another person while I couldn’t. Jealous that someone wanted him that much. Jealous that he was going to get all of Kian’s attention afterward, whereas I’d be left with scraps.”

Though, if he were being honest, Elm had always known half the reason Kian stuck around him growing up was solely so he could be closer to Sky. He’d used their brotherly relationship as an excuse to be near to his future omega.

“Your past lovers couldn’t wait to get away from you.” Elm motioned to the room. “Mine couldn’t either. We’d have a good time, and when the good time was over, they left.” He stopped the alpha when he went to speak. “I know what you’re going to say. You murder people. I just bore them. It’s not the same. Which, no, it isn’t, but,” he picked at the cuticles on his thumb, “the end result is. We’re both always left on our own.”

Stable homelife.

Kind parents.

Attentive older brother.

Graduated with good grades.

Opened up a pottery shop that was doing all right.

Elm had lived a relatively easy life.

So why was he always left wanting?

Why did he always feel like something was missing? Like the world he’d been given wasn’t enough?

“Sorry.” He rubbed at his face and then laughed. “How did I turn this all about me?”

“I like hearing about your life,” Levi said.

“I’d say the same, but yours kind of makes me sad.” Elm cleared his throat. “I’m sorry your parents sucked so bad.”

“It’s okay.” The alpha grinned. “It made me the ruthless Dominus I am today.”

He couldn’t help but gulp.

“Come.” Levi took a pointed step back. “Lunch is ready.”

With no reason not to follow, Elm exited the room. He glanced back into it for a moment, and then shut the door and walked away.

* * *

“What does this word mean?” He held up the book he’d been reading so that Levi could see it from where he sat on the L part of the couch. Elm had sprawled across the center, taking up most of the pace, a pillow under his head to help prop him up a bit.

They’d spent most of the afternoon there, Levi working on his laptop, Elm flipping through a stack of books he’d found and brought down. A week into being here, exploring had gotten kind of dull, and if he wasn’t sculpting in the studio, he found he preferred sharing the same space as the alpha.

Levi finished typing the sentence he’d been writing and then glanced over. “It’s another way to say something is being pieced together. Where did you find that?”

“In one of the rooms on the third floor.” Elm went back to reading.

Shortly after, the sound of clicking keys filled the space once more.

* * *

Inspiration hit like a brick directly to the face.

He couldn’t recall the last time he’d entered a flow state, and Elm leaned into it, allowing himself to be completely overtaken by the urge to create.