It actually wasn’t a bad idea.
Was this another sign the alpha liked him?
His mother’s selfishness had been different. She’d kept them safe to secure an heir. Carrying on her legacy had been all that mattered to her.
“I’ll agree,” Shiloh decided, “but only if we can still hold the birthday party I set up for you. I spent a lot of time planning it.”
“The venue is on the other side of the city,” Sarang reminded.
“Take it or leave it.” If he really wanted to, Shiloh could sneak out of here. While he’d done his best to play the innocent act, that was one thing he hadn’t been able to prevent himself from doing, so the underboss was painfully accustomed to him vanishing on a whim.
Sarang clearly wanted to put his foot down, but his multi-slate chimed then, and whoever it was, it was important enough for him to step away and give a single curt nod. “Fine. But until then, you follow my orders and remain in Caelum.”
“Of course, alpha.” He grinned when the underboss hesitated.
“Weird reaction,” Sloane said once Sarang had left, watching his back disappear down the hall. “You’ve teased him like that a million times before. Why did he blush this time?”
Because this time Sarang was most likely thinking about fucking an omega at the Wardrobe. He didn’t know it’d really been Shiloh, but he was clearly embarrassed over what he believed was a fantasy.
Terms like alpha and omega were often used respectfully and as endearments between couples. Was there a chance Sarang also envisioned the two of them dating?
If so, he was in for a real treat.
Shiloh wasn’t holding back anymore.
Soon, they’d be together for real.
Then they’d see who would be taking whose orders.
Chapter 7:
“Sir, we were unable to procure the list of attendees from last week’s event,” Inho, one of the Eumia members still located on Synastry, said as soon as Sarang picked up the call.
He cursed as he dried off from the shower, then wrapped the towel tight around his waist and wiped the steam off the mirror.
“Turns out the Wardrobe was recently added to the White Frost’s businesses,” the other alpha continued. “For obvious reasons, the staff there weren’t cooperative with us. Should we go back and insist?”
“No.” It’d been a long shot anyway. He stared at his reflection, noting how the hot water from the shower had done nothing to ease the tension from his shoulders or between hisbrow. He’d been like this ever since his rut, twisted and on edge. It was the omega’s fault.
He’d been too good. That weekend had been the best Sarang had ever experienced, and after a few days’ deliberation, he’d finally caved and decided to seek the other man out. If he could claim the omega he’d slept with, then that could be the end of this fucked up obsession he had with the prince.
The omega had been enough like Shiloh physically, Sarang could be satisfied. There was no telling about the personality, but beggar’s couldn’t be choosers, and at this point, Sarang was desperate. He’d take a stand-in over being alone, and every day keeping himself from reaching out and sinking his teeth into Shiloh’s neck…it was torture. If he locked himself to another, those feelings would end.
His instincts would be satisfied.
Only, in order to do that, he had to find him first.
They hadn’t exchanged names, and he hadn’t gotten a look at the omega’s face. There was literally nothing for him to go off of, no clues, other than getting the list of names from the Wardrobe itself. Everyone who came for Den Night had to sign contracts waving their rights while participating on the floor. Even his name was on that list, so of course the omega he’d bedded would be.
But if the Wardrobe now belonged to the White Frost, their biggest rival, there was no way they were going to simply hand it over, and if Sarang insisted and caused trouble, it could come back on the Eumia. They had enough going on looking for Elm, they didn’t need him adding to their problems, especially not over something like this.
It was on Sarang to manage his misplaced feelings for the prince. It was bad enough that he’d been unable to shake them, but the more time he spent with Shiloh, the deeper into things he got, especially when Shiloh lost composure and got bratty.
If things were different, Sarang would have tried coaxing that side out of him more often, but his position as the underboss prevented him from doing so. The extreme difference in their social standing, coupled with the fact that Shiloh was too classy to handle how Sarang liked things in the bedroom were two reasons he’d resisted.
The other reason, his greatest secret and shame, was arguably even more important.
Sarang had already formed a life-bond with the prince against his will. How could he possibly dare wish for more? These yearnings were wrong.
