His desire to own and consume someone as delicate as Shiloh was wrong.
The worst part was how the prince looked at him. It was clear Shiloh thought Sarang was a saint. Viewed him as a good and moral person. But the truth was, Sarang was alpha, and just like every other alpha, he craved his omega’s touch. If not for fear of breaking him holding him back, Sarang would have done something about it by now, consequences be damned.
Sarang refused to be like his father.
Linking them through the bond had at least been an accident.
Marking Shiloh wouldn’t be.
The bite technically had to be accepted by the omega as well. Sarang risked losing everything if he tried dominating Shiloh only to be rejected. And that was if he remained in his right mind enough to take a rejection.
Coercion was pretty common when it came to the claiming mark. Since the dawn of time, alphas had blackmailed, threatened, and manipulated omega submission.
Sarang was confident he could force Shiloh to accept the bond once he had his darling omega trapped on his cock, but…in the end, neither of them would be happy.
Shiloh cared for him, he knew, but it wasn’t love.
The omega deserved to be claimed by someone he loved. Deserved rose petals and soft, slow lovemaking.
When Sarang entered a rut, it was like all the carefully pent-up aggression he was able to hide regularly flared to life and exploded out of him. He couldn’t recall a single hookup in the past four years where he hadn’t inadvertently torn the omega he was with. His cock was larger than most, his stamina great, and when those two things were added to his internal struggles for control, his frustrations turned into violence.
In his defense, he’d never gotten any complaints. The omegas he slept with where always also in heat. The two of them were only together to offer a service and help each other through the debilitating mating period. Even when it’d ended, and he’d gotten dressed while they still lay boneless and aching in bed, they’d all thanked him for his services.
But Shiloh…
Shiloh would never be able to handle that. He overreacted about bug bites, and shut down whenever Sarang tried to discuss anything serious. Sarang understood that last one, at least, knowing how traumatic this past year had been for the prince, but it only helped bolster his belief that showing his true self to Shiloh would be a mistake.
The last thing Sarang wanted was to become another traumatic experience. Another thing the omega couldn’t talk about. The thought of Shiloh no longer being able to look him in the eye, of him cowering away when Sarang was near, was enough to tear his heart out of his chest.
That day when he’d created the life-bond against both of their wills, he’d sworn an oath. He would keep Shiloh safe from everything and anything.
Including himself.
Finding a compatible omega at Den Night was like a gift from the heavens. Since it was impossible for him to be with the prince, he could try diverting that attention to someone else. Someone more suitable to his alpha needs. This way, he could keep Shiloh safe and satisfy the raw possessiveness he couldn’t shake.
“I know someone,” Inho said after a moment of silence. “She used to be a member there. I can ask for her help?”
He didn’t want to drag his friend into this, but Sarang felt like he was losing his mind.
Ever since that weekend with the unknown omega, he’d been unable to be around the prince without getting semi-hard. Just one whiff of him was enough to call to his alpha nature. It was like his body hadn’t gotten the memo that the omega he’d fucked may have smelled like Shiloh, but wasn’t him.
Sarang was worried he’d forget himself and deliver the bite before he could be stopped, and then what? He’d destroy his life, betray the prince who he owed everything to, and no doubt be murdered by Kian.
Shiloh was too good to be forced into a loveless bond. Though he’d grown up in the mafia, he was meek, constantly protected by others. Even if there’d been no baby, Sarang still beat himself up over the fact he wasn’t with Shiloh that day he was attacked in the corn maze. A broken rib was still painful.
Sloane didn’t require nearly as much care, and whenever Sarang asked about their differences, he was told Shiloh hadn’t taken to his training the same was as his sister.
He could believe that. Though the prince wasn’t skilled in combat, he was stubborn, refusing to partake in anything he wasn’t interested in. He’d been talking back more and more, an act of defiance Sarang had sickly found himself turned on by.
It was getting harder to resist.
“Do it and get back to me.” He ended the call with Inho before he could talk himself out of it, his instincts already trying to argue that no one could ever replace the real thing.
Using getting dressed as a distraction, Sarang took his time getting into the clothes he’d laid out for himself. He’d agreed to this birthday dinner with Shiloh, and was admittedly excited for it, despite all of his thoughts about putting space between them. A more intimate meal was romantic, definitely a step above the group party Kian had wanted to throw him.
He’d already made his way downstairs and had just entered the parking garage when his multi-slate rang again, this time showing his sister’s name flashing across the screen.
“Yuna, is everything all right?”
