He passed out to the sound of his omega cursing him out with expletives Sarang hadn’t been aware he’d known.
Chapter 11:
The omega was bleeding out.
True to his word, the man Sarang had picked up from the field had entered full-blown heat within ten minutes, just enough time to make it to his farm and get him inside somewhere secure. As a family of alphas, they used the basement level to get through all of their ruts undisturbed, which was where he brought the omega.
The room was fully furnished, with a bed, bathroom, kitchenette, and a wardrobe. Sarang locked the door behind them and placed the writhing omega onto the black sheets, grimacing when the smaller man immediately started stripping out of his clothing.
“You need to be treated,” Sarang tried to stop him, but the omega slapped his hands away and tossed his shirt to the ground.
“Too much blood loss,” the omega said, and he must have been deeper into the heat than Sarang had realized, because he spoke plainly, like this wasn’t a matter of life or death.
Or, more like he knew it was and didn’t care.
The omega’s gaze swept down the length of Sarang’s body and he licked his lips. “At least let me die satisfied. There are worse ways to go than being pounded into the mattress by a hung alpha who smells like candy.”
“Candy?” He’d never heard that before.
“Strawberry cheesecake salt water taffy. Might be my new favorite. What are you waiting for, alpha? Here’s your chance. I’m dying. Get your fix while my body is still warm.”
Sarang scowled. “Don’t be crude.” He sharply turned his head when the omega got himself naked and lay back, spreading his thighs wide invitingly. “Stop that.”
“Still pretending to be a good person?” the omega clicked his tongue. “There’s no need. It’s just you and me here.” A moan slipped past his lips when he reached down and stroked himself. “Since I haven’t bought your loyalty, it’s not like you owe me anything.”
“Bought my loyalty?”
He hummed. “There’s nothing to keep you from fucking me, alpha.”
“Decency shouldn’t come with a price.” How…sad. Whatever this omega had been through, whatever kind of life he’d lived, it’d clearly made him jaded.
Was his lack of fear over his impending doom real, and not brought on by the madness of a heat like Sarang had assumed? He couldn’t have a death wish, he’d had fight in him back at the field, and yet…That fight was gone now, replaced by lust and resolve.
The omega was older than Sarang’s sister, who at eleven, had yet to present, but still younger than himself. Therewas a chance Yuna would be omega, and the thought of her ending up like this, life force draining away on some stranger’s bed in the middle of nowhere, was horrifying to him.
“You’re either a really good actor, or you’re naïve,” the omega chuckled. “There’s always a price, alpha. Always.”
“I told you,” he insisted, “I didn’t bring you here to take advantage.”
“Fucking an omega in heat isn’t taking advantage. It’s natural. It’s what we were made for. Claiming. Breeding. I’m at your mercy, and since mercy isn’t real…Get on with it. I’d like to at least come on your knot once before the end. I think I could be satisfied with that much.”
Blood continued to spill from the hole in his gut, but he made no sign that he was in pain. Heats could consume an omega to the point they were no longer aware of their surroundings. Their bodies would stop registering basic threats so long as there was an alpha around who was compatible. There were times when the smell of one person’s pheromones were rejected, biology’s way of ensuring they tried for the strongest possible offspring.
There was no question that Sarang and this omega were compatible. In fact, Sarang couldn’t recall the last time he was this turned on by another. But that didn’t change reality.
This omega would hyper fixate on breeding, neglecting his health and wellbeing, until he’d burned through his mating period. With the severity of his injuries, it was doubtful he’d survive that long, a truth he seemed not only to understand, but to whole heartedly accept.
He was too young to be this cavalier in the face of death.
A good person would have left to call a doctor by now, and yet Sarang felt like his feet were glued to the floor, his alpha nature reacting to the horny omega despite all logic and reason. Despite how bad he felt for him the longer they spokeand Sarang pieced together what sort of lonely life the younger man must have lived up to this point.
Sarang’s father was a bastard, but he was incredibly close with his mother and sister. He’d grown up without a dad, but not without love. Taking care of his family had stolen most of his youth, and he hadn’t even had time to consider starting one of his own, but a romantic courtship followed by an official mating had always been the plan. Random hookups weren’t really his thing, a rarity for their kind, but personal preference nonetheless.
Because of this, it’d been a long time since Sarang had last had an omega, and never one as attractive as the man currently jerking himself off in his bed.
His hair was dirty from running from whoever had shot him, granules of salt still stuck in the inky strands, smears of dirt across his cheek. And yet he was beautiful. He smelled of iris and moss, floral and earthy. Like the scent deep in the center of the forest after a thunderstorm, somehow briming with life, yet alone.
Sarang’s rut wasn’t due for another couple of months, which meant he held control here. He was the responsible party, the one who it fell on to draw the line.
