“Really?”
“It means you want to bite and claim,” I explain. “It’s an alpha instinct. Perfectly normal.”
“I’d love to bond with you.” His body tenses, before he seems to catch himself. “I mean, maybe. One day. If that’s what you want.” He sighs deeply. “I just… I was never enough for you before.”
His knot deflates quicker than a standard alpha as he slips out of me. I turn to face him, curiosity leading me to steal a glance at the swell at the base of his cock, watching it smooth over as if it were never there.
“You’ve always been enough, Drax.” I cup his cheek. “Being your friend was just easier. I kept you at a distance because I was afraid of hurting you. Because I thought that if I allowed myself to get close to you, that I’d have to let you go eventually. A partof me always knew I was being selfish for how I was acting, but I just couldn’t bring myself to stop it because I didn’t want to let you go. You deserved better.”
“You’re all I ever wanted.” He presses a soft, tender kiss to my lips. “I chose to stay.”
“I’m glad you did.” I stroke his face. “And now we know why. Now we’re exactly where we were always meant to be.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Orin
“I need to be with my omega,” Adler paces back-and-forth, practically foaming at the mouth. “She shouldn’t be alone!”
Adler had sensed Sabs’s shift in mood the second the puck slammed into the back of the net, catapulting the SVU Foxes into the finals. He didn’t even pause to celebrate, shoving away his teammates as they raced in for a pileup. His arms pumped at his sides, skating straight off the ice with the look of a frenzied bull.
“She’s not alone,” I remind him, my own pulse thrumming as I try to get a handle on my own emotions, which has been surprisingly difficult after scenting Sabs. My gut reaction to drive straight after them and storm into the nest is hard to push aside, but I force myself to stay calm. For Adler’s sake. “She’s with Drax.”
“But she should be with me.” Adler clutches his hair so hard, I’m surprised it doesn’t come out at the roots. “We’re bonded!” He turns a deeper shade of red as he gets more annoyed. “I’ll fucking kill that alpha!”
The feeling is mutual. Thankfully, I ordered one of my team members to escort the rutting alpha away to the security office before me or my pack could be tempted to do any permanent damage
“Sabs is safe, and Izzie is with Luca. For now, you have to focus on your commitments.” I keep my voice steady. “Your future is at stake. Scouts are here, Adler. You can’t run out now.”
Coach Tanner told me that the pro scouts want to speak to him. Adler has lived and breathed the game for years. Playing for the National Hockey League has been his dream since he was a kid on the wrong side of the tracks. The same boy whose junkie mom told him he’d never amount to anything. I won’t let him blow his entire life’s work, no matter how much he wants to leave. Everything he’s always wanted is within reach.
“You can’t stop me.” Adler shoves past me.
I catch his arm, my grip fierce. “Stay here.”
My rumbling command reverberates through the air between us. His entire face crumbles, his mouth twisting as the biological weight of my order hits his nervous system. For a second, I worry it’s not going to work—that his need to be with Sabs will override my instructions to obey—but then his spine straightens, fists clenched at his sides.
“You’re a fucking asshole.” His words come through clenched teeth, but to my relief, he doesn’t move.
“I know.” My voice softens a fraction. “But you’ll thank me later.”
A pack leader’s role is to make the tough decisions. That’s why I’m in charge. If choices were left to Adler, plans would be made on emotional whims.
“I fucking won’t,” he scowls, eyes pinned to the ground. “Thirty minutes, Orin. That’s it. Then I’m going home to my omega.”
“Thirty minutes is all I’m asking.” I visually assess him, looking for signs of bond sickness or distress, but he seems stable, which confirms my suspicion that their bond has surpassed the adjustment stage. At least that’s something to be thankful for.
I get out my cell phone to show him the CCTV feed from the cameras outside the mansion. I point to the screen where Drax is lifting a flushed Sabs out of the car. “See? She’s back home. She’s safe.”
“She feels faraway, but...” His face screws up in concentration. “But I can tell that she’s okay, and she’s…” His posture loses some of its aggressive edge. “She’s having a good time.”
“I told you, Drax will take care of her until you get back.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he mutters insolently, though the seething anger in his eyes has dimmed to a simmer. “Let’s just get this over with so we can leave.”
I can still taste Sabs’s scent on the back of my tongue—that heavy, overripe cherry that had saturated the rink air. If I hadn’t been so worried about the rutting alpha, my own judgment might have been clouded enough to abandon my post and take her home myself.
I lead Adler back toward the offices where Coach is speaking to a group of men in suits. Before we reach them, Adler spots Luca and Izzie, her wrist now wrapped in a splint.
