Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
There was a part of him that wanted this to hurt Lucien. If this hurt him, it would mean Lucien cared. It would mean he’d lied, or at least hadn’t been entirely truthful when he’d accused Aksel of being no better than his rapists.
I can’t keep doing this anymore, not with you. It’s destroying me. I feel soiled, like a disgusting pervert. All you do is push me, you’re no better than the assholes who raped me and ruined my life!
Aksel gritted his teeth at the memory. It was probably masochistic of him to keep replaying the words in his head, but they were the only things that kept him from doing what his instincts burned to do: stand between Lucien and the rest of the world, protect him from every scornful look and remark. Lucien didn’t want him around. Lucien didn’t need or want him.
It was time to let Lucien go, no matter what his instincts—and his heart—said.
“You aren’t interested in me at all, are you?”
Aksel almost missed a step in the dance, only his superior instincts saving him from stepping on Dylan’s foot.
He looked at the young omega in his arms, feeling a twinge of surprise at his straightforwardness. He hadn’t thought society omegas were capable of it. “What makes you think so?”
Dylan let out a soft snort. “The fact that you haven’t attempted to scent-mark me at all. I’ve noticed that alphas always want to do it when they like an omega, especially Xeus alphas. But you act as mated alphas do: completely uninterested in all omegas but their mate.” His violet eyes were burning with curiosity. “What I can’t figure out is who your mate is. And why you would agree to go through this if you already have a mate.”
“I don’t have a mate,” Aksel said. It was the truth, even though it felt like a lie.
Dylan cocked his head to the side. “Are they someone you can’t have? Are they married?”
“No,” he said shortly.
Dylan’s gaze swept over the room, studying every face before lingering on the corner where Lucien was seated. Aksel had no idea what he saw on Lucien’s face, since Aksel’s back was to him, but there must be something for Dylan to give him a second look.
“Oh,” Dylan said, his mouth falling open. He stared at Aksel. “Really? Him?”
Aksel glowered at him, biting back the urge to say that there was nothing wrong with Lucien. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Dylan gave him a skeptical look. “Right.” After a long moment, he said, “Why can’t you have him? Because he’s technically your stepfather?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aksel repeated flatly.
Dylan hummed. “He rejected you, huh?”
Aksel said nothing.
Dylan glanced at Lucien again. “Hmm. I’m a little surprised. He doesn’t behave like an omega who doesn’t want you.”
Aksel’s heart thudded in his chest. “What do you mean?”
Dylan shrugged. “I don’t really know him, but I get this vibe from him that he doesn’t like me. His eyes are unkind when he looks at me.”
He despised the glimmer of hope he suddenly felt. “It doesn’t mean anything. It’s likely because of who you are.” His brother. The son his father hadn’t disowned.
Dylan winced. “That could be it, of course. Or he could be jealous.”
“That’s unlikely,” Aksel said, ruthlessly quashing the stubborn little flicker of hope that had resurfaced again. “He doesn’t want me. He made himself clear.” He figured there wasn’t much harm in admitting that Lucien rejected him; even if Dylan gossiped about it, Lucien wouldn’t be blamed for Aksel’s perversion. If he was to mate Dylan, he must know whether he could at least trust him.
“Is that why you pay me more attention than the other omegas here? You want to get back at him for rejecting you?”
Aksel hesitated before admitting, “I need a mate to get over him.” A mating bite, if it took, should make him fixate on his mate. “I pay you more attention because you’re the only omega who doesn’t smell completely revolting to me. You’re the best of the terrible options present.”
“How flattering,” Dylan said dryly. “Luckily for you, I’m not after a love match, or I’d punch you in the face. Or have my father punch you.”
Aksel clenched his jaw. He didn’t like being reminded of Lohlan Deveraux’s presence. He barely resisted the urge to throw him out of the house every time he saw the man. He couldn’t do it when the bastard was here on Vagrippa’s invitation. Aksel might have been still angry with his mother for the shit she’d pulled, but she wasn’t incorrect in thinking that inviting Lucien’s father was a good idea for Lucien’s reputation, giving people the impression that everyone had moved on from the scandal. Aksel had understood the logic of it. But he still couldn’t stand the man, his protective instincts nearly impossible to suppress.