Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Shivering, Liam couldn’t help but lean into the touch, his eyelids becoming heavy.
Anthony’s expression became a little tight. He withdrew his hand.
Liam’s heart dropped again. He chuckled bitterly. “This is what I’m talking about. You avoid touching and scent-marking me like the family alpha should. You do it all the time with Jules and Eric, but not me. Never me. Not since the first time you did it.”
Anthony’s throat moved. His jaw locking, he remained silent.
“Nothing to say, huh?” Liam whispered. He’d never felt so wretched in his life. Unwanted. Rejected. He knew it wasn’t logical. He didn’t really know this man, shared blood notwithstanding.
But it didn’t matter. Feelings weren’t rational. Instincts weren’t, either. This man felt like his alpha, and the fact that he wasn’t accepting him as part of his pack felt… felt… there were no words for how it felt. He was this close to crying. Or punching something. The messed-up part was, part of him wanted to drop to his knees and beg Anthony for crumbs of his attention, promise him that he’d do better, promise him anything to make him like him.
Fuck, sometimes being an omega sucked. Royally.
Disgusted with himself, Liam turned away before he could humiliate himself further. No alpha was worth groveling to, not even his brother.
“Liam.” Anthony grabbed his arm.
Liam bit his lip, barely stopping himself from turning around. “Let go. You made yourself clear,” he said, with as much dignity as he could muster.
Anthony laid the other hand on his other arm. “I’m sorry,” he said into Liam’s nape. “You’re right. I’m sorry for neglecting you. I’ll do better. I promise it won’t happen again.”
Liam stared at the door unseeingly. “Prove it.”
“How?”
“Stop hiding your scent in my presence. Mark me with it.”
He felt Anthony stiffen behind him. “Mark you?”
“I want to stop smelling like an outsider in my own home. Jules and Eric smell of you, but I don’t. You’re my alpha. I want to smell of you.”
Anthony made a strange sound, his hands on Liam’s shoulders flexing.
Seconds ticked by.
Liam waited, bracing himself for another rejection.
At long last, the alpha said in a clipped voice, “Fine.”
Then, Liam felt it: he felt Anthony’s scent become stronger, his pheromones filling the air between them.
Oh.
Liam’s eyelids grew heavier. He found himself sagging back against Anthony’s firm body, breathing deeply. It felt so nice. So good.
But it still wasn’t enough.
“More,” he breathed out, his head rolling back on Anthony’s wide shoulder.
Anthony cursed under his breath and then his hands moved. He stroked Liam’s arms, up and down, the touch overwhelming even through his long-sleeved shirt, before moving to his throat. When Anthony’s fingers stroked his scent gland, over and over, Liam whined, his mind going foggy from the pleasure. He’d never felt better in his life. He hadn’t known a brother’s pheromones could have such an effect. His mother’s alpha pheromones had only comforted Liam and made him feel safe. While he did feel that now too, being scent-marked by Anthony felt far more pleasurable, the satisfaction higher, sharper, with a desperate edge that demanded more.
Something niggled at the back of his mind, but it was unable to penetrate the pleasant fog in it.
Alpha. His alpha.
He wanted more.
Anthony gave him more. Now that he had finally given in, it seemed his reservations were gone—his strong hands were moving, rubbing his scent all over Liam: his arms, his neck, his chest, his stomach. His eyes rolling to the back of his head, Liam let out a small moan.
Anthony abruptly released him and stepped back. “You smell of me now,” he said. His voice sounded odd. Rough. “Now go. I still have a lot of work.”
Liam blinked a few times, feeling a little dazed, as if he was waking up from a dream. He turned, but Anthony didn’t look at him. He had returned to his desk and seemed immersed in his paperwork.
It was fine. With Anthony’s scent still clinging to him, Liam felt certain his alpha had accepted him.
Leaving the room, he grinned as he closed the door.
Perhaps Jules was right about something after all: sometimes direct confrontation brought better results.
Chapter 4
Liam could barely contain his excitement the next morning. He’d slept like a baby and woken up with Anthony’s scent still lingering on him. But after he’d taken a shower, the scent was gone.
He wanted it back.
Part of him was surprised by his own eagerness. He couldn’t remember being as eager to be scent-marked by his mother, but then again, it had been something Liam had taken for granted when his mother had been alive. Perhaps his eagerness had something to do with the fact that he’d lived more than a year without an alpha—Uncle Wayne didn’t count, because neither Liam nor his brothers had really accepted him as the family alpha. He had missed it, missed this pack dynamic, this feeling of belonging, of someone strong and dependable being there for him and taking care of everything. Part of him cringed because that need was so stereotypically omega. It was scientifically proven why an alpha brought the feeling of security and well-being to an omega—it had something to do with pheromones and brain chemistry—but Liam had always thought the need for an alpha all omegas supposedly felt was exaggerated. Now he knew it wasn’t. He felt it.