Chapter 8
Erich
What fresh hell is this?
Nyx stands outside her dorm flashing goo-goo eyes at that crazed Omega from Tenebrosa. And he’s standing there, shirtless, with a swath of blue cloth in his grasp.
When he turns toward me on his heel, our gazes meet, and those pale purple eyes sparkle with challenge, a pink tongue runs across his full bottom lip before he grins wildly.
The knock on my shoulder as he passes is rough enough to rock my upper body, that cherry-lilac scent of his, enveloped by Nyx’s familiar, soothing perfume, fills my lungs.
How long have they been together? And why is his shirt off?
I’m growling before I realize it, but one look at Nyx, now staring at me with more than a touch of annoyance, answers one of my questions.
She’s embracing his shirt. And it isn’t the biggest leap to assume the cloth that psycho was holding belongs to Nyx.
Who asked whom to exchange clothes?
If Nyx is looking to nest, why hasn’t she asked me for my clothing?
But I already know the answer to that, don’t I?
She may have kissed me three months ago—Laurant, too, but fuck that guy—but she wants nothing to do with me. We weren’t sure if we’d survive the night, so why not do something crazy?
It may not have meant anything to her, but I’d dreamed of those lips, that tongue, her warm, soft body, every single night since.
I mean, I had already dreamed of her nightly, but now that I know what she actually feels like, the dreams have driven me mad. I wake, dick aching for release, and thankful that my old roommate is now living with his pack, so I can jerk-off in peace.
Once, I woke up, come all over my pelvis and sheets, an actual knot formed in my cock.
A knot.
That’s how real the dream had been.
How dare that Omega, who’s only been here for months, get so close to my Omega, whom I’ve known and loved for over a decade, all while I can’t get her to spend a second with me.
“Erich.”
My body jolts, gaze shoots downward to find two big, brown eyes peering up at me, anger flaring in them like my flames.
I swallow.
“Is there something you need?”
My lips part, then close.
Her eyes narrow. “You realize how stupid you’re being.”
I blink twice. Huh?
“So you don’t realize.” A disgruntled sigh. “You’re back to your old ways, just like Laurant. But at least he consistently stays clear of me. You keep away, watch from afar, then come around out of nowhere and get mad that I’m talking to someone else in our pack.”
“I’m not—”
“Yes, you are,” she seethes, and I shut my mouth again like a scolded child, her anger bringing a bitter edge to her tone. “I can feel it, you idiot.” Her fist taps her chest as she says it, her soothing scent going sour.
“Nyx—”
“No.” Her head shakes as she backs away.
“The two Alphas in my pack, the men I’ve known nearly half my life, who are supposed to want to love and protect me, have abandoned me.
” A sob breaks into her words and straight through my confusion, lifting the fog it had cast over my mind.
Then she whispers just loud enough for me to hear, “You have no right to be angry about me trying to find happiness.” And she disappears into her room.
I stand, frozen, in the middle of the hall, eyes trained on Nyx’s closed door.
Is that… true?
It can’t be.
And yet…
What have I done to show her that I want her? That I love her?
Fuck.
I definitely do not want to be grouped in with Laurant, of all people. But it seems we’re both acting the same way.
How do I fix this?