Chapter 9 #2
Ehlian cursed the pack bond inwardly. He couldn’t get used to being read so easily. “So you won’t tell me anything, but I should?”
“Ehlian.” Hayce’s voice dropped, the pleasant heat of the alpha order slid through the pack bond. “Tell me.”
Ehlian bit his lip, his voice coming out sharper. “Don’t do that. I’m not your omega.”
“You are not,” Hayce said like it was nothing, like he hadn’t just given Ehlian an alpha order. “But you are in distress. You shouldn’t keep things from me, whatever is bothering you. We are in prison, it’s not the place—”
“I know we are in prison.” Ehlian sighed. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Hayce to know how much he needed his protection. How much he needed him. It was a soft spot. But he was already lying in his arms. It couldn’t get any weaker than that, could it? “And will you still be here… until I’m released?”
“It’s unlikely I’ll be transferred to another prison. Not anytime soon.”
That wasn’t what Ehlian meant. Why had he even thought there was a chance Hayce was innocent?
He was being unreasonable. Naive. Crazy.
Everything he had read and heard about his case pointed in the opposite direction.
And he had seen how smartly Hayce used his power, how he could wield it as a weapon and injure.
Not that 665 hadn’t deserved it. That sick bastard shouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near an omega.
“Yeah, but,” Ehlian pushed again, unable to stop himself from wondering about that visitor and the reason they were here. “What if you—”
“I’m not leaving, Ehlian.” Hayce’s lips skimmed the edge of his bond point at the side of his neck, igniting the sensitive nerve endings in the soft, thin skin.
Ehlian shifted his head further away on the pillow, clearing his throat. “Too close.”
Hayce began to slip away from him, and only when his warmth started to retreat completely did Ehlian realise that he was actually moving away. He grabbed Hayce’s arm, pulling him back. “Not that far away. Just stay away from my bond point.”
Soon, he was wrapped in Hayce’s arms again, Hayce’s head resting behind his on the pillow.
“I’d never bond with you.” Hayce said. “Didn’t think I had to make that clearer.”
“You’d better stick to that,” Ehlian said, ignoring his wounded omega pride. “Or I’ll make your life miserable.”
“I have no doubt you would, either way.”
Ehlian stilled. What the actual fuck. “I’m not miserable.”
“Hmm.” Hayce hummed dismissively.
“I’m not,” Ehlian argued.
He didn’t know why it bothered him so much that Hayce thought he was miserable. No omega liked to feel that way in front of an alpha, whether they wanted them or not, so—
He heard Hayce’s quiet laugh from behind.
Scowling, Ehlian let out an annoyed breath. “You think that’s funny?”
“A little bit.”
“You’re an absolute dickhead,” Ehlian tsked. “And you have a shit sense of humour.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” Hayce said. “Try to relax a little.”
Hayce wanted him to be relaxed and happy in this shithole?
That was rich, coming from him. He was always reserved, bottled up, far too controlled.
Maybe today was the first time Ehlian felt like Hayce was actually at ease.
Relieved. Which was… odd. It had to have something to do with that visitor.
Someone from his past. Someone important.
Ehlian had always found it strange that Hayce never received a call, a letter, a visitor. He had to have influential business partners. Friends. Lovers. An omega he’d once held close to his heart.
Ehlian blinked into the darkness of the cell. Fuck. That was it, wasn’t it.
Hayce had met an omega today. Someone who still mattered to him. Someone batshit-crazy enough to want him, even after Hayce had killed his father. Ehlian wasn’t giving Hayce what he wanted, so he’d gone to see an old lover.
Of course Hayce was relaxed. He must’ve been fucking that omega all day, maybe even put them down on their knees with ease.
Well… good. Good for him. And good for Ehlian. He didn’t mind. At all.
Hayce sighed. “What is it this time?”
“It’s nothing,” Ehlian said tightly. “And stop spying on me—on what I feel. That’s not fair. Get out of my head.”
“I’m not spying on you,” Hayce said drily. “And I’m not inside your mind, which probably saves me from a splitting headache.”
“Not funny, Hayce. Just block the pack bond,” Ehlian grunted. “Block me out.”
“I’m not blocking you out,” Hayce said, his voice clipped. “If you want my protection, this is non-negotiable.”
“How is that protecting me?”
“You already know.” Hayce said.
Ehlian frowned. Then, slowly, it clicked.
So that was how Hayce had found him in the cell after 665 followed Ehlian in. That was why he used to come back from the gym early whenever Grasson was snooping around their cell.
That… eased something inside his chest, like another thin layer of ice cracking and melting away.
He was an idiot. Hayce must have done the same for his previous omegas, for everyone in his pack. It meant nothing. They weren’t a couple, there weren’t mates, they weren’t lover—
“For once, stop thinking and sleep,” Hayce murmured, his breath skimming across Ehlian’s neck.
A shiver ran down Ehlian’s spine, but he did what he always did. Repressed it. Ignored it.
Slowly, he emptied his mind and closed his eyes.
*
And then it happened again.
And again.
Night after night, he found himself tucked tightly into Hayce’s arms. There came a point when Ehlian no longer had to ask. It became second nature for Hayce to scoot closer once the lights went out, sharing his warmth.
Each time, Ehlian swore it would be the last night he let himself fall asleep in Hayce’s embrace. He shouldn’t get used to it. He shouldn’t let himself go. His wall of defence had to stay intact, high and impenetrable.
But it felt so nice. So warm. He could allow himself this… this indulgence. Just for now. That was harmless… wasn’t it?
But this was as far as he’d let it go.
He’d never let it tip past this point.