Chapter 21
A week later, Ehlian finally moved back into his own flat.
The first few days weren’t easy. He missed having someone around, especially Willian’s snarky little comments. But slowly, steadily, he began to adapt to the normal rhythm of life again. He still worked in Willian’s shop anyway, so he didn’t spend most days alone.
One quiet evening in his flat, stuck alone with his thoughts and his anger, Ehlian gave in to a moment of weakness.
He contacted the alpha. Willian was right.
This could be casual, easy. It wasn’t like he was ready to settle down.
But maybe, just maybe, he needed to feel wanted again.
Maybe he needed an alpha to spoil him, just a little.
Their first date went surprisingly well. Dael was charming, said all the right things and wasn’t overly domineering. He seemed happy to let Ehlian set the pace, giving him space to ease into the evening.
On their second date, they went for a long walk.
It was refreshing. They grabbed some food on the way to the park and ended up having a small picnic on the grass.
Ehlian debated telling Dael about his past, about prison.
It was better to be honest and upfront, wasn’t it?
But he couldn’t bring himself to open up.
Maybe one day, if whatever was brewing between them turned into something serious.
On their third date, Dael took him to a fancy restaurant. Despite the lavish atmosphere and delicious food, the spark of these dates had started to fade. Dael hadn’t done anything wrong. He was still respectful and gave Ehlian the space he needed… still, it wasn’t enough.
Sensing Ehlian’s mood spiralling downward, Dael gently suggested they leave.
A thick fog had settled over the city, scattering the glow of the streetlamps into soft, radiant orbs.
With his hands shoved deep into his coat pockets, Ehlian walked quietly beside Dael, who had offered to walk him home.
When they arrived at his front door, he punched the code into the display lock and opened it, revealing a path into his dark flat.
Even though he longed for a physical touch and could offer little more than that, he still couldn’t quite bring himself to invite the alpha inside.
Dael must have sensed his hesitation, because he spoke softly. “Willian said you’ve been through a lot lately.”
“Yeah,” Ehlian replied. “It’s a bit complicated, but I’m nearly over it now. Not even worth mentioning.”
“Good,” Dael said, stepping closer. “I can wait.”
Ehlian’s body tensed as Dael leaned in. But instead of going for his lips, the alpha pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“See you soon?” Dael asked, his words hanging in the air between them.
“Yes,” Ehlian said, though he couldn’t decide if it was a lie or the truth.
Ehlian stepped inside his flat and slumped against the door, letting out a tired breath into the darkness of the small hallway. The lingering imprint of the kiss on his cheek felt strange and foreign, despite its softness.
Gods, Hayce had moved on so easily. Too easily. Why couldn’t Ehlian do the same? The infuriating, arrogant asshole—
Ehlian grew incredibly still.
A wave of power struck him like a sharp breeze, ruffling his nerves, sinking deep into his core, and igniting it with ease, arrogance, and a warmth that nearly seared through his chest.
He didn’t dare breathe, frozen where he stood, staring into the shadows of his flat.
“New boyfriend?” The deep, unmistakable voice cut through the darkness.
Ehlian exhaled shakily. For a brief moment, it felt like he was back in that outrageously lavish prison cell.
“Yes,” Ehlian said curtly, his voice cold.
Hayce’s measured, unhurried footsteps echoed in the quiet flat as he emerged from a corner, his silhouette dominating Ehlian’s vision. Ehlian found himself pressed tightly against the door, his heart hammering wildly in his chest.
Hayce stopped mere inches from him, his hand raising to cup Ehlian’s jaw. “Three dates?” he murmured, his deep voice a low rumble. His thumb began tracing over the imprint of Dael’s kiss, as though erasing it. “That’s all it took?”
“One date was enough to forget you,” Ehlian shot back, ignoring the tremble in his legs.
Hayce hummed softly, darkly. “He’s too soft for you.”
“That’s not your decision to make, Hayce,” Ehlian hissed, anger simmering beneath his skin. “You know nothing.”
“I know more than he does.” Hayce’s infuriating thumb continued its maddening caress, burning away Dael’s touch and claiming that small piece of Ehlian as his own.
“Stop it,” Ehlian snapped. “You don’t own me.”
The caress paused. Hayce’s voice dropped. “I know I don’t.”
It hung in the air between them like a twisted lie, like a twisted truth. The silence stretched, unbroken.
The darkness only made it worse. Unable to bear it, Ehlian flicked on the lights.
A big mistake.
Hayce’s dark, amber-flecked eyes locked onto his, glowing like embers caught in fresh flame. Gods, Ehlian had missed those eyes. He missed them looking at him. Only at him.
“It doesn’t look like you do,” Ehlian countered, feeling the possessiveness of Hayce’s touch as his thumb moved again, tracing along Ehlian’s jaw until it reached the soft skin behind his ear. “You don’t have any claim on me. I don’t belong to your pack anymore.”
Hayce’s eyes flashed sharply before his face smoothed into a blank mask, though the tightness in his jaw betrayed him.
Ehlian’s lips parted. “You hate that, don’t you?”
Hayce said nothing.
“Yeah, you do,” Ehlian said, stunned.
The faint scar of the severed pack bond throbbed in his core as Hayce’s power unfurled, laser-focused on him. It filled the room, thick and heavy, stealing his breath.
Ehlian blinked slowly, lids heavy. “That’s how you see me… how you want me?”
No response.
“Want me to obey you? Own me?” His voice cracked, barely more than a whisper. “Want me on my knees again—for you? Only for you.”
Hayce’s eyes darkened, a shade deeper. No flames in them, but the ember flecks burned, steady and dangerous, all the more intense for it.
“I can do that,” Ehlian said, his voice low and throaty, thick with mockery. “I can get on my knees for you again.”
He started to sink slowly, sliding down the door—
Hayce’s fingers tightened against his jaw and throat, stopping the motion, holding him in place. A small shift, Hayce pressing closer, and then there was a soft kiss to Ehlian’s lips, descending and parting with a faint, wet smack.
And Ehlian thought his heart might burst out of his chest. The gentle touch burned his lips. He couldn’t breathe, his heart hammering wildly in his chest.
Hayce’s dark, amber-flecked eyes bored into his. “Me, or your soft alpha?”
“Hayce—”
“Me, or him?”
The word escaped before Ehlian could think, instinctive and immediate. “You.”
Hayce’s hand slipped lower, his thumb brushing over Ehlian’s bond point. “Yet always loyal to me.”
Something tipped and twisted in the air and their lips crashed together.
The burning intensity of it left Ehlian’s mind blank.
A shaky moan escaped as his lips instinctively parted, their tongues meeting in a heated swirl—hungry, desperate, raw.
His fingers curled into Hayce’s hair, to steady himself, to drag him closer, to press against the solid body that wasn’t a cold, translucent hologram.
Another moan slipped out when Hayce’s familiar hands clamped onto his hips, hauling him in.
Gods, it felt so real. It was real, no longer the haunting echoes of memory.
Hayce broke the kiss, scattering soft kisses along Ehlian’s cheek as if reclaiming his territory, before trailing down to his neck. His lips latched onto Ehlian’s bond point, sucking harshly, making Ehlian whine and clutch his hair even tighter.
“Did you let him touch you here?” Hayce asked, voice rough.
“No.” Ehlian shook his head weakly. “I wouldn’t—”
“You can never let him,” Hayce interrupted, possessive. “This is mine.”
The word yours caught in Ehlian’s throat when Hayce found his mouth again, kissing him deep and rough, possessiveness burning into something hotter, more urgent.
Hayce’s hands slid beneath his shirt, dragging a palm across the curve of his back. “I can offer you more than him.”
Ehlian floated on those words for a moment. Something primal in the omega part of him found it unbearably appealing. “More?”
“Your soft alpha doesn’t know the first thing about what you need.” Hayce said, his blunt nails sinking into Ehlian’s back, like he wanted to carve his mark into him. Possess him, claim him, seize him from any rival. Anyone who dared stand in his way.
It left Ehlian gasping. He had never felt so wanted.
“That’s why you’re here?” Ehlian swallowed. “They didn’t satisfy you enough?”
Hayce’s lips traced back to Ehlian’s bond point, as if he couldn’t let it go, couldn’t let anyone claim it. “They?”
“Those omegas all over you.”
“No one is quite enough.” Hayce’s hand slid down to the small of Ehlian’s back, dipping beneath the waistband of his trousers. “You’re too persistent in my head.”
A faint alarm rang in Ehlian’s mind, but it vanished the moment Hayce’s finger stroked over his wet hole and pressed inside. Ehlian hadn’t been touched there since prison, and his neglected, hypersensitive nerves flared to life, sending sparks through him.
“Bed,” Ehlian whispered as he loosened the buttons of his own trousers, the word barely slipping out, swallowed by ragged moans and gasps. Unheard.
Hayce grabbed one of Ehlian’s legs, curling it around his hip for better access.
When Hayce’s second finger joined the first, stretching him deliciously, Ehlian’s knee buckled.
He let himself fall forward against Hayce’s steady chest, burying his face in the curve of his neck.
His moans spilled there, pressing into Hayce’s tight skin—teeth grazing lightly whenever Hayce deepened the pace, hitting every nerve.