Chapter 24
Reality came back to him slowly, snippets of what felt like a fever dream plaguing his mind as he struggled to pull himself out of the haze.
Elm was lying on his stomach in the master bedroom, facing the window.
Outside, the sun shone brightly, causing the snow-covered expanse to glitter and glimmer.
It was pretty. Winter had always been his favorite season.
His parents joked he had thick skin, and Kian used to stand outside watching over him as he played for hours, even once his lips started to take on a blue tint.
His brother never complained. Never told him to go inside. Sky couldn’t handle the cold as well as Elm managed to, so those days every winter when Elm was able to convince Kian to hang out with him were special for a few reasons.
He’d never resented his best friend. Understood that attraction didn’t work that way, wasn’t something someone could control, and wasn’t something to get angry about. Even before either of them had presented, a part of Kian and Sky had clearly recognized mate potential in each other.
Back then, Elm had longed to be alpha or omega.
He’d placed all his hopes on it, in fact.
That one day, he’d present and develop the type of biology that could seek out a life partner with another of his kind in a special way.
The bond between alphas and omegas was said to be sacred. Unique. Envious.
No one ever knew, but he’d cried the night the doctors had told him he was beta.
It’d felt like the dream of a happily ever after had been ripped out from under him.
Yes, millions of species found their soulmate without needing pheromones or primordial urges.
Betas married all the time, and at no lower rate than the rest. And yet…
Elm had been devastated.
But he hadn’t shown it. The next day, he’d woken up, made the active choice not to let something he couldn’t control bring him down, and had gone about his life. If asked, he lied and said it was no big deal. If he was teased, he laughed it off and played into the joke.
When Sky had returned from some time away with the claiming bite, Elm had felt both happy for his friend and pity for himself.
A mate had always symbolized so much more to him. It’d meant finding someone who would solely belong to him and him alone. Someone he didn’t have to share, or worry would turn to another. Someone who would brave the cold at his side. Find him worthy. Special.
Elm’s gaze shifted to his right wrist, visible where it was resting on the side of the bed. The teeth marks seemed to mock him.
He’d like to believe it’d been done in the heat of the moment. That the alpha sleeping at his side had merely been overcome by his rut and had made a hasty mistake.
Elm made it a habit not to lie to himself though.
And all of the signs had been there, now that he knew what to look for.
What an idiot.
He could feel them all over his body, the marks.
Torn flesh already knitting itself back together with the fast healing their kind possessed.
It wasn’t just bites, there were bruises, and scratches, and parts of him that felt rubbed raw.
His ass especially felt like it’d been seared with a hot poker, and he winced as he tentatively lifted himself.
Levi was facing him, lying on his side, eyes shut. The arm that had been around Elm’s waist fell away, but the alpha didn’t stir.
Considering how long his rut had lasted, that wasn’t too surprising.
It also meant Elm had a decision to make.
Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he risked a glance down at himself, wincing.
It was worse than it felt. His nipples were still puffy from being sucked and bit, indents with dried blood around them where the alpha had sunk in his teeth.
There weren’t any scent glands there, so it’d been purely out of a desire to mark him up. Those, at least, would heal.
He pulled on the tender flesh of his thighs, checking to see the wounds high up on the inside. There were glands near the groin area, and the alpha had claimed both. The bites would scar, visible proof that Elm belonged to someone.
All of the claiming bites would.
The two at his wrists.
Two on his inner thighs.
Two at either side of his neck.
He felt beneath his jawline, glad to see there were no marks there at least. Had the alpha been unwilling to mar his face?
Absolutely.
This was the Leviathan he was talking about.
The guy who needed everything to be perfect and in exact order.
Elm stared at the sleeping alpha. How long had he been planning this? Since sequestering Elm away here? Since before? If he had to guess, the idea had most likely begun to formulate the day Elm broke free from the cage.
Levi had started looking at him differently from that moment on.
Or…maybe it had started before. When Elm was in a coma perhaps? He had no personal recollection of what took place between them—for obvious reasons—and Levi had stayed away once he woke.
It didn’t make a difference.
When didn’t really matter.
Why did.
Was Levi hoping to use him against Kian? Had he decided giving up his chance for a proper omega was worth sticking it to his greatest enemy? A single mating bite could potentially be undone through extensive surgery, but six? He’d ensured there was no way out for Elm.
At least, that’s what the alpha believed.
But Elm was no longer that starry-eyed kid who dreamed of being whisked off his feet by his soulmate.
Even if the claim couldn’t be undone, he couldn’t stay here any longer. Couldn’t allow himself to be turned into a weapon against his brother.
Elm needed to run. Now. While he had the chance and the alpha was out cold.
He moved as quickly yet as quietly as he could, going straight for the walk-in closet.
His side of the room was packed with all sorts of clothing, and he selected the warmest looking items. It hurt to move, stung when fabric rubbed against wounds, but he ground his teeth and bit his tongue against the pain.
Everything he’d been given was either white or gray, no exceptions. Even the boots, which he picked up and carried out of the room. The color scheme would help him blend in, and he paused in the doorway, giving the alpha one last lengthy look.
He couldn’t see his face from this angle, but the blankets were low on his hips, the length of his back and torso on full display. Scratches marred his skin, and there were bites on him as well.
Elm had returned at least half of the injuries given to him.
If he stopped to allow himself time to think, he’d…hesitate. In many ways, this past month with the alpha had been…pleasant. No one had ever cared for him the way Levi did. No one had ever listened to him talk with such intensity, or been content sitting in a corner for hours while he sculpted.
They hadn’t taken the time to learn his likes and dislikes, cooked him meals based on his preferences, or, admittedly, fucked him so well and thoroughly it felt like he’d been sent to actual heaven.
If this alpha was anyone else in the universe, Elm might have considered staying.
Would overlook the rocky start. The kidnapping.
The testing. The controlling, overbearing nature.
He could do that. He was adept at rolling with the punches.
Could let go of most negative feelings and experiences and focus on the good.
But this wasn’t just anyone.
This was Leviathan Morningstar.
This was the Dominus of the White Frost mafia, a cold-blooded killer. A man more than capable of using warmth as a weapon.
As a means of manipulation.
With Levi, Elm couldn’t be certain how much was real and how much was a cleverly crafted disguise.
How much was about him and how much was actually about Kian.
He turned and walked away, each step further from the alpha causing his heart to beat more rapidly in a mixture of fear and unease.
His instincts would be chaotic this shortly after the mating.
That internal voice told him to go back, to climb back into bed, and be with his alpha.
But the fog that overwhelmed him every time he lost control since becoming synthetic was no longer present.
Elm couldn’t waste time checking right now, but he was fairly certain he was no longer at risk of going feral.
He’d finally stabilized.
Thanks to the mating bond?
Probably.
Didn’t matter.
Couldn’t.
He made his way downstairs, spotting the alpha’s multi-slate where it’d been chucked into the corner over a week ago. When he picked it up and saw the date, he sucked in a sharp breath, realizing it’d been two.
No wonder the alpha was in a deep sleep. The only reason Elm had been able to wake was because his heat hadn’t hit until halfway through.
There was a new message indictor and he clicked it, freezing when a message from the General flashed across the screen.
Koah: Pike escaped. Going after him. Leaving Sulla in charge.
Pike.
How could Elm forget about Pike?
At least the alpha had gotten away. The message was sent several days ago, and there hadn’t been another since. That was a good thing, right? Meant that Pike had managed to truly escape.
Which meant he was out there, looking for Elm again.
His fingers clicked on the keypad and he tried to type out Kian’s number, but the second he hit call, the device beeped loudly. A password prompt appeared, seven empty boxes taunting Elm.
It must have been programed to lock anytime someone tried to contact an unknown number. No wonder Levi had felt comfortable leaving it lying around. It wasn’t so much that he’d trusted Elm not to try calling for help, he’d simply known it wouldn’t be possible.
What now?
Sure, Elm could walk out the door with ease, but there was still the fact they were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest and mountains. A storm could sweep in at any time too. Without shelter—
Wait.
He held up the locked device.
When he’d mistaken Levi’s rut for illness, he’d called Baal.
Someone had arrived within ten or so minutes after that.