Chapter 34
“You’re sure about this?” Elm pressed against the patch they’d placed over his nape.
“If you don’t want him to find out about your change yet, the patch will help hide your presentation. He won’t pick up on your pheromones,” Levi explained for the third time. “But only if we’re quick about this.”
“And this isn’t a clever way of rushing my meeting with my brother?”
“I put an extra patch in your left inner pocket. If it stretches longer than a half hour, we can go to the bathroom and apply a new one.”
“Kian is so not going to like the two of us taking a bathroom break together.” Elm sighed, realizing it was that or nothing. “He really can’t know, not yet. It’s going to be hard enough to convince him as is.”
“Won’t he understand better?” Levi disagreed. “He knows how biology works. You being a dominant omega makes mating with me make sense.”
“He’ll think you’re forcing me.”
“I did force you.”
“Not the bite,” he corrected. “To stay. Whatever.” He motioned toward the restaurant. “Let’s just go.”
The meeting point Kian had decided on was a popular restaurant on the west side of the capital city.
It was a fancy joint with a view overlooking a frozen lake and valets at the doors.
They had to give their names to confirm their party, and then were led into a massive seating area decorated with crystal and gold light fixtures.
“I can see why we’re dressed up now,” he leaned in and whispered to Levi as they followed the hostess deeper into the restaurant. “But where is everyone?”
All of the tables were empty. Staff stood off to the side, as well as a few men in black, but there weren’t any other patrons.
“Mr. Erskine rented us out for the afternoon,” the hostess explained, but Elm only partially heard her.
At a center table, facing the entrance, Kian was waiting.
Elm darted forward before he realized, gasping when a hand whipped out and hauled him back. He let out a tiny growl, glaring up at the alpha, but Levi’s gaze was fixed on Kian, that dangerous half-smirk in place.
The hostess waved at the table, bowed, and then left them to it.
“Did you come alone, Erskine?” Levi asked.
“Odette and Bowie are watching from the second level,” Elm said, grimacing when Kian’s eyes narrowed on him.
“I brought two members with me.” Kian turned back to the Leviathan. “Since you know where they are, it’s fair for you to tell me where you’ve placed yours.”
“I didn’t bring reinforcements,” Levi drawled. “It won’t be necessary.”
“Is that so?” Kian didn’t believe him.
Elm cleared his throat and then stepped forward, shaking Levi’s hold off when he tried to stop him, less aggressively this time. He wanted to round the table and hug his brother, but knew that would only set both alphas off, so opted to pull out a chair in the spot directly across from him.
Levi followed suit, taking the place at his left, then lifted a finger for the nearest waiter who was standing against the wall. “A bottle of esuas and a hot caramel latte. Are you hungry?” he directed the last part to Elm, who shook his head. “That’ll be all for us. What about you, Erskine?”
“The wine you ordered is fine. I don’t intend to stay for long,” Kian replied gruffly.
Levi flicked his wrist, waving the waiter away, and then steepled his fingers, going silent.
Beneath the table, Elm picked at his cuticles. “Um, how have you been?”
Kian’s gaze darkened. “Did he do anything to you?”
What a loaded question.
“I’m fine,” Elm reassured, but it didn’t seem like his brother was buying it. “Levi saved me from my kidnappers. The ones who took me from Glyph? I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t shown up when he had.”
Elm might have ended up screwing and then killing that pack of assholes thanks to his heat and dysregulation.
Although, according to Fiora, his aggressive pheromones had only unlocked once he’d caught a whiff of Levi.
So maybe he wouldn’t have been able to. Maybe it would have just been the first nightmare and then he’d have been sold off like he’d always feared.
One of Levi’s hands found his under the table, stopping him from mutilating his own fingers.
The waiter returned with their drinks, setting the wine glasses down first.
“The latte is for him,” Levi instructed, motioning to Elm.
Elm cupped the heated glass with his free hand as soon as it was set in front of him, unwilling to let go of the alpha, but wanting the warmth.
“And when exactly did this occur?” Kian asked when they were relatively alone again.
“About six months ago,” Levi divulged, instantly patting Elm on the back when he choked on the sip he’d just taken.
They’d agreed to let Elm do all the talking, but he should have known better. Levi’s possessiveness and fear of losing him wouldn’t allow him to stay his tongue, no matter how much he’d initially intended otherwise.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put a bullet in your head,” Kian growled. “What is it that you want, Leviathan?”
“There seems to be a misunderstanding,” Levi said. “I’m not here to propose anything. I have everything that I require.”
This wasn’t going well. Maybe the alpha was right, and Elm’s plan to keep his omega status a secret for now was foolish.
He reached back, fingers tracing the edge of the patch, and debated.
“I heard you’re newly mated,” Kian continued. “What does your omega think about you using innocent betas in your schemes?”
“They probably think of me the same way your mate does knowing you used to play with dead things,” Levi countered. “It’s an uncomfortable truth, but one they can accept.”
“I’m taking my brother back to Glyph.”
“No.”
Elm pulled on his sleeve. “You promised you’d let me handle this.”
“You promised your brother wouldn’t try anything funny, yet he has two blasters on me,” Levi drawled.
Elm’s eyes shot to the second landing where he’d spotted Odette and Bowie, two of his brother’s subordinates. Sure enough, they both had weapons aimed their way. He got to his feet so fast his chair wobbled on its legs. “Tell them to stand down, Kian.”
His brother frowned. “What did he do to you? Why are you protecting him? Come here, Elm. You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t let the Leviathan hurt you.”
Levi chuckled, holding up both hands when Elm glared down at him.
Elm shucked off his jacket and draped it over the chair, nerves causing his skin to flush. Then he reached for his glass, not noticing the sleeve of his sweater pulling up until it was too late.
“What the hell is that?” Kian’s voice was icy.
He pulled back, tugging on the soft material, but the damage was already done.
Kian had seen the claiming bite on his wrist.
Shit.
“Kian, I—”
“Did you fucking do that to him?!” Kian sprang up, grabbing at a blaster he’d had hidden at his back.
“Wait!” Elm only got the single word out before a round of gunfire exploded around them.
For a split second, he thought his brother and his men were the culprits, but then Levi slammed into him, taking him down to the ground, protectively shielding his body with his own, and Elm realized the alpha hadn’t been hit.
“Move!” Levi rolled him around and pushed him forward, urging him to belly crawl toward the bar. It was a few tables away, glass shattering as bullets hit them, but the wooden counter would still provide better cover than staying here out in the open.
They made it, and then Elm noticed Kian wasn’t with them. Terrified, he stuck his head around the corner, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw his brother had flipped the table and was kneeling behind it.
“Baal,” Levi stuck the earbud attachment of his multi-slate in his ear and spoke. They must have already been on standby mode. “What’s going on?”
Elm couldn’t hear what the response was, and he caved in on himself when the bullets started coming in their direction again.
Levi bent over him as glass rained down. “Hurry.” He ended the call, then said to Elm, “Baal’s coming, treasure, hold on.”
“Levi.”
“Don’t be scared. I’m here.” He must have heard something, letting go of Elm suddenly and popped onto his feet. A blaster in his left hand went off three times, then he dropped back down. “Six in the main area. They’re destroying the place on purpose to scare us. I’ll—”
“No.” Elm grabbed onto him when he made to stand a second time. “No, alpha.”
“It’s okay.” He cupped his cheek and smiled reassuringly. “But your brother is out there alone. They’re getting closer.”
“Kian has Odette and Bowie.”
“Omega.”
“I said no, Leviathan. You can’t. You can’t go.”
Levi kissed his brow, but tensed before he could reply. He got to his feet again, ignoring Elm’s protests, and let off another couple of rounds. A second later, he jerked and grunted, and when he lowered, there was blood oozing from his right arm.
Elm felt a wave of fury seeing his alpha injured. A growl ripped from his throat, and before he knew what he intended, he twisted around the end of the bar. “Kian! I’ll drop them, you take them out!”
“Omega,” Levi caught a fistful of the back of Elm’s shirt, but he wasn’t planning on completely revealing himself.
Instead, he tore off the patch and summoned the full strength of his aggressive pheromones. It was harder to target them since he could only make out one or two of their pursuers from this vantage, which meant…
“Hold your breath and help my brother shoot them,” he ordered Levi.
Then he let loose.
The effects were almost instantaneous. His pheromones exploded in the vast space, clouding over the area. Their attackers weren’t strong enough to withstand the full blast, screams and curses coming out of them as they dropped to the ground and began writhing on the floor.
“Now!” Elm called out, and Levi and Kian got up and began picking them off one by one.
A bullet hit the last guy, but no sooner had he stopped moving then another group burst through the entrance.
Elm pushed more aggressive pheromones their way, bringing them down, but faltered when he saw Kian stumble out of the corner of his eye.
His brother fell forward, catching himself on the back of the table, jaw clenched.