Chapter 5
“His pheromones are still dangerous even though he’s no longer in heat, but mostly because he doesn’t know how to use them.” Fiora was holding a holopad in Levi’s office, flicking through pages of information she’d spent the night compiling.
Levi signed documents as he listened, making his way through the backlog of work that had piled up after he’d spent those few days with their test subject.
The White Frost owned several legitimate businesses, and Frost Forward was the top research and development company on planet.
As its active CEO, there was never a shortage of things to be done, and yet all morning, he’d found himself distracted.
When the Butcher had finally arrived for their afternoon meeting about the omega, some of the pent-up aggravation had instantly abated.
It wasn’t unusual for Levi to become…obsessive. His curious nature ensured he latched onto projects with a vicious intent and incorrigible enthusiasm. For him, this situation wasn’t any different than any other, but that didn’t mean he could allow it to continue.
What was best for the White Frost always came before his personal desires.
“There doesn’t seem to be any signs of stabilization. Last night, he struggled,” Fiora continued.
Levi had refused to spend another night down in the cell and had left the omega on his own.
He’d checked in periodically, watching on his private screens in his rooms as the omega had curled in on himself.
The cameras caught everything, even in the relative dark, including the whimpers and the occasional glisten of tears.
It wasn’t fear from being captured that was bothering the synthetic. Despite the fact his brother was a mafia leader, it seemed as though the omega had yet to grasp the severity of his situation.
He was more afraid of becoming something new than he was of the White Frost.
Levi couldn’t decide if he was in the right for that or not. He certainly didn’t know how he would act if he woke up one day and found himself turned omega, or worse, beta. On some level, he didn’t blame the omega’s reaction, but that didn’t mean he empathized.
“We’ve received word that Kian is on the move,” Baal, who Levi had honestly forgotten was there since he’d been so caught up in Fiora’s update, spoke gruffly.
The Eumia Dominus had arrived on planet two days ago, and had been sniffing around White Frost businesses.
It didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to be able to find anything that could lead to Levi.
The warehouse had been scrubbed, the bodies burned and the ash scattered.
They’d done a thorough sweep, so there was no chance anything of the synthetic omega’s had been left behind.
Even if Kian followed some other trail to that location, he’d merely hit a dead end.
The White Frost was hardly their only rival, even if they were in charge of this city, so while their involvement was easy to guess, there was no proof.
Kian was careful. Clever. He wouldn’t storm Levi’s castle on a whim. He’d wait until he had something definitive, or the chance to confront Levi or one of his men out in the open to avoid risking an insult great enough to lead to war.
Actually.
“Schedule a dinner meeting with Oberon for tomorrow,” Levi instructed Baal, who was used to him skipping around conversations, so didn’t bother commenting on the sudden change in topic. “Just him.”
“Discussing things with Fenrir might be helpful,” Fiora said, referring to Oberon’s synthetic omega mate, the only other successfully altered person they knew.
“Not yet.” Fenrir wasn’t like Elm in the sense he’d been an alpha when the change was forced upon him. Levi wasn’t certain he’d be of any help, but he was sure Fenrir would overreact when he found out they were keeping a test subject. For now, it was best to continue keeping this a secret.
“Where should the dinner be held?” Baal asked.
“Somewhere in the open,” he replied.
“Ah, so you want it to be obvious?”
“Best we direct Kian’s attention sooner rather than later.”
“How much time do you think we can buy?” The underboss crossed his arms.
Levi merely grunted.
“We’re just waiting for Elm to stabilize,” Fiora told Baal. “Once that happens, we can run tests on his pheromones, their potency, and their responses, and then check to see if he can experience a normal heat.”
“And after that?” Baal questioned.
“While it would be nice to keep him around for longer and conduct more research, that seems unlikely. We shouldn’t push the risk more than necessary. Once we have the basic data collected, the smart move would be to get rid of him.”
“The second Kian finds out his brother was locked in a cage, any relative peace between us will be gone. Permanently.”
She hummed, not disagreeing with that assumption. “Peace is overrated.”
Levi left them to their banter. They could talk about this until the sun set and rose again, it wouldn’t make any difference.
Neither of them got to decide what happened to the synthetic omega once his usefulness had run its course.
That was entirely up to Levi, and he had yet to come to a decision.
Killing him and destroying the body was the smartest play.
Elm Erskine was dangerous for a couple of reasons, from his unstable pheromones, to his connection to the Eumia.
It didn’t matter if he held no place amongst their rival’s ranks, being the younger brother of Kian was already a mark against him.
Levi wasn’t the type to allow the enemy to slip from his grasp, especially not with their lives.
Still, it felt like a shame to snuff out such an impressive specimen. Dominant omegas were a little rarer than dominant alphas, and in all his years, Levi had never encountered one as strong as Elm Erskine, not even Fenrir.
Was it random?
Did the drug target something within the individual, or was it luck of the draw?
If Erskine had presented as an omega naturally, would he have been as powerful, or would he have been another omega, unremarkable like all the rest?
These were questions it was almost impossible to get answers to, especially with only the one test subject, but Levi couldn’t help but be curious about them all the same.
The genetic research conducted at the Wardrobe had been collected, but Levi hadn’t found the time to read through it all himself, opting to leave that sort of thing to his team. Now that he had a synthetic of his own, however, it’d be best to get up to date on all there was to know.
The most effective way to control something was by learning about it and understanding it. The synthetic felt clear revulsion toward everyone else’s pheromones, but even though he didn’t have the same adverse reaction to Levi, he fought against him.
They’d start there.
The sooner he mastered the synthetic’s cooperation, the faster they could move things along.
While he was confident he could throw Kian off their tracks for the time being, there was no way of knowing for certain how long they could keep it up, and Baal was right.
If the Dominus of the Eumia ever discovered what was being done to his precious brother, the results would be mayhem and bloodshed.
“Prepare a contingency plan,” Levi ordered Baal, realizing what he had to do, whether he was on the fence about it or not. The White Frost came first. Art second. “I want to be able to erase him at any given moment.”
He’d get the synthetic in line, they’d collect the rest of their data, then Levi would dispose of him. Yes, it was a pity to destroy such a perfect dominant omega, but that was Elm Erskine’s lot in life.
He only had being the brother of Kian to blame.
* * *
The restaurant was packed, chatter almost drowning out the classical music that drifted through the air. There were too many smells—pheromones and perfume and savory food—and it was starting to give Levi a headache.
He cut into his steak calmly, giving no hint at his personal discomfort, as the man across from him filled the silence between them with this or that.
Oberon King, also known as the Purse, sawed into his own food with more haste, already a full glass of wine in.
A man born to a massive fortune, he was no less impeccably dressed than Levi, though he kept the collar of his crisp white shirt open to ensure the mark where his neck met his shoulder was visible.
He was the alpha in the relationship, but his mate, Fenrir, had bitten him in return, a thing Oberon was always proud to show off.
Personally, Levi didn’t understand the appeal. He would never allow anyone to claim any type of ownership over what belonged to him, and his body was top of that list.
“The Wild Hunt is taking place soon, I imagine Baal and Koah are busy taking leave requests,” Oberon said. “Any chance you’ll be entering this year?”
Levi gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head in the negative, knowing the other alpha was merely trying to get a rise out of him.
The Wild Hunt was held once a year by the government, used to encourage mating. Alphas and omegas agreed to lengthy terms and conditions and willingly gave up control to partake in a primal chase through the wilderness.
“When was the last time you ran?” Oberon snickered. “I don’t think I’ve seen you even do more than a jog on the treadmill at the gym.”
“That’s what soldiers are for.” He paid people to do that sort of thing for him. If something needed to be hunted down, he’d send the White Frost to do the chasing.
“You’re the calmest alpha I’ve ever met.” Oberon set his wine glass down, the easy set of his shoulders tensing some. “Company. Four o’clock.”
The steak was overcooked.
“Kian, fancy seeing you here,” Oberon greeted their rival cheerfully. “If I’d known you were visiting the planet, I would have sent you a welcome gift.”