Chapter 33
Even though it’d been his idea, and he knew it had to happen, Elm was nervous once they were seated at the dining room table. The multi-slate rested between them, him painfully aware of the alpha observing him from the opposite side.
Picking at his cuticles, he took a shaky breath, trying to steady his nerves.
He’d talked a big game the other day, but the truth was, a part of him went back to being that starry-eyed kid, eager to please his big brother.
Kian wouldn’t be proud of him for this. But…
Would he hate him? There was already so much distance between them since Kian had returned, already so many people.
The Leviathan would be another. Another point of contention. Another person taking up time and keeping them apart.
The difference was, Levi was Elm’s person.
Levi was Elm’s choice.
“Ready, treasure?” the alpha asked, sensing the moment his resolve returned.
Elm gave a single nod of his head and then reached out and typed his brother’s number. The feature preventing unknown calls had been turned off in preparation, so there weren’t any problems like there’d been when he’d tried the morning after waking with the claiming bites.
He’d practiced the speech he was going to give a hundred times in the mirror, but as soon as the device started to ring, every word vanished from his head in a blink.
Panic set in, and his eyes swept up to his alpha, silently pleading for help, but Levi merely stretched his hand across the table and rested it over Elm’s.
“Leviathan,” Kian’s voice came through the speaker.
“You have Levi’s number?” Elm blurted, startled before he could help himself.
There was the briefest of pauses and then, “Elm?”
“Hi.”
“Put him on the phone.”
“It’s been a while, don’t you miss me enough to want to talk?” Elm joked, wincing at how stupid he sounded.
“Little brother,” Kian sounded stressed, “let me talk to the Leviathan. I promise everything will be fine. I’m coming for you.”
Levi’s hand tightened over Elm’s.
“Actually,” Elm cleared his throat, “about that. I was hoping we could meet up. The three of us.”
Another pause, this one lasting longer than the last. “He’s there, right? Is he listening? Leviathan, if you do anything to—”
“He won’t hurt me,” Elm cut him off. They were getting off track. If this continued, the only thing that would happen was an exchange of curses and threats. “We need to do this in person. Can you? I want to meet, Kian.”
“You do, or he does?”
“I’d prefer never to see your face again,” Levi clipped out, sighing when Elm glared.
“I do,” he told Kian. “I want to see you. A lot’s happened and…If you’re too busy—”
“I’m literally only on this frozen hellhole of a planet because of you,” Kian stated. “Leviathan, I don’t know what you’re up to, but well played. Let’s meet. I won’t be stepping foot in White Frost territory, however. Mutual ground. This is your city, so I’ll choose the spot. Do you agree?”
“If I don’t?” Levi shrugged when Elm sent him another stormy look. The guy just couldn’t seem to help himself.
“I’ll start picking off White Frost one by one.”
“Do you think that’s wise, considering your brother is sitting right across from me?” Levi smiled, that partial half-smile that was somehow more ruthless than a full one.
He was enjoying this. Having a grand old time goading his rival.
“If—” Kian growled, but he didn’t get to finish.
“Good Light, nothing is going to happen to me,” Elm said. “Both of you stop. We’ll meet where you want, Kian. But you have to swear to me that you aren’t going to start a fight. The White Frost won’t attack the Eumia if you don’t attack first. Can I have your word on that?”
“Are you going to let him speak for you, Leviathan?” Kian asked.
“Always,” Levi replied warmly.
Kian grew quiet once more. When he spoke again, there was distance in his tone. “Agreed. I’ll text the meeting location to this number. Elm, stay safe. No matter what.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“Leviathan—”
“I’ll bring him there in one piece,” Levi cut Kian off, “you have my word. No harm will come to him between then and now.”
“If he has so much as a cut on his person, it’ll be war,” he growled. “Hang in there, Elm. I’ll see you soon.”
The second the call ended, Elm slumped in his chair, all the energy zapped out of him.
“Well,” Levi drawled, “that went better than expected.”
“I guess.” He rubbed at his face, a tension headache beginning to take root.
The alpha stood. “He’s willing to go to war for you. Shouldn’t you feel special? Why the long face, mate?”
“I’m worried Kian is lying,” Elm confessed, moaning when the alpha came around the table and began massaging his shoulders. His head tipped back, resting against Levi’s stomach as he peered up at him. “He doesn’t like following rules. Even agreed upon ones.”
“I’m well aware of your brother’s underhanded tactics,” Levi said. “But he’s always been professional with me, and this time, there’s your safety on the line.”
He pursed his lips. “You really trust him?”
“I trust you,” the alpha corrected. His hands worked the knots out of his shoulders, then moved up his neck, and finally to his temples.
He rubbed his thumbs against those pressure points, smiling softly when another sound of relief slipped past Elm’s lips.
“You’ll keep me safe from your big bad brother, won’t you, omega? ”
Elm grabbed onto his wrist lightly. “We’ll keep each other safe.”
“But you would choose me over him, wouldn’t you?”
“Levi.”
“Relax. I meant what I said. I’ll do as my mate suggests. The White Frost won’t attack unless provoked. However…if it did come down to a fight, hypothetically speaking, who would you choose, Elm Erskine?”
“Pretty sure I told you not to call me by my full name.” It was a weighted question, but not one Elm hadn’t already considered a hundred times over.
How could he not? He wanted to believe Kian would have a little faith in him, but there was too much dark history between the two organizations to not at least prepare for the Eumia to come in swinging.
Hell, after the call, Kian no doubt believed Levi had kidnapped Elm and was holding him captive. Had forced him to make that call, and this meeting was really a hostage situation and a negotiation.
Elm couldn’t blame him.
Half of that was correct.
He had been taken by the Leviathan. Held against his will. Made to do things he never thought in a million years he would ever do.
Six months ago, Elm had gotten himself into this mess due to his jealousy toward Kian’s other siblings. But that fear of losing his brother was no longer there. That misguided notion that he was somehow less than compared to Shiloh gone.
Life wasn’t a competition, and Elm didn’t need to be better than anyone else to be considered something other than average.
Being himself was enough.
“Kian has his omega to take care of,” Elm said, lifting off the seat so he could reach over Levi.
He caught him by the nape and lowered, pulling him in, until his face hovered over Elm’s, a mere breath away.
“And I have my alpha. You’re my top priority.
Where you go, I go. If you’re harmed, I’m harmed. ”
“Do you love me, treasure?”
The question caught him off guard.
Levi hummed. “Do you not know, or are you just not ready to answer?”
“I just…need more time.” Elm felt incredibly strongly for the older man, and it was probably love, but… “There’s too much on my mind to give you a one hundred percent honest answer, and I want the first time I say those words to be meaningful.”
“Interesting, coming from the guy who scoffed when I wanted to make our first time post rut or heat romantic.”
“That was different,” he insisted. “That was just sex.”
“Just sex?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I assure you, I do not.”
Elm rolled his eyes. “Don’t be difficult, alpha.
I’m saying the type of intimacy is different.
Physical intimacy is easier. When I tell you the L-word for the first time, that won’t be about satisfying natural urges.
That’ll be about us. I definitely don’t want to say it while we’re both keyed up, worrying about my brother—”
“All right, omega.” Levi kissed him, tenderly, purring for him while he did until he felt Elm go boneless in his seat. “I won’t coerce you on this. Have it your way. I can wait.”
“Thanks.” His stomach chose that moment to rumble, and he covered it and grinned up at his alpha.
Levi chuckled. “I’ll start lunch.”
“Pasta,” Elm called after him as the alpha made his way to the kitchen. “And no green peppers this time! They taste like dirt!”
“They’re good for you.”
Elm didn’t bother responding, knowing Levi would leave them out despite his comment.
The Leviathan no longer did things Elm didn’t like.
* * *
The meeting was set for the next day, Kian obviously eager to see Elm after he’d been missing all this time.
It was strange, stepping out of the lodge—fully clothed no less.
Not to mention the clothing itself was intricate and expensive, a far cry from the usual streetwear Elm was known for back home.
There was so much fabric in the jacket alone, that he struggled to climb comfortably into the back of the hovercar.
“Do I have to wear this?” he asked the second Levi slipped in next to him on the other side.
His secretary, Wook, was driving them, and there were sleek black vehicles acting as security, two in the front, and two behind.
“And is it always this…much?” Elm glanced out the tinted back window at the cars following them as they started down the long path leading out of the forest. His gaze lingered on the lodge as they drove away, a strange tightness entering his chest that he opted to ignore.
If he gave into the fear and unsettled feeling, he’d succumb to trauma. The last thing he wanted was to allow himself to be trapped. By Levi or his own mind.
“It’s freezing today,” Levi began, helping him with his seatbelt. “You’ll stay warm in that.”
“This sweater cost more than my entire university tuition.”
“So?” The alpha buckled himself in next. “You’re worth it.”