Chapter 23

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Demetri'squiet murmurs came from his office as I moved past it down the hallway towards the living room. His voicewasn'tas soft as it was before. It wasstrongand stern.

No one was in the living space, though I could hear gentle clanging from the kitchen. My gaze lingered on the shelves surrounding the televisionIcouldn'tremember anyone ever turning on.

I wandered towards the books stacked into perfect rows, running my fingers down the spines.

Iwasn'tsure what I was expecting. Recent bestselling fiction alongside old textbooks that looked like they belongedthoughnever used in the college library,wasn'tit?

I pulled one out, amagical-realism romance set onan oldwoman'sfarm caught my eye probably two years ago when I saw it everywhere. It had a hold list at the library for ages. I never had the time to read it.

"Find anything worthwhile?"

I jumped, turning around to face the voice. Liam.

Liam'sstare flicked between the book and me. Lifting the book back up, I slipped it back where I found it, careful of the other paperbacks surrounding it.

I shook my head.

"Have you read that one?"

"No," I said. "I uh, haven't gotten to read just for the fun of it in a long time."

"You think reading is fun?" Liam asked, sarcastically. "I'm shocked."

"You are not."

He chuckled at my cheek.

"They call it the best form of escapism for a reason,"I reasoned.

"You'reup again."Liam looked at me up and down, his lips twisted as he spoke still, face giving nothing away. Icouldn'ttell what he was feeling. Content? Upset?

You'dknow if there was a bond. If he bit–

My face flushed. I mentally attempted to slap the omega desire back down.

No matter what Demetri or Cal said,I'dnever get used to that.

"You look better after your… nap."

I studied him for a moment, looking at the slight tenseness of his jaw. My nap? Did something happen in the house while I was sleeping…with his packmates?

Understanding dawned on me.

My eyes widened. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

I extended my hands as if they held all the answers. When theydidn't, I tucked them back into my stomach."I'msorry if I've been crossing some line. I know that we– well, we almost– but Ihadn"teven thought about what it might mean since Ididn'tknow…you'reall together and stuff as a pack that could meanthat youwouldn'twant…"

"When?"

"By sleeping in the nest upstairs by Demetri and Cal. A lot recently,"I flushed."Ididn'trealize or think about keeping them from youandthen I woke up and?—"

Things got a whole lot more complicated.

I kept adding it all to the list.

"Stop talking."

I tried to say another word to refute him, but the moment he put a hand upIwas stunned into silence.

Or was this the mystical alpha power I always believed was so devious? Ifanythingit was helping me not make a complete fool of myselfright now.

"It'snot unnatural that an omega would find better sleep with an alpha.Youshould'vesaid something,"said Liam.

That wasbasicallywhat Cal was trying to say. And Demetri, even though when he said it, it sounded like I was getting a cash anatomy course in school.

"Oh." I hadn't known and hearing it from him felt… not like it did from Cal. I still wasn't quite sure that was the problem.

Liam cleared his throat as he looked where I was standing.

"You like to read?"I asked hesitantly, trying to change the subject.

The books were good. They got us back to neutral waters.

Liam hummed."I do.When I have the time.Work has kept me busy recently, orratherI"vebeen letting it."

"Letting it?"

He nodded."I needed to keep myself busy when the rest of the pack was gonefor a whileon their trips with the Prestford clan.Being here at the house, well, I tried not to be as much as possible.I only really came home to sleep before heading back to the university the next dayall over again."

Being still, being somewhere comfortable was hard. It made you think a lot. I understood. Perhaps just as much as Liam."Ididn'tlike to spenda lot oftime at home either. Plus, I had a lot of work at the library."

Had.I was at least starting to use the past tense now.

"What's wrong?" Liam asked.

"Just thinking,"I said."I'mjust really not a librarian anymore."

"No. You're not."

I was sure I knew what he wanted to say next. No. Iwasn'tsome librarian. I was an omega."I'mnot much of anything anymore."

I grit my teeth together.

But he didn't say that. "Cal told me that you weren't even happy with your job."

"I was though. Mostly. Some days more than others," I admitted. "You're a professor? We didn't get to talk about it when we were at the school in your office."=

"Wedidn't. Did we?"He said."I work mainly with languages. Linguistics."

"So you couldpretty muchmake a whole other language from scratch."

Liam considered it thoughtfully. "I suppose it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility."

"That would be cool."

"Is it a goal you have?"

"No. I just figured it would be niceto finally have a way to explain all this…"I looked down at myself as if that explained everything."Sometimes Idon'tthink the right words of what happened to exist to explain it."

"That you're an omega," Liam assumed.

"Partially," I admitted. "And… everything before that."

It was like another world, the town and place where I came from. It almost feels like a bad dream. That, maybe, if I hit my head, I could pretend I had amnesiaandno one would be the wiser. The place sounded like a nightmare. It was.

To me anyway.

With a swipe of his finger over myjawit almost feltlike wordsthemselves. Like, I care.

Was that what he was saying?

If so, I wanted to swipe hisrightback. I care.

Liam blinked at the touch as if suddenly understandingexactlywhat I was trying toget acrossand was shocked.

Maybe he should've been.

Maybe I should've been more than I was.

Imean, I was meandyet I also justspent the past few hours sleeping in a genuine, cozy, beautiful nest with alphas.Two of themtobe exactwitha third looking down at me with molten eyes right now.

Liam might not have been loveable or soft like Cal. Or even authoritative in a way where I knewfor sure thatI was safe and cared for like with Demetri. But with Liam, there was rigidness. Unmovable sureness somehow, and I wanted to be that sure. I wanted at least to be as close as I could be to it.

If that even made sense.

My eyes widened at the electricity that scattered over every nerve ending.

"Demetri said we were going to have dinner. Marko is already in the kitchen and told me to find you," said Liam.

"He did?"

"The sap wants you to taste something if you were up."

"Oh, okay." I could do that. I still remembered the food Marko cooked for me the other night. It was heaven. I could only imagine what he'd cook for a proper dinner.

Taking a step out of his touch, Liam's hand came up to catch my waist, putting me right back in front of him against the bookshelf where I was.

Quickly, he twisted me back around until I was facing the shelves, looking at the titles up close and personal. He held his gaze down at me and my heart picked up.

I felt a flush turn my cheeks as well as the rest of me as this predator looked down at me with something…

Something like hunger.

"But I think I may like you right here," he murmured.

My lips parted with a shaky breath.

"You like the idea of me keeping you right here, closed in with me, smart girl?"

I swallowed.

"Speak."

"Yes." The word came before I could help it. All Liam did was whisper but it was just as powerful as any bark. I wanted to respond to him.

So I did.

He licked his lips, inching them closer to mine as he spoke. "Hm. So it looks like you aren't so shy anymore now that you've been spending time with the good ones in my pack. Huh? Funny. You think I don't want to see you with them? With my pack?"

"I don't–" My heart raced as I looked from his hand, pulling me towards him as I stuttered, back up to his eyes.

"I thought the last time we talked settled this," Liam murmured into my ear.

Shivers went down my spine and before I could tell myself not to, I arched back into his body. He hummed, or I think it was a hum. It almost sounded like a moan.

I chuckled, wondering just how easy it would be to get the uptight professor feeling a little too much again like he suggested.

"You"re laughing at me, omega?"

"Of course not," I answered.

"No?"

"No," I tried to stop before the honorifics slipped out, but it was too late. "Alpha."

I was sure both of our eyes dilated at the name.

He grunted as his hands gripped onto me harder. "Or maybe you're just a brat."

A brat?

I wanted to yell and scream of course not, but… for some reason that didn't sound so bad. Not when it was coming out of his mouth.

Not when he sounded like that.

"That's okay. I'm sure I'll get my chance to spank you soon if not before my brothers. Don't worry though, I like to watch them."

"You'd watch me?"

"Sure," he grinned, lips closed.

This was it. He was going to kiss me–

He pulled away. "We should make sure we get to dinner before Marko comes looking for us. It seems he's already a little touchy. Best hop to it, smart girl."

Taking a step back and leaving me on shaky legs, I took a step past him as he swept his hand in the right direction.

I had no idea what I was doing anymore, but I couldn't help it.

I think I liked it.

"Don't tease me smart girl."

"Who said that I was teasing."

The air crackled with tension as Liam and I stood in the dimly lit room. Our gazes locked in a silent dance of desire and longing. I never felt this way before, but I was slowly starting to—and was it possible that it wasn't just with him.

Cal. Now Liam. Marko with his kind hands and French toast and eyes that looked at me as if…

Without a word, Liam closed the distance between them, his hand reaching out to gently cup my cheek.

My breath caught in my throat as his touch sent shivers racing down their spine, igniting a fire deep within them.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, I leaned into his touch, eyes fluttering shut as I savored the warmth of his hand against my skin. I felt like I was burning again only this time. I liked it.

I liked it more than I probably should've.

Was this maybe what other omegas felt when they… when they found alphas or packs like Cal tried to explain to me they could and live happy lives unlike the ones I ever knew?

Liam"s lips brushed against my own and I gasped.

The kiss was a tentative gesture, a silent question hanging between them, another word in our very own language, begging for permission to delve deeper into the unspoken desires that simmered just beneath the surface.

Omega. Alpha.

Ella. Liam.

With a soft moan, I couldn't hold myself back and I didn't want to. My lips eagerly parted to welcome Liam"s kiss that felt like he was going to devour me and take control just like I needed someone to. I hadn't realized just how much.

This kiss was heat and need as my body was hauled tighter into his and he lifted my leg over his leg—not quite tall enough to reach his hip.

Liam's hands started to roam, becoming more demanding as I whimpered and whined for him. He traced every soft curve I was slowly developing with the help of steady meals they fed me, and his reverence left both of us breathless.

In a haze of desire, Liam finally stumbled backward a step, pulling me away from him to look me in the eyes with pure dominance and power. The world fell away around us as we lost ourselves in each other, consumed by a hunger that could not be denied.

Defined.

Clothes were pushed away from shoulders in a frenzy of desperation for something more. Liam"s hands roamed even more hungrily, igniting sparks of pleasure that danced along my nerve endings.

With a low growl, Liam claimed my lips again, his touch igniting a firestorm of passion that threatened to consume us both. We melted into each other, lost in a whirlwind of sensation as I surrendered to the primal urges that pulsed through my veins.

Until finally, we broke apart gasping for air. Liam whispered a swear.

I had to agree with him.

"We should go to dinner."

Right. Dinner.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay." Liam took a deep breath. "You go first."

"I don't know the professor. Should I?"

His eyes turned fiery again.

"Don't tease me, omega."