Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Michael’s pulse quickened. “I don’t know what you mean.”
The look Anthony shot him was decidedly unimpressed. After a moment, he said, “I could smell it. Your arousal after I used my Voice.”
Michael froze, his breath caught in his throat.
“What the fuck are you implying?” he ground out at last, his face hot. “Get out.”
Anthony didn’t move. “I’m not implying anything, Mike,” he said, his tone still steady. Placating. “I know you aren’t like that.”
Michael glared at him. “Like what?”
Grimacing, Anthony took a sip from his drink. “Come on, we both know there are alphas who are attracted to other alphas. It’s rare, but it happens.”
It did. Of course it happened sometimes. Alpha-alpha relationships never worked long-term because of how toxic they turned thanks to incompatible pheromones, but sexual attraction could happen sometimes. Granted, it was very rare, exponentially more rare than same-sex relationships on planets that didn’t have alpha and omega designations.
“Even if you were into it, I wouldn’t have a problem with it,” Anthony said after a moment. “I’m not a bigot.”
“I’m not into other alphas,” Michael snapped, bristling at the suggestion.
“I didn’t think you were,” Anthony said, meeting his gaze steadily. “I know you were into Li. But. I also know what I smelled this evening.”
Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes as failure crashed over him. All his efforts to salvage their friendship from awkwardness had been wasted. Anthony wasn’t going to let it go.
With a heavy sigh, Michael rose, crossed to the minibar, and poured himself a drink.
“I lied to you,” he said, his back to Anthony. It was easier to tell him the truth when he wasn’t looking at him. “Your rut didn’t just end on Belith.”
The silence that followed was dense. Weighted. Like a room slowly filling with smoke, it pressed against Michael’s throat and settled in his lungs like ash.
“You mean...” Anthony said, his voice ringing with tension.
Michael gulped his drink, put the glass down, and turned back to him. He forced himself to meet Anthony’s gaze. “I had to do it, Ant,” he said. “There was no other choice.”
Anthony stared at him, his body gone still. Alert. The way a predator went still—not to rest, but to calculate. Every inch of him was still, even his hand holding the glass. “What,” he said, without any inflection in his voice.
“I had to save you,” Michael said, gripping the minibar behind him. “I’m not sorry for what I did. You’re alive. That’s what matters.”
Slowly, Anthony got to his feet. He set his drink down and took a step toward him. “You...” He searched Michael’s face.
Clenching his jaw, Michael gave a short nod.
Anthony shook his head slowly, his scent full of shock, denial, confusion, anger, gratitude, and so many other emotions Michael couldn’t discern.
But finally, they settled on an emotion he could recognize: rage.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
Michael glared at him. “You don’t get to be angry with me! I saved your life, damn it!”
“I didn’t ask you to save it!” Anthony growled, starting to pace the room.
Michael scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Some gratitude would be nice. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to—to go against all my instincts?”
A muscle jumped in Anthony’s jaw as he stopped in front of Michael. “Yes,” he said in a clipped voice. “I do have some idea. I’m an alpha too. I didn’t ask you to force yourself to take my knot.”
Michael flushed. “You would have died if I didn’t—”
“Then you should have let me die!” Anthony growled, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him, his expression half furious, half distraught. “I feel like I fucking raped you.”
“You didn’t.” Michael glared. “It was my choice.”
Anthony let out a harsh laugh. “Was it really a choice when you felt like you had no other choice?” He raked his fingers through his dark hair, frustration and anger turning his scent so potent it made Michael’s instincts go crazy, his anxiety spiking from the proximity of an angry alpha so close to him.
“It was my choice,” Michael bit off. “If anything, you’re the one who couldn’t consent to it. I did. Do you think I raped you?”
Anthony gave him a tight, withering look. “I wasn’t the one taking another alpha’s knot up my fucking ass. That’s not the same thing.”
His face uncomfortably warm, Michael struggled to hold his gaze. “It was still my choice to do it, and you should respect it. Let’s just move on, all right? What’s done is done. It changes nothing.”
The expression on Anthony’s face was downright incredulous. “You’re susceptible to my Voice now. It definitely changed something.”
Michael cleared his throat a little, gripping the bar behind him more tightly. There was a part of him that still bristled and snarled at the mere suggestion, but he could hardly argue. “I’m working on it,” he said stiffly.