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—”
“Tell your brother I needed to leave because of an emergency,” Michael said, without looking at him, and then he was gone.
Anthony swore under his breath, barely resisting the urge to run after him and force him to see reason.
No.
He couldn’t pressure him like that. Not about this.
It had to be Michael’s decision. He would respect it, no matter what it was.
Would you? a nasty little voice said at the back of his head. You promised you’d stay away from him if he recovered after his transformation, and yet you were back to fucking him a few days later.
Anthony’s jaw clenched, loathing churning in his gut. The truth was, he couldn’t trust himself when it came to Michael. Every promise, every good intention burned away the moment he laid eyes on him.
He looked at him and wanted.
Chapter 25
Michael sipped his drink, staring at his desk without really seeing it.
A knock on the door made him flinch.
It was his mother.
“Can I come in, darling?” she said, her gaze flicking to the bottle in his hand. “Unless this is a bad time?”
Michael shrugged. Some distraction would probably do him good. He was thoroughly sick of his own thoughts.
His mother took the seat across his desk and studied him with those dark, all-knowing eyes. What was it about mothers that made one feel like a child, no matter how old one was?
“I wanted to ask if you happened to have chosen an omega to court, but judging by your mood, the answer is no,” she said, her tone dry.
Michael suppressed a sigh. He opened his mouth to tell her his usual excuses but found himself unable to say anything. Unable to lie.
Fuck, he was so sick of this.
Why should he be forced to do something he didn’t want to do? Even marrying an omega who preferred omegas, as Hugh had suggested, didn’t feel right to him. He wasn’t attracted to omegas anymore. The mere thought of having sex with one made him feel queasy, as if it was something incestuous.
He wanted his alpha.
“What if...” Michael swallowed. “What if I’m not what you thought I was? What if I’m not the son you birthed?”
She blinked slowly, looking bewildered. “What do you mean, Michael? Of course you’re my son. It’s natural for people to change as they grow and become adults. You’re still my son.” She paused. “Unless you’re saying you don’t feel like a man? That would be fine, too, obviously. Plenty of alphas change their genders from male to female.”
She was so close and yet so far off.
Changing his gender really wouldn’t make people blink. It happened often enough. Most female alphas in society were actually transgender. Born female alphas were very rare—the alpha gene usually manifested in those who were physically strongest, and males tended to be physically stronger in their species.
Changing his gender wouldn’t have been a problem. But changing one’s designation was unheard of. Unfathomable.
“I’m a man,” Michael said curtly. “That isn’t the issue.”
His mother was frowning, looking lost. “Then what is the issue, darling?”
It said a lot that she didn’t even consider it as a possibility. People just didn’t switch their designations. It was largely believed to be impossible. Even people who were into alpha bitching porn didn’t actually believe it could happen. Maybe it really couldn’t have happened without the alien toxin and all the stars aligning. For all he knew, his case might be one in a million.
It wasn’t a comforting thought. It was a daunting one.
It could have been easier had he not been such a high-profile figure in Pelugian society. There were only twelve people who had a higher rank in the kingdom than he did. He’d always been in the spotlight as one of the most eligible alphas in the country. If people found out he had suddenly become an omega...
Michael grimaced on the inside.
He couldn’t believe he was even considering it.
But Anthony’s words had caught on something inside him and refused to let go. They made him yearn.
We wouldn’t have to hide anymore. We could live together, see each other all the time without people side-eyeing our unusual closeness. I could bite you, I could put my mark on you, I could breed you.
It shouldn’t have been so appealing, but it was. Even the breeding part, to Michael’s mortification.
The question was, what was worse: living a lie or living in shame?
His options fucking sucked either way, but only one of them would make him happy. Only one of them would make Ant his. Sooner or later, Anthony would have to take a mate to continue his line. The mere thought of him mating another omega caused a nauseating, acidic feeling in his stomach.
Another omega.
It seemed he really considered himself an omega. Anthony had been right about it. He was right that Michael didn’t actually want to be an alpha. He felt more settled in his skin as he was now, his instincts nowhere near as annoying as they used to be. He’d never liked the aggression he felt around other alphas, the constant need to one-up them. Omega instincts were mellower, more laid back, which suited his personality more.