I was so goddamn tired…! I just wanted to sleep…

One night, Kieran came to bring me food and to change my bandages as usual, but he also brought a small bag with him. I frowned, but said nothing. My alpha, on the other hand, would’ve loved to say hello to the omega. I had the feeling it would soon steal control from me, so it could do exactly that.

“How are you feeling?” Kieran asked me, while putting the tray next to my bed and the bag next to the wall.

“I’d feel better if those fucking idiots didn’t make so much fucking noise,” I grumbled, grabbing a sandwich from the tray.

“It’s over now, don’t worry,” he said as he sat down at the end of my bed. “You can rest now.”

“Good,” I grunted and focused on eating.

But then my alpha noticed something concerning. Ares’ scent on Kieran was fading. I glanced at him again.

“Where’s the kid?” I asked before I had any time to stop myself.

“Not here,” Kieran said quietly. “He’s somewhere safe.”

I nodded slowly and looked away. My alpha did not like it. It didn’t understand. The omega wasn’t with the child anymore. I tried to tell it the child was with someone else for now, most likely because Kieran was deadly afraid someone would try to come for him again, but my alpha didn’t trust me enough to let me reassure it.

“Good,” I only said, and ignored my alpha.

I wanted to ignore everything but my food, but again, my damn curiosity won.

“What’s with the bag?” I asked.

“There’s your clothes,” Kieran said quietly, his voice weird.

I glanced at him. “Yeah. And?”

He shrugged and looked down at his hands. “Your wound is healing fast now that your body isn’t using all its energy to keep you alive. I’d still take it easy for a while, but you can leave whenever you want.”

I stopped chewing and stared at him. He noticed it and gave me a small smile.

“You’re free to go,” he repeated quietly.

“Why?” I asked.

“What do you mean, why?” he asked.

“What happened with your brilliant plan to give my ass to Mercer as a gift?” I asked and continued eating.

He let out a breath and looked away, pulling his knees up against his chest. “You saved our lives. Letting you go is the least I can do for you.”

So that was why he’d not put the handcuffs on me…

“So you’re letting a jomica go free?” I asked.

“I try not to see it that way,” he said.

“You do realize that you’re to blame for all the bad things I do from now on if you let me walk free, right?” I asked and took another bite.

“I mean, I can keep you locked up here forever too, if that’s what you want,” he said with a scoff.

“Fuck no,” I said. “I’m so fucking out of here.”

“Great. Well, just take it easy for a week or so. If you know someone who can deal with stitches, ask them to take them off once the wound is fully healed. I put some painkillers in the bag along with your clothes and your gun,” he said and stood. “And try not to…”

The way he stopped to stare at me was odd…

“Try not to what?” I asked.

“Kill anyone,” he said quietly, and left the basement.

I stared after him. He left the door open…

I snorted.

“Finally…” I mumbled and continued eating.

My alpha was sad now that the omega had left… It sensed something was wrong, but I ignored it. We were finally fucking out of here. As soon as I was done eating. Or maybe after a small nap. I was still so fucking tired…

I stopped to stare at the sandwich in my hand. I was finally getting out of here…

But all I could think of was how tired I was…

After I ate, I took that nap. I just really, really needed to sleep first. Even the thought of having to find my way back to my group was exhausting. I couldn’t even walk too far without my stomach feeling like it was on fire. I didn’t even have a phone with me, so I couldn’t get any of my mates to pick me up, and I wasn’t riding a fucking bus to our headquarters.

So the best damn thing to do was to take a nap. A long one at that.

It was a good fucking nap, too. Next time I woke up, I saw sunlight coming past the door that was still open. I stared at it lazily, picturing myself walking out as a free man. Free to do whatever the hell I wanted. But was my wound really good enough? I had a long way home, and nothing on me but my clothes and a gun. I couldn’t even afford a bus ticket if I’d stoop so low. I’d have to walk…

Besides…

“Where’s my room service? I’m starving,” I said loudly, glancing at the camera, but it didn’t seem to be on.

I wasn’t sure if Kieran heard me, but a moment later, I heard his footsteps coming down the steps.

“You’re such a big baby,” he told me when he came to my view, hiding his smirk. “Would you rather eat next to a table this time?”

“And fuck up my wound? No thanks,” I said with a snort.

“I don’t know, it’s pretty well healed now,” he said.

“Well I’m still tired after saving your ass,” I said.

“Fine, I’ll bring your breakfast here, you big baby,” he said, having too much fun again.

“I’m not a baby!”

“Uh-huh, sure you’re not…”

I rolled my eyes, then dug myself deeper under my covers. It was way too damn cold in the basement…

It took a while before Kieran returned to me, but this time, he was bringing me bacon and boiled eggs. I drooled at the smell and hurried to sit up. He put the tray down, but it had two plates on it this time. The other one had a big pile of food, while the other portion was much, much smaller.

“Let’s see if it’s as nice to eat in bed as you want me to think,” Kieran said while he took his plate – the one with less food – and sat next to me on the mattress, leaning against the wall.

After that, the food stole my attention, and I started wolfing it down, barely using my fork. It was so goddamn good…

“I guess I do see the charm in this,” Kieran said between slow bites. “But perhaps without the toilet in the same room.”

“Don’t talk about the damn toilet when I eat,” I snapped at him.

He seemed a little taken aback… My alpha got dangerously mad at me.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, and focused on eating.

After that, he didn’t say a word, and his silence was unnaturally quiet… Like he was retreating. Fuck me… All I wanted was to eat my breakfast in peace, but here I was feeling ashamed. No. Fuck no! I wasn’t ashamed! He just… He… Mind tricks! He had to be using his SOU mind tricks on me again, because why the fuck would I ever feel bad, huh?

I peered at the omega from the corner of my eye. He held his head down, his expression sad.

I turned back to stare at my breakfast. Maybe he wasn’t using mind tricks… Maybe he was just sad that I snapped at him. I mean… What we went through together… He must’ve thought we were on better terms now. That something had changed between us. That was why he wanted to eat his breakfast with me. But he definitely regretted staying down here to eat with me now.

And a thought occurred to me… It would be like this if he were my private bitch. He’d stay silent, obedient… and lifeless. His spark would fade, and he’d become just like…

Just like every omega I knew.

I glanced at him again. This was a free omega. The kind I’d not shared any parts of my life with. The omegas I knew were deadly afraid, or their spirits were so broken they hardly understood I was there. Kieran would break too. It would only be a matter of days.

I sighed and tried to finish my breakfast. I wasn’t that hungry anymore. Not with this quiet omega sitting next to me, and my own angry alpha glaring at me.

I was so tired…

“This is good,” I found myself saying. “The bacon…”

He turned to look at me, so I glanced at him. His eyes were wider, like he was shocked.

“Yeah, yeah, I can be polite too,” I grunted, and continued eating.

“You know,” he murmured, “sometimes I feel like I will never understand you.”

“Why would you need to understand me? I’m a criminal, in case you’ve forgotten,” I said.

“Right, right…” he said, his mood coming back up.

My alpha’s anger faded a little. I guess it thought I’d apologized to Kieran or something since the omega was feeling better. And fuck’s sake, that… made me feel a little better too. Then the alpha turned its attention to the omega, wishing to bond with him a little. I rolled my eyes.

Fucking flirt…

“Why would you even want to understand me?” I muttered.

“I don’t know,” he murmured. “Maybe because it’s hard to understand you?”

I snorted at his reply, but didn’t say a word.

We continued eating in silence, but this time, it felt natural. But I was still paying way too much attention to Kieran. To his presence, his scent, his breathing. My alpha was all over him, and its need to say hello to him was growing strong.

Really strong…

I was the first to finish eating, and I put my plate away. I tried my best to ignore Kieran while he finished his breakfast, but my alpha was so eager to come out… To take a little sniff at his sweet, gentle scent… I tried to fight its need to learn more about that scent… How sweet and alluring it was…

I tried to shake myself out of the grip my alpha already had on me, but Kieran made things worse. He had to come closer to me to put his plate on the tray… His scent grew so much stronger now that he was right next to me. It was familiar… I could almost remember where I’d encountered that scent before… And what it was…

I didn’t even understand I was leaning closer to him as he sat on his knees next to me. Not until he noticed it and turned to look at me. His eyes were so close… And I was already drugged. Driven by my alpha’s instincts, I bowed at him, breathing in his pheromones. Kieran stayed still, his posture a bit timid at first, but he slowly relaxed and lifted his chin, bringing his nose closer to my shoulder while baring his for me.

Why was I letting this happen…?

I’d never done anything like this before… This… getting to know each other shit… Not with anyone. But my alpha knew what to do. It read Kieran’s messages carefully and proceeded with caution so it wouldn’t scare the omega or push him too far.

And I kept letting it happen…

Kieran shifted a little bit closer to me, glancing at me carefully. My alpha told me to stay still. I wanted to shove them both away, but I… didn’t. Kieran was encouraged by my silence, and turned his attention to my shoulder, trusting me. When he got more comfortable studying my scent, I brought my nose a little closer to him. He shivered a little, but didn’t pull away.

But what was that scent…? Why couldn’t I put my finger on it…? It was driving me crazy. Where had I smelled this before…? This sweet scent… Not a flower, it was… sparklier than that… Like a fruit…

Kieran’s nose suddenly touched my skin, tickling me. My whole body trembled, but I stayed still. My alpha was purring… No… We were purring out loud. I wanted to stop it, but… that scent… It quickly brought my attention back, and I stopped caring. I touched his shoulder with my nose as I tried to learn more about him. He had strong pheromones… And I had an urge… It was growing… Fuck, I was so drugged by him I couldn’t form rational thoughts.

But I had to taste him. Just a little lick right on top of his gland… I couldn’t stop myself. The taste of his pheromones was strong in my mouth, but still… still I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Trouble…”

Kieran’s voice was a muffled, heavy whisper, but it was enough to bring me back to my senses. I was so close to shoving him away, but our eyes met, and I froze to stare at him. There was something in him I’d not seen before. His cheeks had gained color, and his breath was deeper than normal. But his eyes… He and his omega stared at me and my alpha in such an intense way I couldn’t move.

I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to move…

I had never gotten hit by pheromones so hard. Not even close… It would’ve been so easy to follow the rest of my instincts, especially since he was willing…

I shook my head and forced myself back in line.

“You need to leave,” I grunted at him, trying to escape his scent, his trap.

Kieran didn’t ask why. He moved away, took the tray, and hurried out of the basement. I sat still. I forced myself to sit still. My alpha was… Not angry, but really worked up. Our body was almost burning because of how worked up it was.

“Fuck…” I breathed out, rubbing my face hard while trying to clear my head.

But my alpha… It didn’t want to calm down. It didn’t want to get rid of the pheromones. It was… excited. Excited and happy and determined.

Ours…

“No, no, no, no, no… fuck you…” I told it, but it didn’t listen.

He was not ours, for fuck’s sake! But did the idiot alpha care? Fuck no! It was huffy and puffy and bursting with energy. It was happy because the omega seemed to accept it, or at least willing to consider it.

I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths. Why did I let it happen…? It wasn’t right… Nothing about it was right.

Mate.

There was something heavy and painful growing in my heart. The weight of everything I’d done in my life suddenly tried to come down on me. I tried so hard to fight it. I tried so hard to not care… But I knew already… It would be impossible from now on… So…   

I had to leave before it was too late…

For Kieran.