Page 76 of The Price of Ice

“Oh, that’s...” He licked his lips, eyeing the bags by the entryway. “Thank you.”

“I...” Levy was sitting on the sofa, and he could almost have looked small from where Kallen stood by the doorway. “We are still friends, right?” he checked. “Like, I hope I didn’t do anything to fuck that up.” He straightened and met Kallen’s eyes, his own openly hurt.

Kallen’s throat immediately closed up. Fuck, it’d been all bullshit, hadn’t it? Since when didLevyever want to hide his pain? That was Kallen through and through. He managed a nod and then stepped fully into the room.

Levy’s beautiful hazel eyes followed him almost warily until Kallen flopped at the other end of the sofa, two whole cushions away, every inch like a weight he was desperate to unload. “You are.” His voice came out low and raspy. “I’m—I’mfucked up, that’s all.”

The alpha opened his mouth, then closed it again, shaking his head. “Anyone would be. Just... I’m on your side, you know that, right? I know I’m not doing enough, but—”

“Stop.” He raised a hand between them. “You don’t have to do anything, mate. Youareon my side, and I know that. That’s enough. And what I gotta do... Well,Igotta do it.” He was digging his fingers a little too hard into his own thighs, but he allowed himself to keep doing it while he pushed something much more painful out. “I’m sorry it has to be this way.”

“Me too.” Levy’s voice was rough enough to make Kallen wonder if he was close to tears too. “But... I’m proud of you.” He cleared his throat. “For doing this. For saying ‘fuck you’ to... to everyone who doesn’t deserve you.”

And he meant it. He didn’t know what Kallen was doing and yet, it almost sounded like he was giving his blessing.

Their eyes met like they’d choreographed it, and for a long moment, Kallen couldn’t find any words. And then, as easy as sliding over frozen ice, they came to him. “Thank you. For everything.”

The next few seconds were a staccato of details. The way Levy’s eyes shone like a beacon. His breath hitching as Kallen stood and crossed the distance between them. The warmth of his bare arms under Kallen’s hands as he dragged him to his feet and into a crushing hug. His scent, sandalwood and sweet apples, unique and familiar enough to make his heart ache. And finally, Levy’s arms around his back, a vice strong enough to break him, or hold him together.

Chapter 29

“Iwant an omega,” he blurted out the moment they were sat for breakfast at a local café. Levy was home and Kallen had wanted to talk to his mum about it as soon as possible, so he’d made up an excuse to get them out.

“An omega lawyer, I mean.”

His mum paused. “Are you sure that’s... What I mean is, shouldn’t we find you someone experienced?”

“Yeah, sure, that too,” he agreed. “But they’d get it, you know? What they did to me. What it feels like.”

“Let’s finish eating and get to researching. We’ll find you someone. Here or back home, though maybe they’d need to be aware of any local regulations, so we’d better...”

It’d surprised him how much she seemed to know or be able to guess about the situation. But then again, his mother was an omega, wasn’t she? And she’d been trying to advocate for him his whole life.

He’d just had to let her.

EXPECTING TOO MUCHfrom his dad had never led him anywhere good, and yet, he’d never quite managed to break the habit. But no matter what his mum had said, this time he was mostly just praying his dad wouldn’t say anything that would make him cry.

He felt better after a few days walking around the city with his mum, and Benny’s visit after Kallen had texted him back hadbeen a nice surprise. Even things with Levy had got easier after he’d told Kallen he was proud of him.

The last two days at Levy’s flat hadn’t been easy, exactly. His friend had toned down his warmth somehow, asking about his day with his mother and responding but without any of the teasing Kallen had grown used to from him. And it hurt, that absence, but he could also see it was intended as a kindness; Levy staying on his side of the line Kallen had drawn between them.

On the morning of his flight, though, he’d found Levy already in the kitchen when he’d woken up before the sun had even risen.

“Hey,” he’d said, not quite able to hide his pain.

Kallen hadn’t been able to find the words, just stuck watching him like it’d been weeks instead of a couple of days since they’d talked for real.

“I thought... I could make you breakfast?” Levy had suggested, eyes flickering away.

“Yeah!” Kallen said, too enthusiastically for the hour and the offer.

But Levy had met his eyes again, a small smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He was still holding onto the memory of that morning now, unpacking his things into Paul’s childhood bedroom since his own had long become an office. He wasn’t sure he minded; it was perhaps a little less humiliating this way. His brother’s colourful posters were way too garish for Kallen’s taste, but at least he wasn’t literally going backwards. He was going to be a new person here, not the kid who’d left three years earlier to go to Gresham, not the man who’d signed with the White Cats.

All of which meant that the only thing he knew was who he wasnot.

WHEN HE’D IMAGINEDhiring a lawyer, his main fear had been having to tell them what had happened to him. It hadn’t crossed his mind that the first challenge would be finding one to call him back. Two days earlier, his mother and he had emailed and rang several firms in both Jiro and Terali and he was still waiting.

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