Page 93 of The Price of Ice

Chapter 33

Levy had been surprised by how quickly he’d picked it up, he remembered. And then he’d seemed quite surprisedagainwhen Kallen had successfully used it during heat with the other alphas, too. To think Kallen had been a little offended by that...

[Random question,] he sent, this time to Levy. [Does Leila use lure?]

His friend must have been on his phone already, because the answer pinged back at once. [Shecan. She used it to make me do chores when I was little CRYING EMOJI]

[Jk] he felt the need to clarify a moment later.

[So she could really control you with it?] Kallen typed, cursing how small his phone screen was. He should get a bigger one fit for the size of his hands.

[Yeah, but I was like 9. And my mum grounded her for a week when she found out.]

[You been practising?]

Kallen’s heart jumped in his chest. He hadn’t beenpractisingexactly, unless one took it in the sense of doing it. He didn’t need to practise, unless he could learn to direct it better so innocent bystanders didn’t get pulled in?

His thumb rubbed absently at the side of the phone as he thought it through.

[I tried it on an omega.]

That wasn’t too revealing, and it wasn’t like Levy could do anything with that information but give it to another omega,right? Not that Levy would have used it to harm anyone, he’d never even used his own alpha will except when Kallen had gone into shock. Maybe that didn’t make it right, by some standards, but Kallen wasgratefulfor it and who else was there to judge?

[Oh cool, did it work?]

[Yeah.]

He took a moment, unsure, then exhaled and told him the rest.

[It worked on a kid who was there too.]

When no response came, he reached for his glass of water and chugged half of it down, to the loud protests of his uneasy stomach. It took all his willpower to place the glass back on the coaster and inhale slowly, then let the air out like it was the last he’d ever have.

[What did you get them to do?] Levy had asked when he allowed himself to glance at his phone again.

[Stand up.]

[Well, like, I offered to give them a hug. Mentally.]

No, not mentally, he thought as soon as he sent it,psychically.He jumped when the phone vibrated with a call.

“Hey,” he managed, voice raspy. He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about it. Not just to Levy but in general. He’d fucked up and admitting to it was the only way he could think to make it somewhat better. To make sure he didn’t do it again. But text had been enough punishment, he didn’t want tohearLevy’s disappointment, or worse, his fear.

Kallen had spent his life at the mercy of alphas, and now it seemed like unlike most omegas he had the capacity to hit them right back, possibly harder than they could bear.

And unlike a direct order, they might not even be able to tell he was doing it.Hemight not be able to tell he was doing it. It was easy to feel it was right when doing it felt so good, leaving him calm and centred.

But it probably didn’t feel bad to alphas to use will.

Not in the moment.

When he’d considered it at all, he’d assumed alphas refrained from using their ability to influence for omegas’ sake, but suddenly he wondered if it was the opposite. He’d hardly done anything with this new power of his and he was already terrified of the sheer amount of guilt it could accrue.

“Hey,” Levy said, his honeyed voice curling around Kallen like a blanket.

Today it just made him stiffen, though. He wasn’t sure hedeservedthe comfort.

“Thought this was too interesting for texting,” Levy added. “So, when you use lure youofferthe person something?”

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