Page 90 of The Price of Ice

“Lure?” He glanced away, then looked back and shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess I’m okay, I could do it from the first time I tried. I just imagined that I wanted someone to come closer and for that I had to be appealing, but not pushy, if that makes sense?”

Taylor was nodding. “It does.” Then he asked, even quieter, “Could you show us?”

“I’d like to see,” said someone to his right and Kallen discovered it was a boy, maybe all of sixteen, still gangly and awkward in his body. He didn’t look like an athlete, but what did Kallen know? Maybe this boy knew better than to wake up at dawn every day to force his body into a shape it didn’t want to go. He didn’t look away when Kallen focused on him.

“You ever done it?” he checked.

The boy shook his head, and his dark straight hair flew around his round face making him seem even younger.

Kallen turned to Taylor. “I don’t know if it’ll work. And I mean, who...” He glanced around, but didn’t make eye contact.

“Me, if you are game.” That made sense, Taylor had known about it beforehand, and it wasn’t like Kallen was that strong anyway.

“Oh, can I...? Would it work with another omega?”

Taylor hesitated. “I don’t see why not, and worst-case scenario nothing happens, right?”

QUIETING EVERYONE WASonly a matter of clapping his hands a couple of times for Taylor. Once he had regained the room’s attention, he explained that he’d used lure himself successfully on occasion but that he was certainly not expert. Like everything else in life, it was a skill some people excelled at, and others didn’t.

“But all alphas can use will,” Suri said.

“Yes,” Taylor allowed. “But not all alphas can use willwell, can they? Often, they use it when theylosecontrol. When we kick a ball off the field, we hardly congratulate ourselves, do we?” he added with a soft smile. “And lure seems to be harder to master anyway.” He turned to Kallen. “But Kallen’s agreedto give it a shot.” He plopped back down onto his chair with a dramatic frown. “He’s gonna try and get me to stand up.”

Kallen swallowed, suddenly understanding what he’d agreed to do. When he’d done it with alphas, what he’d been offering had been sex, but what was he supposed to have that Taylor would want at all, let alone enough to stand when he consciously had decided against it?

He inhaled deeply and as he exhaled the question twisted; what didKallenwant to offer? And the answer to that was easy enough because he’d been holding back from it since the group leader had told them his story that first time. Kallen wasn’t normally physically demonstrative, especially not with strangers, but after hearing that story, Taylor hadn’t felt like a stranger. No, he was a fellow survivor, someone to whom Kallen needn’t said a word about what he’d gone through himself, but who he knew with profound conviction would understand it. No judgement, not even pity, just righteous anger. Exactly what he needed.

Except of course anger wasn’t enough. The anger was for the outside world that had led them like lambs to the slaughter to put themselves in harm’s way, pretending it was normal and acceptable. Taylor and Kallen and any omegas who’d played professionally were part of an unspoken inner circle of people who understood what it was like, and for them, without knowing their names or even having seen their faces, Kallen had no anger, just his own strength to share, fully knowing it would grow when they leaned against each other.

That’s what Taylor was doing here, offering others a hand so they could get out too—if they were brave enough to reach for it.

He thought about the oasis, but he didn’t melt into his chair this time. What he wanted to offer wasn’t submission. No, he wanted... safety. That was it.I’m here for you; all you need to do is come to me.I’m safe, he promised, softening his gaze but notlooking away.I got your back, and you can stay there on your own and I understand that, but I’m here and if you come, you will feel less alone.

It was, he realised in a bit of a daze, exactly whathewanted from another omega. And he wasn’t even sure he’d known he could get anything like that from a friend before Brad, but he did now. And when he went to his own mental oasis, he realised that this kind of love was something he could give as well. It was already inside him, and if he let it out, if he provided it for someone else who was thirsty and desperate for comfort—

Two things happened at once, Taylor sprang to his feet and something fell to Kallen’s right that made him turn, startled. It was the boy. He was kneeling by Kallen’s chair, one of his hands grabbing at one of the knees, forehead bent, back trembling. Kallen didn’t mean to do it, but he placed his hand on the back of the boy’s neck. “Hey,” he whispered, and it came out, that calm inside, that promise he’d been making in silence made sound. “It’s okay.”

The boy pushed against his touch with a little gasp. And any other day, Kallen would have panicked, he had no idea what to do with a child and he was pretty sure he’d just lured this boy by accident, which was messed up as hell. But he was all too aware of how small and delicate the boy’s neck was under his hand, and that was only the physical stuff, they were open to each other well-beyond skin. He breathed in and out slowly, completely focused on continuing to project calm and since he could only project what he was feeling, he had to stay in the oasis.

He was safe there himself, and he could keep the boy safe too. Just for now.

And then Taylor was there, bending a knee by Kallen’s side to get closer to the boy. “Hey, Kami,” he whispered. “Breathe with me for a minute, yeah?”

He was close, but not touching either of them, Kallen noticed absently.

Kami’s breathing was evening out already. “Would you like a hug?” the facilitator offered and Kallen grimaced as he realised that of course that was what had been on offer, so irresistible to this young boy that he’d picked up on it even when it wasn’t him Kallen had been focused on.

It broke the détente just like that, the boy twisting towards Taylor and nearly toppling him over as he threw his arms around the older man’s neck. Kallen reached out with his free hand to steady Taylor by the shoulder and felt the stab of pain going through his knee as he did.

Taylor’s arms went around the boy, his arms huge around the slight frame, but it was his softness the boy sought. Kallen could feel that too, the tenderness with which he was offering comfort, fully aware of his own strength. Except he was still hurting, and if he hadn’t been told earlier, he’d have thought he was making it up, but those casual words were enough to get him to his feet. “Let’s get you up,” he told them both and put a hand on each of their backs, waiting until he felt them start to struggle to their feet to grab their upper arms and help tug them upright.

He was close enough then that it felt only natural to cross the final distance and envelop them both into an embrace. Their warmth a rush going through him but not disturbing him. He’d thought of the oasis as a trap of sorts, a promise he didn’t need to fulfil. But of course that wasn’t true. He could stop once the person came at him, but he could also stay here, letting the energy pour out of him and into them. Only not, because it wasn’t coming outofhim, butthroughhim. It wasn’t finite and it didn’t need replacing; the more he offered, the more that flowed through him in turn.

It could have been minutes or hours. Taylor’s pain had faded, and Kami’s fear had dimmed to almost nothing in their arms. Heknew he was safe, but he wasn’t letting go of whatever had made him feel unsafe in the first place. Maybe he couldn’t. Kallen had been there, comforted and loved but knowing he’d go back to being alone and couldn’t allow himself to fully believe.

Kami was the one who stepped back, swallowing hard enough Kallen could hear it and rubbing at his face with the back of his sleeve. His eyes were still reddened and so was his delicate pale skin, but he seemed to have got himself somewhat together.

Taylor and Kallen followed his lead, giving him space. Taylor lingering only to squeeze Kallen’s shoulder and nod his approval. They were still open enough for Kallen to know that’s what he meant, but now that he was coming back to planet Earth, it was also quite strange.

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