Page 66 of In Deep
“I know,” I say, shifting on my toes. I’ve never liked those things. The way the leather is scuffed and old, the thin, cold chain that trails from one, the silver lock on another. It’s a reminder of the oppression omegas endured, of the hard-earned freedoms we’ve won.
“They make you uncomfortable,” Ollie says, smelling the shift in my scent.
“No one should own another person.”
“I always thought they were a desperate attempt by alphas to seem in control. Because in reality, an omega owns their alpha as much as an alpha owns their omega.”
“You don’t have that instinct to submit, to obey, though, do you?”
“I do,” he says, and my mouth falls open as I stare at him. “To the leader of our pack. To the head of my family.”
“The leader of your pack? I thought you were all equal.”
“We try to be. But the truth is Seb is the alpha among us alphas. It’s subtle, unspoken, but he is. He doesn’t exert it, but if he ever told me outright to do something, I’d have a hard time disobeying.” He flicks a strand of hair from his face. “Fuck, I can’t believe I just told you that.”
I gaze up at him, trying to make sense of his words. What does that mean for me and my relationship with the other alphas?
But then the moment passes. The glimpse of vulnerability he’d just shown me vanishing.
“I’d like to dress you up in a collar and nothing else, Omega.” I shiver and he rakes his teeth over my throbbing gland. “You have a very beautiful neck,” he whispers into my ear, his hands coming to ring my neck in imitation of a collar. “I think it’s my favourite part of you.”
We don’t stay long after that. We’re in a taxi on our way back to his house and his bed before I know it. Afterwards, as we doze together in his bed, I smell Seb’s scent, stronger and bolder than the others. I remember what Ollie confessed in that dim room, and I wonder again what it means for me.
Chapter 21
I’m up early with the boys the next day, because as tempting as it is to hang out with Ollie or Zane or Duncan, I can’t afford to miss another lecture.
As I step out into the hallway with a large bath towel wrapped around me, I expect to find the house empty. Instead, I hear muffled raised voices from somewhere on the floor below me and the air is tinged with alpha aggression. Creeping to the top of the stairs, I strain to hear.
“You let her skip a lecture,” a deep voice growls. I know it’s Seb. And my cheeks burn. I had a suspicion this argument was about me, and yet, I’m still shocked.
“It was one lecture,” Ollie says. “She isn’t Pippa, Seb.”
“If you’d just give her a chance–” Duncan starts, but Seb interrupts him.
“But this is how it starts, isn’t it? This is how it started with her.”
I hear Ollie sigh. “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. But it was my idea, not hers.”
“Rosie is a hard worker, Seb. She wants to make her own way in life. She’s not some gold digger.”
“Then don’t fuck things up for her,” Seb snaps and I jump back into the shadows as I watch him storm down the hallway and out the front door, the others following sheepishly in his wake.
I lean against the cold wall as the door slams shut, water sliding down my face. Bile rises in my throat, and I feel more confused than I ever have. I need to talk to Zane. To understand.
But first I have my day with Sophia. I have a feeling some time away from these men, and the power they yield over my body will be a good thing.
* * *
Sophia greets me at the back of the lecture hall with a huge grin and I know as soon as classes are over I’m going to be in for one mega grilling. I try to follow the formula the lecturer scrawls over the white board, but I’m consumed with thoughts ofThe Crewand Seb especially.
Perhaps Sophia senses something is wrong because, as soon as the lecture hall lights flick back on, she’s pulling me outside and to the nearest coffee shop, grabbing us two seats and two coffees.
“Spill it,” she says, pouring an insane amount of sugar into her latte. I don’t understand how she can have such gleaming white teeth with the amount of sugar she consumes. Then I remember she’s rich and rich people always have good teeth.
I rest my elbow on the table top and my chin on my palm. I sigh.
“Oh dear.” She grimaces. “Something gone wrong in the world of romance?”
