Page 2 of Forbidden

Lucien.

“Not your fault,” Lucien said, averting his gaze.

Aksel forced himself to drop his hands, holding his breath in order not to inhale Lucien’s intoxicating scent. The scent of a compatible omega.

The scent of his stepfather.

His mother was right about one thing: Xeus alphas weren’t good at controlling themselves around the omega they wanted. When he was around Lucien, it was hard to remember all the reasons why he couldn’t shove Lucien under him and have him.

Lucien was his father’s husband.

Granted, his father was dead, killed years ago in the war. But that didn’t make wanting Lucien any more appropriate. Any more acceptable. Lucien was pack. If his mother’s precious society friends were to find out about Aksel’s feelings for Lucien, they would be disgusted and appalled.

Sometimes Aksel wondered if there was something wrong with him that he wasn’t. He didn’t feel any shame or guilt. All he felt was cold anger. Angerat the so-called polite society that made it impossible for them to be together.Anger at Lucien for making his heart ache and his body burn with a simple look.

And most of all, anger at himself for wanting the one omega he could never have.

Part I

Chapter One

22 years ago

Aksel Cleghorn was four when his father brought home the boy.

The boy was quite possibly the prettiest thing Aksel had ever seen. Light-brown wavy hair framed the face of an angel. The angelhad large green eyes, soft pink mouth, and delicate, creamy skin.

Aksel stared at the boy, unable to look away. He felt... odd. Almost hungry. Which was stupid, because that boy wasn’t a candy. He couldn’t be eaten.

“Children,” his father said sternly, looking at Royce and Aksel.“Meet Lucien, your—your stepfather.”

What?

His brother was the one to voice his question aloud.“Father?” Royce said, frowning.“I don’t understand. This boy can’t possibly be older than me.”

He was right. The boy actually looked younger than Royce, who was fifteen. Unlike Royce, the boy was rather small, his size and fine features betraying his designation. Omega.

“Lucien just turned fourteen,” their father said shortly. Glancing at the small omega, he laid his hands on Aksel and Royce and took them aside. His voice was lower when he spoke again. “Lucien has nowhere else to go, so now he’s part of our family. His pack disowned him and I had to take him as a second spouse to give him a home and the protection of our name. I expect you boys to treat him with courtesy and respect. Don’t push him around. He… he had a very traumatic experience. The poor kid doesn’t likebeing touched.”

Royce nodded, seemingly satisfied with the explanation.

Aksel wasn’t.

“What’s a traumatic experience?” he said.

His father’s face became grim. “You’re too young to understand,” he said after a moment. “And it’s not my story to tell. Just... be careful with the kid. He was hurt very badly and having been rejected by his pack couldn’t possibly have been easy, either. He has no one in the world anymore—except for us.”

Aksel wanted to know more, but he knew his father wouldn’t tell him anything else. The grown-ups never explained things to him, as if he were a baby. He was four, almost five!

So Aksel decided to question the boy, but he had to wait hours before all the excitement around Lucien’s arrival died down. Luckily, Aksel’s parents got distracted by Belinda—his newborn little sister—so after dinner, when Lucien left the room, no one noticed when Aksel followed him out of the house.

But his legs were shorter, and before he could catch up to him, Zinedine and Thoros, the ten-year-old twins from theneighboring estate, were suddenly in his way.

“Isn’t that the Cleghorns’ little beast?” Zinedine said with a laugh. “Hey, Beasty!”

Glowering at them, Aksel shoved the older boy aside and marched forward. He could ignore them. He could.

“Beasty thinks it can ignore us, Zi,” Thoros said with an obnoxious smirk, sticking out his leg and trying to trip him up.

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