Page 176 of Captive Omega

“Yes. No. Maybe.” I cover my hot face with both hands. “I don’t kiss alphas.”

“Hmm. Strange.”

I peel my hands from my face. “What’s strange?”

He’s peering into the distance, his expression thoughtful. “That you wanted him to kiss you and you ran away, and at that last self-defense lesson, he got so hot and bothered, he ran away. Must be something in the air.”

I stare at his profile. “What did you say?”

“I didn’t say a thing. You must be hearing things.”

“He told you that he was attracted to me? And what do you mean, he was hot and bothered?” I lick my lips and try to act casual as my heart pounds in excitement. “I don’t care either way, but just out of curiosity, what did he say?”

He lifts his arm from my shoulder, smiling as he rubs his hands together and pushes himself to his feet. “I’d say my work here is done.”

I grab his arm and drag him back. “You didn’t do anything, and you haven’t told me everything.”

I need to know more about Blaine running away. I thought I’d done something wrong. But he was hot and bothered. Why? How?

He sits back down so quickly it’s clear he was only pretending to leave.

Before I can make my annoyance known, his smile fades. “Blaine has spent the last few years pushing people away. Things are changing.”

“So you want me to fix him, is that it?” I don’t mean the question to come out so sharply. I guess I’m tired of being a thing. Or used. Maybe that’s it. I’m tired of being used.

“He’s not a broken thing that needs fixing. But he needs someone to talk to occasionally.” His expression turns intense. “Maybe you need the same.”

We look at each other. Along the way, Vaughn didn’t just become someone I trusted, he became someone I liked, and I struggle to envision a future where he’s not in my life. The problem is, he comes with two alphas and alphas are… complicated.

“I’m not sure I can be friends with an alpha.”

That isn’t what I mean. Friend doesn’t come close to what I’m talking about.

Vaughn lifts his hand to my chin, his touch gentle as he dips his head and kisses me lightly on the lips. I lean into it, but he ends it far sooner than I wanted.

Betas are safe. Except this one. This one is in danger of occupying a space in my heart that will hurt when I return to my life.

Alphas want omegas, willing or unwilling. Betas want to matter. And omegas… I guess omegas who don’t know what alphas are truly capable of want alphas too.

I just want to live the life I want instead of the life society thinks I need.

“You remember when I told you about that girl who fucked me and then tried to get into Garrison’s bed?”

As if I could forget it.

“What about it?” I ask, getting angry all over again.

“After she left, Garrison said I never needed to worry about anything like that happening again. Blaine said the same thing. That we were pack and the woman who was ours would want all of us.” His expression shutters. “Do you know what I was thinking as they were both reassuring me we’d always be a pack and nothing would change?”

There’s a tension I’m not used to seeing in his face.

I almost don’t want to ask. “What?”

“That if it was their scent match, would Garrison have been so eager to throw her out? What if she’d said she wanted me gone and just wanted them? Could you really see Garrison ordering his scent match to get out before the door hits her on her way out?”

No. I can’t.

“And Blaine?” he prompts when I don’t respond.

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