Page 175 of Toxic

"I know," he replied quietly. "It just stayed there."

I swallowed hard. "Maybe it’s because of your unusual health problems. You’re… different."

"I don’t think so. Bay has one too. From me."

Okay, that exhausted my theories. What a strange situation.

We were pulling up to the Malden Pharmaceuticals branch building, so the conversation ended there. But I’ll admit, Alex left me with a lot to think about. What on earth could have happened between him and Bay?

It was such a sad, almost tragic thing, that Bay and Alex weren’t even Low Mates, meaning their genetic compatibility was below 10%. It made the chances of severe mutations in their children extremely high. Relationships like that were socially condemned and considered harmful to the ABO narrow gene pool.

When we walked in, we were surprised to see there was no line! The receptionist told us that Alex could go straight in for therapy.

The desensitization session lasted about 45 minutes. While waiting, I dwelled deep in my memories, remembering how Bay was before he separated from Alex. Cheerful and open. And how he changed afterward, becoming a strange shadow of his former self.

When Alex came out, he was pale and trembling. I helped him to the car, and on the way back, we didn’t talk about the mysterious markings. Instead, he told me about the details of his therapy and the slow improvements he was noticing, like fewer asthma attacks and reduced skin flare-ups. He praised Malden Pharmaceuticals for their groundbreaking discoveries. Their CEO, omega Blue Lowen—who was, by the way, the younger brother of the owner of DevApp—was considered a genius scientist.

After dropping Alex off at his house, I said goodbye and offered to help in the future if he needed it, but he just mumbled that Bay usually takes him, and this was just an exception.

I drove back to my neighborhood, my head full of thoughts. I brooded over Bay and Alex's fate. It always puzzled me how they could be so in sync—they never argued and finished each other’s sentences. I had met many incompatible omegas before. In fact, most of the population was like that; up to 70% of all people were genetically incompatible with each other. The restwere mostly Low and Half Mates, with a small percentage being High and True Mates.

On a daily basis, I did meet many ‘incs’, and not only did their scent seem off to me—like they smelled sour or metallic—but personality-wise, we couldn't click either. They irritated me. I felt almost repelled by them; we had nothing in common.

Why was it different for Alex and Bay? I truly had no idea.

With all these thoughts swirling around, I entered our apartment building. But as soon as I unlocked the door and stepped inside, I felt something strange, something was different.

Slowly, I made my way through the hallway, hearing an unfamiliar voice. Suddenly, Soren emerged from our bedroom with a rather odd expression on his face. He looked uneasy.

"Oh, you’re back quicker," he said, his tone uncharacteristically tense.

"Yeah, Alex didn’t have to wait in line; the therapy chamber was ready to use."

Soren opened and closed his mouth, hesitation on his face.

Then, someone else stepped out of our bedroom. The person was… completely naked.

It was Liam.

Soren didn’t look at him; he was still facing me, while Liam stood a couple of steps behind him.

"I hope you don’t mind, I invited Liam over for a quick chat," Soren said, biting his lip. But I was only staring at Liam, at his body covered… in fresh hickeys.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Slowly, I blinked and even rubbed my eyes.

"You know, I only ever told you one thing that could make me not want to be with you!" I choked out, my voice trembling.

Liam’s cold eyes locked onto mine with a sense of triumph.

"What are you talking about?" Soren asked, confused.

"Cheating, Soren," I muttered.

His face went pale with shock. "What are you saying? We were just talking!"

"Really?" I growled in a pained voice.

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