Page 56 of Broken Bonds

When he smiles at me, all teeth, I can’t breathe, and I can’t look away.

Fuck.

He looks so much like Lake right now.

I swallow, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth momentarily. After taking a sip of my sweet tea, I can finally speak, and when I do, I pretend his smile didn’t just temporarily stun me into stupidness with how much he looked like Lake.

“Nope,” I answer primly, rolling my lips between my teeth and staring intently at the menu like I’ll be able to choose one thing to order when it all sounds so good.

Linda brings our drinks out and Link orders. When she looks at me, I don’t even get a chance to answer. Link talks over me as I begin to open my mouth, ordering two orders of fries and an Oreo milkshake for me. I stare at him openmouthed, hearing Linda chuckle as she walks away. Link shrugs his shoulders and takes a sip of his drink.

“What? You lied. You couldn’t decide what you wanted, so I picked a couple of options for you.”

I glare at him, grumbling under my breath, “I didn’t lie.”

“Sure.”

I can hear the laughter in his voice and roll my eyes. I see another similarity between him and Lake right there.I mentally sigh at myself. This is going to be a long life if I can’t stop comparing everyone to my guys. Especially the one who is nearly identical to one of them in almost every way.

“Lake used to do that,” I tell Link, softly smiling and looking down at the table. “Such an aggravator, especially when I was in a down mood. He’d pick and pick until he’d get a smile out of me. Oh, I’d get mad at first, but then I’d hear the laughter he was trying so hard to hold back.”

Link sits forward, resting his arms on the table and giving me his full attention. I can see how starved he is for information about his brother. The pain in his eyes mirrors my own.I want to feed that craving of his. To give him the information he so desperately wants. So, I start from the beginning.

“It took some convincing from me when it came to building a relationship with him and Van. They were so closed off in the beginning when they showed up at AOA. Stuck together like glue and growled at just about anybody that came near them,” I snort, which makes Link grin.

“When Lake growled at me the first time I approached them because of this pull I felt, Ollie and Rule were with me. You can imagine that neither appreciated me being growled at. I ended up having to drag them both away, and I tried again a few days later when I was alone. I might have had to sneak out, but something was pulling me to them both, so I needed to speak to them. Be near them.”

“And how did the second meeting with them go?”

I smile brightly at him as I recall that moment.

These alphas… they love each other. Romantically. It’s so obvious to see, and maybe that’s why the one with the pretty blue eyes was hostiletowards me.

But I can’t stop thinking about them both. Can’t fight this need to be near them. In their orbit.

It’s late, but I heard a few of the omegas gossiping earlier about how the two alphas refused to be roomed with anyone but each other, so I snuck out, although it’s past curfew. But this is the only chance I’ve got without Ollie and Rule stopping me.

They were on board with me meeting the two magnetic alphas at first, but once Lake growled at me, that was a wrap. Neither of them has let me near them again since.

It’s beyond frustrating.

I just need to get a little closer to Lake and Van. To confirm my suspicions about why I’m so drawn to them.

They’ve been the talk of the academy since they got here. Nearly every omega here is interestedin one or the other. I can’t say I blame them. They’re both so beautiful in different ways.

Van seems to be a brooder, but when he’s next to Lake his demeanor softens. He has beautiful light green eyes, only a shade lighter than mine, that hold a warmth inside them that draws me in like a moth to a flame. His copper hair hangs in waves down to his shoulders, but most of the time I’ve caught glimpses of him he’s worn it pulled back. It looks unbelievably soft, and my fingers itch to run through it.

For an alpha, he’s of average height, but still taller than my five-six frame. What he lacks in height, he makes up for in muscle. Van is wide, strong, and powerful. I bet when he and Lake are together, he uses those powerful arms of his to hold— My breathing hitches in my chest and a wave of perfume swirls out of me.

Dammit.

I hold my breath and clench my thighs. Like that’ll help. This might have been a terrible idea. If Ollie or Rule scent me here in the alpha’s dormitories, they’ll spank my ass red.

Actually… Hmmm...

No. Focus.

If another alpha catches me out here in the open, all alone, I’m screwed. Or worse, an instructor. I’ll be thrown out of the academy for sure. They have rules in place for a reason.

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