Page 15 of Fresh Ice
Levy trudged in after him, throwing his coat aside with a noise of disgust. “Well, that was a shit show.”
“Yeah. We didn’t even—” Alonso was interrupted by his phone buzzing.
He didn’t have to look at the screen to know who it was.
Alonso froze completely. For a second, a wave of despair crashed him to the ground. He couldn’t do this right now, he couldn’t—
“Hey, Dad.”
Alonso ignored the frown Levy shot his way, grabbing his coat and keycard and leaving the room. There was no way he was gonna suffer through another of these with Levy sitting right there.
He wandered up and down the hallway before it became too claustrophobic, leaving the hotel and letting the cold lead him.
It was frigid outside, but Alonso didn’t mind. It numbed the effects of his dad’s voice in his head.
Even when his dad finally hung up, Alonso kept walking, letting the constant movement erode his mind into something smooth and clean.
He was starving by the time he returned to his hotel room, distracted by thinking about what he would order from room service as he opened the door.
Alonso took one single breath and almost fell over. “What—”
There was a pained groan from inside. The lights were dimmed, but Alonso could recognise Levy’s voice. “Sorry.”
Alonso couldn’t think. Levy’s scent was a physical presence in the air, coating Alonso’s throat and weaving its way into his brain. He had to clutch the doorframe and lock his knees at howgoodthe smell was.
Levy’s head poked from under the sheets, curly black hair dishevelled. “Sorry,” he repeated in a croak. “Pseudo-rut. Happens sometimes when I’m stressed and shit.”
Alonso just stood at the entryway dumbly. He knew that pseudo-ruts weren’t a big deal for Alphas, especially if they worked high-stress jobs when they were young, but Alonso had never had to face one.
“Dude,” Levy whined. “Can you close the door? The smells in here are already bad enough.”
Alonso did as asked, the click of the lock ominously loud.
How was he going to get out of this? He couldn’t go to one of the staff—they’d wonder why it was a big deal to share a room with a rutting Alpha. They’d assume Alonso was aggressive, territorial.
A loose cannon.
He walked into the bathroom, but even shutting the door behind him didn’t help—the scent was everywhere. He would just have to grit his teeth and get through it. So what if it smelt good? Alonso could control himself.
Alonso returned to the room and sat on his bed stiffly, trying not to think about whether Levy was naked under the sheets, about what he was doing to himself. It was none of Alonso’s business—he didn’t even care.
Alonso put some earphones in to block out Levy’s ragged breathing, trying desperately to focus on his phone.
God, it was going to be a long night.
Alonso didn’t notice it happening at first. He was completely zoned out, concentrating on not squirming on the mattress, when he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He tried to ignore it at first, not wanting to see the state Levy was in, but a low growl began to fill the room.
Alonso jumped, turning quickly to see Levy had sat up and was staring at him with big, dark eyes.
Alonso shrunk into himself. “What are you doing?”
The growling stopped abruptly, Levy wincing sheepishly for a few seconds before his expression was washed away by incredulity. “Wait…you’re an Omega?”
Alonso felt the blood drain from his face. “What are you talking about?”
“You—you…” Levy trailed off, face slack as if he were in a trance.
It hit Alonso like a puck to the face. It wasn’t just Levy’s scent in the room, but Alonso’s Omega pheromones as well.
