Page 43 of Petals and Strings
“My room?” He was offering me a chance to recover without having to be alone. I could decline, but I’d much rather curl in sheets that smelled like him while I faced the reality of the fresh hell I’d found myself in.
I wondered if the pack paying for me to be here knew what really went on within these walls.
The alphas let us have our moment, opening Ansel’s door long enough to let us slip inside before closing it behind us.
There was a screeching of armchairs moving ending with a thud as the alphas settled outside, giving us peace and protection.
“You alright?” Every time Ansel spoke I was almost startled by the deep husk to it. For such a small omega, his voice was rich and deep, a low rumbling you’d expect from someone far bigger than him.
“No,” I admitted. He nodded, eyes shining with understanding as he kicked off his shoes and laid down, lifting the covers for me to join him.
How did we get here? Days ago, we barely spoke, now we were here sharing a snuggle after an awful therapy session?
Yet, I couldn’t resist the pull as I breathed in his scent and kicked off my own shoes, diving into the soft escape he was offering.
We were quiet for a moment, bodies entangled and the only sound in the room our breathing that was starting to calm.
Our scents mingled together. The extra sweetness of his mixing with my floral and clean spice.
“Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?” I asked as I buried my face in his shirt.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Before, I didn’t care.”
“And now?” I found myself asking, bracing for the impact of his response. He ran his fingers through my hair, tangling there as if tethering himself for the answer.
“All I want is to be somewhere far from here, blocking out the world with you. Why?”
“I think we’re scent matches. Does that scare you like it does me?”
“Yes,” he whispered into my hair, the warmth of his breath fanning over me. “And no. I tried to resist, to ignore it and deny it. Then… you…”
His breath turned shaky and pained.
“You saw me through that. Didn’t let anyone touch me. Protected me. No one has ever done that, Audrey. Ever. In your arms, letting you take charge, it just felt right.”
“It helped me, too,” I admitted. Here in his arms, in his dark room that smelled like him, I found myself admitting more than I ever had. “No one has ever touched me with kindness. I found myself wanting to start by giving you some of that care.”
“Same for me,” he admitted. “I was a bait omega, injected with heat-flaring drugs and used to rile up alphas as they raged within the cages, fighting until the death. Every day was brutal and when it was done I was thrown into a room. It had no windows, locked doors, just a bed and a bathroom. All the clothes I was allowed were shorts that were loose enough to accommodate my body in heat.”
My soul shattered for this beautiful omega who had endured far too much. The world was fucking cruel.
“I can still hear the screams, the growls… the awful smells. There was a thick cloud of pheromones in the air and copper from the blood. So much blood.”
I held him tighter, keeping him with me the best I could.
“When were you taken?”
“I was fifteen, an early bloomer to my designation. No one likely missed me. My scent is wrong. Too strong, too sweet. It caused issues no matter where I went. At school, I was sent to a room alone. My family couldn’t even be near me without gagging.”
What assholes. It seemed neither of us won in the family department. Did his even look for him?
“Their reaction to something you can’t control was never on your shoulders, Ansel,” I said. “It’s not too anything, it’s perfect. Sweet and gentle.” I nuzzled in closer, taking a deep breath.
He laughed then, a sound that seemed so jagged, yet unfiltered.
“No one has ever said it was gentle in my entire life.”
“They weren’t scent compatible,” I said, trying to downplay this crazy connection.
