Page 45 of Undone
It seemed Michael wasn’t the only one who needed them to stay very far from each other.
Chapter 19
Michael entered his office as though in a daze. He dropped himself on the couch, burying his face in his hands.
Fuck.
He’d known there was something off with his body, but he hadn’t known it was that bad. He could become a beta if they carried on like that. Or... or an omega. It seemed unthinkable. It was so absurd it felt like a joke. A bad joke at his expense.
He felt more than heard Anthony sit down next to him. Anthony didn’t speak, but there was something agitated about his scent. It put Michael on edge too. More on edge than he already was.
“Don’t be upset,” Anthony said at last, his voice rough. He put an arm around Michael’s shoulders, his rich scent filling the air between them. “Hugh said it can still be fixed.”
Michael didn’t lift his head, his stomach twisted into knots. Every cell in his body ached to lean into the touch, but… “We’ll need to stay away from each other. For a long time.”
“Yes,” Anthony said, his hand flexing on Michael’s shoulder. Something in his voice sounded strange, but Michael wasn’t in the right headspace to unravel it.
Silence fell.
Michael should probably have pushed Anthony away. They were practicallysnuggling. They needed distance between them, not this. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it, inhaling the other alpha’s scent with a desperation that bordered on need. When had Anthony’s scent become so familiar, so comforting? Michael hated the thought of not seeing him for months, possibly years. Every part of him rebelled against it. He’d rarely gone without seeing Anthony for a week in the past five years. He couldn’t imagine not having him in his life. The mere thought made his throat close up.
“Would it be that bad?” Anthony said suddenly, his voice clipped.
Removing his hands from his face, Michael turned to him with a confused look. “What?”
Anthony’s face was very close to him. His blue eyes peered into his intently, burning with a strange fire. “Would it be that bad? If you stopped being an alpha?”
Michael’s insides seemed to freeze.
He stared at Anthony blankly, his heart starting to pound.
“Are you serious?” he said with a laugh. “Would you be okay with being turned into a beta or—”
“I probably wouldn’t mind being a beta if that meant we could keep—being friends,” Anthony said, his voice strained. “I know plenty of assertive betas. Not having to deal with ruts sounds like a good thing to me.”
“Well, yeah...” Michael had to agree: becoming a beta wouldn’t be that bad. “But Hugh said there was a possibility that I could...”
“You could become an omega,” Anthony finished for him, his voice betraying nothing.
Michael’s stomach clenched. “Yeah. That. That’s—obviously that’s not acceptable.”
Anthony remained silent for a long moment.
“Right,” he finally said, removing his arm from Michael’s shoulders. Another pause. “So I guess we’ll be staying away from each other from now on.” He got to his feet, his movements stiff. “I’d better go, then.”
Michael swallowed, roving his eyes over Anthony’s chiseled face, his insides cramping with something that felt a lot like physical hunger. “Yeah. I...”
Anthony’s eyes bored into him, almost expectant. Almost demanding.
When Michael didn’t say anything, Anthony started turning away.
Michael grabbed Anthony’s wrist.
Slowly, Anthony looked back at him.
They stared at each other.
Michael didn’t know who moved first, but suddenly they were kissing, all teeth, tongue, and raw need, Anthony’s body on top of him, heavy and overwhelming, and it felt so damn perfect Michael felt like fucking crying.
