Page 20 of Stolen Omega

“My contract doesn’t allow me to take mates,” she finishes, her voice softening. “So, you do want to be mine?”

“You have no idea how much.”

“Oh, I think I do,” she corrects me. “I’ve been thinking about us getting together for months now. I know my contract is crazy, and I don’t want to honor it if I go into heat. I can’t stand the thought of being intimate with guys I don’t care about. I won’t do it. I don’t want to. I know what I want.”

“This might not be everything you think it is,” I warn her.

“Oh, God! Don’t tell me you’re married or—”

“I’m not. There’s no one else. At least, not like that.”

“Not like that?”

“I have an Alpha.”

She blinks at me. “So, you’re telling me you’re a package deal, with some Alpha I don’t know.”

“He knew you were meant for us,” I admit. “I never would have considered that, even if I felt it. You’re way out of my league.”

“I’m not, Russ. I’ve never been attracted to a Beta before, but I’d ask you to claim me in a heartbeat. I trust you. I don’t know how I feel about your Alpha. I guess I won’t until I meet him.”

“Well, you’ve kind of already met. At a distance.”

She blinks at me. “I don’t … Wait. Are you talking about …”

“James Archer. The head of your security team.”

She smiles. “Are you serious?”

“He’s more serious than I am, but yeah, that’s my Alpha.”

“I have a crush on him,” she admits, her skin flushing. “I guess I would have perfumed when we met if it hadn’t been such a controlled meeting.”

“Our priority has been protecting you. That’s why he never broke the rules.”

“Because the second I start perfuming, the closer I am to my heat.”

“Yeah. Your contract’s up in a few months. I think you need to renegotiate to have that clause removed. You should keep your parents out of that whole process.”

“The only trouble with that is my mom is legally my guardian until I’m marked by an Alpha, and obviously I’m forbidden from taking mates while I’m under contract.”

“So, we need to be careful about claiming each other while you’re still under contract.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Careful? So, you’re suggesting breaking the rules without getting caught?”

She clearly likes the sound of that, but it’s not exactly what I’m proposing.

Archer may take things a little too seriously, and that’s why he always sticks rigidly to the rules.

He’d never make the proposal I’m about to make because it involves risk.

In my opinion it’s a measured risk, and it’s worth taking.

Zelena needs us. She’s been alone for way too long.

I’m not going to abandon her now.

“I’m suggesting bending them a little until you’re free to break away from your legal guardians.”

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