Page 34

CHAPTER 34

Frankie

“Just for the record, I’m not saying I want him.” I turned and plopped back down on my bed. “I couldn’t actually tell you what I want, if I’m being honest. I don’t even know where to start figuring something like that out.”

And the only reason I wasn’t at rock bottom once more was because work kept moving me forward, giving me a shadow of a purpose.

Leo dropped to his knees before me and I flinched in shock.

His arms hung at his sides and he looked like he wanted to wrap them around me, but Leo just stayed like that with his gaze on my lap. It worried me enough I reached out and grabbed his wrist.

“I still owe you a surprise.” I turned his hand palm up and pressed my lips to the scent glands on his wrist.

I let my breath alter his chemistry just enough that my scent would linger there until he decided to remove it.

Leo was too shocked to respond or even move. When I released him, his arm dropped to his side like it was dead weight.

A platonic bond took forever to establish and had to be reinforced almost every day to maintain it, but this was the first step. I was reclaiming my legacy, and Leo was a part of that whether I liked it or not.

Even if I never gave in to my feelings, he would always be one of mine and I couldn’t pretend like he wasn’t anymore.

“There will always be a place for you at my side, but what that will look like, I have no idea.” I laced my fingers together to keep from reaching out for him again. “I can’t promise you anything.”

Leo held out his wrist and glared at me. “Do that again.”

My lips twitched when I tried not to smile. “Do what?”

“Mark me again.” Leo grabbed my hand and placed it on his wrist so I could pull him closer.

The urge to bite him rose so suddenly it nearly choked me.

I wanted my teeth to mar his flesh for everyone to see, but that was way too aggressive for a platonic bond and if I actually bit his wrist, I’d lose control and bite him everywhere else too.

I really should get my pheromone levels tested again because I only ever got this weird when my rut was about to happen.

But I decided to take a risk.

Instead of just letting my breath alter his chemistry, I flattened my tongue against his wrist and let the saliva soak into his skin.

Leo’s breath hitched and the emotion in his eyes had me ready to say fuck it, but I needed to figure out what I actually wanted before I did something that would hurt him again.

I pulled back, but I didn’t let go of him. “Will you tell me everything that’s going on with my uncle’s death?”

Leo nodded but he couldn’t stop staring at his wrist.

“Will you tell me everything about anything I want to know?”

He used his wrist to pull my hand closer and then leaned down, brushing his lips against my knuckles. “Whatever you want, I’ll give you.”

Even Soren apparently.

I had no idea how he’d make that happen, but I firmly believed that Leo could accomplish anything if he really wanted to. There was no doubt in my mind he would find a way to follow any order or request I gave him.

That kind of power was dangerous.

I had the strength of a legacy alpha at my beck and call. One who was stronger than even my father. I had to be careful with that kind of power.

“Is there actually a way for you to become an omega?”

He grinned at me then and his eyes flashed mischievously. “I knew that would get your attention.”

I really hated how well he knew me.

Leo shrugged and stared at his wrist, his grin disappearing just as quickly as it came. “There’s currently no way that I know of, but I could ask some of our scientists to look into it.”

“You wouldn’t mind becoming an omega?”

“Being an omega doesn’t mean being weak,” he reminded me. “Just look at Lucy.”

I studied Leo as I considered that.

There were benefits to being an alpha that weren’t easy to give up, but I didn’t know if I really needed those benefits anymore. I wasn’t the only alpha in charge of keeping an omega safe. I didn’t have any omega to protect actually.

I only had my pack.

But if I didn’t become the next Lopez, who would? Leo? I don’t think he wanted that or he would have taken the offer my father’s made more than once. And honestly, who could protect my pack better than me?

That wasn’t what I needed to figure out though. I needed to figure out what I wanted. What I, Francesca Lopez, wanted.

To do that, I had to figure out who I was.

Where was I even supposed to start?

All of my life choices have been made with other people in mind.

I don’t think I’ve ever made a choice that was truly for me despite how selfish I was. I think the only thing I’ve ever done for myself was push Leo away and even that was because I had to be the alpha the Lopez pack needed.

Maybe I should figure out what I didn’t want first and then start narrowing it down, because honestly, I had no idea how to untangle what I wanted from all my obligations when that sense of duty was what has kept me from being the monster only Leo has ever seen.

He crossed his arms on top of my bed and rested his head on them, watching me without blinking. “Do you want me to be an omega?”

I glanced down at him, caught by those pretty red eyes all over again.

That was the problem wasn’t it? Even if there was a way for Leo to become an omega, I wouldn’t be happy because I liked the way he was now. I liked how strong and powerful he was.

Knowing how dangerous he was turned me on in ways I should find extremely concerning, but that was what had drawn me to him the first day we met.

That teenage boy had terrified me and I wanted to feel that way.

Being afraid of what he might do and knowing only I could stop him gave me a high no drug could ever replicate. I’d felt that way even before I’d settled into a designation, and at the time, I’d been convinced nothing could ever change how I felt.

I sighed and stared down at my hands, picking at my cuticles.

Technically, nothing has changed. I still desperately wanted Leo. The only thing that was really different was my sense of duty.

If I didn’t switch designations around Leo’s pheromones, this might have worked.

“Who’s to say it’ll even matter if you become an omega?” I shook my head. “I don’t want to put you through that and have it not work. We don’t know how I’ll react to you as an omega either. Maybe it has nothing to do with your pheromones and everything to do with you .”

Dominant omegas were a thing and if anyone was going to end up as one it would be Leo.

“Then I’ll turn the boy into an omega.”

I bit down on the inside of my cheek so I didn’t laugh. He just sounded so damn serious about this I couldn’t help it.

Leo was like no one else in the world.

“The idea of a big, beefy omega is extremely tempting,” I admitted as I studied him out of the corner of my eye. “But his eyes would change. They wouldn’t be as pretty.”

Leo frowned. “That’s true.”

I bit down until I tasted blood. If I smiled right now, he might do something crazy and I was already on edge.

Leo sighed and pushed himself to his feet. “I already called the pack doctor. She should be here in the next hour. Let her look at your ankle.”

Of course he had.

“I can just go to the hospital like a normal person.”

“It’s not safe,” he reminded me. “So, just sit back and relax. I’ll take care of the rats.”

He leaned down, getting in my face. His red eyes flashed in challenge but I didn’t look away or back down. “I’ll tell her to check your pheromone levels too.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted. “You should go do something useful. Like your job.”

Leo leaned in just a tiny bit more. “You don’t want me to stay?”

“No, I don’t.”

He studied me like a bug under glass and it was obvious he didn’t believe me. “To be expected, but I find your choice very disappointing.”

“Sucks to be you I guess.”

“Sometimes,” he agreed.

I held my breath when he got close enough that one tiny inhale would have his lips brushing against mine.

“Let me say it again.” Leo wrapped his pheromones around me until they clung to my hair and skin, marking me. “You need to figure out what you want, Francesca, or I’ll do it for you.”

I watched him turn on his heel and leave, annoyed that he was always such a pushy asshole.

But as usual, he was right.

I needed to figure out what I wanted before I made everything so much worse.