Page 38

CHAPTER 38

Frankie

Standing outside Soren’s apartment, I checked my phone one last time to make sure this was the right place.

I didn’t think it was a coincidence he’d called out sick every day since his first crime scene. He’d witnessed how truly fucked up the world could be as well as my little freak out.

But I wasn’t here just because I was worried he’d snitch.

I was here because it was my job to make sure he was okay, and if he wasn’t, I had to make sure he got the help he needed.

Not everyone could handle this job.

A lot of the cases we got were pretty bland. If he wanted to keep working for Genesis, we could reassign him to a different senior detective and make sure he stayed behind a desk, but I couldn’t do that if I didn’t know what was really going on.

I knocked on the door, feeling a little nervous for some reason. “Hart, it’s me. Open up.”

Nothing.

I knocked louder this time – hard enough the door shuddered in its frame. “Come on, I brought you soup and everything.”

“Just leave it.”

My heart stopped when I heard how close he was.

Soren was right on the other side of the door, but I hadn’t sensed him at all. I didn’t hear him approach and even now I couldn’t feel his presence.

He was like a ghost.

I swallowed and my pulse skyrocketed for no obvious reason.

Was he actively hiding his presence from me or was I the one all messed up in the head?

It had to be me, because there was just no way he could erase his existence from the world when he was only a few inches away from me.

“They said you were sick.” I was relieved to hear I sounded as normal and as carefree as I normally did. “Call me paranoid, but I don’t believe you’re actually sick, so open up.”

“No.” His deep voice was still as soft as ever, but his tone was a warning.

“Why not?” I teased. “Scared I might make fun of you for not being able to handle what you saw the other day?”

He didn’t respond and I pressed my ear to the door.

Was he still there?

“I wouldn’t do that,” I tried to reassure him. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine. So leave.”

I shivered. It sounded like he was whispering in my ear, but I still couldn’t sense him.

What the hell was going on?

He was really starting to freak me out.

Taking a step back, I frowned at the door, wondering if it was made of metal or something.

“Soren, I can’t help you if you don’t let me see you. So, open the fucking door or I’m going to break it down.”

The door opened a crack and all I could see was darkness despite the time of day – that and the slight glow from his right eye. I couldn’t make out anything else thanks to how dark it was inside his apartment, but he didn’t exactly seem sick.

“See, I’m fine. I’m just not feeling well.”

Even now I couldn’t sense him, but he was right there in front of me. It was the most unsettling thing I’ve ever felt.

“Did you actually catch something or is this about the other day?” I pressed the back of my hand against his forehead and frowned at how hot it was. “Have you taken your temperature?”

His fingers wrapped around my wrist so quickly I jumped.

Soren threw my hand off him and then tried to push me away from the door so he could close it again, but I stuck my foot in between it and the doorjamb.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you?” I grabbed the door and yanked it open, but Soren wouldn’t budge.

Okay, this was starting to piss me off.

“Look, it’s just soup.” I held up the bag with the chicken noodle soup from the restaurant I ordered from when I wasn’t feeling well. “This always makes me feel better and I thought it would help you. Can I just come inside and warm it up for you? If you’re not feeling well, you should rest.”

His eyes flashed and that nervous flutter in my stomach hit again but I ignored it, more worried about why he was acting like this than anything.

A lot of alphas didn’t want anyone around when they were sick because any weakness could put them in danger. I knew that better than anyone, but that’s not why I was here.

“It’s my job to look after you, remember?” I dropped my voice to a soothing tone and leaned my head against the door so I’d look less aggressive and confrontational. “Are you really going to make me worry about you instead of just letting me help?”

Soren stared at me for a long time, but eventually he took a step back, giving me room to come inside, but just barely.

I slipped through the crack that was just wide enough for my body and nothing more. “Did you take your temperature? What about the doctor? Did you go see one yet?”

He still didn’t say anything, but I pretended not to notice as I took a look around, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.

The door closed behind me and I turned slightly, trying to remind myself there was no reason to be so jumpy.

But the way Soren was looking at me was strange.

I set the soup down on the nearest flat surface. The urge to take his hand and comfort him was overwhelming so I slipped my hands in my jacket pockets instead.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he finally said, that intense gaze leaving me to settle on the soup I’d brought.

“Why not?” I tilted my head slightly and tried to decide if he was being so weird because he was feeling threatened by the presence of another alpha or if it was something else.

“Are you really that dense?”

I flinched despite myself. His tone was dull but his words cut.

“I can be,” I admitted. “So, why don’t you explain it to me?”

Soren didn’t respond. He just stared at me.

Fine. If he didn’t want to talk, he didn’t have to, but I wasn’t going to give up just because he was in a bad mood.

Shrugging off my jacket, I searched my surroundings until I found a light switch. “I’m going to heat up the soup. While I do that, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

I reached for the light switch and that massive hand wrapped around my wrist again. “Don’t.”

Okay, this was weird even for Soren.

I glared up at him and froze when I saw the look in his eyes.

His red eye was blazing and the fleck in his brown one was like a single flame in the never-ending darkness. It wasn't something I’ve ever seen before, but my body was telling me that whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“I need you to leave,” Soren whispered, so quietly I could barely hear him.

“Why?” Despite how dangerous this was, I needed to understand what the fuck was going on.

His grip on my wrist tightened and the scent of his pheromones flooded the apartment, nearly making me choke. Soren yanked me forward and pressed me back against the door with one hand on my chest.

It was hard enough I would have bounced off the damn thing, but he was right there before I could, pressing up against me.

“You come here with your soup and force your way into my home,” Soren murmured as he pressed his forehead against mine. “Smelling like sunshine and lavender…even I can’t resist that for long.”

My jacket fell from my lifeless fingers when I realized what was going on. “Soren…are you in rut?”

He rubbed his cheek against mine and then breathed in deep. “Not something soup can fix, is it?”

But…I was an alpha. With alpha pheromones. Shouldn’t he be trying to rip my throat out right now?

And how had he held back his pheromones this whole time? I hadn’t smelled a single thing until he grabbed me.

I was too dazed to fight against him and even if I wasn’t, I don’t know if it would ever have occurred to me to push him away, not when he was acting like this.

Soren pressed his face into my neck and I jumped at the sensation of his feverish skin against mine. “You really came here because you were worried?”

“I thought you were having a delayed reaction to seeing all that gore,” I admitted, feeling weirdly detached from the situation as I tried to process what was happening.

His hand pressed against the other side of my throat, oddly gentle given the situation. “I need you to leave. Please . I can’t take it anymore.”

Then I felt his teeth scrape against my scent blockers.

My stomach dropped and I brought up my knee as hard as I could, but he dodged it with speed and grace. I used the little bit of space I’d gained to bring up my leg and plant my foot on his stomach, kicking him with all my strength.

Soren stumbled back a few steps, his hand grabbing his stomach and I fought the urge to make sure he was okay.

I’d kicked him hard, but it shouldn’t have broken anything.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking dazed. “Thanks, I needed that.”

I wanted to ask him why he was acting like this with me, another alpha, but my entire body was shaking.

His pheromones were filling up the apartment now, thick and powerful.

The scent of them was oddly comforting – wrapping me up like a cozy blanket after a rainstorm.

Geranium tickled my nose while the cedarwood and patchouli danced around me.

A strong, gentle scent that had the muscles between my shoulders loosening ever so slightly, but these pheromones were raging with his insatiable need and desire. They were seducing me and marking me.

I could feel how hard it was for him to hold back – how difficult it was for him to just stand there and do nothing with me in the same room.

“I’m an alpha,” I reminded him, feeling like a fucking idiot.

But my skin was starting to flush and the longer I breathed in his pheromones the more I throbbed with need.

I had to get out of here before I did something I’d regret, but all I could do was stand there.

Soren grabbed the nearby wall, his head dropping like he barely had the strength to stand up, but he didn’t respond to my statement which was fucking infuriating.

He looked up before I could cuss him out for ignoring me and I bit my tongue when he stared at me through the strands of black hair falling in his face.

That gaze was predatory.

Hungry .

“I can’t help you with this.” I tried to keep my voice as low and as soothing as possible despite how freaked out I was. “I’m not an omega, so I can’t do anything to ease your rut.”

He was across the room in the blink of an eye.

Soren towered over me; his body hunched slightly like he wanted to surround me as much as possible. His chest was heaving and sweat dripped down his neck, but he still didn’t touch me.

“Do you really think I care about that?” he demanded.

Well, fuck. That hadn’t been the right angle to calm him down.

I decided to switch tactics. “Do you need me to find someone who can help you? I have some suppressants in my jacket that you can take in the meantime.”

But I didn’t reach for it as I waited for him to decide.

“Please…” Soren grabbed my arms and squeezed just enough I could feel it, but not more than that. “Please stop torturing me, Frankie.”

For the first time in my life, I had no idea what to say.

I didn’t know what to do either, so I just stood there.

It was obvious he was reaching his limit, and I needed to leave, but for whatever psychotic reason, I didn’t want to.

I just wanted to give in to this feeling of being wanted – of being needed. I knew I’d regret this later, but I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted it too much.

Somehow, Soren was making me forget why I cared about my designation at all.

The urge to ask him a thousand stupid questions rose and then fell.

All I knew was I wanted to help him – that the pheromones he was drenching me with promised he wouldn’t hurt me…that he wanted me.

Even like this.

“I don’t want an omega.” Soren squeezed my arms again. “Why would I when you smell so fucking good I want to taste every inch of you?”

The throbbing was impossible to ignore now and I could feel how wet I was starting to get.

I looked up to find his eyes were closed and he was breathing hard.

“Soren.”

“Please.” Dropping to his knees so hard the floor shuddered, he rested his head on my stomach and slid his hands down my arms to loosely hold my wrists. “Please leave. I don’t know how much longer I can hold back.”

God, he looked so pretty like this.

Did he know just how endearing this side of him was? Did he know how impossible he was making it for me to leave?

He was in the middle of his rut, and he wanted me , but he was trying his best not to do anything I might not want and I knew better than anyone how hard that was.

Alphas were barely more than their base instincts during their rut. They lost their minds and became feral, violent beasts who’d fuck anything they found appealing enough just to ease the pain.

With enough training they could resist those urges, but sometimes they had to be locked up. Some of them couldn’t be with an omega at all during their rut because they were too violent and could damage omegas with their overwhelmingly powerful pheromones.

Strangely enough though, his pheromones weren’t making it hard for me to breathe despite how strong they were.

I slid my fingers through his hair, unable to resist the temptation any longer.

Soren looked up at me with so much resentment I couldn’t help but smile. It was just too adorable and if I left him now, he’d be in excruciating pain for days, constantly trying to ease the pain on his own until his pheromones went back to normal.

I may not be an omega, but his pheromones weren’t making me sick. If I could maintain control, I could help him through his rut the same way Cas had helped Liam through his.

It wasn’t common for alphas to help each other, but it was possible.

Smoothing his hair back, I studied his mismatched gaze and decided it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“Would you like me to help you?”