Page 45 of His Snowbound Omega

What if the alpha caught a whiff of him and liked what he smelled?

What if he thought this male omega was prettier than Thorn? More masculine? Taller?

He sure as hell wasn’t smarter, because Thorn would never be stupid enough to try stealing another person’s man.

Thorn was standing directly in front of the other omega in a flash of motion he didn’t recall making, getting in close enough he could feel his breath ghost against his cheek as he leaned in. One hand settled on the guy’s shoulder, keeping him still. “If you want to keep your eyes, I suggest removing them from a taken alpha.”

He pulled back just enough to tap the center of his collar, offering a closed-mouth smirk when the other omega’s eyes pinged down to it, and he went noticeably pale.

“Apologies,” he murmured, before pulling away and practically darting off into the crowd.

Thorn took a deep breath, feeling a lot better now that the overly sweet scent was gone, but his victory was short-lived. He faltered a step when he turned and caught Baal watching him.

The couple he’d been talking with were gone, and the alpha was rocking on his heels, seemingly pleased as he waited for Thorn to return to his side.

“Jealous, frosty omega?” he drawled once Thorn was within earshot.

“Just keeping up appearances for your sake,” he lied.

It was so obvious that the alpha didn’t believe him.

“Who here would believe I’d settle for anyone less than spectacular?” Baal stated. “Feel free to chase off a few more while you’re at it. Their attention is unwanted.”

“You sure?” Thorn couldn’t help himself, slipping his hands into his pockets, coming up toe to toe with the alpha. “Maybe there’s one in the crowd you’ll like.”

“They all smell like shit,” he shared bluntly. Then he bent forward and ran the tip of his nose down the side of Thorn’s neck. “Not like you. You smell amazing, sweetheart, and for the record, you aren’t the only one who’s jealous here.”

Thorn quirked a brow, but before he could ask what he meant, the alpha started openly scenting him.

Baal rubbed his scent glands across the rise of Thorn’s cheeks, over his forehead. He even went so far as to brush his jaw against the silky material over Thorn’s shoulders. His alpha pheromones swirled around them, momentarily blocking them off from the rest of the smells of the party.

Thorn’s head tipped back to make room for him when Baal smoothed over the underside of his jaw, a moan almost slipping past his defenses.

His hands came up to the alpha’s chest. “We’re in public.”

“More reason to do this,” Baal said. “Let them see. Everyone here should know who you belong to.”

“I’m already wearing your collar.” Thorn met a stranger’s gaze over the alpha’s body and dropped his eyes. “Alpha. Seriously. Enough.”

“You don’t get to be all sexy and threaten to blind someone for me, then deny me, omega.”

“I don’t know what came over me,” he admitted. “I shouldn’t have done that.” He’d never been the particularly violent type before.

“You were acting on instinct,” Baal explained. “Like a good omega. Keep that up. What are your instincts telling you to do now?”

Thorn couldn’t help but glance around, noting all of the attention they were receiving.

“Don’t overthink it,” the alpha urged. “You don’t have to try so hard with me, Thorn. Just act. If you trip, I’ll catch you. There’s no mistake I can’t fix for you. Oh,” he corrected himself. “There is one.”

“What?”

He pressed his lips to the spot beneath Thorn’s ear. “You could try to get away from me. I wouldn’t be able to fix that, but I would capture you and drag you back to where you belong.”

Thorn swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “Where’s that?”

“Right here, by my side.” Baal brought his face in front of Thorn’s, meeting his gaze head-on. “My Dominus is watching, omega. You don’t want to embarrass me, do you?”

“No,” the word came out of him as if of its own volition.