Page 25
My head was spinning. I hadn’t felt like this in a long time. I was clueless what to make of it. I had just had sex with my employee. And it was his first time. The look on his face when I got up and basically walked out… he seemed confused.
Should I have kissed his cheek? Said something about what just happened? Maybe held him for a while?
But I’d never been that guy—the snuggly, cuddly type. For me, it was always just the act of sex, then getting up for the obligatory, thorough shower.
For a second, I thought back to moments from past relationships. The first times with my exes. Me quickly leaving the room… their disappointed faces.
The look in Sariel’s eyes was the same—expectant, vulnerable. And then—fading hope.
Fuck.
With a sudden protest from my leg muscles, I stopped in my tracks.
Why the hell did I treat him like all the others… when I actually liked him so much more? Maybe this was a chance to step out of my suffocating comfort zone. Or maybe I should just leave it?
After all, this had kind of been forced on us, his heat. I wasn’t obligated to suddenly become some romantic guy. That part of me had never really existed. It’d be easier to think of myself as a simple heat servant.
So I forced myself to move again, took a couple more steps, and then I felt… something. Without thinking, I lifted my hand to my chest.
The dreaded, intense beating.
Was my heart trying to tell me something? For the first time ever, I did feel shitty about walking away, like something was missing—for me, too!
Clenching my jaw, I turned and headed back into the cave with decisive strides. It was dark inside, but I could make out his pale shape on the mattress, still sitting where I’d left him.
This time, I didn’t let myself overthink it, I moved before I could scare myself off or start hesitating. I knelt on the mattress and looked into his eyes. They were wide, questioning, like he didn’t understand why I’d come back.
"Sariel… I—" The words stuck in my throat. "I hope it wasn’t… that bad?"
Damn, that was the height of my romanticism. But he reacted anyway.
His eyelashes fluttered a bit. "You didn’t have to come back just to ask that. I know what you told me, that you’re aromantic, and maybe you can’t—"
Something in me snapped. Rebelled. That was new for me! And I moved before I could lose my momentum. I leaned in, cupped the back of his head, and kissed him fiercely.
His lips parted eagerly.
When I pulled back, just a little, our mouths were still close.
"I’m not made of ice, Sariel! I’m flesh and blood too. I do have emotions! I just chose not to give into them for years. That made me… a little messed up. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care how you feel. I do. A lot."
I could barely believe I said it. It didn’t sound like me, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe something in me was finally thawing. Fate knew, I needed a change.
"Thank you… for coming back. It means a lot," he whispered.
There was a moment of silence, strangely warm. I still had my hands on his head. Slowly, almost shyly, I leaned in again. This time, I kissed his cheek. I heard his soft intake of breath.
"Oh, Winter," he murmured, turning toward me. Our lips met again, this time not in passion, but in something gentler. Tender?
It felt unusual… but not bad. Just… new. I let it last for a while, then pulled back and stood up.
"Okay. I really have to go now."
I schooled my face to look like always: composed, calm.
"Yes. Thank you," he said, his words barely audible.
As I stepped out of the cave, my heart was beating faster than before, almost like it was cheering me on. That tiny gesture had given me an unexpected kind of joy.
Damn. I needed to stop overthinking everything.
Sariel had said it himself, we needed to let whatever this was between us grow naturally. That felt like the right path forward.
While I scaled the volcano slope, a thought flickered through my mind. Honestly, we had much bigger things to worry about right now than nursing our romantic feelings.
No matter how understanding I wanted to be, the truth was simple: his heat had come at the worst possible time. Staying holed up in the cave could seriously hurt our chances of being rescued.
While we were soaking in that stream, five drones could’ve flown over the island and decided no one was here. And I wasn’t exactly confident that the crooked ‘H’ I scraped into the snow looked like anything more than a random patch of slush.
Also, sex would burn through our energy reserves, forcing us to go through our supplies faster and drink more of the mineral water.
The inconvenient truth was… our situation could become desperate really fast.
But all those worries had to stay put in my head. I didn’t want Sariel to feel guilty, he couldn’t help it, he wasn’t to blame. It was just the cruel twist of Fate.
I walked, keeping my eyes on the sky, heading toward the volcanic caldera visible about 700 yards away. The volcano wasn’t massive, but there was a thin plume of smoke rising from it. Pretty unsettling.
Moving carefully, listening to my surroundings, I kept scanning the sky as often as I could for any sign of movement. But it was silent.
From this height, I could also see the ocean, but it was just as empty. Not a single ship on the horizon. Not that it would have mattered. Even if one had been passing by, I doubted I could have caught their attention. My small figure would have blended right into the jagged, uneven slopes of the volcano.
After about fifteen minutes, I reached a shallow depression in the mountainside, maybe a channel where lava had flowed recently. There was no snow here. I stepped down into it, immediately noticing the ground was warmer.
A few bulbous rock formations jutted out, solidified lava flows, round and massive, like frozen tongues of molten stone. Heat radiated from them.
Feeling slightly uneasy, I approached, as if expecting them to bite. Cautiously, I spread out the blankets over the hottest ones. One of them let out a faint sizzle on contact. I pulled it back, scared it would ruin the blankets, then tried another. This time, steam rose from the fabric, but at least it wasn’t burning.
The area was warm—pleasant, even—but there was an underlying sense of dread. After all, I was standing on an active volcano.
Trying to push that thought aside, I lingered there for a while, staring at the sky. It was already dark, heavy clouds rolling in, the kind that promised snow. My stomach clenched as I glanced toward the distant meadow where I’d stomped the ‘H’ into the ground. From here, I couldn’t see it at all.
If snow fell, it would erase my signal completely, lowering our chances even further. My jaw tightened. Not good.
I stayed there for about twenty minutes. By then, the blankets had dried. Rolling them up, I headed back down the slope.
After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to detour to the beach. Something was pulling me there.
It took me nearly twenty-five minutes to reach it. I moved carefully, trying not to slip. The lower part of the volcano’s slope was wetter, some areas even covered in ice. The closer I got to the bay, the more snow appeared.
Finally, I stepped onto the rocky shore. The sand here was a dark, ashy gray. I scooped some into my pockets; it might come in handy for cleaning.
I started searching the coastline, flipping over a few stones. Nothing good for eating. I vaguely recalled that parts of Asia had plenty of edible mussels, clams, shellfish, and shrimp. But here? Nothing. Maybe I’d have to wade into the water, but that was out of the question. Just looking at the churning, gray waves made me shiver. That water was pure ice. One dip, and I’d be hypothermic in minutes.
Then another thought hit me. Maybe I could try near the warm stream where it met the ocean?
I headed that way. When I reached it, I hesitated before stripping off my pants and boots. Clenching my jaw against the freezing wind, I stepped into the shallows.
Unfortunately, by this point, the stream had cooled down quite a bit. It was warmer than the seawater, but not by much. And with the waves constantly splashing me, the chill set in fast. My teeth chattered as I waded through, flipping over rocks.
I found one tiny mussel attached to a small rock. Empty. A bad feeling settled over me, but it was too dark anyway to continue the search.
Instead of putting my cold, wet feet back into my boots, I bundled everything into the blanket, and slung it over my shoulder like a backpack. Then I started wading upstream barefoot.
It was better this way. I didn’t want to soak my socks with freezing water.
After about ten minutes of trudging through the stream, I reached the cave.
I was surprised to see the source of some faint light.
Sariel was sitting in the warm pool, in the center of the cavern. Near the edge of the stream, he had lit a small fire! It was tiny, just a little pile of twigs broken into pieces, smoldering timidly and casting a reddish glow that pulled his face out of the darkness.
When he saw me, his eyebrows lifted.
"You waded all the way here?"
"Yeah," I muttered dryly. "I was looking for mussels and clams in the shallows, but I didn’t find a damn thing."
I almost regretted saying it. Sariel’s face seemed paler now, despite him being submerged in the hot, steaming water.
"The island’s shoreline is long," he murmured. "We’ll find something."
Then he lowered his head, staring at the bubbling water.
I watched him for a moment, struck by how delicate his skin looked. A faint dusting of freckles gave his face a boyish softness. His lashes—a very dark shade of mint green—cast subtle shadows on his cheeks, adding to his melancholic expression. His bangs, usually falling over one brow, were damp and slicked back. He must have washed his hair.
"You don’t mind that I lit up the fire? It was pitch black here."
"I don’t, this is tiny anyway. And I saw a few bigger logs on the beach, they may come in handy later."
"Did you… scale the volcano?"
"Yes. Found a nearby spot where I dried the towels, uh, I mean, the blankets," I corrected myself. "That’s the one good piece of news I’ve got. About fifteen minutes up from here, there are some warm rocks where everything dries fast."
I deliberately called them ‘rocks’. That sounded better than ‘freshly cooled lava flows, still sizzling from the heat’.
Talking about the volcano made me anxious. And the last thing I needed was to pass that unease onto Sariel. We had to stay focused and stick to strategic thinking.
"That’s good," Sariel said, but his voice was saturated with gloom. "We could use it to dry socks and underwear."
Wow, was Sariel a little bit like me? Very focused on being clean and smelling fresh all the time? Funny, so we did have some similarities, after all.
"There’s a small bottle of perfume in that omega’s toiletry bag, we can add a bit of it when rinsing clothes," I murmured, trying to steer his thoughts away from whatever was weighing him down.
"Yeah, I only have a roll-on deodorant, so that wouldn’t really work," Sariel replied, rummaging through his small carry-on. "And… two cans of pheromone masking spray! Perfect. Just what I need on a desert island."
He made a sour face. Once again, I was baffled by how easily I could pick up on his thoughts. I had never experienced this level of near-telepathy with anyone before.
This whole situation was seriously messing with my head, but right now, I preferred to focus on the practical side of it. In our case, where we were both too afraid to say out loud what we were really thinking, this connection—whatever it was—could be useful. Because deep down, we both wanted to know what the other was feeling.
Since I was freezing, I followed Sariel’s lead, shedding my clothes and slipping into the water.
Without a word, he handed me an unwrapped energy bar. I took it, eating with a twinge of guilt as I settled in beside him. His energy felt different this time. Quieter, more grim.
"You didn’t see any drones or helicopters, did you?"
What was there to say? He already knew the answer. There was no point in making him dwell on it.
We sat there for a while, and with Sariel staring into the water, I had time to study him in the flickering light of our small fire.
There was something about him, some kind of wild charm that pulled me in. The more time I spent with him, the harder it became to ignore. Before, I had fought the urge to examine my feelings toward him, but now… something had shifted. I found myself wondering, if we made it out of this alive, would whatever had started between us survive in the outside world?
Of course, there was no chance of us having a long-term relationship. I wasn’t naive. But maybe… just maybe, we could have something . Fleeting, but still exciting. Something that would bring us both a little bit of happiness, something worth remembering, to look back on for years, with a smile… or maybe even a tear.
On impulse, I reached out and touched his cheek.
He trembled slightly, and again, that pleasant shiver ran through me, the one that always came with touching him. It was almost like sizzling discharge of energy, caressing my skin.
His gaze lifted to meet mine. My fingers drifted from his jaw to the side of his neck. As a beta, I had never paid much attention to scent glands, but I knew they were important to him. His were different from mine, especially now, during his heat. Swollen, flushed pink, firm yet springy to the touch.
There was something about them that intrigued me. I stared, knowing that if I bit him, he wouldn’t feel pain, only pleasure.
Fascinating.
Whoa. Why was I even thinking about biting him? Silly.
Either way, I couldn’t mark him. My mating teeth lay dormant beneath my gums.
Sometimes, I would absently run my tongue over them, feeling their hard structure just above my normal teeth, hidden deep. I had often wondered what it would be like if I could extend them. Sariel could—whenever he wanted. Outside of a state of strong arousal, it was said to be painful, since the thin teeth were piercing the skin over the normal canines.
Absentmindedly, while moving my tongue over the bumps on my gums, my fingers simultaneously brushed over his glands, lightly teasing them. Sariel’s breathing quickened. He leaned into my touch like a cat seeking affection, tilting his head slightly, so… submissively, as if he indeed wanted it, waiting for me to sink my teeth into him.
I exhaled, realizing with a flicker of surprise that my body was beginning to crave more.
"Let’s move to the mattress," I murmured, my voice low.
He immediately nodded, his enthusiasm radiating as he pushed himself up on one leg.
We stepped out of the water, drying off with the blanket. Well, it didn’t stay dry for long. But at least we had another one, fresh and clean, to spread over the mattress.
Sariel lay down on his side, clearly protecting his injured leg. I saw it in the way his face twisted slightly with every small movement, he was in a lot of pain, despite the fact that another pill was missing from the painkiller blister. The bruises and swelling hadn’t gone down at all. If anything, they looked even worse. I wondered if soaking in hot water had only worsened it. But I didn’t say anything. Not now, when my blood was getting hotter.
Suddenly he shifted onto his stomach. I had the chance to really look at him again, and I was starting to like doing that.
His body was long and lean, well-proportioned, but still held onto a certain youthfulness.
I let my hand drift lightly down his back, my fingertips tracing over his skin, watching the way tiny shivers ran through his body. Slowly, I followed the path of his spine, from his shoulder blades, down past his lower back, until my fingers reached his hips and the curve of his ass. He had a thin waist, but still had a pleasant roundness to his small, firm ass cheeks. His hips were very narrow, his build was that of an alpha or a beta not an omega.
He was surely an anomaly, being a mix of unusual physical traits.
Sariel’s eyes were closed, his breathing deep and steady, as he surrendered completely to my touch.
Encouraged by this welcoming energy, I went on exploring his body, starting with gently spreading his ass cheeks and gazing at his hole. I was surprised; it looked almost identical to an omega's! I'd been in relationships with two omegas, though they lasted only a few months, but I remembered how it all worked while aroused, the sphincter would become a bit thicker and softer, and now Sariel’s was slightly open too, glistening with slick.
I leaned in and gently kissed his buttock, then lightly nipped it with my teeth, eliciting a soft mewling sound from him. I continued to leisurely mouth around his hole, keeping him on edge, my tongue making unhurried, swirling motions, teasing his rim but not going deeper. I also noticed that Sariel's freckles weren't limited to his face but spread across various parts of his body. I found it incredibly cute; he truly was a unique being.
I had the impression that even his rim seemed to have a slightly pale blue hue, perhaps only during a heat, but some kind of pigment his body produced seemed to manifest here too. As I stretched his hole a bit more by spreading his cheeks, Sariel whimpered, trembling with anticipation.
My tongue was now making circular motions around his swollen ring. Sariel moaned louder, tensing a bit. His beautifully shaped ass cheeks tightened as I squeezed them lightly with my spread fingers, kneading them at the same time. Meanwhile, my tongue massaged and caressed his rim with slow, sliding, corkscrewing motions, then burrowing into his hole.
"Winter, this feels so good," he murmured, his pelvis tilting back as if inviting penetration, which was yet another omega-typical instinctive behavior during heats.
There was something else that surprised me. Despite having sex just an hour and a half ago, my body was shockingly eager to merge with his again.
My libido had never been low, though I tended to suppress it for various reasons. Since I hadn't been in a close relationship for years, I usually had to settle for jerking off. Now, however, my skin was practically pulsing with desire.
The whole situation; a deserted island, the son of my boss lying before me, submissively craving my touch, it all gave me a very specific kind of pleasure. There was something unhinged about it, something beyond my daily norm, beyond the way I usually functioned in my beloved state of control.
The tension and endless uphill climb that had been my life suddenly felt tedious and unnecessary. I wanted to let go, just for a moment, even if we were going to die on this damn piece of volcanic rock.
I rose over him, grabbed his hips, and lifted them. Sariel gasped, surprised yet compliant. Now in a doggy-style position, I savored the sight for a moment, this svelte body meekly kneeling before me. I had a strangely sweet air of power over him, sensing his submission and openness. I circled my hand around his waist, and my fingers slid down to his lower abdomen, finding a pulsating hardness there. Pre-cum literally dripped from his penis, the heat causing Sariel to be non-stop ready.
When my cock lightly pressed against his wet rim, Sariel suddenly murmured something quietly.
I leaned in, trying to hear him better over the pounding of my heart and the sound of the stream. "What's up?"
"I'd prefer… from the front."
Damn, I’d forgotten that for him, this was the first time bottoming. But then again, that position—missionary—was often linked with intimacy, something more suited for tenderness. And this aspect… was still a work in progress for me. Especially during the actual intercourse, not just after. Previously, I’d managed to pull it off afterward—maybe I could do it during the act too?
Would it feel awkward? Would I come off as too stiff or theatrical?
Beyond what happened today, I’d never really given anyone affection. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I had sex from behind, it made everything feel more anonymous, more comfortable for me.
"Of course," I said, managing to keep my voice calm and reassuring. I couldn’t say no to him. More than that, I actually wanted to experience this—kinda shyly, hesitantly. But it felt like an exciting challenge. A chance to try something new, to shift my usual ways.
Even with Finn, I’d denied him this. I never wanted to look anyone in the eye during sex. But with Sariel… Sariel was different. I wanted to do this for him, to dig deeper into… us.
He slowly turned over, careful with his leg. His expression held a flicker of fear and vulnerability, and something inside me melted a little as I gently lowered myself on top of him.
Our stiff cocks rubbed against each other, and I shuddered, feeling how hot and silky his skin was.
I cleared my throat. "Ready?"
Was that something you were supposed to say during a first time? I couldn't remember what it was like during my first time, but Sariel reacted well, nodding.
I positioned myself between his legs, which he raised with a certain caution to allow me better access. I saw it in his eyes: a delicate tension, nervousness.
This anxiousness made me pause. I didn't want to just thrust into his body without a single word. For a moment, I gazed into his eyes, thinking of the right words. What could be perfect in a situation like ours? Probably nothing—so these would have to do:
"I hope we'll be able to repeat this when they rescue us, in more… comfortable conditions. I'd really like that," I said, trying to give my tone at least a bit of softness.
"Thanks… I hope so too. But now is also okay. I—I really want this. And I—I like you."
My God, that was such a sweet, innocent confession, though with a bit of a stutter. Sariel's youth and inexperience were so obvious, shining through his eyes.
My smile was more gentle than I could ever imagine, more than I thought I could give. It was a surprise even to myself, how easy this whole ‘tenderness’ seemed to be with him. What made him different from other people?
"I like you too, Sariel."
"So do it, Winter. I want you to be my first."
Feeling a sense of responsibility in those words, I didn't add anything else, just started pressing my cock against his softened, open ring. I moved slowly at first, then more firmly… gradually sinking into him, feeling how incredibly tight and hot he was. It was unbelievable. And so ecstatic… A stifled sound escaped my throat, something like a whimper, and…
…it happened again!
Fuck! I couldn't believe it!
Here I was, climaxing instantly from the first thrust, just like when he came inside me at the first push one hour before!
What the…?!
The shiver was sweet, the wave of ecstasy dazzling!
But at the back of my mind, there was this strange feeling, because I was already over thirty, it wasn't like I was an eighteen-year-old who could climax after a few touches of my dick. I needed more time, a few minutes, always!
But the funniest thing was yet to come.
I didn't feel any post-orgasmic sensitivity, typical for me, despite my body being rocked by a divine, breathtaking orgasm. I still wanted to fuck him, and without overthinking, I just followed the flow.
Groaning, I thrust, then again, gripping his arms tighter, my head resting beside his, our cheeks pressed together. Then, another thrust, and suddenly my hips began working at a more intense pace. With one particularly strong thrust, I bottomed out inside him, my pubic bone pushing against his perineum. What a piercing pleasure! Small drops of it traveled up my spine… toward my head, creating pressure there, as if something was changing within me! As if I were physically rebuilding, transforming, my energy somehow remodeling itself, adapting to his. I had no idea how this was possible, but I could still fuck him, having had such a powerful orgasm just a minute ago. Incredible! This had never happened to me before.
A moment later, I felt Sariel climaxing for the second time, a muffled sound escaping him, his head arching back.
"Fuck, Winter, it's so good, so good, fuck me more, fuck me more," he moaned out, and parallel to his orgasm, I had a kinda mini-orgasm, like a small burst of ecstasy. But I kept going, thrusting into him: ten, thirty, fifty times, losing count… My hands sliding under his neck, bracing myself against him, our cheeks still pressed together, my fingers gripping his shoulders tighter, almost digging my nails in, as if I wanted to claw deeper into his flesh.
What the hell?
Where were these stupid thoughts coming from? And even better—where was this strange itching in my jaws coming from?
Feeling some craziness building—and imminent!—I tried to suppress it anyway, force it out, to push away this irrational craving, but it wouldn't stop. The itching grew worse, as if something inside my jaws were expanding, stretching them.
I let out a low, guttural moan, sounding strange, like nothing that should have come from my throat, and I noticed Sariel's odd reaction: his head immediately arched back, as if offering me easy access to his neck?
My other hand gripped the back of his head, and my lips found his swollen, pink gland, waiting for me.
Waiting for me?! Yep, it was official, I'd gone nuts.
But the momentum carried me forward, refusing to stop. This wild urge, something that didn’t fit in my head, that didn’t fit with my personality, kept growing, like an avalanche.
I let out another strange sound, one I barely recognized.
But Sariel responded with a sound of his own. I wasn’t sure if I caught its full meaning, I only knew what happened the next second:
I pressed my mouth to his gland and felt it.
The metallic taste of blood spread through my mouth; a part of my nature, inherited from aliens, awakened, shuddering through me, craving freedom. It was overwhelming and incredibly liberating.
I sensed them, palpable under my skin. Thin and sharp as needles. They emerged in a fraction of a second, tearing through my gums.
Fuck! Wild!
With ecstatic relief, I sank them into his neck without a moment’s hesitation.
Sariel cried out, his body tensing, and I felt a warm stream of his cum hit my stomach as the essence of my mate collided with my taste buds. It was like an elixir, ambrosia… and then I joined him, exploding inside him, flooding him with my hot seed one more time.
For a second, I couldn't believe what was happening, but maybe because it was so surreal, I was able to enjoy it even more, reveling in every wave that pierced me and in the fact that I was embedded in his exquisite body, which had absolutely submitted to me. Even though I was a beta, I now felt like a ruler atop a mountain, immersed in bliss and freer than ever before.
Spectacular. Amazing. It was the first time I had ever experienced this feeling of true, deep fulfillment.
Maybe… that’s what happiness felt like?
The descent from this insane high didn’t start for a while. For a good minute, I remained in this elated state, this sizzling ecstasy, before reality began approaching with unsettling speed. Finally, it was uncomfortably close.
As I pulled back, my teeth automatically retracting into my jaws—my mouth still full of the metallic taste, and something else: a pleasant, unfamiliar aroma that reminded me of mint and eucalyptus.
I had no idea what it was, but it was incredibly enticing, and for a moment, I licked my lips in utter fascination.
My human side couldn’t make sense of it, but the alien part of me was reveling in it.
Finally, I got it. I understood why alphas and omegas were so invested in everything gland-related, and why marking was such an important, cherished part of every loving relationship.
After a minute or two of leisurely contemplation, I rose slightly and withdrew my still hard cock from his hot passage.
Then I sat on the mattress and stared at him. Sariel slowly turned his head toward me, and I saw a thin stream of blood on the pale skin of his neck.
Our eyes met. His pupils were dilated, nearly eclipsing his irises entirely. We just stared at each other.
And then he said it: "What the hell just happened, Winter?"
Well, he was obviously as puzzled as I was, so I cursed under my breath.
"You’re asking me? I should be asking you—you’re basically the alpha-adjacent one here. I have no fucking clue."
"Something weird is going on here, Winter. Either that, or you’re not telling me something. Are you a beta with alpha characteristics?"
For a moment, I gaped at him, trying to understand why he’d ask that. Unlike true hermaphrodites—like gammas and sigmas (a fresh piece of knowledge I’d picked up from Sariel)—betas had their own variations, but they couldn’t reproduce in both ways.
Everybody knew the term ‘beta with characteristics of another subgender’. A good example was Soren, the guy my brother Skye had fallen for—a beta with omega traits. He even had short heat cycles and could get pregnant, though such pregnancies were high-risk and more prone to miscarriage.
On the flip side, there were also betas with minor alpha traits—some had semen that was partially fertile, some could form a knot, and some could even hear sounds normally audible only to alphas and omegas.
Such cases weren’t common, they made up only a small percentage of the general population, but I was certain that wasn’t the case with me, so I firmly shook my head.
"I don’t know anything about that. When I was eighteen, I had a full medical exam for my college application. There was an option to test fertility, so I did it, along with a full hormonal profile. Everything was perfectly within the beta range, and my sperm wasn’t viable. I’m a regular beta. There’s no hidden secret inside me."
"And yet, there is," Sariel said. He slowly raised his hand, touching his gland before glancing down at his fingers, now stained with blood.
"You didn’t bite me with your regular teeth, Winter. I would’ve felt the difference."
I hesitated before slowly pulling my upper lip back, revealing my gums. He had to see it for himself, the tiny red marks where my teeth had pushed through.
"You’re right. Those weren’t my regular teeth. Those were mating teeth."
A heavy silence settled between us.
"Winter, this is all a bit… strange."
He was right, all the clues pointed to one thing—only one thing could easily explain them all!
No! Another wave of stress crashed over me. I didn’t want to hope. That would be stupid.
"Yeah, but I doubt we’ll get any answers here on this island. Maybe something changed in me. I’ve heard of late bloomers; betas who awaken secondary gender traits later in life. It’s supposedly more common in betas born into families with a lot of alphas. And I have six alpha brothers."
Sariel’s gaze lingered on my face for a long moment, like he was analyzing why I kept backing away from this one incredible possibility.
"Maybe," he finally said, a note of sadness in his voice. But somehow, I got the feeling that wasn’t what he really meant.
"Well, either way, I’m not complaining." He smirked, lightly brushing his fingers over his gland. "At least now I know what it feels like."
"That was actually my next question," I muttered. "You’re not mad? I did it… kinda out of nowhere."
"What? Are you kidding? That was fucking awesome! You still wanna claim you can’t help me through my heat?" He tilted his head, grinning. "Because I think you did just fine."
The compliment sent a rush of warmth through me, more intense than I expected. I was never easy to sway with flattery, but in his case… his smile, those bright eyes looking at me with happiness as he said it. I wanted more of this. From him, only from him.
"This day has been full of surprises," I murmured, turning my gaze toward the cave entrance. "It’s almost over. It’s dark already."
"In a way, that’s good. They probably won’t be searching for us at night."
And then, despite not wanting to be a pessimist, I let it slip.
"Maybe. But by morning, another eight hours will have passed… and to them, that means less and less chance of finding us alive."
A silence settled in the cave. Sariel turned his head, staring at the wall. Neither of us felt the need to comment further.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25 (Reading here)
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49