Page 18 of Want It All

I knew who it was, even before I opened the door.

He let me step outside and close the door before his fists found my collar and he pinned me against the wall.

‘What the fuck ?’ he hissed. His expression was furious, his knuckles white. There were two perfect spots of outraged red on his pale cheeks, and I’d never seen his grey eyes so stormy.

‘Not here,’ I answered tersely, pushing him away – with more difficulty than I’d anticipated – before striding to the study room at the end of the hall. Two later-year students were sitting inside, studying. ‘Get out,’ I said, and after scrambling to collect their laptops and phones, they did.

Byron waited until they’d closed the door, then rounded on me.

‘ An omega ?’ he raged. ‘ He’s an omega?

You brought your omega here, unbitten and unbonded ?

Whose idea was it to pass him off as a beta?

Fuck ,’ he went on, raking his hands through his already-dishevelled hair.

‘A male omega . I didn’t even know there was one in the country .

Is he registered? He can’t be registered,’ he growled, answering his own question.

‘There’d be OPF officers here if he was; they’d never leave him alone.

And packs would kill to have him. Fuck .

This is so dangerous I can’t even comprehend it. ’

‘Do you think you’re telling me anything I don’t already know?’ I said coldly.

Byron stopped and looked at me, really looked , and I felt suddenly exposed. I was used to being the dominant alpha in most places, but it struck me that right now I might not be . This huge alpha with his gentle grey eyes could be the one to put me on my back.

His eyes weren’t gentle now, though. They were dark, intent, his pupils blown out with anger.

Or lust.

Possibly both.

‘Did Rose catch his perfume?’ I said abruptly.

His scent hadn’t been strong. He’d taken extra blockers through the day, and it was a heat spike, rather than the prelude to an actual heat – something that Sebastian had never had.

The moment he’d emerged as an omega – a few months after I’d met him, and later than people usually revealed – he’d taken so many heat suppressants that the doctors I’d paid to keep quiet were sure he’d done permanent damage to his hormonal cycle.

I can’t , he’d said, terrified and determined all at once. I can’t be this. I can’t let this get in my way .

Every instinct in me had roared to life, wanting to protect my beta – my new omega – from everyone, from every thing .

Watching him fight his newly emerged nature and his own instincts had been a new kind of torture, but it was what he wanted, so I’d clamped my inner alpha down tight and done whatever I could to support him.

Which included helping him through the monthly heat spikes, which the doctors had assured us were his body’s way of reconciling his suppressed heats.

Until now, the heat spikes had been like clockwork. But this one was two weeks early , and I was riding a wave of anxious worry as my instincts shouted at me to run back to Sebastian’s side, to cool his fever, soothe his hurts, and tend his aching cock.

Byron shook his head. ‘The wind was blowing the wrong way. I don’t think she caught it. Shit, Grace.’ He spiked his hands through his hair once more. ‘ Cherries . My mouth is still full of it, and I only caught a hint.’

I went still. ‘Was it complementary?’

My voice was level; I had no idea how I’d managed it. My heart was pounding and I was suddenly covered in cold sweat.

Byron gave an odd half-shrug and my spine went tight.

‘I …’ he started, then trailed off. His blown-out pupils and the strength of his reaction suggested that he did like Sebastian’s scent – perhaps even liked it a lot – but I could see his mind working: how did he admit that to me and walk from this room with his limbs still attached?

‘You’re playing a dangerous game,’ he said instead, darkly.

‘What if it wasn’t me who scented him? What if he went into heat here?

Heat suppressants and scent blockers can be affected by all kinds of things – the flu, antibiotics, hormonal changes, a scent match.

My sister –’ he cut himself off abruptly.

I already knew the story. It had taken me a while, but I’d teased out the pieces that made up Byron Griffiths. I was sure there was more to it, but I was confident that I had the bones of him in a folder on my laptop, backed up to the cloud.

I didn’t tell him that, though. Never show your hand , my dad had always told me. My papa would chuckle and elbow him, and my mother would roll her eyes and joke about the kind of children he was raising, but I’d always remembered that advice.

‘For someone who thinks he knows so much about omegas, you seem to be forgetting something fairly basic,’ I said, making my voice as cold as I could.

I was irritated that he thought so little of Sebastian’s choices, and that he thought so little of me , though I wasn’t sure why I cared.

‘Omegas are people . I know this is dangerous. I know we’re taking risks.

But if you think for a moment that I made those choices, that these things were my decisions, then you need to think again. ’

He glared at me. ‘Sebastian loves you. It’s so obvious it’s painful. Are you telling me he refused your bite? That he doesn’t want your bond?’

I bristled, because of course this alpha would hit the sore spot. I knew what Sebastian wanted, and it was that , exactly. ‘Do you think that’s all he is?’ I countered. ‘A vessel to be bitten and bonded? Do you think that’s all he’s good for?’

Real anger flashed in his eyes. ‘Of course not. But the world isn’t made for omegas. Sebastian could still do everything he wanted with your bite on his skin. Only he’d be safer doing it.’

‘Except you can’t take back a bite,’ I snarled. ‘You can’t break a bond. What if he found his scent match tomorrow? Would you take away his freedom?’

Silence was my answer. We stared at one another, neither of us willing to back down.

‘Isn’t love its own freedom?’ he answered at last.

‘Sebastian is already loved. Already cherished. Already free.’

His expression was troubled, but it wasn’t my job to coddle him through the realisation that protection and love weren’t synonymous.

I pinned him with my best stare. ‘Will you tell anyone?’

He growled, clearly insulted, but he could hardly blame me for asking; he didn’t exactly have the best track record when it came to keeping important things quiet. ‘Of course I won’t,’ he answered, his voice as stiff as his spine.

I nodded and turned to the door, pulling my phone from my pocket. ‘Good. But just in case you think about changing your mind …’ I let the sentence hang, then held up my phone.

His eyes widened in shock before his face settled into an expression of fury that sent a shiver running down my spine. ‘How did you get that?’ he hissed.

‘Does it matter?’ I angled the screen and watched dispassionately as a younger Byron drew back and let his bloody fists loose, pummelling a body on the ground, over and over.

‘Just know it’s not the only thing I have.

’ I blacked the phone screen. ‘If you so much as think of exposing Sebastian, I’ll release everything. ’

I stepped towards the door, but found myself stopped short as his fingers encircled my wrist, his grip firm but not painful. His touch sent another shiver through me. I ignored it, meeting his furious grey stare.

‘You don’t need it,’ he said, his voice calmer. ‘I like Sebastian. I’d never want to see him hurt.’

I knew he was sincere. I could hear it, feel it. But I didn’t trust him.

I couldn’t trust him.

‘Even so,’ I answered, and shook him off.

I left him in the study room and hurried back to Sebastian. But as I unlocked our door, it occurred to me that this new problem might just help solve an existing one.