Chapter 15 YOU SMELL LIKE TROUBLE
RAGNAR’S POV
Sebastian is late today.
Where the hell is he?!
The thought circles and nips persistently at my head like a gnawing insect.
It doesn't matter anyway.
It isn't like I am planning on mating him or anything.
I pretend it doesn't matter.
He's an Omega.
A submissive Omega too.
He's weak and at the mercy of powerful wolves.
I try to pretend like that doesn't piss me off.
Hell maybe he thought this is all too much and quit.
Hell, thank the Moon goddess he did.
I was only fulfilling the favor I owe anyway.
I stop pacing and go back to my desk gathering the papers I've tried to read in the last hour.
Patrol reports I've all but memorized lay limply on my desk as I try to make sense of what I'm seeing.
I failed.
listening to the steady tick of time sliding past me.
Late.
My tapping foot matches the steady ticking of the grandfather clock I got from my grandfather.
Yurik’s uneasy. His pacing inside my skull with his claws sounding like nails on a chalkboard just adds to my headache.
He should be here by now he knows the rules.
“He knows abandoning your duty in the pack is punishable,” I mutter under my breath.
“He is ours!” Yurik threatens when I mention punishment.
The words land heavy and dangerous though I ignore them.
I push my chair back once again and pace around the length of the room.
The floor in the office creaks beneath my boots adding to the silence I've come to hate.
He's supposed to be here because this is the only time I'm here.
I have my morning run then meetings and patrol all afternoon. Evenings and nights were the only time I'm really here so why isn't he here?
Two hours!
It's been two hours since he should have reported here!
Where is he?
Yurik growls at the back of my mind a sound that's low and vibrating in my chest.
“Something's wrong.” He says.
“Enough,” I snap mentally. “He’s an adult. He can handle himself.”
“You smelled his fear yesterday.” He retorts.
That shuts me up.
I turn sharply, stalking toward the window, forcing my hands into fists behind my back.
The bond hums faintly at the back of my neck. Irritating me like a wire pulled too tight.
I told myself I would ignore it.
I told myself I would not indulge the Moon goddess's mistake.
An omega like him, a soft, stubborn, breakable and sweet smelling Omega has no place with an Alpha like me.
The door opens.
Finally,
I don’t turn.
Footsteps enter the room, light and uneven.
I recognize the rhythm instantly and the sheer relief that punches through me turns to anger so fast it makes my vision blur.
How dare he control me like this?
So I ignore him.
The silence stretches.
I feel him standing there, uncertain and waiting for acknowledgment.
I don't give him any.
Yurik presses forward, nostrils flaring, senses sharpening.
Blood.
My head snaps up immediately.
I inhale sharply, the scent slamming into me full force. My wolf roars, rage detonating from my chest.
I move before I think.
One moment I’m across the room, the next my hand is gripping Sebastian’s chin, tilting his face up into the light.
He’s shocked as he sucks in a startled breath with his eyes open wide.
“Who did this?!” I growl, the words tearing out of me raw and feral.
I examine his face praying to the moon goddess for patience. “Stay still.”
His lip is split. A dark bruise blooms along his jaw. There’s dried blood at his temple.
Red floods my vision.
“You smell like trouble.”
He opens his mouth.
Yurik surges.
YURIK’S POV
Mine.
The word is like instinct, bone-deep and absolute.
Our omega stands before us hurt and trembling, his scent screaming vulnerability and something else from below.
I do not wait for permission.
I take control.
Ragnar resists pushing against me trying to pull me down but I am older than his restraint and stronger than his denial.
I push forward my muscles loosening and senses expanding as I successfully push him down.
I lean in, my breath hot against Sebastian’s skin and inhale deeply.
He smells like fear. And… lust?
So I lick.
Slow and deliberate.
I almost moan out in pleasure as I taste him.
My tongue drags along his split lip, tasting his blood and coating his lip with my saliva.
It works almost quickly as his wounds start knitting themselves and sealing shut.
Sebastian shudders and a soft sound leaves him with his knees nearly buckling.
I growl softly, pleased at his appearance.
I groom his cheek next, then his jaw, where the bruise darkens. My hands hold him steady, thumbs brushing skin reverently.
I practically worship his face with my tongue. Each stroke is reassurance to me that he's safe, he's mine and he's not going anywhere.
His heartbeat thunders under my palms. His scent starts to change into happiness, longing and…. Desire?
My little Omega is horny.
And since we share a bond, it looks like I am now horny too.
Who am I kidding? I was already the horny the moment I smelled him.
Good.
The bruises fade beneath my tongue. His skin goes back to being smooth and the blood vanishes.
But I linger, breathing him in and memorizing every detail in his face.
Ragnar fights harder now.
That jealous Alpha is annoyed I get to do this to him.
I bare my teeth at the inside of our mind but feeling satisfied, I retreat albeit reluctantly.
For now.
RAGNAR’S POV
I tear myself back into control with a snarl, stumbling half a step away like I’ve been burned.
My chest heaves and heat coils low in my gut with a raging boner that made me feel feverish.
Sebastian sways with his eyes glassy and flushed cheeks.
Unmarked.
The sight of it, of him, nearly tempts me to mark him right here and now.
“Stay out of trouble,” I snap, the words harsher than I intend. “Youre dismissed”
He nods in a daze as I hightail out of my office.
Good. Because if he speaks, if he looks at me like that again, I will not stop.
I'll take him right there till his throat is hoarse with begging for mercy.
Yurik laughs softly inside my head, sounding smug.
“We healed him.”
“We made a mistake,” I mutter.
Yurik only purrs and ignores me.