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I sigh happily at the delicious rich scent.
“Thanks, Tom.” I’m thanking him for more than the coffee. I take a deep swig to allow myself to work out my conflicting emotions. “You saved my life and took Lincoln and me into your pack. But it’s more than that. You told me that you had family shit going on. You don’t have to tell me what it is, but I saw how that asshole Richard treated you. When we were kids, I never wanted you to go home with your knothead dad either. It’s not like my pack is any better. I just want you to know that I understand what it’s like to be raised in a dangerous, violent pack. It makes you have fucking high walls. And you’re lowering yours and trusting us. It means the world to me. So, I’m going to do my best to do the same.”
Thomas is staring at me with awe-struck eyes. It’s like he’s never been seen before.
It’s like, despite being an Alpha, he’s as used to being as ignored and overlooked as Lincoln is.
“We both will,” Lincoln adds, quietly. “Our new pack is going to be different. We’ll love the hell out of each other, you’ll see.”
Thomas swallows, and his gaze darts between Lincoln and me. “I spent every year in high school furtively watching you both. Didn’t you notice? I was obsessed. You felt like mine. But I couldn’t tell you or anyone. It killed me.”
My breath hitches.
I did notice.
The long looks across the classroom and the corridor. The way that he’d dart glances at me, when he thought that I was engrossed in my textbook in the library. How he’d flush and move away whenever I got too close. The way that his gaze would flick down to my lips, whenever I licked them.
I made up elaborate fantasies that it meant Thomas wanted to be my Alpha.
I wanted him so much that I ached.
I’d touch myself in the bath, biting my lip hard so that no one else would hear me, as I imagined that it was Thomas’ fingers circling my clit.
I wanted his to be the first cock that I stroked and explored. I desperately wanted his to be the first fingers to push inside me, filling me completely.
But it was only a fantasy.
Yet all that time I was crushing on Thomas, was he having the same thoughts about me too?
“You’re fucking with me?” I blurt, breaking the moment.
Thomas stares at me, coldly.
Then Lincoln bursts into laughter, patting Thomas hard enough on the back to jerk him forward with his large hand. “Don’t scare the poor guy. Of course I noticed. You felt like mine too. This Destroyer of Alphas ripped Richard apart for you. But that didn’t change that we were in rival packs. We could never have claimed each other.”
“Huh, it’s not like it’s much easier now.” Thomas looks uneasy.
Fear and distress sheets through the bond, taking away my breath.
Yet Thomas’ expression remains carefully neutral.
What’s happened to him in his life that he’s been able to develop such a good mask?
He reaches for a small velvet box that rests on the nightstand next to his book. “I have a bonding gift for you.”
My expression lights up. “First coffee and now a bonding gift. You’re spoiling me.”
“We haven’t got to the best bit yet.” Lincoln exchanges a look with Thomas that I don’t understand.
What’s going on?
I carefully place the mug down onto the nightstand. Thomas strokes over the box for a moment.
“I only have one thing that belonged to Mom. She died giving birth to my twin and me. She was an Omega, and Dad loved her. He blames Mercy and me for her dying. At least, I’m sure that’s why he spent as little time around us as possible, when we were young. We were raised by a stream of different nannies and Betas. Now, I’m expendable to him. He’s proved that enough.” Thomas taps on the box. “This necklace is the bonding gift for female Omegas joining the Saint pack. I know that Mom would have wanted me to give this to you.”
Warmth floods through me.
I know what this must mean to Thomas.
