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“I was too busy sorting out the event to notice.”

“Really? That’s all you were busy with?”

I didn’t blush because I’d done far too much in my life to be embarrassed about the last week, but my cheeks did heat a little at being caught out.

“Is it cruel to make him wait?” I asked, voice quiet as we tucked ourselves into a corner out of the way of the busy party.

A traditional courtship was usually a whirlwind, over and done within a few days once an Alpha declared his intention and it was accepted by the omega. A courtship with the kind of compatibility Alexei and I had often didn’t make it past the first meeting before bites were exchanged. Pheromone intoxication was a whole thing, and something I’d been fighting against since our first meeting in his office.

“Yes, but I’m sure he likes it. He’s a sick bastard.”

“Hey!”

Nate just raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged a shoulder, forced to concede the point.

“What are you waiting for?”

“I guess I didn’t want to risk tying myself to a controlling Alpha who was going to dictate my life to me.”

“And do you think that’s what would happen?”

I thought back to the week we’d just had. All the ways Alexei had built me up to the people in his business, ensuring I was always shown respect. The ways he’d noticed how I wanted to grow and made opportunities for me to do so. The way he’d always known just what I needed and how, not because he was a domineering asshole who made assumptions, but because he was a domineering asshole who paid attention.

“Well, fuck.”

Nate laughed. “Are you celebrating Christmas with his family tomorrow?”

“Yeah, we’ll head to his sister’s late afternoon for dinner.”

“What do you give the man who has everything for Christmas?” Nate asked, his look all too knowing.

I huffed again. “Yeah, yeah. I realise I’m so transparent I may as well be a window.”

Alexei chose that moment to interrupt.

“You’ve had your five minutes. I’m taking my omega back, now.”

Waving at Nate, I followed Alexei to the rink, my head tilting in surprise as he kneeled down to undo my shoes, gesturing to the bench behind me to sit on.

“You skate?” I asked.

“I do anything that satisfies my omega. You’ve been shooting longing glances at the rink since we got here.”

As I glided out onto the ice with my Alpha at my side, I let his words sink into my psyche. He’d do anything that satisfied me. He wasn’t going to control my life in a way that made me miserable because that would do the opposite, and the truth was that there was no world in which I could walk away. What was I waiting for?

CHAPTER 12

ALEXEI

I’d known Ryder would shine at the party, but he’d exceeded even my expectations with how he’d charmed everyone while making sure the night ran smoothly. He hadn’t even blinked an eye when I’d quietly doubled the security with people from the shadier side of my business after receiving a tip-off that someone might try something.

Thankfully, my rival must’ve decided Christmas Eve was not the day to launch an assault, because now I could take my omega home at just a little past midnight instead of heading to the command centre in my club to orchestrate payback. Ryder probably didn’t even realise the anxious guy he’d offered an extra glass of cinnamon-spiced cocktail to and made smile with his compliments was the mate of the crime boss who’d been scoping out a hit. Instead, the boss had tipped his head in acknowledgement to me and stayed until his mate was sleepy and content in his lap.

“You were perfection tonight. You’re perfection every night.”

My murmured words were muffled by Ryder’s neck as I drew in a deep, intoxicating breath of his scent as I removed his jacket for him while he toed off his shoes at the entrance.

Ryder turned to me with a smile, reaching up to wrap his arms around my neck and tilting his face up for a kiss. Sliding my hand up so I could fist his hair, I tugged gently to change the angle a little before licking at his parted lips and biting down on the plump, pouting flesh that it had been all I could do not to devour all night.