Unnatural (The Wrong Alpha 1)

Royce grimaced. “Among other things. I already told you what happened to Lucien during his first heat. Since then, he doesn’t like being around alphas. When Aksel presented… his presentation coincided with Lucien’s heat.” Royce poured himself a glass of juice and sipped it. “By the time I interrupted them, Aksel was already between his legs. You’ve seen the ugly scar on my left arm? Aksel gave it to me when I dragged him off Lucien. I was lucky Aksel wasn’t as big back then as he is now. I shipped him off to the army the next day.”

Haydn hummed thoughtfully. He could see why Royce would want to protect Lucien, but… “Did you ask Lucien’s opinion? Was he traumatized by what happened with Aksel?”

Royce snorted. “Lucien was in heat. He was hardly in any state to remember much. He later told me it wasn’t Aksel’s fault and that he wasn’t traumatized at all, but I don’t trust his word when it comes to Aksel. He’s always had a soft spot for the kid. If Aksel weren’t a Xeus, I could have trusted him more, but he thinks with his cock instead of his brain. A Xeus is the worst possible choice for an omega scared of alphas. Mother is right: Aksel needs an omega his own age, without any psychological trauma he might inadvertently trigger.”

“I got the impression your mother is more concerned that the omega should come from a nice, respectable family,” Haydn said dryly. He really liked Vagrippa, but the woman certainly wasn’t perfect.

Royce sighed. “She’s fond of Lucien, but…”

“Not fond enough to want him as her son’s mate,” Haydn finished, his voice carefully neutral.

A shadow crossed Royce’s face. “I know it isn’t fair. Lucien doesn’t deserve to be shamed for being a victim of a crime, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We can’t force people to accept him.”

Haydn stabbed his fork into his salad and scowled at it, his appetite gone. “It’s kind of funny that we’ve reached the technological level of interstellar travel, but our society is still so uncivilized.”

“Stop that,” Royce said gruffly.

Confused, Haydn looked up. “What?”

Royce’s expression was a little tight. “Stop smelling upset. It’s—distracting.”

“Distracting?” Haydn repeated slowly.

Royce shot him an annoyed look. “I’m fresh out of a rut,” he said, as if that explained everything.

Right. The rut.

He thought they were pretending that it never happened.

Haydn stared at his plate with great interest. He opened his mouth. Put something into it. Chewed. He couldn’t taste anything, all his senses focused on the man across from him.

The silence stretched, becoming awkward.

“Thank you,” Royce said in a slightly stilted voice. “I can’t thank you enough for… being so accommodating during my rut.”

Accommodating. Right.

Haydn’s face was burning. “Don’t mention it,” he said in his most casual voice.

He glanced up and their gazes locked.

Royce’s eyes were so very dark.

Haydn swallowed.

Before either of them could say anything, the door opened, and Devlin strode into the room. “Great, I was afraid I’d be late for breakfast,” he said, flopping into the chair next to Haydn’s.

Every muscle in Royce’s body seemed to stiffen.

Haydn laid a calming hand on his arm and glared at his cousin. “Why are you back so soon?” Alphas were still keyed up after their ruts and didn’t like strangers in their home.

Devin’s green eyes flicked toward Royce. “I called Belinda. She said his rut was over.” He raised his eyebrows, looking at Haydn. “Did he piss all over you? You smell like he pissed all over you, several times.”

Haydn tried to ignore the heat creeping up his face again. No, he just came all over my face—and my mouth.

He carefully didn’t look at Royce. “You still shouldn’t have returned so soon after Royce’s rut. You know it’s not ideal.”

Devlin retrieved something from his pocket. “I just remembered that I forgot to give you your medicine. Your mother insisted that I give it to you as soon as I got on board the plane, but I forgot.”

“Oh,” Haydn said, slightly mollified as he accepted the familiar white bottle. He’d been running low on it. It was a good thing his mother remembered.

“What medicine?” Royce said, eyeing the bottle with a frown on his face. “Why doesn’t it have any brand name?”

Haydn shrugged. “Because the drug hasn’t been certified yet. I’ve been told it’s rather experimental.”

Royce’s arm stiffened under his hand again. “Why? Are you sick?”

Stroking his wrist absentmindedly, Haydn sighed. “I have a rare genetic disorder. It’s pretty much a bad allergy to something in my body. I’ve had it since I was born. If I stop taking my medicine...” He winced. “The one time I forgot to take my pills, it wasn’t pretty. I felt so shitty I thought I was dying. I could barely breathe and had a fever so high it caused seizures.”