Page 53 of Final Drive
“I’m trying not to tell you what to do.”
“That’s new.”
He gives me a faint smile. “See? Terrifying.”
Despite myself, I almost smile back.
Then he says, “You shouldn’t have to spend your life being their Omega just because they decided they need one.”
Everything in the room goes very far away.
His thumb stops against my hand.
“What did you say?”
Quinton’s eyes flick over my face. “I said you shouldn’t have to be whatever they need.”
“No.” I pull my hand out of his. “After that.”
A pause, barely long enough to count.
“Beta. Sorry.”
“You said Omega.”
“Did I?” He shakes his head. “Slip of the tongue.”
It wasn’t, and we both know it wasn’t.
That word has not been in print anywhere. Kowalski knew because somebody told her. Now Quinton knows too.
The restaurant suddenly feels too small.
“I should go.”
“Reese, wait.”
“Thanks for dinner.” I already have my bag. “I’ll email you about the slides.”
“At least let me walk you home.”
“I’m fine.”
I’m halfway to the door when he catches my arm. Not hard, but hard enough to stop me.
“Reese.” His voice has dropped. “Just hear me out.”
“Let go of me.”
He doesn’t. Not right away.
“I’m not trying to scare you. I just need you to understand.”
My pulse kicks harder. “Quinton. Let go.”
His fingers loosen, but instead of stepping away, he moves closer. I get a lungful of him, Alpha musk sharp and cloying, wrong in a way my body recognizes before my brain does. Nothing like Bo’s late-summer warmth, cut grass and sun-dried hay, or the clean pine of Gray.
Nothing like home.
