As if the engagement with Lucrezia wasn't enough to tire out Luther, he was in for a surprise.
Standing in the hotel lobby, instead of the CEO of Greenleaf he had to close a deal with, stood his "paralyzed" childhood best friend Claus. Luther felt his knees giving up when the blonde he knew he destroyed for life when he let for the first time his pheromones out was smiling at him.
-You're a hard man to reach, Lu!
The warm smile, the sudden caress of his cheek, the logging attitude, none of this could have prepared Luther for the ending of the evening- the argument in the parking lot.
-All I need is one night, Lu. To see if my scent could come back. I can't smell a thing. You have no idea how difficult the rut is for me. It's killing me, Luther!
-So this is what all the nice dinner was for?
-It's not like that.
-So it's not like you're blaming me for making you unable to smell another omega? It's not like you're blaming me for making your rut so painful it feels like death to you? So it's not like you are asking me to sleep with you -even if last time not even a proper kiss put you in hospital- like it's nothing? Not like that, Claus? So how is it then?
-It's not only that, Luther- said Claus in a serious tone- I heard about Akna Pharmaceutical's little side project. We could do it better, Lu. It could cure you too. I want to ask something from you.
-Please, Claus, don't.
-You could be a subject, Lu. You could help others like you. You could be a hero. I'll be right there to hold your hand.
-Fuck you.
-Listen to me, Luther. You're the only omega I can smell. If that doesn't change, we're fated for each other like it or not. I will never leave you again. Please, for all our memories and for all we've been through, help me and let me help you!
-Fuck you! Luther barely whispered.
He was never a sensitive man, but he barely held his tears today. One alpha after the other trying to use him like a tool for their own benefit. He had feelings too. It was bad enough how the poison made his life, how toxic his workspace viewed him and his impossibility to procreate and mostly how now a dangerous woman knew the identity of his flower. He didn't need the person he once loved, who he was made to think he destroyed his life, coming back asking for cheap sex and for him to become his lab rat. All because he owned him? For a meaningless promise of a pathetic future?
-Lu, please, I just want to see if I can get my senses back.
-It's always so fucking easy for an alpha! I-I don't want to see you. The deal's off.
-Please don't do this, Lu. Just imagine how much wonder this new medicine would do. Imagine how many people you could save.
-Go fuck yourself, Claus!
After that Killian appeared in front of him, all bloody-looking, with a confused heartbroken look in his eyes. Luther couldn't remember what exactly happened after.
All he could see in front of him were two alphas wanting him for the same thing. Both looked hurt when he wouldn't do as they said.
Luther got up to refill his wine glass. He felt feverish.
-My heat must be coming soon, he mumbled.
That meant he would need to seal himself shut from the world for almost a week. Nothing but pain, pills and air barely breathable. Luther sighed loudly. Since Killian entered his life, he lost track, he began to be distracted and unfocused. And all is going downhill.
He could have blamed Killian, but it was his own fault in the end. He was a businessman. He built his way into the Parliament with sweat and tears. He earned the respect of his father who used to look at him like he was nothing more than trash. He survived losing his first love because of the one thing he couldn't control -his scent. He survived losing Thomas in college after he tried to live denying his second gender. He'll survive Killian too.
After all, he was the one who caught feelings. He didn't know anything about this man, yet the excitement of finally finding someone who could stand -even if barely- his pheromones made him lose his ration. What a bad joke.
He'll be blackmailed on Monday. He could choose between accepting Lucrezia or signing his own sentence to death. Or he could run away. From his family, from his responsibilities, from his bland unsatisfactory life.
Luther was ripped from his trail of thoughts by the door ringing.
-I didn't order room service.
Upon opening the door, Claus and Killian were leaning in, both reeking of alcohol and bad decision.
-Luther, said Killian on the verge of crying.
-My Lu, giggled Claus.
-What the hell happened to you two?…