It was crazy to do it, but when I dragged Ben into my apartment, I felt in control of my own body and my own life, truly in control, for the first time. Ever. I went for exactly what I wanted, pinning his strong body beneath mine, baring him to my eyes, my touch. He had this way about him that proved me wrong, proved everyone who had ever told me that alphas couldn’t be gentle and couldn’t understand boundaries and couldn’t take no for an answer, wrong.

I kept pushing him, aggressively exploring his body, but he kept his promise. He didn’t lose control, he didn’t grab me and pin me down and fuck me, even though I was starting to think that was something I might desire, after all. He squirmed, moaning for me, and it was the most beautiful, addicting noise I’d ever heard.

I grinned up at him, admiring his handsome face, as I sucked his thick cock slowly into my mouth. It was a new sensation, warm flesh on my tongue, more blatantly erotic than even our hot kisses. I could taste his musk, that salty-sweet alpha desire dripping from him. He needed me.

I slowly sucked him deeper and deeper, and I felt his swollen knot against my lips, but I avoided it. I had heard rumors from the maids at the mansion that squeezing an alpha’s knot drove them into a sex-crazed rage, and I wasn’t prepared to deal with the consequences. Ben seemed to be enjoying what I was doing more than enough already, with the way he moaned and arched his body, straining for me and gasping my name.

“James, James, please, I’m close,” he moaned.

I was too curious to pull back. I’d never tasted come before, never done anything even close to this, and I needed to know what it was like. He groaned loudly, deep growl in his throat as he pumped my mouth full of come. I was surprised at first by how much of it there was, and how hot it was on my tongue, but then I instinctively swallowed and that inner animal in me hummed with satisfaction. Alpha, my inner omega wolf howled. I wiped my lips and gave him a confident little smirk, confidence that wouldn’t quite reach my eyes.

“You taste good,” was all I murmured, so quietly he seemed not to even hear it.

He caught his breath and gave me an amazed, grateful smile, his face flushed with pleasure. I felt powerful, seeing an alpha like that, his hands still obediently placed behind his head.

“Can I make you come, now?” he asked. “Is that allowed?”

I considered, and then grinned, squirming out of my sweats. I climbed onto his strong body again, straddling his shoulders, and gave him my sore, swollen cock.

“No hands,” I murmured, and he chuckled with excitement.

“I’m game,” he purred, and wrapped his hot mouth around me. I gasped, grabbing the headboard. It was way better than I could have imagined. I whimpered, bucking my hips toward that wet heat, fucking into his mouth without much control. “Ben!”

For my whole life, all I had was my own hand. His mouth was a far cry from that. Within seconds I came hard, screaming, pumping his mouth full and barely giving him a chance to breathe. I felt bad, for just a moment, as I rolled off of him, but then I saw the smile on his face and let out a sigh of relief.

“That was the hottest thing anyone’s ever done to me,” Ben said.

I bit my lip, still trying not to grin so wide. My cheeks were starting to hurt. I was glowing, and so was he. What had we done? I was starting to understand what people might love so much about sex.

“I’ve never… thank you for doing that for me,” I said softly. “You can move your hands, now, if you want.”

He groaned in relief and stretched out, sighing contentedly as he settled next to me in bed. Naked. I had a naked alpha in my bed, his knot only now shrinking down as his cock relaxed. But he was more than just an alpha. He was a really sweet guy, and I felt safer with him than I did alone. That had to mean something.

I turned to face the window. Snow was still falling outside, faster than before. By morning, the city would be blanketed in it, but I felt warm and safe, surrounded by Ben’s rich, musky scent.

I took his hand and pulled it around my body, giving him silent permission to hold me.To touch me. And then the most remarkable thing happened--I drifted off in his warm embrace.

I woke up in his arms and immediately knew I'd made a mistake. I hadn't intended to let myself sleep that long, but it had happened. We'd spent the night together. I could smell him all around me, alpha. For just a second, I let myself roll toward him and inhale that scent, and it hit me to my core. With just that scent, just a few kind words, this man could control me. Control the rest of my life.

I rolled out of bed, and put on my own clothes, which felt good. My body had healed completely. I stretched out my back, feeling my spine crackle into place, and went to make coffee. On my way past, as I did every morning, I glanced at my door for the mail.

The light hairs on my arms stood on edge. Another letter from Cal, in that distinctive envelope. This time, however, it hadn’t been forwarded. It didn’t even have an address. Had it been delivered directly? Trying my best to ignore the rapidly dropping temperature of my blood, I slowly walked over to the door and picked up the letter. I tried to tell myself it wouldn't hurt me. It was just a letter. But it was a reminder that whatever safety I'd felt in Ben's arms had been false. He would wake up, and he would disappear back to his own life, and I would be alone, receiving threatening letters from a man who thought he owned me.

I placed the unopened letter next to the other, opened ones on my fridge, clipping the envelope there with a magnet, while I put on the coffee. I was avoiding it, like I normally did, but when I thought about that, I realized that Ben was still in my bedroom, and could get up at any moment, and see my letters...

I quickly went back to the fridge and pulled them all down. I ducked into the bathroom and shut the door, sitting on the closed toilet seat as I tore the letter open. Better to read it and have it over with, and then probably hide them somewhere under my sink. It was embarrassing, having a stalker.

It went from embarrassing to terrifying very quickly, when I saw the photo. This time, there was no letter. Just the photo.

It was a still from a video one of the bystanders had taken of me the previous day, when the alpha had attacked me in the alley, and Ben had rushed in to fight him off. It was only blocks from my house. I had heard that a picture was worth a thousand words, and this one had to be worth more. He knew my neighborhood. He had a picture of me with two other alphas. Was it a threat? A promise? A question? Should I try to explain what had happened? I didn't owe him that, and he'd probably seen the whole video, anyway. The whole attack. So why send me a picture of it? It seemed sick. My stomach churned as I stared at the photo, trying to read some sort of hidden message into it. It had to mean something. Was he telling me he knew I wasn't safe? That he knew I was in the city? That I was in trouble, or that he was coming to protect me? I couldn't tell.

In frustration, I tore the photo to shreds, growling to myself as I tossed them into the toilet. I flushed hard, and then, in my fury, I tore up the other letters, too, feeling them rip into pieces in my hands, and flutter away, only to soak and bleed into nothing, into garbage, in the water.

Cal meant nothing to me. So what if he found a video of me? It wasn't my fault that I'd been attacked. I was allowed to exist. I was allowed to live my life.

After the last of the paper was flushed, I thought to check my phone. Sure enough, Cal had put out a statement in response to the video of my attack, which had gone viral. He stared right into the camera as he told the world, told me, that this was the reason shifters should remain segregated from humans. So they could keep their own laws. Maintain their own order. He said that if he were mayor, no alpha who went after a claimed omega would see mercy. He meant that another alpha would kill them. That was shifter law. He meant that Ben shouldn't have shown any mercy. He meant that he was going to use me to propel his own political campaign.

He meant that he knew where I was, and he wasn't letting go of his claim on me. He meant that my days of anonymity were over. He intended to sell this as our love story. Him, my alpha prince charming, saving me with shifter pride.

My head spun.

"James?" Ben's soothing voice called through the apartment, a little too loud, as always. At least I would always hear him coming. "Can I have some coffee? That smells really good."

I quickly shut off my phone and tucked it into my pocket, glancing at myself in the mirror. I washed away the few tears I had shed in my anger and straightened my shirt, tucking it properly into my pants. I tried to make my hair look better than it did. It didn't work, but Ben made me want to try.

When I left the bathroom, he was there, still completely naked, muscular and sporting half a hard on. I gave him a little grin, raised my eyebrow, and felt like myself again. Like a person, not property.

He wiggled his hips playfully, already sipping on a cup of coffee.

"Mm, do you want some of this? It's really good. You buy super expensive coffee, dude." He seemed confused by that, and I shrugged.

"Doesn't that mean it's better?" That was pretty much all I knew about the world.

I gave him a little smile, biting my lip. "You really should put some clothes on. I might drag you to bed again."

"You say that like I minded," he shot back casually, unbothered by the way I looked at him, so I let myself look. He bent over as he went into my fridge, trying to find food. We were in the light now, not the darkness of my bedroom, and I could see every little scar, every freckle and tan mark and hair on his body. It was glorious. It was like a part of him belonged to me. No one had ever belonged to me before.

"Can I cook this bacon? Do you have eggs?"

"Eggs and cheese. Can you cook?" I asked gratefully. "I buy things, but I don't know how to cook them, so I usually go out to eat," I admitted. "I threw out a fridge full of moldy vegetables and expired meat last week."

He stared at me in horror. "Dude. I'm going to teach you how to cook bacon and eggs, okay? I get being a bachelor, but that's just no way to live."

I smiled gratefully. "Agreed. Maybe I should hire you to be my personal chef."

He laughed, and I watched the way his eyes crinkled with delight.

"I'm afraid I'd end up disappointing you eventually. Breakfast is pretty much where my skills end."

"I'll take what I can get," I promised.

He put bacon in a pan and cracked eggs into it and like magic, it was food within a few minutes. I had no idea how he’d done it, but I let him show me, anyway, because he seemed to enjoy teaching me things.

“Are you going to get dressed before we eat?” I teased, and he laughed.

“You’re right. I almost forgot I was naked.”

He went to put clothes on, and I was actually disappointed not to get to see his gorgeous body anymore. I regretted saying anything. We sat down together, across from each other, and I used my fork to pierce the yolk of my sunny-side up egg, letting it spill over my plate.

“Thank you. For everything.”

Ben chuckled. “I still remember last night. You’ve thanked me enough.”

I nodded, but I wanted to thank him more.

We finished our meal quietly, my eyes meeting his occasionally, and he would smile at me, and my heart would flutter, but I didn’t say a word and neither did he. He ate quickly. Maybe he was trying to be respectful, or maybe he was just that hungry, or maybe he really did want to leave.

He took my dishes and loaded my dishwasher for me, and then went to leave, pulling on his shoes.

“You don’t have to go,” I said, too quietly. He didn’t even turn his head. He just kept walking, heading for the door, and before I could summon the courage to speak up, he left.

The moment the door closed I was on my feet. I rushed out after him, still barefoot, and caught him the hall. I needed him. I needed him to stay and protect me, and suddenly his offer the previous night came to mind.

He stopped in the hall and turned to me, and I pulled my wallet from my pants. I quickly counted a thick wad of cash and shoved it into his hand.

“Please,” I managed.

He stared at me, his brow furrowed in confusion, and anger beginning to spark in his eyes.

“James, what the hell is this?”