Levi raised a brow, smirking faintly.
"Hmm, disappointed?" He knew that this was the first time the alpha was seeing him and it's kinda understandable to see the omega you were sure died in your arms, alive and breathing.
But Levi just couldn't help but poke. He said he was done with that life, but he just couldn't help it.
Noah's face visibly had some thoughtfulness. He didn't answer immediately, and when he did, his tone was careful.
"The reports said you'd gone missing. That you were… Unstable".
Levi mussed as he chuckled inwardly 'Ah. So the Quinn family had already been busy, spinning their narrative'
"And you also believed them?" Levi moved to the bed and sat crossed legged on the rumpled sheets with deliberate calm.
"Yeah, like I'd just wake up and start to throw myself at random alphas I don't know, like an omega in heat?".
The silence was thick.
Noah's eyes flashed with something as his fist clenched to the side,
"You disappeared" His voice dropped lower "I put up a search for you. My people couldn't find you".
"Your people" Levi repeated as if in thought, and as if trying to understand and interpret the phrase.
"How very… proprietary of you Mr. Sterling"
Noah's scent shifted, slightly intensifying as his eyes narrowed "You don't understand.."
"I understand perfectly". Levi's tone change "Yes, we fucked. But that doesn't make me your property"
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Noah took a step forward, then stopped himself. His control was cracking at the edges.
"You could have died". The words came out rougher than he had probably intended. "Every other omega had…"
"Died? Ah, yes, i'm aware" Levi tilted his head up to study Noah's reaction.
"But I didn't. Which means I'm compatible with Type B biology. And if I survived you..." He let the implication hang.
Noah went completely still. "What are you saying?"
They both knew what he meant.
Levi leaned back on his hands, the position relaxed despite the tension between them.
"I think I have a clear idea of why you're here" He watched Noah's expression shifting into something like anger, but it was soon replaced by something darker.
"You're here to stake a claim. Aren't you?"
Growl
All he got was a growl from the alpha.
Keeping his tone tight. "You think I'm here to shop for another Type B alpha?"
The alpha's whole body had gone rigid now, as he let out an animalistic sound from his chest.
The air in the room began to shift, growing thick with pheromones that screamed displeasure.
"You've been talking over me since I walked through that door".
Levi's next words died in his throat as his body began to tremble. Heat flooded his abdomen, and knees weakened. Every cell in his borrowed omega biology screamed at him to submit, and to bare his neck, to appease the angry alpha whose scent now filled the entire room.
'What the hell. Is this how it's going to be? Every alpha with the right biology can just... suppress me?'
"You think… "
Noah's voice was barely above a whisper, but it was loud enough to reach Levi's ears.
"... that i came here to stake a claim?"
Levi's body flinched backward before he knew what was happening. His neck was tilted to expose his throat as the alpha stepped forward.
Levi adjusted his posture again, but his body wasn't listening. His hands trembled, as his breathing came shallow and fast. The omega instincts were in full control now, trying desperately to soothe the enraged alpha.
Noah's pupils had gone dark. "You want to talk about… options? About replacing me with another Type B alpha?" His voice dropped even lower, rough with something that sounded almost like pain beneath the fury.
"You have no idea what it's like. Watching them die. Every single one. And then you… " He cut himself off, jaw clenched so tight Levi could see the muscle jumping.
"You survived" Noah continued, and now Levi could hear it… the desperation underneath the dominance.
"Do you understand what that means? And now you want to… what? test your compatibility with someone else? Shop around?" Levi's vision was starting to blur at the edges.
The pheromones were too much to even let him reason. Through the haze, he saw the exact moment the alpha realized what he was doing.
A weird sound escaped the alpha's lips as he watched Levi's trembling body with a wide eye. The suffocating feeling in the room vanished immediately as the alpha took a step back..
Levi straightened his spine.
Despite his hands still shaking and his body feeling as though he'd just run a marathon, he managed it.
He glared at the alpha, to add to the obvious guilt the other carried.
It took a moment of silence for Levi to recover from the assault.
"So. What exactly are you here for" Levi spoke as he watched the alpha run a hand through his hair. His eyes had returned to normal.
He had lost control at that moment and is now in deep regret.
'But what else is he not saying'
The alpha hadn't responded for a long time. Just when Levi thought to drop it, he heard the alpha speak.
"Omegas die from incompatibility" Noah started. Levi still wondered how that was any of his concern.
"There was an omega that also survived just like you" Noah continued.
"But after a while, she didn't survive a few days later"
"Natural causes?" Levi probed to be sure.
"I thought she was going to make it. But her body gave in to the incompatibility" Noah stared through the window, as if watching something lost in the alley.
Levi's eyes twitched when he heard that.
The thought of dropping dead in this new life was… A bit weird.
"And you think that would happen to me?"
"I need to be sure it won't. I am taking you to a specialist" Noah turned to lock eyes with Levi. Levi could tell the alpha wasn't lying and he really needed to go to the hospital.