Chapter 45: LATE NIGHT COLLISION

ASHER

I couldn’t sleep. It was two in the morning and my body was on fire. The heat was getting worse by the hour. My skin felt too tight, and sensitive. Every shift of the sheets against my body sent sparks of pleasure-pain through my nerve endings.

I’d already gotten myself off twice tonight, and it hadn’t helped, nothing helped.

I needed to move, I needed to do something other than lie here thinking about Reed’s hands on my wrists during training. The way he’d leaned in close enough to scent me. The way his eyes had dilated when he smelled the change.

No matter how many times I think about it, it does nothing more than increase my arousal, making me ache and burn for something different.

Something different like Reed—

I slapped myself hard on the face, snapping me out of my thoughts. There was no going to be Reed, and no way in hell would I let Reed get close to me or my body. I threw on sweatpants and a hoodie and left my dorm.

The campus was deserted at this hour just me and the security lights casting long shadows across the empty pathways.

I walked without direction, just trying to burn off some of the restless energy coursing through my system but every breath of cold air brought temporary relief followed by another wave of heat.

My feet carried me to the science building without conscious thought. It would be unlocked. The labs ran experiments overnight sometimes, so they kept it accessible for students with proper clearance.

I slipped inside and made my way to the upper floors, away from any labs that might have people working, and away from anyone who might smell what was happening to me.

The fourth floor was dedicated to study spaces. Small rooms with whiteboards and comfortable chairs where students could work on group projects.

I found an empty one and sank into a chair, my head in my hands.

Two more days until the full moon, two more days until my heat peaked and there was no hiding anymore. Two more days until everything fell apart.

“Can’t sleep either?”

I jerked upright to the familiar voice and turned to see Reed standing in the doorway. My heart stopped then started hammering so hard I thought my ribs might crack.

“What are you doing here?” My voice came out rough.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Reed stepped into the room. He was wearing track pants and a t-shirt. His hair was messy like he’d been running his hands through it. “It’s two in the morning, Graham.”

“I’m aware of the time.” I told him and he bobbed his head before closing the door behind him. The soft click made my pulse spike. We were alone in a small room at two in the morning.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Reed said.

“You’ve been avoiding me too.” I answered.

“Yeah, well.” Reed leaned against the door, his arms crossed. “That was before.”

“Before what, Reed?” I asked.

“Before I smelled you in training today.” Reed’s eyes were fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. “Your scent, Asher. It’s different and it’s driving me fucking insane.”

My throat went dry. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Reed, stop being obsessed with my pheromones.”

“Yes, you do, and I can’t stop because-” Reed pushed off the door and took a step closer. “Your scent has been changing for weeks. It’s getting sweeter, stronger today it was—” He stopped mid sentence, his jaw clenched tightly.

“It was what, Reed?” I asked, my voice barely worked. I knew the answers he was going to say but I wanted to hear them from him.

Reed took another step closer. “Intoxicating.”

The word hit me like a physical touch. Heat flooded through my system, making my head spin.

“You need to leave,” I said.

“Why?”

“Because you said I was nothing to you, because you humiliated me in front of everyone, and because—”

“Because you’re scared of what I’ll do if I get too close?” Reed’s voice was rough. “Or because you’re scared of what you want me to do?”

My breath caught. Reed took another step. Close enough now that I could smell him, and his intoxicating pheromones made my body ache with need.

“I can smell it on you,” Reed said quietly. “The arousal. The heat building in your system. Whatever you’re trying to hide, your pheromones are giving you away.”

“Stop.”

“Why?” Reed moved closer. “Why should I stop when your scent is driving me out of my mind? When every instinct in my body is screaming at me to—”

He cut himself off, I stood up, my legs shaking. “To what, Reed? To hurt me again? To prove your dominance? To remind me that I’m nothing to you?”

“You’re not nothing.” Reed’s voice broke on the words. “That’s the fucking problem. You’re not nothing and I can’t stop thinking about you and I don’t understand why.”

We were standing less than a foot apart now. My back was almost against the wall. Reed’s chest was heaving. His eyes were wild.

“Your pheromones,” Reed said, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. “They’re getting stronger, sweeter and they’re making me want things I shouldn’t want.”

“Things like what? Finishing what you started in the woods? Is that it?”

Yes and no,” he answered and I scoffed.

“Fuck you Reed, and stay away from me.”

“I can’t, Asher, even if I try to, I just can’t. I know for such that I want to do crazy things to you. Things like-”

“Like?”

Reed’s hand came up, and braced them against the wall beside my head.

“Like this.”

He leaned in, and I could feel his breath on my face. I could see the way his pupils were blown wide, and I could smell the arousal rolling off him in waves.

“Reed—”

“Tell me you don’t feel it too,” Reed said. His other hand came up to the wall on my other side, caging me in. “Tell me your body doesn’t respond to mine, tell me you weren’t thinking about me when you got yourself off tonight.”

My face went hot. “How did you—”

“I can smell it on you, Asher. I can smell everything.” Reed’s nose brushed along my jaw. “And it’s driving me out of my fucking mind because I don’t understand what you are.”

Panic spiked through me. “I’m an Alpha just like you.”

“No.” Reed pulled back enough to look me in the eyes. “You’re not. Alphas don’t smell like this. Their pheromones don’t make other Alphas lose their minds. Alphas don’t—”

He stopped, his nostrils flared.

“You’re going into heat,” Reed said slowly. “But that’s impossible because Alphas don’t have heats.”

My whole body went rigid. Reed’s eyes widened. Understanding dawned across his face.

“Unless you’re not an Alpha at all.”

“I am—”

“Don’t lie to me.” Reed’s voice was harsh. “Not about this. What are you, Asher? What have you been hiding?”

I shoved against his chest, he was too close and that was dangerous for me because he would notice the slick already pouring down my butthole and his intrusion would be complete.

“Get away from me.” I said, trying to push him away but he won’t bulge.

“No.” Reed caught my wrists, and pinned them against the wall above my head with one hand, just like in training. “Not until you tell me the truth.”

We were pressed together now. His body against mine. I could feel how hard he was through his track pants, and I could feel my own body responding even through the fear.

“Your scent,” Reed said, his face buried in my neck. “It’s not just different, it’s perfect and I want—fuck, I want to destroy you.”

The words sent a bolt of heat straight through me.

“Then do it,” I said before I could stop myself.

Reed pulled back, and stared at me with something feral in his eyes.

“What did you just say?”

My heart was pounding, my body was shaking, and every instinct was screaming at me to take it back, to push him away, to run but I was so tired of running.

“I said do it.” My voice came out rough, and desperate. “You want to destroy me? Then fucking do it, Reed. Stop threatening me, stop playing games, just—”

Reed kissed me, hard, hungry and desperate. His mouth crashed against mine with enough force to bruise. I gasped against his lips and he took advantage, his tongue sliding into my mouth. He tasted like coffee and something dark and addictive.

His hand released my wrists. Both hands came to my face, holding me in place as he kissed me like he was trying to devour me.

I kissed him back just as desperately. My hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer even though there was no space left between us.

Reed’s hands dropped to my waist, and slid under my hoodie to find bare skin. The touch of his hands on my overheated skin made me moan into his mouth.

Reed groaned in response, his hands tightened on my waist, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise.

Then he froze, and he pulled back. We stared at each other, both breathing hard. Reed’s eyes were wide, his lips were swollen, and his hands were still under my hoodie, burning against my skin.

“What are you?” Reed whispered.

The question hung in the air between us, and I had no answer that wouldn’t destroy everything.

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