Chapter 5

Chapter Five

By the end of the month, Royce was at his wits’ end. Being married to an alpha was challenging in ways he hadn’t expected. The smell of a strange alpha in his house, on his territory, was incredibly aggravating, no matter how much he had grown to like Haydn. Wherever he went, every room seemed to stink of the other alpha’s scent, which made him embarrassingly snappish and growly. It was fucking mortifying.

Haydn seemed sympathetic to his plight, but he didn’t seem to have the same problem at all. It was probably easier for him because he didn’t regard Cleghorn as his territory. For him, he was only sharing a roof with another alpha, nothing more.

“All right, that’s enough,” Haydn said one morning.

Royce lifted his gaze from the document he was studying on his tablet—or rather, pretending to be studying, trying to distract himself from the fact that the small dining room stank of the other alpha.

Haydn sipped his drink before setting his cup down. “We can’t go on like this,” he said. “If we do, you’re going to snap. Get up.”

Royce narrowed his eyes. He didn’t appreciate being given orders. Who did he think he was, ordering him in his own house—

He cut off that train of thought. This wasn’t him. He wasn’t this territorial caveman.

Royce got to his feet and breathed deeply, trying to relax his knotted-up muscles. It really couldn’t go on like this. Other people in the Senate were starting to take notice of his snappish attitude. Before long, there would be rumors that there was something wrong with his marriage, which was the last thing they needed to keep this shaky peace.

“Come here,” Haydn said softly, as if knowing how close to snapping he was.

Royce stalked forward and stopped by Haydn’s chair.

Looking him in the eye, Haydn swallowed and tilted his head to the side. Baring his neck.

Royce tensed up. Haydn hadn’t offered him his throat again since that first night. That other time had been instinctive, in response to Royce’s anger. This was deliberate. Haydn was doing it because he wanted to help him. He must have been forcing himself, fighting his own instincts for Royce’s sake. It was incredibly generous.

And it was exactly what Royce needed to placate the alpha in him.

He leaned down and shoved his face against Haydn’s bared throat, rubbing his nose against the scent gland, his pheromones pumping out like crazy, until all he could smell on Haydn’s skin was him, Royce.

He could feel Haydn stiffen at first before slowly relaxing. Fingers came up to thread through Royce’s hair.

“Better?” Haydn murmured as Royce finally relaxed, just scent-marking him lazily.

“Yes,” Royce said gruffly, embarrassed that he even needed this. Millions of years of evolution, and yet he was little better than the animal he was descended from. He lifted his head and straightened. He felt calmer than he’d felt in weeks. “Thank you.”

Haydn nodded with a small, crooked smile. “Anytime. Seriously, anytime. We can’t have you exploding and making people talk. Gossip-mongers look for any little reason to blow things out of proportion.”

Royce grimaced. It was true, unfortunately. There were already people questioning their marriage because they didn’t make public appearances often. “Speaking of gossip, it’d help if we were seen together. What about dinner tonight? I know a great restaurant I think you’d like.”

“All right,” Haydn said. “I think I’ll be done with paperwork by six in the evening.”

Royce frowned. “Your father is still punishing you for not returning to Pelugia? How old is he, five? That’s just childish.”

Haydn laughed, but Royce could sense his mirth wasn’t entirely genuine. “He doesn’t like it when I disobey his orders. I had to tell him I would be home within the next five days.”

Royce kept his face carefully neutral, even though he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. As much as Haydn’s alpha scent all over the house drove him nuts, he couldn’t imagine returning home and Haydn not being there. The thought was… strange.

“We’ll talk about it in the evening,” he said, glancing at his watch. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“I’ll be sure to wear my prettiest dress,” Haydn said with a laugh.

Royce smiled back. He liked how generous with his smile and easy to laugh Haydn was. He was… fun to be around. For an alpha, he was quite easygoing and laid-back. It made living with him far less painful than it could have been. “You’ll always be the prettiest for me,” he deadpanned.

Haydn grinned and blew him a mock kiss.

Royce’s hands twitched. He turned swiftly and strode out of the room.

This… playful behavior never failed to agitate him. Haydn was that way with everyone. He flirted with Belinda, he flirted with Royce’s mother, he flirted with their employees—and he flirted with Royce. He didn’t mean anything by it; it was just the way he was. Haydn genuinely liked people and it was just a bit of fun for him. Royce knew it.

It still put him on edge. He… didn’t mind when Haydn was that way with him. It was ridiculous, but it was… tolerable.

But as soon as Haydn fixed his baby blues on someone else and smiled at them, Royce could barely stop himself from kicking him out of the house. Maybe it was his instincts acting up again, reacting to a strange alpha charming his people in his house. But it was immensely frustrating. Haydn was immensely frustrating. Haydn was—

Enough, he told himself, running a hand over his face. He spent too much time thinking about Haydn and being frustrated about him. He was obsessing. Enough, dammit.

***

The dinner was a rousing success. They were papped together, and Royce even managed not to get too aggravated by Haydn’s scent. The one time he got somewhat snappish, Haydn simply looked him in the eye across the table and bared his throat a little. That appeased Royce’s instincts well enough. He obviously couldn’t scent-mark him when they were in public—betas rarely scent-marked anything, so that would just look odd—but the mere sign of submission soothed Royce’s raw nerves.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Royce said as they left the restaurant. He opened the door of the helicopter for Haydn and followed him inside, ignoring the flashes of cameras.

“Do what?” Haydn said, stretching in the seat.

Royce eyed him sourly. He did look exceptionally “pretty” tonight, his smoky gray suit making his laughing blue eyes pop. Everyone at the restaurant had stared at him.

“Make yourself submit,” Royce said as the helicopter took off. He kept his voice quiet, mindful of their pilot despite the partition separating them from him. This new model of helicopter produced very little noise. It was really more of an aircar like those used on the Inner Core planets, and nearly as quiet.

Haydn cocked his head to the side, his long, muscular body stretching slightly as he yawned. “I don’t know,” he said, sounding a little thoughtful. A little surprised. “I guess I’m just used to living under another alpha’s roof and curbing my own instincts in order not to rub him the wrong way.” He scrunched up his nose in a funny way. “Though my father definitely never needed to scent-mark me.” He looked at Royce. “Why are you getting worked up again?”

Realizing that the air was full of his pheromones, Royce flushed. “I’m not sure,” he said stiffly. He could hardly tell Haydn that he… didn’t fucking like the thought of Haydn submitting to any alpha but him. It sounded bizarre even in his own head. It was none of his business what Haydn did in another alpha’s house.

Haydn sighed and bared his throat. “All right, c’mere.”

Royce didn’t need to be told twice. He shoved his face against Haydn’s scent gland and rubbed his nose into it, needing to put his scent on him.

“I used to have a shocat when I was a child,” Haydn murmured. “You’re just like him.”

“I can stop if this is making you uncomfortable,” Royce said, his eyes closed as he replaced Haydn’s aggravating scent with his own.

“No, it’s okay,” Haydn said. “Just a little weird. My head feels funny when you pump out so much pheromones.”

Having gotten permission not to move, Royce spent the rest of the flight with his face buried in Haydn’s neck. Haydn didn’t seem to mind, talking about some Pelugian issues his father had him solving from a distance. Royce listened with half an ear, knowing that Haydn didn’t mind his inattention. He just needed to vent a little.

By the time they arrived at Cleghorn, Royce was completely calm. He pulled away and helped Haydn get out of the helicopter.

Laying a hand on Haydn’s shoulder, he steered him inside the house, toward his bedroom.

“I know where my room is, Royce,” Haydn said, sounding amused.

Royce dropped his hand. “Sorry,” he said, frowning, baffled by his own behavior.

Haydn chuckled, laying a hand on the door handle and turning his head to smile at Royce. “Good night, honey.”

Royce’s lips twitched. “Good night.”

Haydn entered his bedroom and shut the door.

Royce was left staring at it, his body crawling with a strange kind of agitation. He stared at the spot Haydn had just been in and shook his head to himself, feeling oddly off-balance. The corridor seemed a lot quieter and darker all of a sudden. It was inexplicable.

He turned and headed to his own room.

Some content on the website is uploaded by users. If it infringes on your rights, please contact us.