Hunger

Chapter Six

Jackson resisted the urge to speak or even move as Luca appeared suddenly at his side.

Luca didn't even appear to realize what he was doing. Not that Jackson was going to correct him or scare him off. He wasn't sure why he liked Luca being so close. Maybe it was that delicious earthy scent that wafted off him?

He tried not to think about it. Tried not to think about the fact that he bought the omega for his scent. That he wanted Luca to stay here. In his home. In his room. With his clothes on.

Gods, that had been embarrassing. He'd actually growled at the sight of Luca wearing Jacob's clothing. It made him angry to think that another alpha was wrapping their scent around him, even his own brother.

He didn't want to care. Didn't want to think about it, or that Luca smelled good, and looked good, and his husky voice gave him chills. Fuck, he so did not have time for this guy, and yet his brain was already trying to come up with ways to keep Luca near.

Still, he savored having Luca at his side, sniffing at the food.

It worried him that Luca lived solely on nutritional drinks. Those things weren't meant to be lived on. They weren't meant to be someone's sole source of sustenance. Luca needed fats and proteins. He wanted to sit Luca down and feed him until his belly was full and he couldn't eat anymore. He wanted to take care of him, and damn his alpha side for wanting to tend to an omega in need.

Because that's all it was, he told himself sternly. Yup. Just the biological need of an alpha to tend to an omega. Nothing more, nothing less. He was a doctor, and Luca was his patient. Yup. Completely professional.

As mom would say-- liar, liar, your calvin klein jeans are on fire. He almost laughed at something his mother always thought was a real hoot. The first time she'd said it to him, he'd been a teenager and he'd reacted in absolute disgust. How cheesy. Did she think she was being cool? No, she'd just wanted to wring a smile out of him because his teenage angst had been tough to deal with for both of them.

As an adult, he valued that silly saying.

Sobering a little at the thought of his mother, he finished cooking the meal, watching Luca drift around the kitchen, clearly just so he could follow the wafts of smell off the food. Finally, the meal was done and Jackson hated that intense swell of pride he felt as he approached Luca at the counter, who was sitting all eager, waiting for food.

He set the plate in front of the omega and goddamn did he want to reach down, cut his meat, and feed it to him. He wanted to give Luca only the best pieces, the juiciest. He wanted to make sure that each potato was cooked to perfection before Luca took a bite. Shit, he wanted to feed him.

But he stepped back instead, watching Luca not even bother to pick up the silverware. The omega tore into the meat with his hands, his teeth ripping right through the tender flesh, revealing its perfectly medium-rare cook on the inside. Luca didn't appear to be in the mood to savor the culinary genius it took to make the meal, because he was practically inhaling every bite.

It made sense, Jackson thought grimly. The guy clearly hadn't eaten in a while. And before that? Just drinks? Yeah, no. The guy needed a steady healthy diet. And probably a fucking therapist, but trying to bring that up with someone like Luca was just not possible. Luca was clearly set in his ways.

It annoyed Jackson. Didn't the guy want to better himself? Didn't he see a brighter future for himself? It was almost like the guy was so depressed, he didn't care what happened in life as long as he was still breathing. That was all that mattered.

And there was a difference, a huge difference, between surviving and living. And Luca clearly wasn't living.

"So, where do you live then?" Jackson asked. Luca cut him a glare over his glass of water before he stuffed a warm buttery roll in his mouth.