Resistance

Chapter 5

"You. I want you."

The words left my mouth before I knew I was even saying them. The truth spilling out of me, unbidden. For a brief moment that couldn't have lasted longer than a few seconds, an overwhelming sense of peace cocooned me in warmth. Everything was as it should be. I was wrapped in my alpha's arms with his scent flooding my senses. So good. So right. There was nowhere else I wanted to be but right here with him. Then reality caught up and pierced through the blissful haze, bringing with it the fear I had felt since I saw my mother die before me. The fear that warped and distorted everything until it was all there was. The arms around me no longer felt right, because they weren't supposed to be there. This wasn't supposed to be happening. I was losing control again.

"No," I said, stumbling back and shaking my head. "I can't... can't do this."

"Levi, wait."

"No, you don't understand. I made her a promise. I promised her..." I was weak yet again, my need for him draining me of strength as my body readied itself for mating. I was submitting, despite the fear. Why was this happening? Why couldn't I fight it? I didn't understand.

Eren took a step toward me, slow, careful, and then I was in his arms again. It felt so good, so safe, but at the same time, so wrong and dangerous.

"Don't," I whispered, trying to push him away with arms that were too frail. I was at his mercy. Again. "Please. I can't."

"I know that. I can sense your fear. You're frightened, but not of me. You're scared of what I am; of what I can take away from you." He touched the side of my neck in a gentle caress, right over my scent gland. "You don't want to be marked. Even when your scent is telling me you're submitting, you don't want me as your mate. You don't want any alpha, but I'll prove myself to you. I don't care how long it takes."

I looked up at him, our eyes meeting. "How?"

"I know words are meaningless to you. No matter how many times I tell you that I won't hurt you, you don't believe me. So I'll show you." He tilted my head to the side, and before I knew what was happening, his lips were skimming over the spot that he would have to bite to make me his. I froze, my heart pounding hard enough to make my chest hurt. No. "You must realize by now how hard it is for an alpha to resist an omega that has chosen them as their mate. Every fiber of my being is telling me to mark you, to make you mine, but I resist, because I know that's not what you want. I can feel your rejection."

"I—I don't understand. How can you feel my rejection when I'm submitting?" I asked.

He leaned back. "There's more to you than just being an omega. Just as I am more than an alpha. Our instincts dominate who we are, but you and I, we've been fighting our instincts for a long time now. You may not believe me when I say this, but what got me interested in you wasn't the fact that you were an unmarked omega. I became interested in you when you stood before an alpha in rut and didn't cower to your instincts. That's the guy I want to get to know." He pressed his lips to my scent gland again, breath hot on my skin as he said, "That's the guy I want desperately. So tell me, will you give me a chance to prove myself to you?"

With all the strength I could muster, I put my hands on his shoulders and shoved him backwards. There wasn't enough force behind it to make him move, but he stepped back anyway.

"Is that your response?" Eren asked, the pain evident in his voice.

I shook my head and then raised my wrist to rub it against my neck. Although I'd been marked by him minutes ago, I knew that my scent was hidden underneath his. This was my test. Alphas were the ones that marked and claimed. Took. Throughout my life, I had never once seen an alpha let an omega scent mark them in return. It went against their nature. Even Farlan didn't let Isabel scent mark him, and he loved her and let her claim him. So if Eren truly wanted to prove to me that he wasn't like any other alpha, then this was the first step in the right direction.