Chapter 96: Birthday presents III

Noah’s POV

I stare at the man with disbelief as I slowly get off the bed.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"I just told you I snuck out for you, what else do you expect me to say?" he asks, head tilted and brows pinched.

I can never take my eyes off his brows; he has such nice brows.

"I was going to come to you; you didn’t have to sneak out" I say with disappointment in my tone as I shake my head at him.

He doesn’t look like a man who was shot two days ago. He looks strong enough to stand on his own, but it doesn’t take away the fact that he was shot.

"Get dressed" Elias orders and pushes himself off the wall with a kind of ease that shouldn’t be possible for a man in his state.

"Get back to the room, Elias" I say with concern.

"It’s your birthday..." Elias says and takes slow steps into the room. "...and this is my gift to you" he adds in a softer voice and I sniffle.

Damn it.

I was upset about Zane a few minutes ago, now my senses are clouded by Elias, his small hands, and his nice brows.

At the end of the day, I’m no more than a man, am I?

Why fight my dreams?

"So...we get to cuddle?" I ask, pretending to be nonchalant as I open his wardrobe and start to dress up in front of him.

The alpha comes closer to me, and I act unaware. I keep my head down as I focus on tying the drawstrings of his pants around my waist.

"You smell like someone else" he says and I lift my arm to sniff myself.

Oh, right. Elias and his obsession with how I smell.

After my intense cuddle session with Zane, it’s only normal that his sweet apple scent clings to me.

"I cuddled with Zane" I say softly and Elias looks completely unimpressed with me. He holds his hand out for me to take it.

"Let’s go. We’re going to the beach" he says and my eyes widen as I take in his appearance again.

"You can’t go that far like this. We would get caught" I point out the obvious and Elias keeps his hand hanging, waiting in the air for me.

"We’ll run if we get caught" he says and my omega purrs.

It sounds like something out of a coming-of-age movie, but we’re not coming of age. We are two grown men.

"That’s a very bad idea. You’re injured and my ankle is still healing" I say.

"Have you always been this logical?" Elias asks and I nod with pride at the observation.

"Yes, I’ve always been a thoughtful- wait, are you being sarcastic?" I ask when I notice the trembling of his lips.

"I wouldn’t deliberately call you logical, considering how you jumped out a window" Elias says and my jaw drops.

"Goddess, that was one time" I snap, folding my arms and glaring at him.

Just like that, I don’t want him here anymore.

"You can sulk when we return from the beach, let’s go" he says and I stare at his stretched-out hand. It’s trembling, but he keeps it up for me.

"I don’t sulk" I say angrily and take his hand.

"You’re right. You don’t sulk; you throw silent tantrums" he says and takes me to the door. I want to poke his bandaged gun wound just for the fun of it.

Jerk.

We both peek through the door like cartoon spies, and for a moment, I am transported back to age twelve.

I’m the talkative kid trying to make friends with the dark-haired quiet boy.

"Elias?"

"Shhh" he shushes me.

"Elias, do you think..."

"Stop talking" he hisses and pulls me down the hallway. His grip on me is weak, but I follow him like a moth follows a flame

"This is lame" I whisper-yell even though I’m having fun.

His scent is richer now and it’s hard to explain how the unique mix makes me feel.

We get into a car at the gate and the driver looks back with a scowl on his face; it’s Kai Deus.

"I do not support bribery, corruption, or runaway couples" he says dully and starts the car. I’ve never seen one in real life, but I’m sure we’re in a sports car.

I grip the seat as Kai drives us out of the gate and I meet the youngest Deus’s cold blue eyes in the rearview mirror.

He looks like what comes before chaos and death...

"ELIAS!" I scream as Kai zooms down the road.

The speed is unexpected and I hold on to my alpha. Elias sighs audibly while I completely lose my mind.

"HOW ARE YOU SO CALM RIGHT NOW?" I yell as the speed increases to the point where we’re flying on asphalt.

Noah Goldsmith is dead on his birthday. He died while being driven down the road by a maniac. What a way to go.

Thank you, dad, for giving birth to me. Thank you, mom, for existing even though you never showed me affection. I’m sorry Zane for disappointing you.

"MOON GODDESS TAKE ME INTO YOUR ARMS" I scream as the car comes to a stop.

Everything goes silent and I shut my eyes, waiting for the crash to come.

Nothing.

I’m breathing loudly through my mouth, and I’m waiting to know if I’m in hell with the devil or in heaven with the goddess.

"He’s so dramatic" Kai’s dry voice says and I open my eyes.

"Oh, I’m in hell" I whisper.

There is no way any of the Deus brothers would be in heaven with me. Hold on...how did I even end up in hell?

I did everything I should do right. I never cursed or smoked or stole or-

"Are you done panicking?" Elias’s voice asks so close to my ear that I stop breathing for a second.

"Are we dead?" I ask in a shaky voice and the alpha chuckles.

"Eli, come on. You promised you wouldn’t waste my time" Kai whines from the front seat and I get out of the car with Elias.

Once we’re out, Kai zooms off at that criminally high speed.

"I-Is he going to report us to your mom?" I ask as I wave smoke and dust away from my nose and Elias shakes his head.

"I have a deal with him. I won’t tell our mom that he does illegal car races, and he won’t tell our mom that he snuck us out" Elias says.

"Is there any form of normalcy with you people?" I ask and he shrugs.

The alpha starts to walk towards the beach, and I look around in fear. This late, the beach feels very magical.

The air from the water is cooler, the lake is prettier, and the new moon feels like something out of a fantasy movie.

"Everything is pretty cool tonight" I say as I approach Elias who’s standing by the edge of the water.

"You enjoy the beach" he states.

"Yes, very much" I say, sitting on the sand and watching the way the calm water rolls.

"What else would you like for your birthday, Noah?" he asks and I look up at him.

Looking at him from this angle makes me feel butterflies in my belly. He’s so intimidating, but it’s in a way that makes you question your morality.

"A kiss would be nice...I mean...like" I say without thinking, stuttering like a fool and blushing with my own words.

’Again with the self-humiliation, Noah, really?’ I say to myself in my head.

"A kiss. Is that all you want?" Elias asks and squats next to me.

The next word I’m supposed to say gets caught in my throat as he takes my chin in his hand.

I want more than a kiss...but am I allowed to ask for more?

"Is that all you want, angel?" he asks as he tilts my face upwards and my tongue sneaks out to wet my bottom lip.

"No" I breathe out.

"Good" he says and joins our lips together in a kiss.