Page 82

“You could bite me,” I say, giving him a smile which I think is flirty. I don’t know. I haven’t done much in the way of flirting up until now, not with men or women.

“Where?” says Calix, waggling his eyebrows. “Can I bite you right there, above your hip bone? Or maybe that spot.” He points. “Just above your nipple, right there.”

I look down at myself. I should get dressed. But I don’t move. I just touch myself right above my nipple and think about Calix in my arms, his sharp teeth in my skin, cradling his head as he strikes me.

My cock wants to get hard, but it doesn’t. I’m that tired. Wow.

“Okay, guys, we’re all hot for each other,” says Lotus. “That’s obvious. It doesn’t mean we’re not basically in an abusive relationship, though.”

I round on her. “That’s not even true.”

“Isn’t it, though?” She spreads her hands. “I mean, if none of us can control ourselves—”

“You can control us now,” comes Striker’s voice from behind me. “You can stop us if we get triggered. You proved that.”

“Yeah,” she says. “But no one can control me.”

“I mean, that’s not true,” says Striker, pushing past me. He’s about a head shorter than me, and he’s naked, and his skin is light brown and he’s a very attractive man. He touches her shoulder and she looks at him, and he just kisses her, tipping her face back, and we all feel the kiss in the bond, and it makes me happy. I sag into the door jamb, and deep down, I just know everything’s going to be okay if Striker and Lotus are kissing like that.

She pushes him off. “You’re distracting me.”

He brushes her hair away from her face, tucking it behind one of her ears. “Sorry, sweet girl. I can, though. Control you. All of us can. You’ve felt it. Your alphas can take you over. Each of us has the capacity to make you submit. Your omega submits in that way.”

Yeah, he’s right. I know this. When I told her to present at the end of the heat, for instance, I felt it. I felt the alpha power I have over her.

“But no one did,” says Lotus. “Not during the biting frenzy. You all just submitted to me, and I was not good to you.”

“We’re okay,” says Striker.

“You did feed us,” says Calix. “I seem to remember you making us sandwiches. We were all out of our heads, and you wouldn’t even let me hand out the plates. You were like, ‘I can serve you!’”

Lotus blushes, ducking her head down. “But… Calix… you’re not happy.”

“I am,” says Calix.

“But we all heard—”

“I’m reeling,” says Calix. “I’m trying to get myself together. I’m trying to find my footing. I’m not unhappy.” He looks out at everyone but his gaze settles on me. “I don’t want to leave this pack. I love you all.”

“It’s, uh, it’s just backwards with us,” I say in a gruff voice. “Usually, you’d take time to get to know someone before you fell in love with them, but we just fell in love and now we’re trying to get to know each other, and that feels kind of strange.”

“Is it backwards?” says Lotus. “Maybe it’s always that way. You fall in love fast, and then you try to negotiate whether or not you stay in love.”

“Shit,” says Arrow. “That is exactly my fucking marriage.”

“But in any other relationship, you could leave,” says Lotus.

“We can leave,” says Arrow. “It would hurt, but if it was necessary, any of us could. We’d find a way. We’re all staying because we want to be here.”

“Are we?” says Lotus. “I mean, I do. I want you, all of you. I never felt complete, not my whole life, until I had you, my beautiful, wonderful, amazing alphas. I’m… I need you.” Her eyes fill with tears. “But if I hurt you, and you wanted out—”

“Not me,” I say. “You’re…” I look around at all of them. “I never felt like this before, you know? I didn’t think I’d like it, but I do.”

“I’m all in,” says Arrow. “It’s worth it.”

Striker nods. “Oh, me, too. I’m in. Definitely worth it. Hell, I had committed to a life of celibacy, so if you think I’m going to be freaked out by a little domineering sex, you’re crazy. It’s still sex, right?” He smirks.

“Yeah,” says Lotus, “but you could have sex—”