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Since most of his food was spoiled, that evening we ordered Thai food and drank red wine.

“Your home is gorgeous,” I said, taking in all of the fully maintained old century details and refined decorating. But then again, I expected no less from Elias. The male had great taste.

A photo of the pack I’d seen in Cam’s cabin was framed on the mantel, and it made me smile. Regardless of how selfish Elias seemed or how far away he moved, he still made sure they were a part of his life, and it made me feel settled. It also made me realize we didn’t have any pictures of the six of us, now that Julian and I were pack mates.

We’d need to remedy that ASAP.

He purred his thanks, pleased I liked his home. It was so endearing how my pack found such pleasure in providing for me, and I scooted in closer to his side.

“It’s hard to believe you live here alone. Isn’t it a lot of work taking care of a big house?” I asked. Cleaning out Mike’s two-bedroom condo had reminded me how little space I needed to feel happy, perhaps due to my instinct towards nesting. Even with just the two of us, it had been more than enough.

Elias’s townhome, meanwhile, rivaled Cam’s in size, and could easily accommodate our whole pack, yet he lived here all by himself.

He shrugged, swallowing a bite of pumpkin curry. “Not really. Besides, when I was in the market, I wasn’t interested in a bachelor pad or starter home. Settling down and having a ton of pups has always been my goal, and I wanted to be prepared.”

My eyes widened in surprise at the mention of having a “ton” of kids, and I choked on my pad see ew. Elias laughed and handed me my wine. “Only if that’s something you want, too, of course.”

Mike and I had talked about starting a family. He had been very enthusiastic about having sons, and at the time it had always bugged me because I had to remind him that daughters were not only a possibility, but would also be great, too. Now that I knew he was a vampyr, I realized at least that expectation hadn’t been born from sexism but biology, since he could only have male offspring.

Thinking about kids by myself, though, without the influence of a partner? I was on the fence. Growing up, I’d thought my father was a deadbeat who’d never loved me, so kids seemed like a risk. The most loving husband and father could still walk out the door on a whim, and even after everything you do for them in your partner’s absence, they could still blame and resent you, a la my brother.

But now it seemed like that hadn’t been the case at all. My father had left to protect us, secretly funding our lives so my mom wouldn’t have to work and expose herself more than necessary to whoever hunted us.

I hadn’t had a chance to check in with myself and how I felt about kids since then.

“How does that work with a pack? Do I have a kid with each of you, which wow,five… or do we just roll the genetic dice during my heat and see what happens?”

A flash of lust sparkled in Elias’s eyes, and he put down his glass to pull me into his chest, sniffing my neck. “According to Archer’s research…”

I chuckled. I’d heard about theOmegas for Dummieshandbook he’d made for the pack when they met me. Shifters were social creatures, learning by observing others. So without any current alpha-omega packs for us to model our relationships after, we’d been forced to rely on stories and guides that were a hundred years out of date and attempted to balance them with modern sensibilities.

“It depended on what worked best for the pack—alphas could raise whatever pup their omegas birthed, treating each of them as their own. Or an alpha could claim ‘breeding rights’ during a heat, meaning he would be the only one to mate with the omega in her cycle to ensure paternity. Then the rest of the alphas would take on more of an uncle role in the pup’s life.”

My breath caught in my chest as he took off my sweater and his lips began caressing his bond mark. I certainly didn’t have a breeding kink, but talking about this had put Elias in an undeniably sexy mood and I was happy to see where it went. “Is that what you want? To be the only one in my nest during my next heat?”

His teeth scraped against my delicate skin, making my nipples harden and sending a trickle of slick into my underwear. My bra came off next. “Marlowe, I want to be the only one in your nest all the time. I want you to beg for my cock like the desperate, wanton little omega you are, and then I want to fill you with so much of my cum, you’ll never birth a pup that isn’t mine.”

I gasped, my underwear becoming absolutely soaked. “Holy shit, Elias…”

He pushed me down on the couch and unbuttoned my pants. “I want to eat your pussy on my couch,” he growled. “I want to fuck you in my bed, in my house.”

In San Francisco, we’d made love slowly and sweetly. Taking our time to explore each other’s bodies and gently build to soul-melding orgasms.

But being in his own space had turned him possessive again, just like when he’d asked me to come down here. He was feeling needy. Greedy.

Dominating.

He pulled my jeans and underwear completely off, spearing me with his tongue as the garments hit the floor. I held onto his hair with one hand and the side of the couch with the other as he feasted with wild abandon, like a man starved. “I want to watch your belly grow with my pup,” he sighed, moving his concentration to my clit.

My back arched in pleasure, and he groaned at the feeling of my nails digging into his scalp. His fingers pushed inside me, pressing against my G-spot. “Fuck, right there, don’t stop…” I cried.

I closed my eyes and succumbed to the pure skill and ecstasy of his ministrations, coming loudly and suddenly. I didn’t even have time to catch my breath before he raised himself to my face and grabbed me around the throat. “Tell me you’re mine,” he demanded.

“I…I’m yours,” I panted, feeling his grip tighten.

“With my name!”

“I’m yours, Elias.”