Page 79 of Bound By Song (Evie Quad Omegaverse #1)

“No, you don’t,” she chokes. “You don’t . You said you would bond with me but you won’t even touch me – won’t even look at me when I’m like this. You changed your mind. I’m too much, I’m not enough, I— I can’t—” She cuts off on a gasping sob and curls in on herself like she’s trying to disappear.

I gather her into my arms despite the tangle of limbs and scent and heat. She resists at first, squirming against me with little broken whines, but I hold steady. I always do.

“You are not too much,” I whisper into her hair. “You are everything .”

“You’re a pack,” she sobs. “If one of you doesn’t want me, you’ll all pull away. I know you will. I’ll lose you. I’ll lose everything and I won’t survive it, Dane. I won’t – not after this. Not after knowing what it’s like to belong .”

My chest caves in. Fuck, this girl. This brave , broken, bright little omega who walked into our lives and rewrote every rule I thought I understood.

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I murmur, rocking her slightly. “I thought I was protecting you. I thought waiting made me the safe one, the careful one. But I see now it just made you feel unwanted. And you’re not . You never were.”

She sobs harder.

I reach again for the water, this time guiding it to her lips. “Just one sip for me, baby. Please.”

She shakes her head but I see the way her body sways toward my voice, toward the comfort. “You have to keep drinking through it. Come on. Just a little.”

She takes a sip. Then another. Still crying, but letting me hold the glass. Letting me help .

I press a kiss to her forehead. “I know it hurts. I know it’s all too much right now. But I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I wanted all three of you,” she whispers. “I thought I was finally enough.”

“You are. You always were. I was the one who wasn’t ready. That’s not your fault.”

She hiccups on a sob and I tuck the blankets tighter around her, reach for the toast, breaking off a small piece. “Just a bite?”

She makes a face but takes it. Chews like it’s ash. Swallows with effort. “Don’t want it.”

“I know,” I whisper. “But I’m proud of you anyway.”

More tears spill, silent now, tracking down her cheeks as she lets me feed her another bite, then another. Just enough.

When she sags against me, boneless with exhaustion, I cradle her like she’s fragile crystal.

Because she is .

And she’s mine.

She settles, slowly, against my chest – body still trembling, but the edge of it’s dulled now. Her tears have quieted into little hitching breaths, each one landing warm on my throat.

I shift us, guiding her into my lap, her back to my chest, my arms wrapped around her middle. I murmur into her ear, not even words at first, just soft sounds. Comfort. Presence.

My purr starts low in my chest – instinctive, unconscious.

She gasps a little, shoulders twitching, then melts.

“Oh,” she whispers, and something in her voice cracks open again. “I like that.”

“Yeah?” I nuzzle into her neck, brushing my jaw across the tender skin just behind her ear. “You like when I purr for you?”

She nods. “Feels…safe.”

That’s all I needed.

I press in closer, stroking her belly with one hand, the other cradling her hip. The air hums between us, soft and warm, filled only by my purring and her steady breath.

I tilt my face into the crook of her neck and scent her – long, slow inhales that fill me with her sweetness, now tempered with the ache of need and the fading sting of rejection. I want to wash all of that out. Replace it with me .

So I scent mark her.

I brush my jaw across her pulse point, slow and deliberate. Then again, over her throat, where I feel her swallow hard.

My hand skims under her shirt, not with intent – just grounding. My palm rests over her heart, feeling the echo of mine in time with hers. I press a kiss to the side of her head.

“You’re mine, little omega. And I’m sorry it took me this long to act like it.”

“You’re not leaving?” she whispers. There’s a crack in her voice that breaks me.

“Never,” I promise, lips brushing the shell of her ear. “I’ll be here when you wake up. I’ll be here when the fever passes. I’ll be here after. Always.”

She burrows in closer. “Even if I’m a mess?”

I huff a soft breath, amused and aching all at once. “You think this is messy? Baby, you should’ve seen me after my brother died. I was nothing but broken edges.”

She turns, blinking up at me slowly, eyes soft and red and so open . “What happened to him?”

I don’t answer straight away. I stroke her hip instead, steadying myself.

“I couldn’t save him,” I say at last. “He presented and everything went wrong. The world wanted to make him small. Fragile. He was the strongest person I knew but they still managed to break him.”

She watches me with something like awe. “You don’t have to tell me?—”

“I want to. You deserve to know.”

She nestles under my jaw and waits.

“I thought if I ever let another omega close, I’d break them. That I’d need too much or ask too hard or take something that couldn’t be given. But you…”

I stroke her thigh, gentle. “You keep showing me I was wrong.”

Her hand finds mine and twines our fingers together. “You never asked too much.”

I purr again, deeper now, and feel her whole body react – softening, settling, scenting me back without even thinking. I stroke her cheek, brush her hair from her brow, kiss the corner of her mouth.

I don’t move for a long time.

Just hold her. Just be .

Until her breathing slows. Her body calms.

And her tears are finally, finally gone.

She falls asleep like that – curled into me, face tucked beneath my chin, her body finally loose and still.

I keep purring for her even as she drifts off, and I don’t stop when her breathing evens.

My hand keeps moving, too – stroking her hip, her thigh, brushing the top of her arm. It soothes her. Anchors me.

She’s so fucking beautiful like this.

Vulnerable. Peaceful. Mine.

I don’t know how long we stay like that. Could be minutes. Could be hours. But then I feel it.

A soft sound. Barely more than breath.

Whimpering.

Her hips shift, rocking forward on instinct, grinding her cunt against my thigh where it’s wedged beneath her. Once. Twice.

Then again.

I stiffen, breath catching.

“Evie,” I murmur softly, but she doesn’t wake.

She’s asleep – but her body isn’t . Her scent’s changing, blooming thick and sticky in the air, sugar-slick and flushed with heat. She perfumes the space around us without even meaning to, and it hits me like a fucking freight train.

Need.

I grit my teeth as her bare leg slides over mine again, her cunt catching the muscle of my thigh. She whines again, desperate even in sleep, and rocks once more – frantic now, like her body’s trying to get itself off.

Fuck.

She doesn’t even know she’s doing it.

I press my hand to her stomach, trying to still her, but she gasps softly in her sleep and chases the pressure. I can feel how soaked she is. The slick coating my thigh is unmistakable. She’s feverish again, burning up.

Another whimper. A little sob. And then?—

“Alpha,” she breathes.

My control fractures.

She doesn’t say my name. Doesn’t need to.

It’s me she’s curled around. Me she’s scenting. Me she’s grinding against like she’s starving for friction.

“Fuck,” I whisper, jaw clenched.

I promised I’d wait.

I promised I wouldn’t touch her until she asked.

But this – this isn’t just need. This is pain. She’s suffering .

And I can’t stand it.

“Evie,” I murmur again, brushing her hair back, nuzzling into her temple. “Omega. Wake up for me.”

She moans, eyes fluttering open, glazed and glossy and raw.

“Dane— Hurts?—”

“I know, baby.” I cup her cheek. “You’re burning up again.”

She trembles, rocking her hips helplessly. “Please – just – something. I can’t?—”

I roll us gently, easing her onto her back, my thigh still pressed between hers, my hand stroking down to cup her slick, swollen sex.

She sobs with relief, hips jerking against my palm.

“Shh,” I whisper, kissing her temple. “I’ve got you, little one. Just let me take care of you.”

She nods frantically, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes.

“Okay,” I say softly, voice breaking. “Okay, Evie. I’ll help. I’m here.”

And I mean it.

This time – I won’t hold back.

I lower myself gently over her, keeping most of my weight off as I brace on my forearms. Her breath catches when our chests brush, nipples brushing mine, and she lets out the smallest, neediest sound I’ve ever heard.

“Hi,” I whisper, voice shaking as I brush her hair from her damp brow.

She blinks up at me, lips trembling. “Hi.”

And then she pulls me in.

Our mouths meet softly at first – tentative and warm, all heat and affection and everything I’ve been too afraid to give. Her lips part on a sigh and I kiss her deeper, letting it build. My hand cups her cheek, thumb stroking the soft line of her jaw as her fingers curl into my shoulders.

She tastes like desperation and honey and the sweetness of her scenting heat, and it goes straight to my fucking head.

“Oh, Evie,” I murmur, breaking away only to kiss down the slope of her throat. “You’re so perfect.”

She whimpers and lifts her hips again, grinding slick against my thigh. “Alpha – please. I need you. Don’t stop.”

I shudder, dragging my mouth down her chest, kissing between the swell of her breasts. My hand finds her hip, holding her still as I taste her skin, scenting her all over again.

“I’m here,” I promise, kissing my way back up to her lips. “Not going anywhere. Gonna take care of you, omega.”

She moans at the word, arching beneath me.

“You like that?” I murmur, nosing along her cheek. “Being called mine?”

“Yes.” Her voice breaks. “I need it – I need you .”

I kiss her again, slower this time, pouring everything I’ve been holding back into the way our mouths fit. She’s trembling under me, needy and wet and so heartbreakingly vulnerable, but I feel her strength too – in the way she kisses back, in the way she whispers my name like a lifeline.