Page 9 of Brave New Omega, Part 2

Chapter 9

LOREN

K atie kicks Max and me out of her room so she can shower. I don't blame her. Two Alphas panting at her heels would be a lot after the day she's had. Hell, after the last week and a half. Has it only been so few days since the Omega crashed into our lives?

There's a warmth to her this morning, her omnipresent reservation slowly ebbing away like an unwanted tide. Max jogs upstairs for a shower while I descend to the kitchen to make coffee and set out a light breakfast. Once I know my Omega has been fed, I can catch a quick shower. Besides, we could all use a liberal dose of caffeine after last night.

"Have fun?" Callum leans against the counter, his body slick with sweat. He's in running gear, his shirt plastered to his chest. His lime and green bough scent, mixed with salty sweat, is a heady aroma. I just climbed out of my Omega's bed, out of my Omega, and yet looking at my Alpha, I'm already half-hard again. He's seeping pheromones into the kitchen, smelling of frustration and desire and need .

"You could have joined us," I say, my pupils dilating. I can feel the response, the way my Alpha can make me hot.

"No," he grunts, not meeting my gaze. Instead, he stalks through the kitchen to the fridge, pulling out a chilled refillable water bottle. He takes a deep drag, before looking me over.

"She's trying to adjust—"

"She's not ready for me," Callum says, shaking his head.

I snort. No, he's not ready for her. Not ready to trust her. And after last night…that will take more time. Time to rebuild. But I know him. Fuck, I know Callum Murphy better than he knows himself. He wants her, is mad with lust for the thing he cannot have. And he will punish himself with the wanting.

I crowd into his space, not letting him sweep out of the kitchen as I know he wants to do. He wants to stomp upstairs and sulk. Maybe coax me to his bed, to give in to his little tantrum. His nostrils flare, eyes blowing out faster than I've ever seen them. He can smell her scent all over me. This close, as I cross the remaining feet between us, he can smell not just her perfume, but the musk of her release all over my skin.

"Do you smell that, Alpha?" I murmur, my voice growing husky. "Do you smell your Omega all over me? Do you smell how good we are together?"

Callum growls, an almost feral sound escaping his lips.

"You could have this," I say, grabbing his sweat-soaked shirt. "You could have all of this. All of us, together. But you have to decide to come and get it."

He snarls, grabbing my wrist and yanking my hold free. Before I can twist him out of my grasp, he's forced me back against the counter, leaning into my face, his hard body pressed against mine.

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot have, Loren."

He grabs my face, pressing his lips against mine in a punishing kiss. His tongue sweeps into my mouth, plundering me. Oh, but he knows I like it, like that he's the only one I let dominate me like this. That to him alone I have submitted. Well, him and my Omega.

He pulls away with an anguished groan. "You taste like her." He licks his lips, eyes bright with unnamed emotions I know he'll ignore and just shove down to whatever lockbox he's built inside himself.

"You like it," I purr, pressing him back against me, holding the long hard length of him against my hips.

His face contorts, first with longing, then with anger.

"I will have my Omega when she's ready for me. If she's ready for me."

"And me?" I cup his face in my hands. "How will you have me?"

He growls, sliding his hand down my trousers, already loose on my hips, and cups my balls, holding them in a firm grip. He could hurt me, could use pain to gain his dominance. But I know Callum. He won't give me pain that I don't ask for, won't force me beyond my own limits. I trust him with more than my own life. I trust him with my heart.

"You taste like her ," he growls again as he nips at my neck. I swallow. If I had been a Beta, he would have bitten me there, right above my thrumming pulse. If I had been born anything other than an Alpha, his bonding hormones would have linked us together in an unbreakable tether.

But I'm a Alpha—a disappointing one if my father has anything to say about it. And Alphas can't bond with one another; our bodies reject the link. We'd tried, after the Army, and the early heady days of being a pack of two. The only way Callum and I could share that link would be through a Beta or Omega we both bonded.

It always felt crude—like using a third person to complete something between us. But now that I've had Katie, now that I've shared her with Max easily and without an ounce of competition between us, and now that I’ve felt each flutter of her pussy around me, fallen asleep to her steady pulse, I want her as much as I've ever wanted Callum. I want them, hearts beating in step with mine. Hell, I want Max there too, his lightness and joy swirling around us until we are one unit, one pack .

"She tastes good, Cal," I breathe. "We taste good together."

And he could have us, if he let himself.

"I can't," he says in a whisper. "Not yet. I'll hurt you both."

He peels himself off me, eyes stormy as the western sea, as he retreats upstairs.

I close my eyes, his scent thick on my body, mingling with Katie's, and I know I would happily give everything for them.