Page 24 of Cost of Courting (When it Raines Omegaverse #6)

Chapter twenty-two

Selene

We sit around the kitchen table because this is not a bedroom or porch conversation.

Mael still has hold of one of my hands, but I can feel him tremble every so often.

Bailey is as in the dark as I am, but Edric and Kingston have lost all of their humor.

The grim darkness of their expressions warns me this is not going to be pretty.

In fact, I’ve never seen them look so traumatised or broken as they do right now. What happened to Mael didn’t just affect him, it destroyed all three of them.

“Octavia came into our lives like a whirlwind, remember? She moved here with her mum.”

I grit my teeth, remembering her. She had the kind of tits you’d see on a pinup girl, wide hips, and an ass that guys young and old turned to stare at.

The worst part was she knew what power she had, and she used it as a weapon, bringing guys and girls to their knees around her. Octavia was queen of her world.

We weren’t friends, but she was the only one who’d figured out what I was during a time I was desperate to keep my secret.

“I remember.”

“She set her sights on us, and, though we weren’t interested at first, when she came out wearing that dress, covered in that scent. How could we pass that up? Her only stipulation for agreeing to a pack was that we leave that night.”

“You agreed!” I say wrathfully.

“We did agree. ”

“It was my dress.”

“You never wore dresses, crazy. How were we to know it was yours?” Kingston whispers. “We were stupid.”

“You tried to stop us,” Mael says in a toneless voice. “But we didn’t listen because bonds are important, and we never thought we would have them. We were feral over that scent.”

I try to pull my hand away, but he holds onto it tightly.

“In the car ride, she was quiet but really on edge. It upset Edric, who was the one who I’d had to convince to go along with this. When she demanded we stop at a hotel, I reluctantly agreed.”

Kingston clears his throat. “She wanted clothes and food, wouldn’t stop whining about it, so we took what money we had, and Edric and I went to go get food, while Mael stayed with her. When we came back, they were both gone.”

Kingston pauses, swallowing hard, his fist clenches and unclenches, and it takes him a couple of goes before he can speak past the emotion.

“The hotel manager denies seeing us, the security footage was gone, and we were alone in a place that we’d never been before. And then…” Kingston stops, shaking his head. “No one would even acknowledge Octavia and Mael even existed.”

Edric covers Kingston’s hand and takes over the story.

“And then the pain started. Through our bonds, we could feel him hurting, we could feel his agony. For days that bled into weeks, we searched. We made a deal with some scary people who turned out to be friends, who helped us, and, eventually, we discovered his whereabouts and broke in and rescued him.”

Edric speaks tonelessly, but his knuckles are white, his leg won’t stop bouncing, and he can’t hold eye contact, all signs he’s struggling.

“The man who did this was a big man who didn’t speak often, when he did, he was cold, cruel, and arrogant.

The only thing I know about him is that he had a tattoo of a red and black tiger on his chest. He enjoyed seeing me in pain.

He didn’t want anything from me, just to see me hurt.

I got lucky that they got to me in time.

But, for the next few months, I don’t remember much of anything. ”

Mael squeezes my hand.

“Do you understand me, Selene? I wasn’t human when they pulled me out.”

“When did you realise she wasn’t your scent-matched omega?”

“About the minute we got to the hotel room, but we needed to know where she’d gotten that dress,” Edric says.

“You should have listened to me!” I hiss.

“Yes,” Mael says with pain, sincerity, and eyes that burn into me. “We should have listened, we should have stayed, it all went wrong, and we paid for it.”

“How did he get you from the hotel room? ”

“She gave me a bottle of water. I drank it and passed out within minutes. When I woke up, she was gone, and I was strapped to a chair.”

I can’t do this. I’m going to kill someone, anyone.

I pull away from Mael and rush to the front door, only to be caught by Edric.

“Sel, always hiding. One day, you’re going to step into the light, and no one is going to know what to do with all the dazzle.” He leans in, putting his face in my hair. “Please stop running.”

Kingston glides closer, reaching out with one hand. I want so badly to lean into his palm, but I stop him at the last possible moment.

I turn back to Edric. I watch as his grey eyes get dark, and he closes his hand into a fist and just as slowly removes it. It feels like he’s left a cold void inside me.

Don’t go.

Don’t leave me alone.

I remember screaming those words so loud I couldn’t talk for a week. It didn’t make a difference then.

Would it make a difference now?

I stop in the front yard because a single thought goes through my head. I thought I would never see them again, and it almost killed me, but there was always hope. What if I never saw them again? What if they were gone forever? Could I throw it away?

Tears well in my eyes, tears I’ve hidden and fought back for years. I don’t know what to do. I’m stuck. I can’t move a foot in either direction.

I look up at the steel grey sky with its storm clouds looming. A single drop of rain hits my cheek. It’s icy cold and sends a shock to my system.

I let out a sob and spin around as the skies open. Kingston, Edric, Mael, and Bailey stand on my porch. I’m drenched, the rain washing away the fear.

I don’t care what they did.

I don’t care what happened.

“If you leave me again, I’ll make you suffer. Worse than anything. You’ll never, ever recover.”

Kingston smiles that rare and wondrous smile. It’s the one he reserves for me. The smile I loved so much. They know my mind. They always have and probably always will.

And Bailey, watching. Taking it all in.

“Are you with me?”

The pack look at him.

“Yeah, I’m in, if you’re in.”

I run towards them, soaked and desperate. Edric catches me, lifting me up into his arms. Kingston leans into me from the other side, his hands roaming over my back .

“Never!” Kingston growls.

“We will never leave you again,” Edric says harshly before our lips collide.

We stumble back, hitting the door frame. Drops of water drip from my face when I’m pulled from his arms. I whirl and lean into Kingston, losing myself as he walks me inside the house.

He peels off my top, but then Bailey cuts in. His lips find the spot on my neck, and I keen, my head thrown back, panting as he drags his teeth over it. I reach out, dragging my nails across the wall, only to have him lift me so my toes are just touching the ground and drag me into the lounge.

I moan and fist his hair, dragging his mouth again, only to have him disappear and Mael take up the spot. Somehow, while our eyes are locked, my jeans and underwear are removed, and I find myself naked in front of my alphas.

“Selene, you are perfection itself.”

I tear my eyes from Mael and find Bailey staring at me with a hunger that has me unable to resist.

“You’re ready to stop fighting now?” Bailey murmurs.

I pause for a beat. “Never.”

Mael grabs my wrist as I launch away, swinging me back into him. I swing, but he thumps me down over the back of the couch, kicking my legs apart.

I let out a wild laugh. I can only be myself with them. No one else would understand this need to fight, to be held down, to have this wildness appreciated.

Hands smooth up my back, and one grips my nape, squeezing hard.

“You said you’d stop running,” Mael growls.

I can’t move, he’s got me completely pinned, but I can feel him, hard and thick, pressed against my ass.

“I lied.”

He growls and backs off, which infuriates me. I shove off the couch and follow him.

“Where are you going, Morrow?”

“I don’t want to hurt you-”

I lash out, kicking the side of his leg. He goes down with a roar, but I’m on him before he falls, unzipping his jeans and fishing his cock out.

“Wait!” he growls.

“Why?”

“I shouldn’t be the first, you should-” he looks at the others.

I straddle him and impale myself. It hurts, but then, I knew it was going to, but the pain fades away, leaving me with the stretch and fullness and this feeling of ‘yes, this is what I’ve been missing’ .

I open my eyes to find his black eyes glittering at me.

“Whoops, I slipped.”

Bailey and Kingston get the giggles.

“You’re a pain in my ass, Selene.”

“Not yet, but I can be? Are you into that?” I say seductively and curiously shift my weight. The feeling has me tilting my head back and biting my lip.

I rock against him, little push and pulls, dragging him in and out of me. Mael’s hands find my hips, gripping me and holding me still.

“You want to peg me?”

“Yes!” I’ve never thought about it before, but hell yes. I’d be up for that.

“You can do anything you want to me, crazy girl. I’m yours.”

I stop in my movements and look at him. “You’d let me peg you? Tie you up? Keep you locked up? You’d let me hurt you? You trust me that much?”

I search his eyes because this is important.

“I do.”

The weight of that blind trust is heavy, but it’s freeing. This is the right path. The way to happiness. I’m never letting them go.

“Alpha. Give me your bond.”

Mael’s mouth parts, but I ignore the restless movements behind me.

“Are you sure?”

“You’re my first, you’re my pack. Do it before I change my mind.”

Mael sits up, catching me around my lower back, his fingers splaying across my skin.

“No backsies.”

“Then do it!” I growl and clench around him.

He growls and flips us so he’s pressing me down into the threadbare carpet.

“I almost kissed you here when I was seventeen.”

“My father interrupted. I remember.”

Mael grins. “Just as well. I would have bonded you then.”

“You just keep talking.”

Mael drags his hips back and surges forward. The rush of feeling, the way every inch of him rubs my pussy walls, the smell of us, the feel of my slick everywhere turns this stilted conversation into a tense silence.

We don’t need words, we never have.

His legs stretch my thighs wide open. His hands slide up over my knees and push them even further open before he retreats and pushes back into me.

I gasp at him slamming so deep inside me.

“I’ve fantasised about this forever.”

He pauses in his thrusting, cocking his head to the side.

I grin. “You think I can’t be a thirsty omega? Oh, I’m going to fuck you four until you beg for mercy.”

He shakes his head. “You think that, but I’ve got years of pent up fantasies of my own.”

“Uh-huh, what’s your biggest one?” I whisper.

Somehow, this conversation is taking this to the next level. I pant and grip the back of his neck, holding myself up so I can brush my lips against his.

“Tell me,” I plead.

“I want you…” he pauses and closes his eyes. “I can’t decide. I just want you. Begging me, demanding, wet, needy, in heat, in public, behind close doors, in the rain-”

I slam my mouth to his, kissing him until I feel drunk. “Let’s check one of those off the list. Take me outside.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, let’s make this momentous.”

“Anything for you.”

Mael lifts me up and carries me out the back. The rain is pouring down, creating a grey veil.

“You told me I was yours right here!” Mael says in my ear.

I shiver, but I don’t feel the cold. All I feel is heat.

“You were ten years old, and I couldn’t figure out why you were so important.”

He slams into me, lifting my legs so I’m wrapped around him. Harder and harder, catapulting me somewhere I really want to go. I dig my fingers into his shoulders, drag my teeth over the delicious skin of his neck.

“You were mine then, and you’ve been mine every day since!” I hiss at him.

I sink my teeth into his neck. His response is immediate. He stiffens, throwing his head back and giving me more access. The bond between us feels like a door opens, and, when he bites me, there is no him and me, only us.

I sob into his shoulder as the pleasure from the bonds pushes me into a wave of rapture. He thrusts three times, his jaw tensed tight as he finds his own blissful ending.

He looks down at me.

He doesn’t need to say it.

I can feel it.

I love you.