Page 73 of In Deep

“You wanna talk,” Zane says, grabbing my hand, “let’s talk.” He speeds off through the crowd, tugging me along behind him, Duncan shielding my body from behind. We cross the dance floor, revellers scattering to make way for the two large alphas and their companion, pass the booths in the dark corner of the club, and slip straight through a door marked ‘Private’.

“We’re not allowed in here.”

Duncan gropes the wall until he finds a switch to flick. Low light reveals a small office, paperwork stacked on a desk and a safe in one corner.

“And who’s going to stop us?” asks Zane as Duncan shuts the door and turns the key waiting in the lock. Zane swivels around the leather chair tucked under the desk and points to it. “Sit,” he commands, my legs dropping me into the seat.

I cross my arms over my chest again and scowl up at him.

“Are you seriously jealous, sugar?”

“Who were they?”

“Just some girls I know from my course. We are allowed to talk to other girls, sugar.” He smirks at me.

“It looked like more than just talking to me.” We’ve never had the conversation about exclusivity, about where this relationship is going. We’ve been happy to see where the tide takes us. Now I see this was a mistake. I don’t want my alphas sleeping with other women. I want them for myself.

No, I want more than that. I want to be theirs. I want to be their omega. Their pack omega.

“If anyone should be jealous here, it’s us. That dress is sinful, and here you are in a club without us, for any alpha to just come along and pinch you from under our noses.”

“For fuck’s sake,” I snap, “I’m not your property.”

“No, Omega. You’re not.” Zane rests his hands on either arm of my chair, caging me in, and leans in level with my eyeline. “And we’re not yours.”

I turn my head away from him, giving my best sulking face. “And what if I want to be? What if I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine? It can’t happen, can it, because of Seb.” My voice falters and I peer back at him.

He pinches my chin and twists my face back around. My eyes are drawn to his instantly and my body wilts, defiance leaking from me.

His voice is almost a whisper when he speaks.

“You’d like to be ours?”

I nod and his eyes flash.

“Let’s be clear here, Omega,” he says, our eyes locked on one another’s. “You’d like us to sink our teeth into your gland as we sink our cocks into your cunt? You want us to make you ours?”

I close my eyes. My body shakes violently, and I can’t make it stop. “Yes,” I say.

The music from the club pounds against the door. The floor vibrates.

“Be honest with me, Zane,” I whisper. “It can’t happen, can it? Not unless all of you want me in the pack.”

His touch softens on my jaw, and he strokes the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. I can sense Duncan’s presence and when my eyes flick upwards, I find him standing next to my chair, his hand brushing through my hair.

“It doesn’t matter that I want to be yours, does it?” The words catch in my throat. “Seb doesn’t want me.” The hand under my hair twitches, and I know I’m right. “Be honest with me, please? You said we should always be honest with one another.”

Zane sighs and his fingers caress the soft side of my jaw.

“We made a pact after Pippa left. The pack promised we’d never let an omega come between us again.”

“I don’t understand …”

Zane looks up to Duncan.

“You have to know,” Duncan says, “that Seb is different from the rest of us. He doesn’t have the money or the family connections. He worked hard for his place at this college. And he demands that hard work, that discipline, of all of us.”

“Yes, you told me that before–”