Page 22

22

Luther

The need to reclaim my Omega thrums through me, my cock already hard, pressing tight against my pants, my body riding the high of finally getting him back. Every inch of me screams to mark him again, to remind him exactly who he belongs to. But there’s more than just need twisting in my gut—there’s rage, there’s relief, there’s the undeniable ache of how close we came to losing him.

I slide into the passenger seat, barely getting the door shut before Luca’s arms tighten around my neck, his nose dragging along my throat, my jaw, and my collarbone. His breath is shaky, uneven, thick with emotion, and then he’s sobbing, tears soaking my shirt, fingers clutching at me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear.

Grayson slips into the driver’s seat, but he doesn’t immediately start the car. He turns toward us, a surge of emotions rolling through the bond. He reaches out, running his hand down Luca’s back, then presses his forehead against Luca’s temple. We just sit there for a while, holding him, letting him cry, letting him press himself so deep into our skin that it feels like he’s trying to crawl inside. My fingers run through his hair, my other hand stroking up and down his side. Grayson keeps his touches soft, lips brushing Luca’s temple, his thumb tracing circles along his hip.

After a while, I press my mouth to his ear, murmuring low as not to spook him. “What really happened, sweetheart?”

Luca sniffles, his fingers digging in even tighter. His breath shudders out of him, his whole body wracked with his sobs. "I—I couldn’t wait any longer." His voice cracks, breaking like glass. “Hudson was coming to get me.”

Hudson had mentioned he had stepped into Hearthstone but not that he had been looking to retrieve Luca, going around the official statement that had taken Luca from us in the first place. I have no words. Just rage. Pure, unfiltered rage.

Grayson is just as bad, both of our purrs a mixture of a growl and needing to calm the storm running through our Omega. He’s still ugly crying, shaking in my arms, slowly calming the louder my purr becomes. “There was a Beta,” he whispers. “Wilson. He helped me. He said I wasn’t the first Omega Hudson had messed with.” His voice hitches, thick with fear, with something too broken to piece back together. “That I wouldn’t be the last. He said most of the Omegas Hudson took never showed up again.”

Ah my beautifully tortured Omega, I’m going to ruin the world for him. Hudson is on my shit list but so is every other person involved with this bullshit. I drag him into a fierce kiss, loving the way he immediately settles against me. “It’ll be okay,” I murmur against his mouth, my fingers threading through his hair. “I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

Luca swallows hard, blinking up at me, eyes still red-rimmed and glassy from crying. He nods, but there’s something hesitant in the way he does it, like he’s still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I run my thumb over his cheek, tilting his chin up so he can’t avoid my eyes. “So the bite is gone?”

A slow exhale leaves him, his lips parting, relief washing over his features in a way that makes my chest ache. “I can’t feel him anymore,” he whispers. “It’s perfect.”

I lightly sweep my fingers over the bandage on his neck, feeling the raised skin beneath it. It’s a clean removal, nothing jagged or sloppy. Someone knew exactly what they were doing. I keep my touch gentle, but my jaw tightens. “We couldn’t feel you when they took you to Hearthstone, sweetheart. It was like you just… vanished. And away from the others, I had no idea what had happened to you.”

“That place was like a cage,” he says, his voice quieter now. “They preached about wanting to help battered Omegas, but it was everything but that. They were erasing our connections to our pack. It felt so lonely. I couldn’t feel you and then when I found out Hudson was coming…”

“We’ll figure everything out later,” I tell him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Right now, I want to get you home, because Blake needs you probably even more than me.”

Luca softens in my arms, his whole body melting against me, tension draining out of him. A sleepy smile tugs at his lips. “He’s going to be so beautiful,” he murmurs, his voice laced with warm affection. His nose nudges at my throat, his breath ghosting over my skin. “I can smell him all over you.”

That makes me chuckle, a low rumble in my chest. Blake’s scent is everywhere on me, his neediness seeping through the bond, Luca starting to wriggle in my lap and when his scent sweetens mixed with his arousal, I know that if we don’t head home, I’m going to fuck him in the car. Grayson is on the same wavelength, peeling down the road as I drop my nose to our Omega’s head, realizing that there’s something different about him. It’s still that ocean summer scent, salty and fresh, but there’s a new note there, something I can’t quite place.

I have my suspicions but don’t question it, just holding him tighter until we reach the condo. We still need to have a discussion, to figure out everything surrounding Luca and Hudson but that’ll have to wait. The moment the car comes to a stop, Luca is trying to climb out of the car. I just laugh, watching him scramble to the elevator and wonder when he’ll figure out that he doesn’t have the keys.

Grayson falls in step with me, his gaze firmly trained on our Omega. “I’m not going to be able to hold back. I need my mark on him for real, Luther.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t already bitten him.”

Grayson lets out a slow breath. “The time wasn’t right. None of us were in the right headspace. But that changes.” His eyes flick to mine and then back to Luca whining for us to move faster so he can go see his ‘Bear’. “Luca is ours, Luther. Regardless of the charges. Regardless of the bullshit everyone else throws our way. We already know that.”

“And if they rule that since the removal of his bite was illegal, that he’s still Hudson’s?” I know where I stand. Luca is mine, regardless of anything else but I won’t be angry if Grayson feels differently. The way his brows furrow, I know that he doesn’t.

“I don’t give a fuck. I’ve waited too fucking long for this and I’m done waiting for our happy ending to just happen. Now, I’m taking it.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”