Page 16 of Match (Damselverse #1)

Chapter sixteen

Penn

“ H alle!”

I call her name in vain as she rushes away from the party, and it takes me a moment to realize where she’s going.

Down into the basement. Back right to where she started.

I don’t think so…

She will not regress. Not after she has come so far. I won’t let that one prick destroy her happiness and comfort.

Halle is safe with us. Even if she will never belong to us or to me…

My Alpha doesn’t quite agree with that last sentiment as he charges forth to comfort the Omega, but then I am stopped by Aiden.

I meet his green eyes.

“Tread carefully, Penn.”

I know what he is getting at. He wants us all to hold Halle at arm’s length and not get too close. After all, she belongs to another pack. She’s another Alpha’s Omega, but my Alpha doesn’t care about any of that.

Because he sees no claiming mark on her neck.

And he smells her rose scent.

He knows she’s his.

Mine.

I rip my arm free of Aiden’s grasp and follow the Omega down into the basement. It's all been refurbished. The whole building has, but I still find her huddled in the corner where her old nest had been, and my heart breaks into pieces when I see the torn expression on her face.

My Omega is lost, and I swallow back an Alpha purr as I step toward her. I need to be Penn right now, not my Alpha.

She doesn’t even have a blanket to keep her warm as she shivers in her tiny cocktail dress, the same one that has taunted me all evening, as I kneel down beside her, shucking off my jacket.

But she shrinks away when I offer it to her, shaking her head. “I can’t.”

“But I insist, Halle.”

She’s too afraid to meet my eyes, but she reaches out her shaking hand, taking my jacket. My heart skips a beat when she brings it straight to her nose, rubbing her cheek all over the tweed material.

Whether or not she wants it, it’s hers. I’d give her all the clothes on my back if it made her content.

The sweet Omega wipes the tears from her freckled cheeks. “S-sorry, I just…had to get away.”

I don’t say anything. I merely stay crouched by her side, giving her a moment.

“I…I suppose you have a lot of questions.”

I shake my head. “No. Whoever that…that individual was, Halle, you don’t have to explain.”

Individual. That’s one way to describe him. His stale piss scent is still smarting my nostrils, and I have to swallow another growl at the mental image of him tainting Halle’s beautiful skin with his grimy paw.

He touched her. His fingers left bruises on her fair skin, and my Alpha rattles in his cage.

If I ever see that bastard again, he’s dead.

“You can tell us when you’re ready.”

I’m not sure what happens next. One moment, she gazes up at me, stunned, with those brilliant eyes of periwinkle blue, and then the next, she’s bawling.

I’m not good with emotions in general, but seeing Halle right now, breaking her heart, crying, twists my gut.

It couldn’t hurt to reach out, right? It wouldn’t be like the last time I opened my heart to someone. Because this girl won’t break it.

It's barely holding itself together, just a mere Band-Aid where old scars remain. If I rip off the Band-Aid, will I bleed all over again?

Will the wound reopen?

In the end, I let my Alpha take the reins, and I finally purr.

The sound vibrates in my chest, and it does something to Halle. The Omega melts, falling straight into my arms, and now she cries against my shirt, soaking it with snot and tears.

Her whole body trembles with the weight of her grief, and I don’t move for a moment, too stunned.

But then my Alpha starts tugging at my arms, and he wraps them around Halle, holding her close.

His purr doesn’t stop. Now it vibrates through Halle, trembling through the marrow of her bones, and her crying soon turns into soft whimpers.

I don’t think. I merely press my nose into her long blonde curls, breathing in her soft rose-petal scent.

My own scent bleeds from my pores, and soon the basement corner fills with the thick scent of peppermint.

Finally, the Omega lifts her face, and her eyes take my breath away. We’re close enough for me to take stock of the patterns of her irises, and her warm breath brushes against my cheeks as my Alpha continues to purr.

However, Penn is feeling very nervous, as it’s been some time since he held a woman this close.

I always was rather reticent, after all.

Halle’s pupils dilate as her gaze falls upon my lips, turning her blue eyes black. She reaches out, brushing her fingers along my bottom lip, her touch feather-light.

My body shudders.

She traces her finger over my top lip, carving out the shape of my Cupid’s bow, and my Alpha purrs deeper.

She wants me. And I want her.

Fuck it. Screw being cautious.

My mouth seizes her lips, and the earth tips on its axis as we share a passionate kiss.

The most intense kiss I have ever experienced. It makes my veins thump and crackle with electricity as I lose my fingers in her hair, scrunching up her curls in my hands.

When her tongue darts into my mouth, I massage it with mine. She not only smells fantastic but tastes it, too.

I lift her in my arms, shoving her hard against the basement wall as I suck on her tongue, stealing the air from her lungs.

Halle shakes off her heels, then brushes her feet up the length of my spine, hooking them securely around my waist. My Alpha likes it when she does that, and he growls inside her mouth, exploring the inside of her teeth with his tongue.

Halle digs her teeth into my lower lip, and I gasp when she draws blood. “Fuck, Halle…”

She steams up my glasses as she flicks her tongue along my face and disappears behind the fog.

My Alpha trembles, and the roots of my fangs throb in my gums as all I want to do is sink my teeth into her throat.

She’s mine.

I will remove that Beta’s piss scent from her skin, destroy any claim that any other pack may have on her as I give her my bite.

I will bring her into the pack.

Dane was right; she is the one for us.

Halle seems to read my mind, and she pushes my face toward her throat, right where her pulse beats beneath.

It's beating for me.

As mine is for her.

Finally, my teeth find their mark, and the throbbing ache in my gums vanishes as I bond her to me. Light blinds me, and our souls tether as the scent of roses fills my mind.

It's Halle, and I tug on her end of the bond, wrapping the tendrils of my mind around her as I entwine us both.

Our souls are finally one, and that was one hell of a trip.

It's even better than all the smutty books I’ve read.

They could never compare…

Well, this certainly isn’t treading carefully. I feel Aiden’s ire on the other end of the bond.

He is pissed because I just made Halle a part of our pack. Dane bristles with hurt and jealousy, and the weight of my actions finally hits me like an anvil.

I failed to discuss it with my pack first.

Mate bonds should always be a matter of pack discussion, and I let Halle go, stepping back.

My teeth marks mar her throat as she gasps for air, her Omega still in a daze as she peers at me lazily.

“Alpha,” she breathes, reaching her small hand out.

But I flinch away as if her hand were the head of a serpent.

What have I done?

Before I do something else I regret, I sweep out the room, past all the guests in my bookstore, and rush into the cool night air.

Aiden and Dane are furious with me, and I have only brought them shame. I bit Halle without seeking their consent first.

I’m the worst pack brother ever.