Page 14

MARLOWE

There wasn’t too much I needed to pack—mostly clothes, accessories, and books. Then there were a few pieces of art I wanted to keep, plus a cute side table I’d bought with my first paycheck from the Treasure Island Flea Market, and of course, my mom’s urn.

I tossed Ezra’s in the garbage.

Everything else was Mike’s. I debated taking one of his old hoodies, but then decided I didn’t want any mementos. What we had would forever be tainted by how it ended.

Once everything was parceled up and shipped back to Wisconsin, we headed to the airport to board our flight to Chicago.

Spending those two days in San Francisco had been the perfect goodbye to the California chapter of my life. I’d taken Elias to some of my favorite places in between shoving everything into boxes, and he was the perfect travel companion.

I’d also reveled in getting to spend some real quality time with him. We talked endlessly about our pasts and our interests. Our hopes for the future.

We quickly fell into an easy, smooth rhythm, and I loved how he could anticipate all my needs before I had to vocalize them. Even if he teased me mercilessly.

“Okay, coffee for me, and a block of sugar for you,”

he winked, handing me my latte at the gate.

I’d grown up human, expecting and desiring a monogamous relationship, so being with only one male felt comfortable and familiar.

But it didn’t diminish my feelings for the rest of my pack. Instead, when I’d had some free time to my thoughts, I’d started planning trips I could take with each of my alphas, getting the same kind of experiences with them individually.

I adored them all as a group, and we certainly had fun when we were all together, but this time with Elias had made me realize I needed to tend to each relationship as its own thing, too. We weren’t fractions of a whole, we were a group of complete people and should be thought of as such.

We took an Uber from O’Hare and arrived at Elias’s house in the early evening, a stunning Greystone located in Lincoln Park. I helped him sort through his own pile of mail while he lit a fire in the fireplace.

Since most of his food was spoiled, that evening we ordered Thai food and drank red wine.

“Your home is gorgeous,”

I said, taking in all of the fully maintained old century details and refined decorating. But then again, I expected no less from Elias. The male had great taste.

A photo of the pack I’d seen in Cam’s cabin was framed on the mantel, and it made me smile. Regardless of how selfish Elias seemed or how far away he moved, he still made sure they were a part of his life, and it made me feel settled. It also made me realize we didn’t have any pictures of the six of us, now that Julian and I were pack mates.

We’d need to remedy that ASAP.

He purred his thanks, pleased I liked his home. It was so endearing how my pack found such pleasure in providing for me, and I scooted in closer to his side.

“It’s hard to believe you live here alone. Isn’t it a lot of work taking care of a big house?”

I asked. Cleaning out Mike’s two-bedroom condo had reminded me how little space I needed to feel happy, perhaps due to my instinct towards nesting. Even with just the two of us, it had been more than enough.

Elias’s townhome, meanwhile, rivaled Cam’s in size, and could easily accommodate our whole pack, yet he lived here all by himself.

He shrugged, swallowing a bite of pumpkin curry. “Not really. Besides, when I was in the market, I wasn’t interested in a bachelor pad or starter home. Settling down and having a ton of pups has always been my goal, and I wanted to be prepared.”

My eyes widened in surprise at the mention of having a “ton”

of kids, and I choked on my pad see ew. Elias laughed and handed me my wine. “Only if that’s something you want, too, of course.”

Mike and I had talked about starting a family. He had been very enthusiastic about having sons, and at the time it had always bugged me because I had to remind him that daughters were not only a possibility, but would also be great, too. Now that I knew he was a vampyr, I realized at least that expectation hadn’t been born from sexism but biology, since he could only have male offspring.

Thinking about kids by myself, though, without the influence of a partner? I was on the fence. Growing up, I’d thought my father was a deadbeat who’d never loved me, so kids seemed like a risk. The most loving husband and father could still walk out the door on a whim, and even after everything you do for them in your partner’s absence, they could still blame and resent you, a la my brother.

But now it seemed like that hadn’t been the case at all. My father had left to protect us, secretly funding our lives so my mom wouldn’t have to work and expose herself more than necessary to whoever hunted us.

I hadn’t had a chance to check in with myself and how I felt about kids since then.

“How does that work with a pack? Do I have a kid with each of you, which wow, five… or do we just roll the genetic dice during my heat and see what happens?”

A flash of lust sparkled in Elias’s eyes, and he put down his glass to pull me into his chest, sniffing my neck. “According to Archer’s research…”

I chuckled. I’d heard about the Omegas for Dummies handbook he’d made for the pack when they met me. Shifters were social creatures, learning by observing others. So without any current alpha-omega packs for us to model our relationships after, we’d been forced to rely on stories and guides that were a hundred years out of date and attempted to balance them with modern sensibilities.

“It depended on what worked best for the pack—alphas could raise whatever pup their omegas birthed, treating each of them as their own. Or an alpha could claim ‘breeding rights’ during a heat, meaning he would be the only one to mate with the omega in her cycle to ensure paternity. Then the rest of the alphas would take on more of an uncle role in the pup’s life.”

My breath caught in my chest as he took off my sweater and his lips began caressing his bond mark. I certainly didn’t have a breeding kink, but talking about this had put Elias in an undeniably sexy mood and I was happy to see where it went. “Is that what you want? To be the only one in my nest during my next heat?”

His teeth scraped against my delicate skin, making my nipples harden and sending a trickle of slick into my underwear. My bra came off next. “Marlowe, I want to be the only one in your nest all the time. I want you to beg for my cock like the desperate, wanton little omega you are, and then I want to fill you with so much of my cum, you’ll never birth a pup that isn’t mine.”

I gasped, my underwear becoming absolutely soaked. “Holy shit, Elias…”

He pushed me down on the couch and unbuttoned my pants. “I want to eat your pussy on my couch,”

he growled. “I want to fuck you in my bed, in my house.”

In San Francisco, we’d made love slowly and sweetly. Taking our time to explore each other’s bodies and gently build to soul-melding orgasms.

But being in his own space had turned him possessive again, just like when he’d asked me to come down here. He was feeling needy. Greedy.

Dominating.

He pulled my jeans and underwear completely off, spearing me with his tongue as the garments hit the floor. I held onto his hair with one hand and the side of the couch with the other as he feasted with wild abandon, like a man starved. “I want to watch your belly grow with my pup,”

he sighed, moving his concentration to my clit.

My back arched in pleasure, and he groaned at the feeling of my nails digging into his scalp. His fingers pushed inside me, pressing against my G-spot. “Fuck, right there, don’t stop…” I cried.

I closed my eyes and succumbed to the pure skill and ecstasy of his ministrations, coming loudly and suddenly. I didn’t even have time to catch my breath before he raised himself to my face and grabbed me around the throat. “Tell me you’re mine,”

he demanded.

“I…I’m yours,”

I panted, feeling his grip tighten.

“With my name!”

“I’m yours, Elias.”

He slammed his lips onto mine, claiming me with his mouth. And I melted into him, offering every last bit of myself. I felt his desire and his passion with every swipe of his tongue against mine, every touch and grasp of his hands, stroking me everywhere.

Then he was up again, guiding me up the stairs to his room.

He undressed quickly, pulling his cashmere sweater over his head in one fluid motion, his jeans sliding effortlessly off his thick, muscular thighs. “From the moment I saw you,”

he started, his tone becoming soft, “This is exactly where I fantasized taking you.”

Elias gripped the back of my neck and kissed me again, his erection pressing against my stomach. “Right here,”

he continued, his voice becoming lower and huskier. His chest heaved as he panted in my ear, grinding against me. “I’ve been waiting, preparing for this my whole life. I didn’t know it until we met, but every decision I’ve ever made has been to bring me closer to you.”

My heart pounded in sync with his and tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I opened my mouth to speak but his lips were on mine again, stealing the words from my breath. Everything I wanted to say he took inside him, feeling them through our bond.

His hands caressed my body down to my thighs, picking me up like I weighed nothing at all, and he set me on the bed. “Turn around,”

he said. “And get on your hands and knees.”

He didn’t bark but I felt his command all the same, my pussy dripping in anticipation. When I was in position, he brought one foot against the edge of the bed and drove himself inside of me with a purposeful, precise thrust.

I moaned from the sudden fullness of him, and he gave me a moment to adjust to his size before drawing out and moving into me again.

His fingers dug into my flesh as he pulled my hips towards him with the same amount of force as he pushed himself inside, his knot hitting and rubbing against my swollen clit. I whimpered in pain and pleasure, my whole body on delicious edge.

He reached beneath me and tweaked my nipples, sending a shockwave rippling through me. As he wrung another climax through his powerful thrusts, he called forth his own and we came together, his knot locking inside. I could feel his release filling me, and he groaned, his hands keeping me steady as my legs began to tremble.

The post-sex hormones, the bond, the smell of him in his place… everything flooded my system and I felt deliriously high, wishing we were facing each other so I could kiss him.

He picked me up and maneuvered us on his bed, holding me tightly against his chest, the only sound the distant din of street traffic and our heavy breathing.

We lay in silence, and Elias kissed the top of my head and ran his fingertips down my arms and sides.

I thought back to what he had said about wanting me from the beginning, and a nagging little thought wriggled its way to my forefront.

“Elias,”

I started, not sure how to work my question. “Do… do you only like me because I’m an omega?”

He grunted, like the question was ridiculous. “Do you only like me because I’m an alpha?”

“What?”

I replied. “No, of course not.”

I felt the chuckle rumble through his chest. “Then there you go. Sometimes, I actually think it might have been easier if you were a beta, because then there would have been no expectation for me to share you.”

My cheeks heated, and while I appreciated the sentiment, I couldn’t even imagine not having my whole pack.

“And before you ask,”

he continued, “yes, I’d still love you if you were a worm.”

I snorted, reaching back to tug on his hair. “That’s good to know, thanks.”

After a while, his knot finally shrunk enough that he could pull out, and I turned around so we could face each other, nuzzling my face into his chest to take in a deep, greedy breath. “Well, I am glad you’re an alpha if just for your scent. Did you know you smell like bergamot and black pepper?”

He chuckled. “Is that so?”

He reached down to kiss me and then paused. “Wait, Earl Grey’s your favorite tea.”

“Mm hm,”

I sighed, breathing him in again.

Bergamot oil was the ingredient that gave Earl Grey its distinctive flavor, and its floral and citrus combination always calmed me down.

“What does everyone else smell like to you?”

he asked, his fingers lightly grazing along my shoulder.

My eyebrows raised in confusion. “What do you mean? I thought everyone kind of had a signature scent?”

Just when I thought I had this world figured out, something new would come up and I felt ignorant all over again. I hated not knowing things.

“How can I describe this… shifter scents are kind of like flavor profiles in wine. Sometimes they’re really clear, and we can agree that a shifter smells like roses or fresh-baked bread. But we also interpret each other’s scents differently based on how well we match with each other, as pack mates or romantic partners. The other males in the pack smell good to me, which typically indicates we are compatible, but we might not necessarily agree on the notes. Cam seems woodsy to me, for example, while Archer reminds me of the ocean, but that’s about it. I’ve only been able to detect exact scent profiles of really powerful shifters, like your brother, or females I was interested in mating with.”

A small growl rumbled in my chest. Mating with? We hadn’t been in public together much before this trip, and I’d never considered myself a jealous person before, but every time a woman did a double take after we walked by, or even the slightest mention of a previous girlfriend, had my inner wolf wanting to start tearing throats out. It wasn’t a good feeling. “And just how many females would you say you’ve been able to scent?”

He slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer, clearly amused I was becoming so possessive of him. “Not enough for you to ever worry about, California. And believe me, your perfume is the strongest, most appealing one I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”

I clicked my tongue against my teeth, unsatisfied with his response. But if Elias could forgive me my vampyr ex-fiancé, I could forgive him some shifter ex-girlfriends. “Then why can I pick up other shifters’ distinct scents, and why does everyone say exactly what I smell like?”

He paused, his face scrunching in thought. “That… is unusual, you’re right.”

“Maybe it’s an omega thing?”

I asked. I’d read over Archer’s notes on omegas, and apparently we were supposed to be good at reading people. I’d always had a knack for that, and had just chalked it up to higher-than-usual emotional intelligence. Could that explain my more perceptive nose?

“Perhaps,”

he offered tentatively. It felt like he wasn’t saying what he was really thinking, but my eyelids were feeling heavy.

“Okay, alpha, keep your secrets,”

I yawned. “I’ll get you to spill them soon enough.”