Page 24

MARLOWE

“Never have I ever slept with five guys at once!”

Samantha screamed with a laugh, her cheeks pink from alcohol and enthusiasm.

Linda had invited her best friends—two betas, Samantha and Beth, and another alpha, Diana—over to stay with the two of us while we waited until the Rite.

“Oh, come on,”

I whined, my head already woozy. “I feel like these are intentionally for me.”

“Wow, she’s a quick one,”

Beth commented with a sly smile on her face.

I growled and took another sip, and the females all cooed in response.

“Seriously, you sound like a kitten,”

Linda said, reaching over to pinch my cheek. “I just want to hold you on my lap and pet you.”

The other females nodded in agreement.

“Don’t worry, it’s not sexual,”

Diana added.

“Okay,”

I said, holding my hand up. “You know saying it like that makes me think it very much is sexual.”

The room erupted into more laughs.

As much as I missed my pack, getting to hang out with only females was the breath of fresh air I had desperately needed. I didn’t have to balance my attention, no one was on the verge of punching anyone, and private parts were getting some much-needed rest.

I was so thankful that Linda’s friends had welcomed me with open arms, instead of suspicion and unease.

“My turn!”

Linda called. “Never have I ever… slept with a vamp.”

I paused, trying to get my vision to focus. “Wait, does it count if I didn’t know he was a vamp?”

“Yup, drink!”

I mumbled and finished the last of my White Russian. Damn, it was nice having something other than beer. “Alright ladies, I think I’m done. If I play any longer, I may just puke.”

“Boo…”

Samantha tousled my hair. “We’re still pre-gaming!”

It turned out that the rules around what constituted an official “Omega Sanctuary”

were pretty vague, and as long as I was only around other females, I was fine. Or omega males, which I was surprised to learn had existed. They must have been so much fun.

With this loophole in mind, there was one other place in town guaranteed to be female-only—Shifting Sapphic.

Cam had mentioned the lesbian bar before, and I was a little worried about going and encroaching on their safe space, but Linda assured me we’d be fine. “It started out as a lesbian bar when it opened fifteen years ago, but now it’s open to all females who just want to drink and dance in peace,”

she’d told me.

With all this pent-up rage over my situation, getting to expel it all without worrying about how males would respond to me sounded like what I needed.

Diana patted my arm. “Let’s give her a break then. How about we play Truth or Dare?”

Beth snorted, swirling her ice in her drink before taking another sip. “What are we, twelve?”

“Yes,”

Diana replied, without missing a beat. “Marlowe, truth or dare?”

I blew a raspberry as my alcohol-meddled mind attempted to figure out which choice was the safest. “Truth.”

She grinned wickedly, and I got a little nervous about what she might want to ask. “I’m dying to know—which of your pack has the biggest dick?”

Dammit, I should have guessed it would be something like that. My cheeks heated and I covered my face with my hands. “Guys, I can’t answer that!”

Well, I could, but saying it out loud felt wrong.

Besides, they were all perfect anyway.

Samantha crossed her arms, looking far too pleased with herself. “Of course you can. It’s a small town and I’ve heard plenty of rumors. I just want you to confirm them.”

“Wait, how many rumors?”

I growled again.

I had been having regular sex since I was sixteen years old, so I knew it was hypocritical to expect my pack not to have any dating history. But every time it came up, I felt the irrational urge to slit someone’s throat. Or at the very least their tires.

Linda came up behind me and started brushing my hair at the table, both calming me down and helping me to get ready.

“Oh no,”

Diana replied, shaking her head. “We’re not going to say unless you say. So, spill it.”

I frowned and mock cried. “That’s not an easy question to answer, they’re more or less the same.”

“Boo…”

Samantha jeered again, throwing popcorn at me. “Tell us, and we’ll let you know which of your pack was the sluttiest.”

I arched an eyebrow. Okay, this I had to know. “Nolan has the biggest cock but Archer has the biggest knot.”

The females broke down into howls, slamming their hands on the table.

“I knew it!”

Diana cried, wiping tears from her eyes. “He totally gives that vibe. And well, knots don’t do anything for us but damn, good for Archer. And as promised, the sluttiest one of your alphas was definitely…”

“Camden,”

they said in unison.

I sighed and slumped down in my seat. “I knew it.”

Even if he was hopelessly devoted to me now, he was the one who hated being alone the most, so it made sense he had had a steady stream of girlfriends.

Beth slammed back the rest of her drink. “Alright, are we ready to go?”

Shifting Sapphic had all the outward appearances of a dive bar, from the fading, hand-painted sign hanging above the door, to the bars on the neon-sign-adorned windows, and then to the piles of cigarette butts littering the ground.

But between the groups of females laughing in their sexy outfits, teetering their way inside on high stilettos, and the sound of Lady Gaga playing every time the front door opened, I knew I’d found my new favorite place.

Even the bouncer was female, and alpha from what I could tell given her larger stature and rosemary scent. She welcomed Linda with a hug. “Hey, good to see you again!”

“You, too! Zoey, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

I crept around to the front of the group from where I’d been hidden to face the tattooed, pierced female with bright pink hair.

Zoey’s eyes widened in surprise as she breathed me in. “You’re the omega everyone’s been talking about! I was wondering when you’d show up.”

Her warm smile instantly put me at ease. “Hi, I’m Marlowe! It’s nice to meet you.”

She pinched my cheek and scrunched up her face. “You look like you’re still in high school! But I’m going to assume you’re over twenty-one if Officer Linda’s bringing you here. Go on, get in and out of the cold!”

She ushered us inside, where an overwhelming bouquet of feminine scents, enhanced by poorly ventilated space and the sweat of dancing bodies, hit me like a tsunami. Females of every age, shape, size, and designation filled the room, smiles plastered on their faces.

Linda leaned down to address the group. “You all go grab a table. I’ll get us some drinks!”

I nodded and let Samantha take my hand, leading us to one of the few free spots still available. My boots stuck a little to the floor as I walked, but the feeling and sound were like garnish on a perfect dish.

“This place is awesome! How often do you come here?”

I asked them.

“Eh,”

Beth replied. “Maybe two to three times a month?”

Diana chuckled. “Speak for yourself, I’m here two to three times a week.”

She laughed again when she saw the surprised look on my face. “I’m not an alcoholic or anything! I’m the operations manager at the sawmill and I work with way too many alpha males who like to push their weight around. Coming here allows me to let off steam.”

“Tell me about it!”

Linda chimed in, carrying our drinks. “Half the assholes I work with think they should have my job just because of the knot between their legs. It’s exhausting constantly having to go above and beyond just to prove I belong.”

She passed out the round of brandy old fashioneds she’d ordered, and I took a leisurely sip, the sweet and bitter nostalgia settling nicely along my tongue.

“Well, at least you two are getting promoted,”

Beth sighed, popping a maraschino cherry in her mouth. “I’ve been in the same spot for eight years, getting passed over by less-qualified, less-experienced, and less-educated males every time a new manager position opens up. Beta females never get taken seriously.”

Samantha nodded in mutual frustration. “My company still treats me like an intern, it’s insane.”

Diana growled on behalf of her friend, and looked at me. “How about you? I know you work with humans, right? Is it any better on the other side?”

“Worked, and yes and no. Humans don’t have designations like shifters, but they find plenty of other reasons besides that and gender to discriminate against people.”

I took another sip, thinking about all the shit Dominique, my black classmate from grad school, regularly got from jerks who loved to assume she’d been a “diversity hire.”

No, it couldn’t have been because she was actually qualified.

Ugh.

“But at the very least they probably don’t treat you like literal property to get handed off to whichever male can punch the hardest, right?”

Linda asked, giving me a sympathetic pat on the back.

Double ugh.

Nicki Minaj came on and my eyes lit up, slamming back my drink with a wince. “I don’t want to think about the stupid Rite or the stupid Conclave tonight. Who wants to daaaaance?”

Everyone raised their hands and we left the table, trying to carve some room in the already crowded space. We made our circle and lost ourselves to the music, laughing and singing the lyrics to each other with each new song the DJ played.

Female artists only, of course.

Just as I was twirling around to Madonna, I heard someone yell behind me, “Marlowe, is that you?”

Linda and Diana instantly pulled me into the circle, closing it as they assessed the crowd for threats.

I had to bite back my laugh at their overreaction—male or female, alphas were alphas.

“Cool it, alphas, that’s my cousin-in-law!”

Cousin? Whose cousin… oh!

“Megan?”

I called out.

She shrieked when Linda and Diana parted enough for us to see each other, holding out her arms and bringing me in for a hug. She smelled like vodka and sunshine.

“Oh Moon, I can’t believe you’re here! And I can’t believe what’s happening with the Conclave, it’s all the town’s been talking about. So fucked up!”

“Uh, hi, yeah, I know,”

I laughed. I hadn’t seen Megan since our embarrassing encounter at City Hall after my heat, when I’d almost attacked her for thinking she was flirting with Nolan. But I was happy to see she wasn’t being awkward about it. “Have you talked to Nolan? Is he okay?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “He’s a dumbass, but he’ll be fine once this is all over and you’re back home. I’m way more worried about you. What can I do to help?”

Oh no. From drunk girl hugs to drunk girl tears—I was crying.

“I don’t even know. I just wish that this wasn’t happening, I…”

Megan, Linda, and her friends all tightened their circle around me, patting me on the head and placating me with soothing encouragement.

“It’s going to be fine, Julian’s got this!”

“There’s no way we’ll let them take you!”

“We’ll find a way to fight this!”

I sniffed back my sobs, feeling lighter already, thanks to being surrounded by so much female love and support. “I know, thank you all, really. I’ll be right back, I need to go to the bathroom.”

Megan gave me one more tight squeeze before I left. “We’re going to protest this, and we won’t stop until omegas have the same rights as the rest of us. I know some of the females in this town were feeling a little insecure about your arrival at first, but way more are pissed the Conclave is trying to take you away from your pack. No one is letting this go, got it?”

I nodded, wiping away the tears that had fallen down my cheeks. “Got it.”

Still sniffling, I made my way to the back, where a sign pointed to the bathrooms. They were located right next to an emergency exit, and I paused as I shuffled closer, the music becoming muted.

This was a bar, so the scent of bourbon and vanilla wasn’t out of place, but these particular notes were way too familiar.

I pushed open the emergency exit, thanking god or the Moon or whoever that it didn’t trigger an alarm, and found Nolan in his wolf form stationed outside. His red fur was a beacon in the dark night, reflecting off the lone streetlamp at the end of the alley.

I gave him a pointed look, my hands on my hips. “Didn’t you hear? I’m having a girls’ night, and that means no boys allowed.”

He shifted back to human form, completely naked for whoever could possibly wander out to see.

Not that there was anyone else back here.

He closed the gap quickly between us, his eyes focused and expression serious.

“I know.”

Then his hands were in my hair and his mouth was on mine, devouring me with his kiss. I instantly melted into him, submitting entirely as he pushed me against the wall.

I couldn’t even feel the cold, the alcohol and heat from his body keeping me warm.

“Nolan,”

I sighed, his lips making their way down my neck. His teeth grazed my skin, eliciting a desperate moan that echoed through the alley.

“Shh,”

he whispered, hiking up my skirt and pushing aside my underwear, already wet with slick. I was so glad I’d decided against tights. “If anyone finds out…”

It was a risk, one that could send me straight back to the Conclave.

“Well then, you should keep my mouth occupied, big boy,”

I chuckled. The slight smirk that grew on his face had me thinking he’d probably been watching me in wolf form all night, overhearing the round of Truth or Dare we’d played before coming out.

He grabbed my ass, lifting me up so we were looking straight at each other, my legs hooking around his waist and bringing him in closer. The tip of his nose ran along the outer shell of my ear, and he sighed. “This is a mistake. It’s already all my fault. If I screw this up anymore… Tell me to stop. Please, Marlowe. I need you to be the sane one. Tell me to go home.”

Oh, I was probably the least sane of the pack when it came to desire for my pack mates. “You say that like I don’t want this just as badly.”

He groaned, slamming his lips against mine again, his hardened cock rubbing against my bare sex. The head would catch every time, teasing entrance, but instead glided smoothly through my slick folds.

His tongue expertly met mine, plundering my mouth while his hands gripped me tightly.

I shook, not with cold, but need. “Nolan, put it in me already,”

I begged, breaking from his kiss.

He obeyed immediately, spearing me with a strong, determined thrust. I gasped and his mouth captured the sound, his size stretching and filling me until my eyes rolled back in my head in pure ecstasy.

And then he started to move.

All my alphas could fuck, there was no denying that. But Nolan had a rhythm, a roll to his hips, that always sent me straight into oblivion. He hit all the right spots at just the right tempo, playing my body like an instrument.

I lamented that we couldn’t knot—I’d already been gone suspiciously long for a pee, and if we ended up stuck together for the next twenty to thirty minutes, Linda would probably organize a search party.

Our panting mingled into cloudy puffs of air, rising above us and dissipating into the dark night.

“Nolan,”

I moaned, watching his dark brown eyes as he led me into a delirious oblivion. “Don’t stop,”

“Never,”

he growled, his thrusting becoming wilder. I sought out his mouth again, afraid I might scream out as I came.

And come I did, my body seizing and melting and exploding all at once, contracting over Nolan’s cock and milking his own release.

With one final push, he crushed his hips and lips into me, miraculously having the willpower to leave his knot outside.

He shuddered with the aftershocks of his orgasm, his cum spurting in pulses.

I buried my face in his neck, breathing him in as we climbed down together. All I wanted was for him to take me home, make love to me again and knot me so we could cuddle and talk, listening to music and tracing the lines of each others’ bodies with our fingers.

Reluctantly he pulled out, a mixture of slick and semen running down my legs as he set me back on my feet. I leaned against the wall for support, shivering as the cold air met with the wetness on my skin.

He got down on his knees and pushed up my skirt, licking my inner thighs clean.

I covered my mouth with one hand to stop the giggle from escaping, the other holding onto his thick, dark brown hair. “That tickles!”

I said in a strained whisper.

A deep rumble of a chuckle resonated in his chest, and after he was finished, he stood again, leaning down to kiss me. The taste of our sex mingled on our lips and tongues, and I felt myself needing him all over again.

Nolan must have felt the same way, his cock now half-erect and getting harder.

“Dammit,”

he grumbled. “I just want to take you home, get you in a nice, warm tub and then fuck you all over again.”

I dug my face in his chest, his skin inexplicably warm. How was he not freezing his perfect ass off out here? I reached down to give it a little squeeze, just to make sure it was still there.

“Soon,”

I replied. I put on a brave face, trying my best to offer him a comforting smile. “This will all be over soon.”

With one more blistering kiss, he shifted back into his wolf and bounded away, his red fur soaking in the darkness.

My smile held as I watched him go, but my tears had other ideas. I wiped them as they fell, finally feeling the full extent of the cold and slinking back inside. I went to the bathroom as I’d originally intended, trying to wash up, but by the time I reunited with Linda and her friends back at the table, one sniff of me was all they needed to know what I’d really been up to.

“I’m sorry,”

I started, but Diana hushed me.

“Marlowe, you don’t have to explain yourself, and you didn’t do anything wrong. Are you okay?”

My hand made its way to Nolan’s bond mark absentmindedly, and I stared vacantly at the table. “For now, yes. And I am sorry if I kept you waiting or if I worried you at all. How about I get the next round to apologize?”

They cheered and Samantha reached over to pat my arm with a wink. “And just like that, all is forgiven.”