Page 19

Chapter Nineteen

Valor

O men joins Shaw and me in the living room after his shower. He lounges on the hideous love seat while Shaw lies stretched out on the couch. They’re both pretending to watch whatever show is on the telly, but I’m fairly sure neither speaks German, so I have no clue why they’re even bothering.

All the furniture looks like something you’d find in the home of some little old lady who only lets you sit on the sofa in the family room because the sitting room is for guests .

It reminds me of Aunt Clara, which makes my chest pang with a familiar ache.

Anytime I think of her, it’s bittersweet.

I loved her like she was my mum, and at the same time, recalling memories of her leads to remembering how sick she was and how quickly she deteriorated. I never want to experience that helpless feeling again.

No matter how badly I ached to fix it, I couldn’t.

That leads to how I met Amato, and my fists clench as I look out over the deck. Thinking of him sends me headfirst down the rabbit hole of regret, but if I hadn’t met him, I never would have met Saylor.

Thinking of the little omega seems to summon her to my mind, but I let out a low whooshing sound as comprehension floods in.

She and Leo bonded .

Spinning around, my eyes meet Omen’s.

He looks as surprised as I feel, but his head shakes, and his gaze cuts to Shaw.

I nod to let him know I understand.

It’s not our place to tell him. That’s something that should come directly from one of them.

Turning back to the door, I focus on the fountain, doing my best to block any of my thoughts from spilling into the bond.

I’m not upset.

I saw this coming.

I thought I’d have a little more time to revel in our connection, though. Our bond is still so fresh that my natural instinct is to growl and snarl and make a scene.

Which could be due to the rot.

That’s a possibility. With our bond being so new, it hasn’t had time to fully heal my mind.

I’m not jealous, necessarily.

I might not have grown up in a pack, but from the moment I met Omen, something clicked. I knew we were meant to be pack, and nothing anyone had to say could convince me otherwise.

Perhaps the bond has already started to work on soothing the rage that comes from being rabid because as quickly as my annoyance and anger rises, it falls just as fast.

Saylor is the omega.

The omega builds their pack.

And probably the most surprising fact of all?

I’m actually starting to like Leo and Shaw. They showed up and saved our asses with Amato, despite knowing she could never be solely theirs. It helps a lot that we all share a similar mindset. If Omen or I weren’t around, I would have full confidence that they would keep Saylor safe.

Movement in the glass catches my attention, and my head tilts.

Leo appears near the edge of the back of the couch. “Saylor is asking for the two of you. She wants you to saturate the bedding in your scent.”

“What about me?” Shaw asks with a petulance to his tone that reminds me of Omen when he wants to cause needless trouble.

“You’re coming up for bed, so I figured you’d handle that then,” Leo says, chuckling. “I wanted to talk to you about something, anyway.”

I spin around, giving Leo a nod.

We’ll see our way out so he can tackle that conversation without an audience.

Omen pushes off the love seat, and we take off toward the stairs.

* * *

Saylor looks a little manic as she fluffs the pillows on the platform bed.

Omen snorts, skirts around me where I stand frozen in the doorway, and heads for the frantic omega. He stops just behind her and caresses her hips. She’s in a plain white shirt that must belong to Leo or Shaw, since it barely covers the bottom of her ass cheeks. When she was wearing mine, they fell halfway to her knees, but we left the facility with even less than we went in with.

Saylor pops up, spinning to face Omen. “You look significantly less bloody.”

“Thanks, you seem to have picked up a packmate for the three of us.” Omen chuckles. “Where’s the bite? Do I get to do a naughty little strip search to find it?”

Our omega rolls her gorgeous hazel eyes, but her fondness for him spills through the bond. She pulls the neck of the shirt she’s clad in to the side. “It’s still tender.” Her eyes bounce between me and Omen and back again. “I feel like I should have had a conversation with the two of you before bringing anyone else into the bond?—”

My head shakes. “We knew you planned to bond Leo and Shaw.”

“But anyone outside of Shaw,” Omen says, shoving her hair over her shoulder, “make sure you give us some warning, yeah?”

“I will,” she agrees, stretching up on her tiptoes and shoving her mouth to his.

I grimace, recalling how bloody he was only a few hours ago, but the omega doesn’t seem to mind as she shoves her tongue into his mouth.

Omen’s hands land on her hips once more, and I can already tell he’s going to try his luck just based on his amusement in the bond.

I sigh, shaking my head.

He’s going to be disappointed when I drag his ass out of here to keep watch. We’re only up here to give Leo the chance to warn Shaw about their bonding.

Omen knows as much, but he still lifts our omega, tossing her onto the mattress.

There’s a quick glimpse of her pussy as the shirt rides up and even more of a view when she spreads her thighs to make room for Omen. Her tits bounce under the shirt, and Omen follows her down, planting a hand next to her head as he stretches out over her.

He bends low, trying to steal a kiss, but Saylor leans to the side.

“I need you too, V.” Her head bobbles up and down while my heart races at hearing her call me by the same nickname Omen does. It’s what my aunt and family called me when I was a child, and hearing it slip from her lips brings up all sorts of nostalgic feelings. It’s also a relief knowing she’s growing more comfortable with me. The bruises I left during our bonding are still visible around her throat, and although I can’t see them at the moment, I’m sure the ones on her body are still there too.

“The bed smells wrong,” Saylor says, giving me a pleading look. “It’s not a nest… I just need you to spread your scents around—saturate the pillows and blanket. That kind of thing.”

“Oh, I’ll be happy to spread my scent all around,” Omen says playfully.

It’s difficult to tell from this angle, but I believe he slides his free hand up her thigh.

“The point is, I need your scents.” Saylor laughs. “Not more of mine. Also, I’m dripping in Leo’s cum, so I doubt you really want to shove your fingers in—” She groans. “Or I guess you do.”

“Such a sweet, naive, adorable pet.” Omen nips at her lips, and I finally get my shit together, walking to the edge of the bed and climbing on. “Not only do I not mind a little cum, I’d stick my face in your cunt right this very second without a moment of hesitation.”

“G-Good to know.” She blinks up at him almost owlishly.

“What can I do to help the room smell right?” I ask, because at least one of us should stay on task.

“That was actually really hot. I think we should focus on Valor filling me with his cum, and then you can lick it out,” she says, keeping eye contact with Omen. “I’ll suck you off while Valor fucks me.”

“Mmm, you are a naughty little thing,” Omen murmurs, brushing his nose against hers. “You had me fooled completely. I truly thought I’d get the joy of corrupting you, but here you are, instigating a threesome while your newly bonded alpha breaks the news to his best mate that he got to sink his teeth in first.”

“Omen.” She pulls a hand off his shoulder to lightly smack his arm. “Now you’re making me nervous, and I wanted to focus on helping this makeshift nest smell right. If someone goes to the store, maybe they could find a blanket or something we can drape over the window? It’s huge. The curtains seem to help at night, but I’m not sure they’re thick enough to do much during the day.”

I nod, bend closer, and shoulder-check Omen until he gets the point and rolls off Saylor.

He lands on his side, resting his head on his palm. “Yes, right. You’ll need access to her cunt if you plan to fill it full of your cum.”

I snort, shaking my head. “The two of you together are pure trouble. While that fantasy sounds like the shit my dreams are made of—and I will gladly help you fulfill it later —right now, we need to focus on saturating the bed and pillows in our scents.”

“Sex would help,” Saylor says, tilting her head.

At the same time, Omen says, “I believe cum is one of the necessary things an omega needs to fill their nest with.”

I laugh and knee-walk until I can cage my omega in. “Like I said, the two of you make for a hell of a team, but I also remember how heartbroken you were without Leo and Shaw. They deserve to have tonight with you, especially Leo. Your bond is still fresh.”

I’d bet by morning, she’ll have another set of teeth marks marring her skin from Shaw.

“Ours is too.” She wraps her fingers around the back of my neck and tugs my face to hers.

She tastes faintly of Leo, but I ignore it in favor of concentrating on how her soft tongue teases around mine. I hold myself up on my forearms to keep from grinding as she whimpers against my lips.

It’s so fucking tempting to slide inside her, and we’re bonded. There would be nothing wrong with fucking her through the mattress—since she’s clearly willing—but it would be a shitty thing to do when Leo and Shaw saved our asses tonight.

I spent the entire drive dreading what Amato would do to her first to force my compliance. None of his mind games or control tactics would have worked. As soon as I found an opening, I would have killed him with my bare hands if necessary.

Kicking his corpse was strangely cathartic, and I have Leo and Shaw to thank for making it possible. It’s only fair that Omen and I take the first watch.

“Our bond is fresh,” I agree, scent marking her cheeks one by one. “But even if it’s new, it’s still always with me. That gives me a level of comfort Shaw doesn’t have. Ridge plans to head into town in a few hours to purchase necessities for all of us. Omen or I will ride with him while the other stays to keep watch. And once you get a little time with the others, we’ll swap.”

“Okay,” she agrees, but her sadness fills the bond. “I can’t wait until it’s safe enough that all four of you can be with me.”

“That makes two of us,” Omen says, sounding annoyed.

Too bad for him.

He’ll get over it.

“Now, show me what you’d like me to scent mark.”

* * *

Leo comes in as I’m finishing rubbing the pillow around my chest. I toss it to Saylor where she sits on the end of the bed to give her a chance to do another sniff test.

She nods. “Yep, I think the third round was necessary. Thank you.”

“Of course.” I lean over, giving her a quick kiss. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”

“Okay,” she whispers, licking her lips.

It takes everything in me to force myself out of the room, but I still put one foot in front of the other. It’s time to put up or shut up when it comes to being part of a pack.

When I turn back to give Saylor a quick wave goodbye, Omen is violently rubbing a pillow under his armpit.

Life with an omega is strange.

I snort, head out into the hallway, and pull the door closed behind me.

Shaw pops out of the bathroom just a few doors down. His eyes meet mine, and his entire demeanor betrays his anger. Or possibly, that look is frustration over feeling left out.

I don’t know the man well enough to guess which it is, but if he would stop being stubborn, Saylor would let him bite her at any time. I can also appreciate that he wanted to make amends before taking that step, but the little omega is not quite as patient.

He pivots and heads my way, but I meet him in the middle, crossing my arms over my chest.

“You good? Need to punch something?” I quirk an eyebrow. “Need to punch someone ? Get it out now if you need to.”

His head tilts, and a lazy smile crosses his face as his head shakes. “Jesus Christ, I swear you and Ridge are long-lost brothers or something. It’s weird as shit how much you remind me of him.”

I laugh.

With my family tree?

Anything is possible.

I never knew my mother, outside of pictures and vague recounted memories that came from Aunt Clara. She had no information on who my father might be, and I’ve always known I could have an entire brood of brothers and sisters out there somewhere.

“I’m good,” Shaw says, drawing me out of my thoughts.

“You sure?”

“I’m not going to start shit.” He shrugs. “It’s my own damn fault. I should have bitten her that night in the facility when she wouldn’t stop begging. And at the same time, I’m grateful I didn’t because it allowed everything to work out the way it did.” He laughs. “Damn, can you tell I’m a Scorpio?”

I barely know what that means, but someone barrels out of the bedroom behind me, and I twist to see what’s happening.

“I’m trying to get away quickly before she tackles me. She’s quite heartbroken that she can’t have all four of us at once,” Omen says, bumping my shoulder on his way by. He stops next to Shaw, giving him a cheeky smile. “I told her that was probably something we should work up to. Better hurry, mate. You don’t want to be left behind again.”

How is he both the most antagonistic person I know and the one who manages to defuse the tension any time attitudes get to be too much?