Page 25

TWENTY-FOUR

MONSTERS AREN’T BORN, THEY’RE MADE

brAMLEY

“ W hy do you even wear this thing?”

I watch Indy crawl toward my mask, grabbing it from the pile of our clothes before she’s sitting next to me again. She holds it out, moving it back and forth as she tilts her head, checking out every line and stitch, then she sets it in her lap and starts tracing the skeletal jaw with her finger.

It’s been such a long time since I’ve been around anyone who doesn’t know why I wear it, and is curious enough to say so, it almost sounds strange to hear her ask.

“Necessity,” I grunt as I pull her to me, sliding her bare ass across the kitchen floor until she’s tucked into my side.

Indy looks at me over her shoulder with a frown. “That’s it?”

I just shrug.

No, that’s not really it, but I’m curious to see how much she can figure out through our bond now that it’s solidified and permanent. She knew a hell of a lot before that, and I’m in a good enough mood to conduct an experiment before I fuck her on the dining room table.

“Why’d you think?”

“Well,” she says as she leans into me, looking at the mask carefully, as if she’s figuring out all of life’s mysteries with that simple piece of fabric. Then she blindsides me when she says, “I thought maybe you were hideously disfigured. One tooth, patchy facial hair, a big, fat scar running from ear to ear. Maybe you were missing your tongue. You know, something like that.”

She is going to give me one hell of a run for my money. “Disappointed?”

“Hardly.” Indy sets the black cotton to the side then scoots so close it’s like she’s trying to crawl inside of me. Which I would be absolutely fine with. “You’re pretty, but way scarier without the mask.”

I bark out a laugh, shaking my head as Indy watches me with a big smile, proud of herself for getting my goat, and making me laugh. Her nearly purple eyes sparkle in the low lighting, dancing with so many different emotions I’m not sure I can name them all. I know they’re good, that she’s happy, and feels safe, and she loves the three of us. That’s all I need to know. I can work on the other shit later.

“I do like you better without it, though. Seeing your entire face, getting to lay eyes on your permanent scowl, nothing really beats that.” Then she leans back, giggling as she looks up at me and puckers her lips. “Easier to kiss you, too.”

“You are not wrong, sweetheart.” I give her what she wants, but it’s quick because I’m not done figuring out how far this scent match shit goes, and more than a peck will make my dick think he can tag in again. “You know why I wear it, though.”

Indy nods. “Definitely necessity, but that hasn’t always been the case.” She goes back to fiddling with my mask, spreading it out on the floor so she can flatten it out. “Your mom gave it to you.”

Bingo.

My mom did give it to me, or at least, a version of it when I was a kid.

“Nightmares?” Indy asks as she turns to me. “Something with nightmares?”

“This scent match thing is gonna be scary as hell.” I chuckle, and settle a little more against the cabinets. “I used to have terrible nightmares, bad dreams that would keep me up for days at a time just to try to avoid them. Started when I was around, maybe six or so, real little, and too young for such vivid horrors playing through my head on a regular basis. I wouldn’t talk about them, refused to share anything about what I saw whenever I closed my eyes.”

“How come?”

I pause, briefly debating on whether or not I should tell her everything now, or let it all come out later on. Like, when she’s sharing a bed with me and the boys, and I start screaming before I toss all three of them on the floor because I had one of those nightmares well into my late fucking thirties.

Since I haven’t done a real great job at being honest with my match, or talking to her in any way that didn’t involve a lot of yelling, I should probably put in more of an effort to show her how I feel instead of screaming it in her face before we’re naked and horizontal.

Or vertical. Whatever position works better when the mood strikes.

“There was another one of us.” Indy’s brows lift as she slowly turns to face me, which makes me forget everything I was going to say because I’m still a guy and naked boobs will always be a distraction, mated or not. But she clears her throat and when I meet her gaze, the cute little smirk on her face gets me back in the game. “Between me and Zeke. A girl; Danika.”

“So… Rex?”

I nod. “She was one hundred percent my sister. Not that we differentiate or give a shit about that sort of thing, they’re all my siblings, and all my dads, but Dani was from Rex and Maeve, like me. She was born the year Carlisle finally moved in, which was about six months before my mom asked Ezekiel over to meet everyone, so I was about two at the time.” Twenty-one months, to be exact, but that’s not super important to anyone but me. “As soon as she learned to crawl, Dani was my shadow. We were both little shits, getting into everything and causing chaos, but we were inseparable. Rex even had to build a crib big enough for both of us because once she was walking, Danika would hop out of hers in the middle of the night just so she could get in bed with me.”

“I can’t say that I blame her. You make me feel safe, too.” I smile as Indy climbs into my lap, sitting sideways so she can wrap her arms around me, and rest her head on my chest.

That’s what it was for Dani.

Safety.

And as soon as Zeke came along, she was dragging him behind her so the three of us were crammed into that crib until I was almost five, and I’m convinced it’s because Danika somehow knew what was going to happen to her.

“What happened?” Indy whispers, her breath warm against my skin as she pressed a kiss to my chest. “You don’t have to tell me, but I would like to know.”

Tipping my head back against the drawer, I close my eyes and sigh. “We were playing in Nan’s backyard. Running around, playing hide and seek, that kind of shit. We weren’t supposed to go into the woods.” We weren’t even supposed to go too close to the tree line, but when one of the goats got out, Danika went after it.

And I went after her.

I can still see it crystal clear, plain as day, and as if it’s happening right in front of me all over again.

Five years old, and I ran through the woods like a bat out of hell, trying to find my sister before something terrible happened to her.

I didn’t want Nan to yell at her for letting the goat out, I didn’t want Mom to tell her she couldn’t have ice cream after dinner for playing in the forest. I just wanted to find my baby sister, my shadow, before she got in trouble, and I had no idea what was waiting for me when I did.

A loner, some drifter we’d seen before but were warned to stay away from, he had Danika.

I finally found her after what felt like days, and when I did, I saw her standing in front of him, his pants were down, she was crying, stripped down to her underwear, and she was bleeding. At the time, I didn’t know what all of that meant. All I knew was my sister was with a stranger, she was hurt, and she was not supposed to be outside dressed like that.

Dani needed me.

Needed me more in that moment than she ever had before, and it’s the first time I remember seeing fucking red.

Then, I saw Zeke.

He was playing on a blanket nearby, a couple of toy cars in his hands, and when that man turned to go after my brother, something inside me snapped.

But I was just a kid, so I did what we were taught to do.

I started screaming.

I screamed bloody fucking murder, yelling for my parents—who had been searching for all three of us—but I didn’t stop there. No, I grabbed the biggest rock I could find, and I started running. I was going to hit that man with the rock, was going to hurt him for hurting my sister, for taking her and my brother, and I wasn’t going to stop until someone made me.

But I was too late.

My screaming, it was drowned out by Nan’s dogs, and that man heard them before he even knew I was there. And he picked up a rock, too.

Then he killed my baby sister with it, right in front of Zeke. Right in front of me.

“I couldn’t stop him.” I run my fingers through Indy’s hair, letting the silky strands fall from them slowly, watching the way the light reflects against the black and red. “I couldn’t stop him, but I could make him pay for what he did. At least, I thought I could, and I tried like hell to do it.” Her grip tightens around me and despite how heavy and fucked up this is, I smile at that. My sweet little omega, trying to comfort me. “I got in a couple of swings, cracking him in the knees, once in the head when he fell. He was grown, though, so he tossed me off of him pretty fast, and tried to make a run for it.”

Nan’s dogs took care of him.

As soon as they got close enough, I gave them the command to attack, and those Cane Corsos ripped him to pieces.

“I didn’t tell my mom what my nightmares were about for maybe another three years, give or take, and when I did, I lost it. All the guilt, all the fear, everything I had bottled up since the night my sister died, it came pouring out of me. And I asked her, if I couldn’t save Dani from the devil lurking in the woods, how was I going to be able to protect her if they ever came back. And you know what she said to me?”

Indy looks up, those gorgeous eyes full of tears as she shakes her head.

“You become what the devil is afraid of.” I dip my chin and kiss my omega softly. You only fear the devil if you’re in his path, but become what he fears, and you will never be afraid again. “Then she gave me my very first mask, and she told me if I wore it, I would scare the monsters and the demons away, and I’ve worn it ever since.”

“Your mom sounds like one badass lady,” she sniffles, lifting her hand to my face, and smoothing her thumb over my lower lip. “She was right.” Then Indy looks away, shifting around so her back is to my front as she mumbles, “I’ve seen what happens when the devil has nothing to fear.”

Gritting my teeth and trying not to make the wave of sadness that rolls through our bond turn into something worse, I decide to tell my omega a little more. “You know there aren’t any other omegas in Obsidian Falls, right?”

Indy nods. “I figured as much. I mean, maybe not that specifically but whenever I’ve been in town, I’ve felt a lot of alpha energy, and some that I didn’t understand until I started spending time with Clay.”

Which is really kind of interesting.

Nan is old, it doesn’t surprise me when she can peg someone’s designation without much more than a look. She’s been doing it a long time between her family founding the town, and her medical practice that treated damn near everyone in it. But when Indy started talking about alpha energy and the like, it was fascinating to see how spot on she was.

Right up until I figured out why she was able to do that.

Spend your life around nothing but alphas in rut and I imagine you get pretty fucking good at reading energy levels.

“Stop thinking about that.”

Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her to me so I can bury my nose in her hair. “I’m not.”

“You’re a shitty liar, Bramley Ambrose.”

“Says you.”

“Yeah, says me,” Indy playfully huffs. “And I don’t want you thinking about stuff like that because it just makes you mad. I anticipate a lot of mad, and a lot of crabby from you for a very long time, but not right now. I’m trying to enjoy the moment.”

I grin into the top of her head. “What moment?”

“The one where you finally got your head out of your ass and mated me, then opened up about why you’re always mad and crabby.”

This woman.

I really do fucking love her.

“You and Arrow are the first two omegas to come to Obsidian in over fifteen years.”

“And you brought both of us here.”

I frown. “Yeah, I guess I did.” I hadn’t really thought about that. “But it makes sense when you really think about it. Not that you’re the only ones, but why I brought you here, the connections and shit.”

Our omegas were taken from us by the piece of shit who had my omega, and I have a feeling that finding Indy, then intervening with Arrow was only the beginning of something bigger than a couple of coincidences and a little divine intervention.

“Connections and shit,” Indy says in a terrible impression of me. “You have such a way with words.”

“Talking is over?—“

A loud thud followed by another, and then a crashing sound comes from the front of the house, and even though we both jump and go tense, I know there’s not a threat barreling through our living room. No, just a couple of men who are going to probably be irritated as fuck, and happy as hell over the current situation our girl and I happen to be in. The threats will come later when Nash gets pissed about fixing the front door, and having to buy new chairs for the dining room.

“Oh, thank fuck,” Clayton says as he walks into the kitchen, immediately throwing his coat on the floor before pulling his shirt up over his head. “For a split second I thought Indy might have finally killed you, but since you just fucked, the mess is less concerning.”

“Speak for yourself,” Nash grunts as he follows, stopping next to the fridge and scowling at the way it now leans to the left. “I’m the one who’s going to have to clean all of this up.”

Indy giggles as Clay drops down on his hands and knees, kicking his boots off as he crawls toward us. “You won’t have to do it alone,” she says. “I’ll help, and so will Bramley.”

“The fuck I will. I—oof.” Our girl elbows me in the gut, eliciting a cackle from Clay, and a small smile from Nash.

Thank god for that.

We’ve been on the outs for so long, I swear I almost forgot how that man looks when he isn’t pissed off at me.

“I’ll help, too,” Clayton says from between Indy’s tits. “But only if someone calls me a good boy. I don’t think anyone understands how much I need to hear that.”

He goes to take his sweats off, our beta obviously ready to jump in where Indy and I left off, but just as Clayton gets the waistband under his asscheeks, Nash clearly looks out the window over the sink and bursts everyone’s bubble.

“You know there’s a naked guy in handcuffs trying to climb out the window of the pole barn?”

“Shit,” I say as I quickly and carefully move Indy out of my lap and get to my feet. I forgot all about that.

Clayton flops on his back, his dick already at half mast as he lets out the longest, most annoyed sigh I’ve ever heard. “But they’re naked, Nashy. Indy. Bramley. I was on my way to my birthday suit. You should have been, too, the second you saw them. We have been waiting forever for these two to bond, and if I don’t get to have the three people I love more than anything in the world naked, sweaty, and putting their body parts in, on top of, or next to my body parts, I am going to cry.”

“Aw,” Indy says with a giggle as she crawls over, plants a hand on either side of his head, and essentially swings her tits in his face. “You love us that much, Clayton?”

He nods, sticking out his lower lip and giving her his best puppy dog eyes. “I really do, pretty girl.”

I roll my eyes and grab my jeans, shimmying them quickly up my thighs as I watch Clay eat up Indy’s attention, very sneakily sliding a hand up her thigh to grab a handful of her ass while playing the neglected beta card like a pro.

Because he is.

Nash and I fall for that shit, too.

And I can’t really blame Clay for trying because from where I’m standing, I have a great shot of Indy’s ass, and it is perfect. If her I’m sorry for being a terrible mate please forgive me present wasn’t currently trying to make its escape, I’d take her position as an invitation, and mount her from behind right over top of Clayton.

“I’m gonna go shove the front door back into place before we start getting bears or some shit.”

I turn just in time to see Nash head for the living room, so I snatch my t-shirt off the ground and follow him.

Indy isn’t the only one I need to make things right with.

“Hey.” I catch his elbow just before he steps outside. “Hold on a sec.”

My alpha frowns and slowly tugs his arm free, but he doesn’t say anything. He just stops, and waits.

“Look, I’m…” I rub a hand over my hair, hating how hurt Nash is still. “I’m sorry, honey.”

“It’s fine,” he says as he looks away, crossing his arms against his chest. Closing himself off from me the best he can while we’re face to face. “Doesn’t matter, right?”

Nash goes to walk out again, but I grab his arm, yank him into the room, then unintentionally slam him into the wall next to the doorway.

That’s going to go over real well.

Proven by the way my alpha growls and narrows his eyes through his specs. “Don’t, Bramley. Not when Indy is clearly happy as hell. I’m not going to ruin this for her just because you and I are… Whatever.”

“Not whatever,” I grunt, deciding pinning him here wasn’t all bad. “We’ve been at each other’s throats, or refusing to talk at all.” I search his eyes before he looks away again. “I’ve been terrible to you, Nash, and you didn’t deserve it. You haven’t deserved anything about the way I’ve been treating you, and not just since Indy showed up.”

He shrugs and keeps staring at the empty fireplace. “Doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter. It matters, Nash, because you matter to me.” Waiting for him to turn, and getting worried when he doesn’t, I get real ballsy and grab one of his hands, setting it on my bare chest so he can feel how hard my heart is beating. “I love you, Nash, and I have been an absolute shit mate to you. You don’t deserve that, especially when you’ve been doing nothing but trying to keep our pack together while I’ve all but torn it apart.” I keep his hand where it is then use my other to cup his cheek, relieved as fuck when he lets me turn him toward me. “I’m sorry.”

Nash stares at me for a few seconds, those emerald green eyes moving between mine, and just when I think I’m going to explode, he gives me that beautiful, shy smile.

“I know,” he says after a million years. “I know you are, but I really appreciate hearing it.”

I smile back as I smooth my thumb under his eye. “Am I forgiven? Because if I’m not, makeup sex is going to have to wait until we handle the shit outside. And probably this door.”

Nash chuckles and shakes his head. “You’re forgiven, and you are right, but I want a blowjob before the makeup sex. You need to make things up to me before you get anything out of it.”

“I thought Clayton was the brat,” I half growl, half laugh as I lean in, brushing my lips against his after what feels like an entire lifetime of not being this close. “Am I going to have to punish you, too, alpha?”

He growls back, but Nash is smiling. While I slide both of my hands up his neck and grip tightly. As I kiss my alpha deeply for the first time in a long time. When his fingers curl against my chest and his other hand lands on my hip and gives it a squeeze. He smiles the entire time, and that beautiful grin grows when we hear a little sniffle come from behind me.

“That was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Rolling my eyes, I kiss Nash one more time and turn to see Clayton and Indy standing there, both of them fully clothed, his arm around her shoulders as she leans into him with a gigantic grin on her face.

Making up with my alpha was definitely worth it on its own, but seeing the way they’re looking at us, yeah, that makes it even more so.

“You want to explain the naked dude in handcuffs now?” Clay asks as he takes our omega by the hand and leads her to us. “I’m all for the fun, kinky shit, but I don’t think this pack can handle adding anyone else. We’re lucky the three of us lasted long enough to find Indy, and I’m still not sure we aren’t going to implode in some sort of angry, jizzy mess at some point.”

Blinking at him because there’s a lot to unpack in what Clayton just said and I’m not really sure how to respond, I lift my t-shirt to put it on, realize I tore it in half and can’t, and just wonder how the fuck I got here.

Guys like me don’t get this lucky, and when the other shoe finally drops, I’m sure I’ll be reminded of that.