Chapter 8

I shift my sleeping omega off my chest and slip from our nest. My cock pulses at being denied, but after two days of near constant use, he can wait a few minutes while I gather supplies.

My kitten may not want food while in estrous, but she needs the calories. After she almost passed out during our last joining, I worry she won’t have the stamina to survive until her heat breaks.

She needs hydration, too. I refuse to damage her perfect pussy, so I fill the cup and a pitcher from the cabinet and place both on the floor beside the nest before stalking to the washroom. The dark red blotches staining the bandage wrapped around my torso catch my attention in the mirror, but I don’t have the patience to see to my wounds when my omega is in need. Remembering the oozing bite mark on her shoulder, I snag the first aid box and turn toward the door.

A feminine whimper heightens my senses, and I hurry through the living room in anticipation, but stop in the doorway to our den. I stare at our empty nest, not comprehending until another soft sound comes from behind me.

My heart lurches in my chest as I turn around and see my kitten curled up by the exit. Her red and swollen pussy weeps my seed as her eyes leak silent tears. The pink splotches on her throat and breasts will fade with time, but the raised crescent on her shoulder worries me.

I lost control. Our first mating was too rough on her delicate body.

She doesn’t reach for the door, but the pain shining from her eyes etches a permanent scar on my heart.

I drop the first aid box and close the distance between us. She leans against my chest when I scoop her off the floor.

“It hurts,” she whispers.

She isn’t talking about her body. The bonds between her and her siblings throb in agony.

“I’ll take care of you, kitten.” I settle her into our nest and stroke her matted hair away from her face. “Don’t move.”

I wait until she nods before retrieving the box and pulling out the ointment and a few bandages. She flinches when I circle the mark on her shoulder, but relaxes into the pillows. Miserable tears flow down her temples as she stares blankly up at the swaying chains.

I don’t regret hanging them—they represent all the long, lonely nights her father forced me to endure—but I’d do anything to erase the pain wafting from her.

She sighs as I smear ointment on her shoulder and lies still as I tape a bandage over her wound, but when I pull my hand away, she clutches my wrist with both hands. After writhing through an intense wave of hormones, she sucks down a deep breath to settle her nerves and struggles to sit up. I flatten my hand over her sternum, but she pierces me with eyes as clear as a cloudless sky.

“My turn,” she demands before tugging my wrist.

I follow her lead and take her place in the nest. When she rummages in the first aid box, I release a low growl. She grabs her stomach and hunches her shoulders as her womb cramps. Fresh slick scents the air, but none trickles down her thighs.

“Stop, kitten. You need—”

She swings tortured eyes over her bandaged shoulder at me. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth and my words dry up.

A shiver works down my spine as she stares at me. The hard glint in her eyes brooks no argument, and for the first time since I was a child, I feel small.

Reprimanded. Put in my place.

My mother’s face flashes through my mind’s eye. She was the only one who ever dared to give me such a look before this tiny, feral kitten came clawing into my life.

I stare in frozen shock at my omega, unable to breathe through the whirlwind of emotions.

She transports me back in time. I’m home. My anger and loneliness fade away. Long buried memories resurface. Every dark and miserable night merge into one. They served their purpose. They brought me here. They brought me her.

Iris. My kitten. My mate.

She shuffles forward on her knees and unwinds the bandage from around my waist. Her tears flow thicker down her face as she reveals the gaping, oozing holes in my side.

I suck down a lungful of air before releasing it on a shaky breath as another realization strikes me. Bittersweet emotions slice my heart open, purge the festering puss, and mend me in swift succession. My head reels.

My kitten cries for my pain, not because of our bond or because she regrets stabbing me, but because she loves me. She needs me. She can’t fix me any more than she could protect her brothers.

Family. I’m her family now.

The love she holds for her brothers runs deeper than that of typical siblings. Her omega heart sees them as her own children. She needs them.

She needs me just as much, but as her alpha. Her provider. Her protector.

She’s been through so much. Her soul stretches toward mine, begging for relief, forgiveness, and love.

Without a word, she dips a sterilized cloth into the pitcher of water and cleans my side with gentle dabs.

I ache to give her everything she needs. With her resilience and silent care, she opens a well of tenderness I never knew existed within me.

I vow to give her every drop. Just as her body takes my knot and accepts my seed, I’ll ensure her heart receives the same flood of nutrients from my soul.

With my priorities realigned, I weave my fingers together behind my head, giving her full access to my side, and hold in my rumble to make her task easier. After smearing ointment over each wound, she breaks. With a hiss and curse, she throws the first aid box across the room.

“This isn’t right. You need medical attention. These won’t heal. You’re still bleeding. What if you get infected? What if—”

I pull her flush against me and dive into her mouth, desperate for a taste of her sweetness. She opens for me with such eagerness I’d fall to my knees if I were standing, but she thumps the side of her fists against my chest in frustration. I pull back just enough to meet her gaze.

“I’m serious, Aft. You need a surgeon.”

My cock turns to steel as her sensuous lips form my name. I tilt my hips and enjoy the hitch in her breath as I rub my shaft through her wet folds.

Not wet enough. She needs to hydrate.

Blood oozes down my side.

“Don’t worry, kitten. I’ll be fine.”

She snarls and hits my chest with surprising force. I chuckle and lift the cup of water off the floor.

“There’s no chance in hell I’m letting anyone near you in this state, and you’d have to drag my cold, dead body away to get me to leave you right now, so bandage me back up, Iris, so I can knot your needy pussy again.”

Her pupils dilate and her nipples pebble against my chest, but despite the flush darkening her cheeks, fatigue and emotional upset cast a pallor over her skin.

She sighs before nodding and reaching for the bandages.

I press the cup to her lips and urge her to drink half the contents before releasing her. She uses the cloth to wipe the fresh blood off my hip before winding a clean bandage around my waist.

We alternate between me regulating her water intake and her dressing my wounds. After every tightening of the bandage, I ensure she drinks a few more swallows until only a cup remains at the bottom of the pitcher.

As she pants through another cramp, I gather her into my lap and stroke her hair away from her face until she peers up at me with clear blue eyes.

I pinch a piece of bread off the plate and bring it to her lips. She scowls before reluctantly opening her mouth. I feed her from my hand until she turns her head away.

Even in estrous, when all she wants is to sleep and fuck, she eats for the sake of her brothers. I selfishly use this to my advantage.

With her belly full and my seed still trickling from her pussy, she slips into sleep between one breath and the next even as her core cramps in want.

It kills me, but I settle her into the nest and tuck the blankets over her before wrapping a towel around my waist and heading to the door.

Less than three minutes later, I toss the towel onto the floor and climb in beside my omega. She curls into me and grinds her pussy against my hip in her sleep.

It’s too much temptation. I wake her with my fingers pinching her hard clit and my cock sinking into her tight, wet heat. Her needy, strained gasp tests my control.

I satisfy us both with long, savage thrusts of my hips, the pain of my wounds inconsequential compared to the pleasure she gives me.

After several life-altering moments where she clamps down so hard I skyrocket into bliss and her eyes roll to the back of her head and slick drenches our torsos, thighs, and nest, I seat myself just in time to fit my ballooning knot behind her pubic bone.

We shatter together. We float in bliss together. Our broken pieces gather and create a new whole. We become one. Together.

I roll onto my back and trace my fingers up and down her spine, enjoying her weight on me as she snuggles into my chest and accepts my seed deep into her womb. With our bodies locked together and our souls intertwined, we slip into a much-needed doze.

When my knot pops free, I roll over, pin her knees to her shoulders, and seal my mouth over her core.

Her dainty fingers weave into my curls. I growl and enjoy a few extra licks to reward her for her impatience before filling my mouth, blocking the flow with my palm, and ferrying my prize to her lips. She accepts my offering with a low moan of delight. Our tongues duel. Her viciousness extrapolates as the taste of our mixed essences dissipates, so I nip her lip in warning and carry another mouthful from between her legs to her tongue.

For several euphoric moments, we bask in the mess of our joining, but instead of rolling onto my back and settling her onto her favorite perch—my chest—I fling the top of our nest to the side and pull her into a sitting position.

She grumbles and tries to burrow into the filthy blankets, but I rise and stalk to the dresser with her in tow. I take great pleasure in her unhappy hiss as I lift her by the hips and set her on the frigid surface.

“Don’t move, kitten, or I’ll knot you on the counter and keep your surprise to myself,” I murmur against her temple.

She shivers and wraps her arms around herself, but watches me with dazed, hungry eyes.

I pull a pair of shorts up my legs and grimace as I tuck my dirty, half hard cock into the fabric. Despite being more satiated than ever before, desire builds at the base of my spine, creating pressure in my balls and partially inflating my knot. All because my omega remains in estrous.

I work against our biological instincts and dress my female in the shirt I wore before I found her. My pheromones waft from the fabric, but it isn’t enough. After pulling my old pajama pants up her legs and tying the drawstring around her tiny waist, I wrap the filthiest blanket from our nest around her shoulders and cradle her to my bare chest.

Her alert, worried eyes glance up at me as I open the door to our den. She stiffens and sneaks a hand out of the blanket to splay her fingers over my sternum, but I growl and tuck the fabric back into place, hiding her from the neck down.

I stomp down the hall and turn the corner before stopping in front of the closest door.

“What are—”

I cut her off with a growl and shoulder the door open. Little voices stop mid-sentence and two sets of sky-blue eyes swing up from the carpet. Her brothers abandon their card game and shuffle to the far side of the couch before holding hands. A tiny thumb disappears into the smallest youngling’s mouth, but neither boy cowers.

A sliver of pride sneaks into my chest as they stand tall despite the fear stench permeating from their pores.

My kitten wriggles in my arms.

“Let me down,” she demands.

I squeeze her to my chest and release a low growl. The scent of her tears clogs my nostrils, but I hold firm until she works through the initial rush of adrenaline and stops struggling against me. Her heart pounds so hard I feel the percussion through her back. She aims frantic eyes up at me.

I lean down and lick the sweat off her temple, needing her taste fresh on my tongue before I release her.

Her lashes widen in shock when I set her on her feet. Unable to turn away even though the only people in the suite are two younglings, my omega, and myself, I step backward while keeping my chest facing my kitten, ready to lunge forward and scoop her up at the slightest provocation.

She rushes forward and almost trips on the blanket. Her brothers flick uncertain glances my way, but they move as one to meet her halfway around the couch.

She drops to her knees and wraps her arms around the mini masculine versions of herself. Their noses scrunch at the smells wafting off her, but the youngest boy ducks his head and burrows into her chest as though his entire body might fit inside her ribcage.

Jealous fury rips through me, and I step forward before regaining my control.

Very few things in the universe would stop me from touching my omega. The joy flooding our bond is one of them. Her happiness infects my chest. Relief and love lift the weight from my shoulders. I ache for the moment to continue forever.

She kisses the tops of their heads before pushing them an arm’s length away and studying them from head to toe.

“Are you really okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” she asks.

“We’re okay,” the older one responds.

My kitten frames his face with her dainty fingers and searches his eyes.

“You’ve been so brave, Sail. You kept Reef safe when I couldn’t. I’m so proud of you.”

Tears fill both their eyes, but Reef tugs at the hem of my omega’s sleeve and slowly extracts the thumb from his mouth. My mate drops a hand to his shoulder and rubs his arm in long, soothing strokes.

He stops her petting with a spit-covered hand over hers.

“We don’t wanna stay here,” Reef says in the most serious tone I’ve ever heard from such a small being. My gut tightens and indignation slithers through me.

“I know, love, but we’re safest with this alpha, so we can’t—”

“No, he means here. This room. We want to go back to the ward,” Sail says.

She freezes with her eyes locked on his. For several long, tense moments, she stares at him without so much as breathing to mark the passing of time.

“Why?” she whispers.

“We got fwends wike us,” Reef says before popping his thumb back into his mouth. Sail takes up the explanation, so in tune with his brother he needs no prodding.

“There are other boys without parents, but everyone is super nice because there’s enough to share. We help each other because we have to be the ones to protect the ship when we grow up because we want all the babies and mommies to stay alive so there won’t be more boys like us.” His animated face relays his conviction, giving more meaning to his jumbled words as he rushes to share his excitement with his sister. “The first night was scary, but Shell gave Reef his extra blanket and even though we have our own beds, they let Reef climb into mine when he can’t sleep, and no one teased us about it the next day. Braid said he wished he had a little brother to hug and protect, so then Aerostar—” The first tear slips from my omega’s lashes as her sibling prattles on, and I lose track of his words as I watch it roll down her face.

Bittersweet joy flows through our bond. She studies their happiness and assures herself with small, loving caresses, tracing her thumbs over their cheeks, cupping their chins, and rubbing their shoulders, until Reef pops his thumb out of his mouth and frames her face with his pudgy little hands.

“We not scared no more. We wanna live there. You come see us all the time, but no stay. No girls.”

She gives a startled half-laugh, half-sob before wrapping her arms around him and resting her cheek on the top of his head. Rivers of tears flow from her eyes. He doesn’t complain as she squeezes him.

Sail’s eyes widen. He yanks her collar to the side. An odd mix of emotions clash within my chest as he studies the bandage on her shoulder.

“He hurt you.”

My hackles rise at the accusation in his adolescent voice, but I approve of his protectiveness over his sister, even if my alpha instincts demand I pulverize him for daring to challenge me.

“I claimed her. She’s mine now,” I snarl.

He puffs up his chest and steps between us. My omega grabs his arm, but he refuses to back down.

“She was ours first. Ours for a long, long time. My whole life. I never had to hurt her. You shouldn’t either.”

“Be quiet, Sail,” she hisses and tugs him backward, but he scowls at me.

“Did you hurt her like father hurt mommy? I’ll kill you,” he promises with clenched fists and fury pouring off him.

I step forward and grab him by the scruff. Even when I squat, his legs prove too short to kick me and his puny fists bouncing off my arm barely register.

“No one will ever hurt her again except for me. Not even you, little one, so calm down before I lose my patience and give her a reason to grieve,” I snarl with a pinch of his nape.

He shakes with the force of his emotions.

“Please stop, Aft. He doesn’t mean—”

I drop the youngling, yank her to me by her hair, and silence her with a kiss until she melts in my arms.

“The second time you say my name is to defend your father’s—”

“Not my father’s. Mine,” she snarls.

I chuckle and lick her bottom lip.

“What’s yours is mine, kitten. Why do you think they’re in the room closest to our den?”

Her breath ghosts over my lips and her breasts heave against my chest. I fight the urge to drop to my knees and worship her, using the ache in my thighs to remain in a squat instead.

“You don’t really mean that,” she accuses.

“I do.”

“But you just threatened him.”

“I did. I threatened you, too,” I say without an ounce of regret.

“That’s not—”

“That’s family, Iris. We protect one another at all costs. Your father may have tainted our beginning, but we’ll break everything he left behind and settle into our new family soon enough.”

Her wet lashes shimmer in the overhead light as she blinks at me.

“You have ten seconds to say goodbye to your brothers, then I’m throwing you over my shoulder and hauling you back to our den.”

“But—”

“They’re going back to the ward. You’ll visit a few days after your heat breaks,” I say through gritted teeth as I release her.

“Wait, no, I—”

“Six seconds,” I snarl.

Four tiny arms wrap around her waist as her brothers celebrate their return to their friends. Sail assures her they’ll be fine and that he’ll grow big enough to protect her if I ever hurt her again. Reef pulls his thumb out of his mouth and the brightest smile lights his face.

My heart aches for a youngling of my loins.

She may ignore the signs, but her hormones continue to rage within her body, eager for my seed to flood her womb and create the next generation of doll-like babies with blue eyes and raven hair.

And if a few have fiery locks, emerald eyes, and cheeks full of freckles, we’ll celebrate them just as fiercely.

Because what’s hers is mine and what’s mine is hers.

I set out to break her, but she demolished the barriers I built for revenge and reminded me of what matters most instead.

Family.

We’re family.

Forever.