22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

BLAKE

O NE YEAR LATER

"Are you sure you've got the Fontaine job under control?" I asked Leo as we drove home after work, Freya sitting in the seat between us, elbow-deep in a bag of crackers that was probably turning her white school uniform shirt orange.

"Yes," Leo replied, exasperated. "We're leaving all the decorative stuff until you're back on board anyway, and we built your ten days off into the project scope. Stop stressing, Blake."

"Aunty Inika says stressing isn't good for your heart, Uncle Blake," Freya added serenely before shoving another handful of crackers into her mouth.

"You can remember that but you can't remember to wear your tie to school."

Freya shrugged, unbothered, while Leo watched her affectionately. For now, she lived in the main house with Inika, Dad, and I, while Leo was on his own in the outbuilding we'd done up a few feet from the big house. Freya had a bedroom there too, and she'd probably spent most of next week there while Inika and I retreated to the nest, but the current arrangement suited us all just fine for now.

Freya had needed consistency, and Leo had needed time and space to sort his head out. This setup had given us both. Freya had been excelling at her new school—with the exception of all the uniform infractions she'd received—and Leo had been going to grief counselling and showing up to work with me each day.

It wasn't perfect, but it was better than it had been in years. We had Inika to thank for that.

She came out to meet us as we pulled up in front of the house, still looking like my expensive city girl in her dark blue skirt and matching loose crop top, though the knee-high yellow wellington boots were a country touch.

"One of you needs to get your father off the ladder right now," she said the moment we opened the van doors. "He's insisting on changing the lightbulb by the back door."

"On it," Leo said, jogging around the house while I waited by the driver's door, accepting all the things Freya was handing me to carry inside.

"Did you have a good day, princess?" I asked, leaning down to kiss Inika as she sidled up next to me, immediately reaching up to massage the back of my neck.

"I did. I got lots of work done, and I ripped out the carpet in the spare bedroom."

I snorted, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Of course, you did."

I hadn't actually expected Inika to be so hands-on when it came to the renovation, but it turns out that she found the destruction of property quite therapeutic.

Her friends had found that a little baffling, but they'd been baffled by most of Inika's life choices in the past year. It had made for an odd few months, but they seemed to be finding a new normal now. Brigitte had come out to visit for the day just last week, and she'd very thoughtfully brought Freya a birthday present.

"You're warm," I murmured as Freya jumped down from the car, blowing Inika a kiss before running into the house. She was usually very affectionate with her, but she seemed to have picked up that Inika couldn't tolerate a lot of physical contact at the moment from anyone except me.

"Mmhm. You ready, alpha?"

"I've been waiting all year to get my bite on you. Of course I'm ready."

"Good." Inika sighed dreamily. "I can't wait."

"Come here, omega," I growled, infusing my voice with alpha command as my desperate little omega leaned back in the shower, rubbing her clit like she'd die if she didn't. She was still somewhat lucid—aware, at least, that she wanted to wash the scent of the outside world off her before she climbed into her nest—but very much fixated on pleasure.

But her pleasure was my job.

Inika walked into the towel I was holding out for her, pressing her wet face against my throat and purring contentedly as I patted her skin dry. Fuck, she smelled heavenly.

"Did you eat?" I asked. She nodded against my skin, tugging in frustration at the towel, hating the feel of the material against her skin when she was already so sensitive. I tossed it aside, scooping her up into my arms and stepping over the clothes I'd already discarded, carrying her back to the nest. My gums ached, the anticipation of a full year of waiting thrumming in my veins, but it was too early for that. It wasn't safe to place the mating bite until the heat had fully set in.

I dropped Inika on the edge of the bed, cupping her face gently and staring into her eyes.

"Roll over, my pretty little slut. Let's see how slick that cunt is for me."

The coppery tang of blood filled my mouth. It wasn't pleasant, and yet somehow, it was the best thing I'd ever tasted. My omega clenched around my knot, arching back into my bite with a whine.

Mine.

"Are you awake?" Inika rasped, her voice clear though tired after five intense days.

I hummed, eyes too heavy to open, squeezing her a little tighter where she lay on top of me.

"We're mated," she whispered, smiling against my chest.

"Fuck, I hope so. I'd have been annoyed if I'd waited all year and then forgotten to bite you."

Inika shook with laughter. "I doubted I would have let you get away with that, alpha."

"Mm, I doubt that too," I agreed, reaching down to massage the globes of her ass. My memories of the past five days were pretty hazy, but Inika hadn't been shy and retiring in any of them. "No regrets, princess?"

"Not a single one. What about you?"

I forced my eyes open as Inika propped her head up on her hands, peering down at me. "Absolutely not. I'm so in love with you, Blake."

"I'm so in love with you too. I'm going to show you that every single day for the rest of our lives."