Chapter 7 You snooze, you lose

Haven slips her hand in mine and, ignoring the grumbles from Tic and Hale, I pull her to her feet. You snooze, you lose, assholes.

Haven glances over at Ren. “You coming?”

Her friend snorts and shakes her head. “Nah, I’ll hang here with these guys and regale them with all of my complaints about being an omega and a dancer.”

Haven winces and Florence laughs. “Oh, my god, Have. I’m joking.” She flaps a hand. “I’m just gonna finish my drink while I interrogate them and then I’ll get my groove on. Gotta sweat out all the alcohol before I drive home my precious cargo.”

My alpha protests at the idea of Ren getting behind the wheel with Haven in the passenger seat when she’s even remotely intoxicated. A shared look with the rest of my pack and the humming of the bond tells me they feel that same, so I make a note to monitor how much Ren drinks and to verify that she’s sober before they leave for the night.

We’ll drive Haven home ourselves if we have to.

“Enjoy the interrogation, boys!” I call over my shoulder as I drag Haven away from the table.

She laughs but lets me do it. In no time, we’re on the dance floor surrounded by bodies, and the tension that had been riding Haven melts with the heavy beat. Her body sways and gyrates to the song, all sinewy and sexy as fuck. Who would have thought that Haven Bell could move like that?

The few times I’ve seen her dance, it’s been the waltz, the fox trot, and other ballroom type dancing. Stiff spine and stiffer smile. But now she’s like water… or fire, maybe. All smooth liquid movements. I wrap my hands around her hips and tug her against me. She gives me a coy smile before spinning so her ass nestles against my cock.

It’s a practiced move, one that lets me know she’s danced with a lot of other men just like this… or maybe not a lot , but enough that she knows what she’s doing as she moves against me, urging my cock into an erection from just the brush of her body against mine.

I have to swallow back the growl of jealousy that wants to swim up my throat, forcing it back down to stew in my stomach, along with my guilt and my trepidation. None of that has any place in what we’re doing here.

No one would suspect that the omega currently grinding all over my cock is Haven Bell. I mean, no one . I can hardly believe it myself, and I know who she is. But damn, in that tight little dress and those sky high shoes, with her lips painted bright red and her gray eyes surrounded in black liner and smoky eyeshadow? Haven Bell looks nothing like the prim and proper politician’s daughter we’ve had her pegged as. No wonder we had no clue she does this with Florence.

She doesn’t look like the same person, doesn’t act like her either. I bite my lip to swallow a groan as Haven’s ass jiggles against my cock, taking it from a semi straight to an erection. My hands grip her hips and pull her tighter as my hips grind forward. Her lips part on a pant, a whine falling from them. Perfect. She’s fucking perfect.

Guilt swells in my stomach at the thought. And I quickly alter it. This situation is perfect. Her responses are perfect. Exactly what we want, what we’d hoped for.

I bend my head and trail hot kisses over her throat, grinning when she tilts her head farther to give me better access. My eyes flick up to find Hale watching us, his phone out, and I know he’s recording us.

Haven’s head falls back to my shoulder. Her eyes are closed as we move together. One of my hands slides up the side of her body, over the dip of her waist and the swell of her breast until I can grip her neck in my palm. “Open those pretty eyes of yours for me, bellybutton,” I murmur against her temple. The hand still on her hip gripping tighter as I roll my cock into her ass. Fuck, it feels so good. She feels so fucking good. “Let me see what I do to you.”

Her lids flutter up and those gray eyes of hers latch onto mine. “That’s it, baby,” I murmur, using my grip to tilt her head farther, bending to brush my mouth over hers. “Feels good doesn’t it? Having my body against you, feeling my cock? How hard you make me?”

“Yes,” she whimpers against my lips. “Yes, alpha. It feels so good.”

Alpha. The word hits me like a knife to my chest, said so needily by an omega.

My fingers move in response, dancing up the inside of her thigh, dipping under the hem of her tight little dress. I swear I feel a drip of slick on her thighs and it’s all I can do to keep my fingers from going further, slipping under the gusset of her panties to check just how wet she is.

Instead, I stay where I am, just under her hem, on her thigh and I take her mouth in a deep kiss. None of the teasing pecks from before. No, I kiss her like I mean it, and she kisses me back like I’m air.

Her sweet and spicy flavor explodes over my tongue, and for the first time, I realize what Haven’s scent is. Pineapple, lime and chili. Sweet and spicy, just like her. I groan, hand yanking on her hair to position her how I want her to let me get deeper.

I buck my hips against her ass and she presses back against me, meeting my thrusts with breathy little moans.

Jesus, it’s so fucking good.

My fingers skate higher and Haven widens her stance without hesitation, in invitation to go farther. I keep kissing her as I flick my gaze up to where Hale is still standing, still recording. He’s not even being subtle about it, not moving like he’s dancing, just a still body in the writhing mass with his phone focused on us.

I grin into the kiss and slide my hands up. She moans into me when I brush the soaked crotch of her silky panties, hips bucking into my fingers mindlessly. “That for me, button?” I murmur into her ear. “You wet for me?”

Her eyes are still closed, like she can’t bear to open them to face the reality of me touching her like this on the dance floor, surrounded by people. “Yes, Jude,” she whimpers back. “Please.”

“Please what?”

Her pretty gray eyes open, focus on my face, nowhere else. We’ve given up all pretext of dancing, just dry humping on the dancefloor. Her cheeks flush the most gorgeous shade of pink and her mouth swollen from my lips and teeth and tongue.

My cock aches at the sight of her, at the absolute lushness of her body against mine. I want inside her. Right fucking now. I want her on my cock, want to fill her with my cum—because I’m not fucking Haven Bell with a rubber, none of us are—and I want to lock her on my knot. Want to hear her scream my name as she comes and feel her squeeze me so fucking tight.

She’s going to ask for it. For all of that, I can see it on her face. But then there’s a bright flash of light, like a camera going off and all of that melts from her face. The change is immediate. She goes ghostly pale. Her pupils contract, but not with arousal, with fear. Her body goes tense and with that tenseness comes space. She pushes my arms off her and shakes her head.

“What the hell am I thinking?” I hear her mutter low enough that I know I’m not supposed to hear, so I pretend like I don’t, pretend like it doesn’t stab a knife in my stomach to have her put physical distance between us. Like I don’t want to grab her and pull her tight against me and never fucking let her go.

I glance up at Hale to find he’s tucked his phone away, and he’s watching Haven with a furrow between her brows. She leans up to speak directly into my ear, but doesn’t let any part of her touch me, not even a hand to steady herself. “I need to get some air.”

Without waiting for a response, she spins and weaves her way through the crowd. “Dammit, button!” I call after her, trying to shove my way after her, but she’s quick and has loads of experience slipping unnoticed through crowds of people, and I’m three times her fucking size. No one seems to want to let me pass.

Panic takes root when I can’t keep her in sight, can’t find her in the crowd. I hear cursing behind me and know that Hale is also following. At the back of the dancefloor, I see a door open. The one that I know leads to a series of rooms that guests can rent if they need a place for more private ‘ conversations ’, shall we say?

I’m not sure Haven realizes that’s where she’s headed.

But damn if my dick doesn’t throb at the idea of getting that girl alone.

I break through the edge of the writhing mass of people and yank open the door, letting out a relieved breath when I find the little omega who has me all twisted up in knots halfway down the line of doors.

Haven leans against the wall, taking deep breaths, head tilted back. I catch the faintest whiff of her perfume, but it’s struggling to bloom under the suppressants she takes and the descenter the Falcone pack pumps into the club via the air conditioner.

I linger at the end of the hall, not wanting to interrupt, but like hell will I leave her alone to be cornered by some drunk alpha like she was the second she stepped in the club.

“This might surprise you, Jude,” she murmurs without opening her eyes. For some reason, that makes me so happy. That she can tell when I’m close to her, can recognize my presence. “But I came back here to get a little space from you.”

“I know,” I confirm. “I’m keeping my distance.”

A little laugh falls from her mouth as she opens her eyes and pins me with a look. “I can still feel you there, though. And it’s too much.”

I open my mouth to ask what’s too much, but tense when a door farther down the hall opens. I only relax slightly when a woman in her late twenties slips out, smoothing down the tight dress that displays her baby bump. She’s got light brown hair, silver eyes and bright red lipstick.

She pauses when she spots us; me blocking the hall, the exit, and Haven halfway between us. Her eyes flash as her chin tips up. She looks at Haven. “He bothering you?”

“What?” my girl asks, tipping her head to her chest so her hair falls over her face. Hiding, I realize. She doesn’t want to be recognized.

The girl jabs her finger at me. “That alpha there. Is he bothering you?”

“I’m not bothering her,” I growl, offended that she would think that. I don’t give off crazy stalker vibes. Not like some of my pack mates might I know that. I’m more of the loveable golden retriever. “I’m keeping an eye on her.”

She ignores me, moves closer to my girl. “I can help you,” she says, her voice soft but strong. “If you need it.”

I scoff at the idea. She’s an omega. I can tell now that she’s closer, and a pregnant one at that. She wouldn’t be able to stand up to me. But her alphas… well, they’d be another story all together. And if their omega is pregnant, I’m sure at least one of them is somewhere nearby.

“Oh,” Haven gives an uncomfortable laugh, still keeping her head tilted down. “No, he’s fine. He’s just making sure I stay out of trouble. He’s not bothering me.”

“See, I might buy that if you looked at me while you said it.” The omega sounds fierce now, lifting her eyes to glare at me. “Get out of here, right fucking now, or I will have security physically remove you.”

Haven’s head shoots up then and a whine falls from her that she smothers midway, swallowing it back down. “Oh, no, don’t do that. I’m sorry. I didn’t…. He really is fine. I just needed air. It… got to be a little much. You know?”

She hums and stares hard at my girl. “I’ve seen you here before.”

Haven shrinks back and I take a step forward, hating that is her reaction to being recognized, remembered. “You have?”

She nods. “Yeah, my pack owns the place, so I’m here quite a bit.” She holds out her hand. “I’m Sadie Falcone.”

Haven jerks like she’s surprised by the name and, to be honest, I am fucking too. It takes everything in me not to stride forward and grab my girl, to get her away from the omega of the Falcone pack, a ruthless group of mafia killers who only recently appeared to go legit. They helped bring the corruption at Apex Pharma to light after Sadie and her two best friends were abducted to be used for research.

I watch the change slither over Haven. From the top of her head all the way down to her toes, she becomes someone else. Haven Bell, the daughter of the senator. She slips the mask on easily enough, so quickly that I blink and gone is the girl who was grinding on my dick and kissing me like I was the air she needed to breathe, and in her place is the doll, the puppet.

“Pleasure,” she says, gripping Sadie’s hand in hers. But she doesn’t offer her name. She meets the other omega’s gaze steadily. “I can assure you he’s not bothering me. Really. I came here with him, to see him. When I first arrived, I had an unpleasant altercation with a drunk alpha and he’s just making sure I don’t have a repeat.”

Sadie looks at me, then back to Haven, humming in the back of her throat. I take a step forward, readying to get my girl out of here, when the same door that Sadie slipped out of yanks open with enough force it slams against the wall and a bristling alpha storms into the narrow space. “Fucking Christ, Vixen, you can’t just-”

I move without thinking, instincts to protect taking over, barreling down the hall to get Haven out of the path of a rampaging alpha. Only it’s the wrong move because the rampaging alpha sees it as me bum-rushing his pregnant omega.

“Luca,” she shouts as he roars, sprinting forward to put himself between me and the omegas.

“Jude!” Haven cries, just as a fist slams into my cheek. I catch her eyes, wide and full of worry. It makes me smile as I fall to the ground. Because, fuck, it feels good to have Haven Bell worry about me.

The smile falls when I turn my attention back to the bristling alpha and the gun he has pointed squarely at my forehead. I taste blood and my ears are ringing, and my vision isn’t all that great either, because the next thing I know I’m staring up at Haven’s back, her constellation like birthmark on her shoulder catching my dazed attention. How did I not notice that before?

But then I realize what she’s saying, her voice finally filtering through my hazy brain. “Please don’t hurt him. He didn’t mean any harm. He was just trying to get to me. I promise, Sadie was never in any danger.”

“Haven,” I say, gruffly, reaching a hand up to pull her back, away from the gun that I realize she stepped in front of. For me. Fear for her makes me dizzy, makes my alpha roar. Protect. Protect. Protect .

“Stay down,” Luca demands, like he’s sensing I was about to get to my feet, push Haven behind me. “I swear to fuck if you move, I will shoot you.”

Haven whimpers again, and her fear burns through her suppressants and the descenter, filling the space with acrid pineapple and burned chili, making my eyes water with the need to sneeze. “Please,” she says, reaching a hand out. “Your omega is fine. She’s safe with your beta. Look. Sadie is fine.”

“Luca put the gun down,” comes another male voice.

“Yeah, stop pointing a gun at my omega, motherfucker.” I hardly recognize my voice, the dangerous tone, the way I claimed Haven as mine. She’s not , I remind myself. This is all for show. Just another way to get her to trust us. I don’t examine why that feels like a lie. “Or I’ll have to rip your goddamn head from your body.”

Haven glances over her shoulder at me, a glare in her eyes that tells me to stop making this worse. But she can’t hide the way her cheeks have flushed and her pupils have dilated. The acrid tinge in her pineapple scent fades, grows sweeter. Yeah. Me threatening to decapitate another alpha has her aroused.

“Seriously, both of you stop it,” Sadie says, throwing off the arms of her beta and stomping forward to curl her hand around the barrel of the gun and push it to the floor. “I’m fine. I was just checking on-” she cuts off and looks at Haven expectantly, waiting for her to fill in her name, but she doesn’t.

Instead, she drops to her knees to help me into a sitting position, her hand coming up to cup my swollen cheek, hissing slightly when she sees the bruise that is no doubt forming. “Oh, Jude! I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have-”

I cut her off with a kiss. “You did nothing wrong, bellybutton. I promise.”

She frowns and strokes the tip of her finger over my eyelid. “But you got hurt.”

“It’ll heal,” I shrug. “I’d endure worse than a punch to the face to keep you safe.”

“God, alphas are so stupid,” Sadie mutters. Luca Falcone growls at her, but tucks his gun away finally, before pulling her into his chest, his hand possessively on her rounded belly.

I take advantage of the lack of weapon and climb to my feet, tucking Haven close to my body. I don’t think she’s in any danger here, not any longer, but I need to have her slight frame against mine to help calm the still raging alpha inside me.

Sadie watches from within the circle of Luca’s arms as the beta I recognize as Ethan Falcone moves closer. There’s a slight furrow in her brow like she’s not sure she trusts what she’s seeing, like there’s a sixth sense warning her I’m a lying liar-face who is using the omega tucked against my chest.

Without saying anything, she digs into Luca’s pocket and fishes out his wallet, then extracts a business car from inside. “Pen?” she asks, glancing over at Ethan, who produces one from somewhere and hands it over.

Sadie scribbles on the card and then holds it out to Haven. I keep my gaze on the three Falcone pack members as Haven reaches out to take it. “Just in case,” Sadie says with a smile, then she leans into Luca. “Come on. I snuck away to find snacks. I need deep fried pickles with spicy ranch right this second. Or I might die.”

“Don’t even joke about that, omega,” he growls, palming her ass, then lifting her in his arms. Haven and I are forgotten in favor of his omega’s need to eat and his alpha’s need to provide for her. He carries her down the hall away from the main part of the club.

The beta watches us for a moment longer, gaze lingering on the girl still tucked in my arms for a moment. “Use that number if you need it, Haven,” he says softly before turning and following his pack mates.

Haven stares after him, her body tense and her scent turning sour again. “He recognized me, didn’t he?”

I kiss the top of her head and spin her around, urging her back to the club and my pack members, who are undoubtedly getting annoyed at how long I’ve been hoarding her. Though that is a strategy, isn’t it? Keep her away from my pack mates so I’m the only one who gets any points. Then I’d win the prize.

“He might have, button.”

“Fuck,” she swears quietly. Like she doesn’t want me to hear. “I need to leave.”

That makes my stomach drop in disappointment. Not because I want to spend more time with Haven, but because I want to earn more points tonight. I’m pretty sure if I can convince her to stay, I might get her to let me fingerfuck her in public, which would be a hefty start to my game play.

But as soon as we push out the door and into the crush of bodies in the club, we’re greeted by three alphas and one worried omega. Ren barely spares me a glace, brows arching when she takes in the bruise forming on my cheek. “What happened to you?” She asks, but her attention is already falling to her friend.

“I need to go,” Haven says quickly, cutting off any explanation I might have given. “I need to get home.”

Ren doesn’t ask questions, just nods. “Okay, babe. Whatever you need. I’ll grab our coats and meet you by the door.”

Her blond head disappears in the crowd, and the three remaining alphas look down at her. “Surely you can stay a bit longer,” Hale wheedles, no doubt hating that he hasn’t even kissed the girl tonight.

Haven shakes her head and pulls away from me, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “I really can’t… I’ve... its been too long as it is. And I-” She glances over her shoulder to where the altercation with the Falcone pack occurred.

She really is worried about being recognized, about it getting out that she’s here. But then I suppose daddy dearest wouldn’t approve of his little princess clubbing the night away. I can just imagine what the media would say if they caught wind of Haven Bell at The Market with four alphas, being involved in a fight with the Falcone pack.

She might get her credit card taken away for being naughty.

Hmm… something to keep in mind. The security at the club is tight, and I doubt I’d be able to break into their server to get the footage, but it’s worth a shot. We wouldn’t have to use it. Still, having it on hand might be nice.

“I’m sorry,” Haven’s saying as I come back to the conversation. “I’ve had the best time.” Her slim little fingers curl around my forearm and squeeze. “Really. Thank you for inviting me out.”

Tic smiles down at her, but I can feel his disappointment. “Thank you for letting us tag along on your girls’ night.”

Hale’s staring hard at Haven. “You have our numbers?” She nods. “Text to let us know you made it home, okay?”

Her cheeks flush at his protective worry, and she nibbles on her lower lip as she nods. “I will. I promise.”

Our prime runs a hand down his face. “I gotta be honest here, little mouse. I’m finding it very difficult to let you walk away from us.”

Her flush deepens further. Shit, Hale’s good. Very good at playing the protective alpha. It’s only a matter of time before he’s protected her right into his bed and onto his cock. Of course, I’m the one who got punched in the face for her.

“I’m not walking away, Hale,” she says, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing. “I’m just going home. We’ll see each other soon.”

He murmurs something into the top of her head before pulling back and placing a hand at the base of her spine, guiding her through the crowd. The rest of us flank them, creating a barrier around the omega to keep anyone from getting too close. It’s instinct, pure and simple.

Tic leans into me as we watch Ren bundle Haven away from us. “What the hell happened to your face?”

I shrug. “Got punched.”

“By who?” Creed asks.

“Luca Falcone,” Hale says before I can answer.

I swing my head in his direction. “You saw?”

His smile is wolfish, all predator, as he watches Haven disappear into the night. “Even better, I recorded it.”

“First one on the board,” I crow, typing in my points on the spreadsheet I created for this very reason. I look up at Hale. “Send me the video, yeah? I’ll attach the proof.”

Creed glares at me but fuck him. This is what we agreed.

“Stop,” Tic says smacking the back of his hand on the larger alpha’s chest. “We’ve gone over this a hundred times. We’re doing it. It’s happening.”

Creed’s nostrils flare, and his jaw tightens. I feel the strain on our pack bond as he fights against us, against what he knows is the right course of action, even if he likes to pretend he’s better than the rest of us. He’s fucking not.

“It doesn’t have to be bad for her,” I say. “We can make it good. Make her feel good. Show her what being with a pack is like.”

I’d meant it to be an enticement, a way to bring him back over. If Haven gets pleasure from our touch, our mouths, and eventually our cocks and knots, it can’t really be such a bad thing, right? But Creed’s jaw only tightens further.

“Yeah, sure. Before we rip away her dreams of a future with us and show her that packs are only interested in her for what’s between her legs. For how they can use her.”

Hale scowls, and it’s easy to feel his anger through his side of the bond. “You’re assuming she even wants a pack. She’s her father’s daughter, Creed. She’s probably using us as much as we’re using her. I bet she’s eager to fuck us, and then she’ll run away and marry a beta or a lone alpha.”

I get a flash of Creed’s frustration before he snaps his side of our bond closed. I hate when he does that, cuts us off. It makes me feel unbalanced. He runs a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I am telling you, she’s not like her father.”

“And I’m telling you, we don’t have any proof of that.”

“You don’t think tonight was proof of that?” Creed shouts, pointing in the general direction of the club from our house. “You don’t think her showing up, dressed like that, smiling and laughing and not being the stuck up princess we thought she was, isn’t proof?”

Hale’s gaze narrows. “I think it’s proof that she lives a life she keeps hidden from her daddy, but at the end of the day, she still supports all of his bullshit.”

I frown, looking between the two of them. It’s not the first time we’ve had this argument. But it is the first time I’m worried about the outcome. We’ve always been solid in our goal, of one mind, if you will. Frederick Bell needs to pay for what he did to us.

Creed makes a frustrated growling noise and shakes his head. “You do whatever you want, but I’m not… I don’t want to be a part of this.” He points to my laptop. “I’m not playing that game with her.”

Tic tilts his head. “If you don’t play, you can’t win the prize.”

Creed chuckles humorlessly. “Yeah, fuck that. It’s not a prize I want, anyway.” My brows arch at that. Who wouldn’t want the prize? It’s all we’ve thought about for fucking years. “I’m not playing,” he repeats firmly, before storming out of the room.

The three of us watch him go. When his door slams, I glance at Hale. “Should I take him off the board?”

Our prime doesn’t look at me, staring down the hall after our packmate. “No,” he says. “No. He might not want to play now, but he’ll regret it later. We’ll keep track of his points for him.”

I share a look with Tic, one that says we’re not sure we agree with this current assessment of our pack mate. But it’s not gonna hurt anything to leave his name on the board. It’s not like Haven’s ever going to see it, and even if she did… well, that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?

She’ll know she’s a game to us, just like we intend her to understand when all of this is over.

We planned this. We decided this is the correct course of action. So why does my stomach feel like I’ve swallowed a bag of rocks? Why does it feel like I’m betraying Haven when I attach the video of us dancing together, of me kissing her, running my hands over her sweet as sin body?

Why do I feel like Creed might be right and we’ll regret this later?