3. MAVERICK

3

MAVERICK

Nepheline is curled against me in the nest, her breath warm and steady against my chest. One of her hands has a death grip on my shirt, her fingers clutching the fabric like it’s the only thing tethering her to this world. She’s passed out, exhausted from the weight of everything, but even in sleep, her brow furrows as if she’s fighting invisible battles.

I haven’t slipped into one of her dreams since that one evening so I have no idea the chaos running through her mind but I wish I could take all of it away and just give her peace.

On her other side, Darius lies propped on his elbow, his hand moving gently through her hair, each stroke like a prayer. His gaze is fixed on her as it always is, like she’s the most perfect thing he’s ever seen.

“She’s everything, isn’t she?” I murmur, my voice low enough not to wake her.

Darius doesn’t look at me, his eyes never leaving her face. “Yeah. She is.”

I shift slightly, careful not to disturb her, but she only nuzzles closer, her sweet scent wrapping around me. The corner of my mouth lifts in the faintest of smiles. She dragged me up here earlier, saying that she needed to feel my heartbeat against her ear, to know that I was still alive. I don’t blame her. Had the roles been reversed, we would have all needed her at our side. “I saw parts of her dream,” I say.

That gets his attention. His hand pauses mid-stroke and he finally turns his head to look at me. “You saw her dream?”

I nod, my fingers brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “From before. When we first met. Back in the Redstone pack. She dreamed of the days you’d run around the courtyard together. Do you remember?”

Darius’ lips twitch into a small smile, one that looks almost foreign on his usually guarded face. “I’m still remembering pieces. It’s coming back to me in flashes, but yeah… I remember the courtyard. I remember her laugh. The joy on her face. I miss when it was simple, when she was my entire world and we didn’t have to worry about everything else.”

I let his words hang in the air, a rare, quiet moment between us. It’s not often that Darius lets his guard down like this and I don’t take it for granted. “How does it feel knowing you’re part of the Sapphire pack now? Does it feel weird that you left all that behind for our Omega?” It’s not a simple question but I wonder if I would have made the same choice for an Omega I never met. Without a second form, my entire upbringing centered around the nonshifters way of living. Unless we were in love, we wouldn’t upend our lives for something uncertain.

Darius exhales softly, his gaze shifting back to Nepheline. His hand resumes its slow, soothing strokes through her hair. “It feels right,” he says after a long pause. “Like it was always supposed to be this way. I couldn’t have made a better choice, Maverick.” His eyes soften as he watches her. “Bambi’s every bit the Omega I could have wanted. Strong, stubborn, compassionate… and she never lets me forget why I’m here. Why I chose her.”

I nod, understanding his words in a way only someone who loves her could. She has that effect on people—pulling them in, grounding them, making them want to be better, stronger. Nepheline stirs slightly, a soft noise escaping her lips as her lashes flutter. Her grip on my shirt loosens just a little, and her eyes blink open, hazy and unfocused.

Darius chuckles softly, leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek. “Welcome back, Bambi,” he murmurs. Her attention shifts entirely to him, her gaze warming as a small, sleepy smile graces her lips. And just like that, the room feels lighter.

I fall silent, watching them together. Darius, the perfect Beta, and Nepheline, our fiery, untouchable Omega. They’re everything I never thought I needed and yet, here we are.

She doesn’t let go of me, though. Her hand tightens in my shirt again as they share a kiss, both sweet and passionate, Nepheline tasting Darius in a way that shows just how much she loves him. I feel honored to watch them, a moment between our Omega, our Luna and her Beta.

Moments later, Nepheline drapes herself over my side, her gaze meeting mine as she shares the same kiss with me as she did Darius. I’m lost in her sweet scent as I pull her closer, one arm wrapping around her waist and the other slipping into her hair. She moans into my mouth, pressing herself against me as the room heats with her desire.

“Alpha,” she breathes against my lips, “I need you.” Her words are a plea and a demand wrapped up in pretty words. Her back arches as Darius scoots closer, laying soft kisses along the back of her shoulders, a gasp falling from her parted lips. Nepheline is always beautiful but there’s something different in these moments when she submits to us, when she craves us and our touch.

“You’re mine, kitten. You always will be,” I purr before kissing her again, my hands roaming up and down her back. It draws giggles from her lips as she tugs at my shirt, desire turning into need. Her frustration is adorable but I need her just as much as she needs me. That moment in the living room earlier terrified me if I’m being honest. One moment I was there—the next I wasn’t and then I was awake again in her arms.

I thought I lost her.

I don’t ever want to feel like that again.

Nepheline growls as she partially shifts, dragging her claws down my shirt and pants to strip me of my clothes. I would expect nothing less as she undresses and then straddles my waist. “Need you,” she mumbles again, her eyes unfocused. Her scent is much sweeter now, some part of her biology needing her to reconnect with me—as if her Omega is driving her instincts completely.

I don’t need to be told twice as I guide her over my cock, her pussy swallowing me whole, my knot nudging against her entrance. Her walls clench around me, a tight, welcoming embrace that has me groaning her name.

Nepheline arches her back as she stabilizes her hands against my chest, her breast thrust forward. Her gaze finds her Beta, Darius gloriously naked as he waits for what she needs. She reaches forward, her lips circling his tip as her eyes roll into the back of her head. My hands fall to her waist, steadying her as she tastes her Beta until I can’t hold still any longer.

I begin dictating her movements, starting up a rhythm that’s a perfect torture. Darius is lost to the pleasure Nepheline is giving him as I fill our Omega, drawing on that lifeline that we both need. It’s a beautiful picture, one that I’ll replay over and over in my head. As much as I want to take these moments to explore, she needs my knot. She needs to know that I’m here that I’m not going anywhere.

And I need to claim her as mine.

It’s a primal instinct that I never stepped into before Nepheline but it’s all I want. Her screams are muffled around Darius’ cock as I fuck her hard with long strokes from below until I’m spilling into her, my knot swelling as I push upward. Her pussy constricts, strangling my knot, milking me of every last drop of my release. Her eyes widen as Darius sifts a gentle hand into her hair, grinning down at her. “Take it all, Bambi. There you go.” I’ve never seen him dominant with her but I find that I love her like this, completely consumed between the two of us. “You are so perfect,” he whispers as he drags his cock out of her mouth and then drops to his knees to kiss her. There’s no shame in tasting himself on her lips as he devours her, Nepheline clinging to him even as I’m knotting her.

My hands roam, now that the need is satiated, caressing her breasts, pinching her nipples, eliciting more gasps and moans. Nepheline tears herself away from Darius and then bends down to kiss me as well, Darius’ unique taste now on my tongue. It’s a passionate claiming kiss but I’m not sure if it’s her or me doing the claiming.

“I will always need you, Maverick,” she growls at me. “You’re not allowed to die.”

A chuckle tears from my throat as I hold her against my chest, gently rolling us onto our side. “I promise to live as long as you do, kitten.”

Her face scrunches up as she playfully slaps my chest, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "You'll live as long as you're supposed to, Alpha. Don't you dare leave me."

I capture her hand, pressing my lips to her palm, then her wrist, my lips trailing up her arm, leaving a path of kisses. "I couldn't bear a day in this world without you, Nepheline. You're my everything." She’s about to fight me on that as Darius saddles up against her back again, slowly fingering his hands through her mussed hair.

“It’s true, Bambi. None of us want to live in a world where you don’t exist.”

Nepheline lets out a soft grunt before burying her head in my chest. “Then we die together.” I can feel her smile against my bare skin but there’s a seriousness in her voice beneath the amusement. I can only hope fate has us all surviving the next ordeal because if it’s anything like the one that brought us together, Nepheline will rip heaven and hell apart to avenge what she’s lost.