4. MACON

MACON

I return to my seat on the couch, Savin curling into my side. “Was I too much? Fuck. I just… she smells so sweet. And the tattoos. And that piercing. Did you see-” I cut him off with a quick kiss to his temple. I noticed everything about her, Ellie, the Beta who shouldn’t be as enticing as she is. The colorful tattoos, the hardened stare she tried to keep up, and the numerous piercings that added to her aura rather than detracted from it.

And, yes I saw the outlines of the piercings beneath the top of her dress, way more fantasies than were appropriate running through my head of Ellie beneath me or tangled in between us in Savin’s nest.

“No, you weren’t too much, babe,” I say. That would make the pot calling the kettle black. “But you are perfuming. Your heat isn’t supposed to start for another few weeks.”

Savin squirms at my side and I glare at an investor moving toward us, to give us a moment. “No. This… I’m not in heat. Can we go back and ask-” He trails off, his gaze flitting to the Beta that captured our attention. There’s been a few Betas that have spent a night or two with us, giving my Omega the relief he so desperately needs. My scent seems to calm his nerves and take away the brunt of his pain but occasionally an added presence heightens that relief.

I can see that Ellie’s presence did more than that.

If I’m honest with myself, I want way more than we’d be allowed with someone hired from Euphoria. Had I known she was one of the girls, I wouldn’t have approached her. “Savin, she wants us to respect her job here. I’m sure we can find-”

Savin huffs out an annoyed breath, sitting up and reaching for his glass of water. He tilts his head to the side, turns up his nose, and then grabs my glass instead. I’m not fast enough to intercept him before he chugs the fifth of liquor and then sputters around it. He might have just turned 24, six years my junior, but he still acts like a goddamn idiot sometimes. An adorable idiot.

“You’re going to have a hard morning, Sav,” I purr against the side of his head.

“I need it. We still have to be here for a while and everything hurts.” He sticks out his full bottom lip and I just want to suck on his pout. Unfortunately, with this many eyes and ears around us, there’s a high chance that something ends up in tomorrow’s news. Jace would have a field day with that but we don’t need the attention.

“The medicine-”

“Isn’t working.”

“Then we get a higher dose.”

Savin bursts out with a pained giggle, shaking his head. “Or we get drunk for the night so I don’t have to think about the fact that I’m a useless Omega. You can nurse my hangover tomorrow.” As fun as that sounds, I don’t like that regardless of what we do, Savin suffers.

Still, he’s not useless. It’s a constant conversation with him, one that I intend to nip in the bud eventually. “Savin, just because we hit a roadblock doesn’t make you worthless. I love you. Does that make my love worthless? Is my choice worthless? My need for you worthless?”

A grunt tears from my Omega’s throat as he reaches for the bottle of liquor sitting beside my empty glass. I know this is a terrible idea even before it starts. I steal it from him and pour another fifth so that Savin doesn’t down half the bottle. My attention is torn by Ellie’s tart scent growing sharp, my gaze finding the Beta frustrated, her jaw pulled tight, and her hands fisted at her sides.

She’s standing beside Nathan Fox, one of many talent agents I refuse to work with. We might have grown up together but our morals are aligned very differently. I enjoy my craft, building and wielding it to become something beautiful. Nathan drags his talent through the dirt, making as much money as he can before deeming them worthless and dropping them for the next hottest piece.

No doubt he’s trying to recruit Ellie or at least take her home to spout lies in her ears until she signs a contract she can’t get out of. I don’t think for a second Ellie would succumb to the pressure but I hate how tense and uncomfortable she currently is, my need to protect her growing with every second I watch her.

Nathan sways, chuckling at his own joke before a hand reaches toward her. I’m not even sure when I move but in the next second, Ellie is tucked against my side, an arm firmly wrapped around her waist. She pushes against me instinctively before she realizes it’s me. “Sorry,” I mumble. Ellie lets out a pitiful sigh and then leans into me, her entire body melting against my chest, her scent softening.

Goddess, she’s trouble.

“I was just talking, Macon. You don’t always need to swoop in and save them,” Nathan jokes. He hiccups and then burps before starting to laugh at his disgusting behavior. If he wasn’t as pretty as he was, I’m sure that he would have been discarded from the scene a long time ago.

“If you had a better track record, no, I wouldn’t need to,” I spit back, tightening my hold on Ellie. She doesn’t resist but I can sense her discomfort. No doubt there will be pictures in the tabloids tomorrow, trying to unravel our new relationship where there is none.

Nathan looks between the both of us and I bite back the smile that starts creeping onto my lips when Ellie bares her teeth to him. A Beta standing up to an Alpha isn’t something I see every day and it’s refreshing, even if it’s a little animalistic the way Ellie pulls it off. “Had no idea she was yours, Macon. Excuse me, I have others to talk to.”

He stumbles away and I release Ellie, turning to apologize again. She merely holds her hand up, shaking her head. “Thank you but I’m used to it. This isn’t my first rodeo and definitely won’t be my last,” she huffs. “Unfortunately, men like him are the ones that tip the most. There’s also enough people in here to have done something should that interaction have gone any further.”

Oh, my sweet, sweet Ellie. My? Very few people, attendees included, would have stepped in. The attendees here have images to uphold, most of them self-absorbed. They wouldn’t have wanted to tarnish their image by helping one of the hired girls. I don’t explain that to Ellie, though. She doesn’t need to know that this party could have been very different for her had I not stepped in.

She sucks in her bottom lip, leaning back on one foot, her hands on her hips. For a Beta, her presence is very demanding. Alluring, even. She owns her space, similar to that of an Alpha. I can’t tell if she’s trying to compensate or if Ellie truly is just that bold. Our eyes meet for a moment, Ellie’s body reacting to my scent again.

I step closer until there is negative space between us. “Ellie, tell me to fuck off but can I ask you something?”

Her brows furrow and I can see that she’s fighting the attraction. I’m overstepping my bounds here as an Alpha but my Omega wants this. Hell, I want this. Her hands come to rest on my chest amidst the chaos of the party but no one is paying us any attention. “Yes,” she breathes.

I’m selfish for using my scent against her, knowing that it’s drawing her into a lustful haze she can’t resist. Only Savin has reacted to me like this before and I’m enjoying every moment Ellie relaxes a little more. “Give us one night,” I purr, the sound rattling through my chest. My cock thickens in my pants, wanting to sink into her sweet heat, to surround myself with her tart scent as I swallow her cries in a kiss.

Her face contorts and she steps back, the moment ruined. “You’re hiring me for a night?”

I shake my head furiously, hating the way Ellie took my words. “No. I don’t want this to be about money. My Omega wants you something fierce and I can’t get over your scent. Just a little bit of fun, no strings attached.” There are so many lies in my words. For one thing, a quick peek over at Savin as he downs another glass of alcohol tells me that this night might very well go sideways. Second, I know good and well that if Ellie accepts, we’ll want her to stay for more than one night. I swallow nervously, waiting for her answer before I add, “I don’t do many things for Savin.”

She snorts, the tension in her shoulders falling away. “So, you’re just his pimp? That’s very sweet of you.”

I’m taken aback by her abrupt question. I thought maybe her rough exterior was merely a front but it seems that her attitude is hers and hers alone. I fucking love it. “Not many people would speak like that to me,” I say, leaning down just enough so that I’m hovering inches from her lips. I refuse to scent mark her like Savin did but I can entice a decision from her.

Her hazel eyes flash with desire as that tongue ring makes an appearance again, flicking across her lips. “I’m not very many people.” Her distrust of my offer is understandable because it’s not an offer. I’m asking her to spend a night with us but the disparaging distance between her and us is keeping this from being an acceptable ask.

And maybe it’s because I’m not being entirely truthful. I let out a deep breath, standing up straight before delivering my last sentence. “We both want you, Ellie. For a night, an hour, whatever you’ll give us.” I dig into my suit jacket pocket and retrieve a card. “Should you change your mind.”

Ellie stares at it for several seconds before grabbing it. “And if I don’t come?”

“Then we’ll merely be ships passing in the night.” I leave her with that, rushing back to Savin’s side. A third of the bottle is gone and he twists around to look at me, his eyes glazed over. A silly smile plays on his lips as he sways toward me and as much as I love this version of my Omega, he’s going to be sick in the morning.

“Alpha,” he whines. “Is she coming?” He grins at the way his words slur, swaying toward me. His hands catch on my chest as I pull him to his feet, his lips pursed together for a kiss. I press my lips to his, drinking in his scent mixed with Ellie’s. “She’s not coming,” Savin whispers as he winds his arms around my waist.

“I don’t think so, no. Come on. We’ve stayed long enough and I need to get you to bed.”

Savin murmurs softly, his expression brightening. “Bed?” He wiggles his eyebrows as I guide him to the elevator and I shake my head. I would love to fuck my Omega silly but that will only further exacerbate his headache tomorrow and the pain he feels every day.

The elevator takes us down one floor, Savin confused as he presses himself to my side. I always rent a room at these events, just in case driving back would be worse for Savin’s health. A night like tonight is better spent quickly getting him into bed rather than dragging him halfway across the city. I would rather be in his nest but the nearly hour drive isn’t worth the headache.

Savin stumbles into the hotel room, immediately starting to strip out of his suit. I step inside and close the door behind us, leaning against the frame as Savin whines and grumbles out of his pants. The moment I first met him three years ago sits front and center in my head, my Omega’s beauty and tenacity bold and bright as he argued about his schedule with Jace. Those were the days before Savin fell sick but he still hasn’t lost his spark.

The Omega crawls toward the couch, absentmindedly making up his own nest on the floor, pillows and blankets stacking together until he’s recreated his safe space here. For several moments, Savin sits in the middle of his nest, tired eyes moving around the room as if he’s searching for something. Or someone. I sincerely hope that Ellie will show up and this time I’m not hoping for me.

I’ve seen Savin fall apart before and it’s not pretty.

The fact that Ellie is most likely our mate doesn’t help.